Trying to install on Macbook Pro 7,1 from Ubuntu

eriheight · 2016-08-09 04:41:18

Title says it all. I keep trying to burn a USB of Bunsen and it wont find the device when I try to boot from USB. I have gotten it to work a few times, but the installation just stops. Is anyone else running Bunsen on a Macbook? What did you do to get it going? Maybe I'm missing something.

KrunchTime · 2016-08-09 07:22:20

You might also check over in the CrunchBang forums to see if you can glean any info. I know I remember a few posts about Macbooks over there, not so much here.

brontosaurusrex · 2016-08-09 07:22:21

I don't, but I have some notes on how to use dd on osx.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-08-09 07:55:22

eriheight wrote:

I keep trying to burn a USB of Bunsen

How exactly are you attempting this?

Please post the exact command(s) used.

If you want to install BunsenLabs from your Ubuntu system, follow https://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/ … 03.html.en to install a basic (console-only) Debian jessie system then reboot into that and follow the steps here to use the BL netinstall script:
https://github.com/BunsenLabs/bunsen-netinstall

asdf · 2016-08-12 04:55:27

I just saw this, so my response may not be timely enough. First, the bunsen LIVE installer does not support efi booting according to at least one post I found in the forums. The debian netinstall images DO support efi, however. I picked-up the nonfree image from debian.org (all you need is the first CD). I think it was debian-8.5-amd64-netinst.iso.

I've tested several distributions on my macbook, and I've never gotten an image to boot unless it was copied to a usb stick within OS X. There are many tutorials available. These instructions are from one that worked for me recently. First, download or copy the debian iso to your mac. Within OS X convert it to a mac image. From the terminal:

    hdiutil convert -format UDRW -o debian-8.5-amd64-netinst.iso.img debian-8.5-amd64-netinst.iso

The resulting image will actually have a .dmg extension. Probably not necessary, but rename it to .iso:

    mv debian-8.5-amd64-netinst.iso.img.dmg debian-8.5-amd64-netinst.iso.img

Make sure your usb stick is not mounted:

    diskutil list

If mounted, unmount (assuming your target is disk2, of course):

    diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2

Copy image to your usb stick:

    sudo dd if=debian-8.5-amd64-netinst.iso.img of=/dev/disk2

I partitioned my drive within OS X, then booted from the new debian netinstall usb stick. I used the nonfree image, which I think is recommended for mac hardware. Follow the instructions for the install until you get to the tasksel screen. Deselect desktop environments and everything else except for the core system option. Complete the install and boot into debian. You will be in a command line environment. Simply run the BL install script as described at https://github.com/BunsenLabs/bunsen-netinstall (also see https://www.bunsenlabs.org/installation.html):

	wget https://github.com/bunsenlabs/bunsen-netinstall/archive/master.tar.gz
	tar -xpf master.tar.gz
	cd bunsen-netinstall-master
	./install

The install is very slick and easy. HOWEVER, as you know macbooks are very fussy where linux is concerned. I could not boot directly into BL, because the legacy nvidia driver I needed was not installed (the MBP 5.4 requires the 340XX legacy driver). From the Grub 2 boot menu I had to select bunsen and edit the boot options (hit e and replace "quiet" with "noheadtest"). This let me boot into bunsen without the nvidia driver. Installing the proper driver was not as easy as I expected, either. Apt threw out errors relating to "held packages" that I struggled to clear. After spinning my wheels with the issue for several hours I simply did a driver install with "aptitude install ...." Aptitude actually tries to resolve issues, and it proposed a solution that I rejected. It then presented an alternative solution (a different kernel), which I accepted. Aptitude handled everything automatically, and I was able to boot into BL with no further issues.

If interested, here are some of the unresolved items on my to-do list:

The debian installer put grub 2 on my efi partition, over-writing refind. It works flawlessly for booting linux; OS X not so much. I haven't done anything about this, yet, other than search for solutions. It seems like this has been problematic for recent versions of OS X. I used refind with both Fedora and Arch, booting linux directly from refind (no grub, no lilo). Currently, OS X is still bootable by holding down the option key at startup. If it weren't for devonthink and a couple of other apps I would probably wipe OS X.
There is an error message at startup that I have not tackled, yet. I don't have my notes right now, but remember something like "1804 ... controller not found." This was not as high on my priority list, so I only scanned a few relevant looking pages that seemed to suggest it was USB related. I did not experience any noticeable problems, though.
I'm not happy with the trackpad under any flavor of linux. The default bunsen settings have the sensitivity where i like it, and it actually has a reasonably functional "right click" (a first). If you were running ubuntu on your mac I'm sure you can relate. I've tried dozens of different settings using synaptics as well as the mtrack driver. I'm tired of messing with this. For all of OS X's problems, it handles the trackpad perfectly.
I want to enable "control-click" to emulate a right click. I spent some time trying to do this in Fedora ... or maybe arch, but have not been successful, yet.
I want to remap the eject key to be a delete key. Again, no success. I use I3 as my window manager, which has complicated my experiments. My initial efforts were using xmodset, which I think has been deprecated. Unfortunately most of the tutorials relating to anciient macbooks are several years out of date. I don't know what the heck I would do with all of my free time if I had a linux friendly laptop, though.
The last big item is getting power management configured. This may be a simple matter, but it doesn't sleep properly out of the box.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-08-12 07:24:08

Thanks for the detailed update!

asdf wrote:

The debian installer put grub 2 on my efi partition, over-writing refind. It works flawlessly for booting linux; OS X not so much. I haven't done anything about this, yet, other than search for solutions. It seems like this has been problematic for recent versions of OS X. I used refind with both Fedora and Arch, booting linux directly from refind (no grub, no lilo). Currently, OS X is still bootable by holding down the option key at startup. If it weren't for devonthink and a couple of other apps I would probably wipe OS X.

