i want to put Linux on my MacBook, but...

[Ashleyyyy]

as the title says, i want to put Linux on my Mac, but there's an issue. 

 

i have a 15" Late 2011 MacBook Pro, with the dGPU disabled. 

why do i have the gpu disabled? just google radeongate. 

 

so i want to dual boot it with Linux, but i need Linux to use the integrated gpu. how can i accomplish that?

[sky_shark_101]

https://realmacmods.com/macbook-2011-radeon-gpu-disable/

 

According to this some distros will just work. It depends how your dGPU is disabled. Is it hard disabled or software disabled?

 

[Sauron]

Read this https://askubuntu.com/questions/4546/how-do-i-turn-off-pci-devices

 

if you manage to install and boot Ubuntu (or to chroot to your installation) you should be able to disable the pcie slot completely.

[Ashleyyyy]

Just now, sky_shark_101 said:

https://realmacmods.com/macbook-2011-radeon-gpu-disable/

 

According to this some distros will just work. It depends how your dGPU is disabled. Is it hard disabled or software disabled?

software disabled. i'll only start soldering on it if this method were to fail. 

 

by the way, if it matters, my dGPU is still working. i just disabled it just in case, because i use this laptop for school and i can't have it fail on me.

 

Just now, Sauron said:

Read this https://askubuntu.com/questions/4546/how-do-i-turn-off-pci-devices

 

if you manage to install and boot Ubuntu (or to chroot to your installation) you should be able to disable the pcie slot completely.

oh cool. since my dGPU is still working (fingers crossed) that should be easy. 

[Shimejii]

Its toatally doable, but probably not a great idea if you want a fully functional laptop by the end. Its kind of a pain in the ass for Arch or debian based distros if i remember correctly, but Ubunutu or Mint may work?

[Ashleyyyy]

2 minutes ago, Shimejii said:

Its toatally doable, but probably not a great idea if you want a fully functional laptop by the end. Its kind of a pain in the ass for Arch or debian based distros if i remember correctly, but Ubunutu or Mint may work?

i don't care about what distro i have to use. i'd prefer Manjaro but something Ubuntu based is ok too. 

[NelizMastr]

11 minutes ago, Shimejii said:

Its toatally doable, but probably not a great idea if you want a fully functional laptop by the end. Its kind of a pain in the ass for Arch or debian based distros if i remember correctly, but Ubunutu or Mint may work?

Ubuntu and Mint are Debian based   (better yet, Mint relies on Ubuntu, which relies on Debian). Manjaro is Arch based.

[Smeltie]

14 minutes ago, NelizMastr said:

Ubuntu and Mint are Debian based   (better yet, Mint relies on Ubuntu, which relies on Debian). Manjaro is Arch based.

jup... but ubuntu has a way more extensive driver library and better driver support... i have a laptop with a shared gpu setup, nvidia 1050 and intel hd... try getting that work in debian... thats literally impossible  and in ubuntu it should be a piece of cake as far as i know.
but linux is never easy 

[duncannah]

Any reason why you're installing Linux? Wouldn't a virtual machine work?

[Ashleyyyy]

7 minutes ago, duncannah said:

Any reason why you're installing Linux? Wouldn't a virtual machine work?

i need vmware workstation. we use that in class and following teachers instructions for vmware on virtualbox is annoying. 

 

10 minutes ago, Martijn Klerks said:

jup... but ubuntu has a way more extensive driver library and better driver support... i have a laptop with a shared gpu setup, nvidia 1050 and intel hd... try getting that work in debian... thats literally impossible  and in ubuntu it should be a piece of cake as far as i know.
but linux is never easy 

i had a laptop with a gtx 950m and intel gpu, and that didn't work in ubuntu. it did, but you had to log out to switch gpu and there was insane screen tearing while on the nvidia card. 

 

28 minutes ago, NelizMastr said:

Ubuntu and Mint are Debian based   (better yet, Mint relies on Ubuntu, which relies on Debian). Manjaro is Arch based.

yep. i prefer Arch, but if i can't do it on Arch i guess i'll have to go with Ubuntu...

[Smeltie]

4 minutes ago, firelighter487 said:

i need vmware workstation. we use that in class and following teachers instructions for vmware on virtualbox is annoying. 

 

 

i use virtual box all the time... works just fine, why doesn't it work for you?

[duncannah]

2 minutes ago, firelighter487 said:

i need vmware workstation. we use that in class and following teachers instructions for vmware on virtualbox is annoying. 

Windows has WMware Workstation too, and it seems like you already have Windows installed on your Mac.

 

Also installing WMware into Ubuntu might not work, I attempted it a few weeks ago and it just wouldn't work

[Ashleyyyy]

1 minute ago, Martijn Klerks said:

i use virtual box all the time... works just fine, why doesn't it work for you?

read the whole post. i get instructions for vmware in class. trying to follow those on virtualbox is annoying. 

 

1 minute ago, duncannah said:

Windows has WMware Workstation too, and it seems like you already have Windows installed on your Mac.

that Windows install is broken and unreliable. the only way i can get it to work is by disabling both gpu's in device manager, and if Windows decides to enable them again everything breaks. 

 

and i HATE Windows 10 and i want it as far away from my Mac as possible if i can. 

 

2 minutes ago, duncannah said:

Also installing WMware into Ubuntu might not work, I attempted it a few weeks ago and it just wouldn't work

i've had it work for me a lot of times before i had a Mac. 

[Guest]

Probably just disabling and blacklisting the radeon driver will be sufficient. If you experience anomal power battery draw disable it via PCI

[Ashleyyyy]

2 hours ago, sky_shark_101 said:

https://realmacmods.com/macbook-2011-radeon-gpu-disable/

 

According to this some distros will just work. It depends how your dGPU is disabled. Is it hard disabled or software disabled?

 

i've just hard disabled it. the crappy battery life and thermals were getting annoying. so now it should be easyer to get it to run? because Windows still crashes if i try to enable the intel gpu. 

[Ashleyyyy]

@sky_shark_101 @NelizMastr @Sauron @Shimejii

 

ok so i hardware disabled the gpu, and since i had an install usb ready i decided to just try. it. booted and installed with no probems, using it now to type this.