On Thu, 4 Dec 2014 13:25:37 -0500 Brian Sammon <debian-users-l...@brisammon.fastmail.fm> wrote:
> I was recently given a Mac Mini (Intel Mid 2007) that had been wiped. ... > Is there a way to install Debian/Linux on this machine that doesn't involve > buying or borrowing (or "borrowing") a copy of OSX? Is it easier to install > linux on a USB disk and run it off of that? As a followup, I got Linux installed on it, but not (quite) Debian. I burned a CD of the Ubuntu Trusty "+mac" image. It booted and installed Linux and Grub successfully on the first try. Some things I noticed: It used version 2.02 of grub, which is newer than that used in the Wheezy I tried. The Ubuntu installer (somewhat strongly) encouraged me to create a "Reserved BIOS boot area" partition. I followed that advice. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that most/all of the features that helped with Trusty are also found in Jessie. Now that I have a bootloader installed, I think I'll have more success installing Debian on it. > Two particular subtasks that I may need to do that seem to require OSX: > 1) "Blessing" a partition Recent versions of GRUB come with a "grub_macbless" command, but I haven't tested it. > 2) Checking what version of firmware it has (some versions have BIOS > compatibility) The Boot CD for rEFInd (http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/) reported a firmware version number, but it was a very different format from the firmware versions on Apple's site. For upgrading firmware without MacOSX, the "Firmware Restoration CD" might be the thing: http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201518 This was apparently moot for my Mac Mini, as Apple's website doesn't list any available firmware updates for my model. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/20141231015651.72f2464fa218ef8963808...@brisammon.fastmail.fm