The bootorder has probably been changed but the rEFInd loader will still be there.

To view all of your UEFI boot entries, look at the output of:

sudo efibootmgr -v

Set the bootorder with:

sudo efibootmgr -o xxxx,yyyy,zzzz

https://packages.debian.org/jessie/efibootmgr

Also, the Mac `dd` command is identical to the GNU/Linux version so I think you could just have used that command on the bare ISO image without bothering with the conversion process.

equero · 2016-08-12 14:40:22

There re any way to remove completely macOS, and install bsenlab?

asdf · 2016-08-12 18:36:02

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

The bootorder has probably been changed but the rEFInd loader will still be there.
To view all of your UEFI boot entries, look at the output of:
sudo efibootmgr -v
Set the bootorder with:
sudo efibootmgr -o xxxx,yyyy,zzzz
https://packages.debian.org/jessie/efibootmgr
Also, the Mac `dd` command is identical to the GNU/Linux version so I think you could just have used that command on the bare ISO image without bothering with the conversion process.

I don't know why, but I didn't even bother to mount the efi partition to check the refind files. I think I prefer Grub 2 to refind, though, so I will eventually try to find a solution to the OS X menu entry in Grub.

As for the 'dd' command being identical, I have to admit to being a master of pseudo-science. My typical M.O. is to change multiple variables at the same time and attribute the result to the simplest explanation I'm capable of understanding. Now that I can't blame OS X quirks for my failure to create a bootable usb stick, I'll have to come up with some other plausible excuse. Sounds like work.

asdf · 2016-08-12 18:51:46

equero wrote:

There re any way to remove completely macOS, and install bsenlab?

I think it would be fairly simple to remove the macOS and replace it with bunsen. It should be a simpler install, because you don't have to be fussy with partitions (OS X likes to have space between partitions, for instance),and you don't need to stress about messing-up an existing installation. The debian installer could do its thing without any user input.

Some of the tutorials I found suggest doing a linux-only install, because mac hardware reported results in quirky behavior when dual-booting. I don't know why that would be the case, though. I thought that recent macs could dual-boot windows with relatively little trouble.

That said, I have seen recommendations to leave OS X in place to retrieve firmware updates (which reportedly require OS X). For me that wouldn't be an issue, because my macbook is so old that its firmware is no longer actively supported. For me, though, I like to keep access to old data no matter how unlikely it is that I'll need it. That's why I still have an old Amiga 1000 taking up precious storage space in my house.

redcollective · 2016-08-19 18:00:26

equero wrote:

There re any way to remove completely macOS, and install bsenlab?

Debian Net Installer followed by John Raff's bunsen net install script. I'm on a MacBook right now.

Red.

fox · 2016-08-20 11:49:18

asdf wrote:

....
The debian installer put grub 2 on my efi partition, over-writing refind. It works flawlessly for booting linux; OS X not so much. I haven't done anything about this, yet, other than search for solutions. It seems like this has been problematic for recent versions of OS X. I used refind with both Fedora and Arch, booting linux directly from refind (no grub, no lilo). Currently, OS X is still bootable by holding down the option key at startup. ....

This happens to me any time I update grub on a Linux distro on one of my Macs. The solution is actually quite easy. Boot into the Mac OS by holding down the option key and download refind if you haven't done so already. Then install it again. The next boot will produce the refind menu once again.

Last edited by fox (2016-08-20 11:50:07)

#1 2016-08-09 04:41:18

Trying to install on Macbook Pro 7,1 from Ubuntu

#2 2016-08-09 07:22:20

Re: Trying to install on Macbook Pro 7,1 from Ubuntu

#3 2016-08-09 07:22:21

Re: Trying to install on Macbook Pro 7,1 from Ubuntu

#4 2016-08-09 07:55:22

Re: Trying to install on Macbook Pro 7,1 from Ubuntu

#5 2016-08-12 04:55:27

Re: Trying to install on Macbook Pro 7,1 from Ubuntu

#6 2016-08-12 07:24:08

Re: Trying to install on Macbook Pro 7,1 from Ubuntu

#7 2016-08-12 14:40:22

Re: Trying to install on Macbook Pro 7,1 from Ubuntu

#8 2016-08-12 18:36:02

Re: Trying to install on Macbook Pro 7,1 from Ubuntu

#9 2016-08-12 18:51:46

Re: Trying to install on Macbook Pro 7,1 from Ubuntu

#10 2016-08-19 18:00:26

Re: Trying to install on Macbook Pro 7,1 from Ubuntu

#11 2016-08-20 11:49:18

Re: Trying to install on Macbook Pro 7,1 from Ubuntu

Board footer