How do I install on mac?

Linux_Beast_Man · 2013-12-25 05:42:31

I have been trying to install arch linux on a macbook pro, have tried several different ways and can not get it to work. I don't want to use rEFInd(but will if necessary) I am using a new hard dirve with nothing on it and do not have the mac installation disc. I have installed arch on 4 different systems so i am not afraid of terminal. I have used syslinux, not grub(not afraid to learn.)

mac part # MD101LL/A

link- http://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbo … specs.html

any and all help is appreciated

Last edited by Linux_Beast_Man (2013-12-26 08:51:46)

jasonwryan · 2013-12-25 06:48:25

Please edit your first post and use a thread title that is (a) descriptive, and (b) doesn't have all the pleading txtspeak:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fo … ow_to_Post

"Can not get it to work" is not helpful: please describe what you tried and what failed, with error messages.

Trilby · 2013-12-25 12:57:43

In addition to the above I'm also curious what you mean when you say you've tried many different ways.

Which ways have you tried? Have you tried the right way in the wiki? If not, that is your first problem.

You don't need to use rEFInd if you don't want to, but as someone who has installed arch on several macs (some without and some with rEFInd) I can say you should want to.

Last edited by Trilby (2013-12-26 12:44:10)

Linux_Beast_Man · 2013-12-26 09:54:55

I have tried following different youtube videos and the Wiki, I think I am just confused about how to get the boot partitions setup becuse i have never used grub.

The first is when i am trying to mount the boot partition which is a fat32 i get this error "mount: unknown filesystem type 'vfat'"
The other problem happens when I try rebooting the system, the drive is not showing up in the start up menu,I am only getting the the live-cd and network boot options.

Can you point me to a wiki of where to start or tell me what i am doing wrong and how to fix it, and if you recommend rEFInd, then i will use it.
thank you in advanced,

And sorry about me not being clear this is my first forum, let me know if there is any other information that you may need.

Last edited by Linux_Beast_Man (2013-12-26 10:08:31)

Trilby · 2013-12-26 12:58:45

Youtube guides are likely the problem. You say you've also followed the wiki - but just in case you should use the following two pages:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_Guide
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Macbook

Also, while I generally discourage external resources, in this case the following refind page will be helpful. It is written by the author of refind who is also an active archer (or at least active on these forums) who knows the ins and outs of arch linux:

http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/install … #installsh

The mount error sounds like dosfstools is not installed but I'm not sure where you are getting this error if as you say the installation doesn't even show up in the efi menu. Is this error in the installation environment?

The second problem of it not showing up in the menu sounds like there is no active efi manager properly installed/activated. I can't help with grub as I don't use it - but from glancing at the wiki it is allegedly more complicated than refind and may require a OSX system or CD to "bless" the partition. I see our own wiki page may be sparse on details for the alternative (refind), so rods book (3rd link) may be what is needed.

These, however, are general comments. For specific help we'd need to know what you have actually done and exactly when/where any error messages are showing up. There are several choices that have to be made in the installation process, and we don't know which you've chosen.

PS: And a belated welcome to the forum. Don't worry about our initial gruffness - if you can accept and respond well to constructive criticism you're certainly welcome here. If this is your first forum membership I'd like to also suggest the following reading. Unfortunately the title makes it seem more punitive than it need be, but it is an excellent read, and makes membership in any tech/computer related forum much more productive:

http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Last edited by Trilby (2013-12-26 13:03:53)

Linux_Beast_Man · 2013-12-26 20:21:13

Thank you, I was under the impression that grub had to installed and that rEFInd made the partition look right to the EFI mother board. yes i was very confused, Thank you for helping me understand, I will try again with rEFInd and let you know how it turns out. And if I get any more errors i will be sure to post the error with where it is happening.

PS. thank you for the welcome, and i will learn from the "initial gruffness" and thank you again for the link, I will be reading thought that to day.

Last edited by Linux_Beast_Man (2014-01-03 05:32:20)

fx101 · 2013-12-28 04:43:43

Dualbooting OSX and Arch can be a bit of a nightmare... but here's what worked for me (installed Arch on a late 2013 model 15" Retina MBP).

DON'T use GRUB. Again... DO NOT USE GRUB. The only time you should even consider using GRUB is if you already have rEFInd installed and you want to install something like Fedora which will configure itself automatically to play nice with grub.

DO use rEFInd. Install it from OSX (much easier this way). It'll go onto your ESP partition (which will hopefully be FAT formatted. If not... life will suck). Using rEFInd you can boot the kernel directly (as an EFI stub) without the need for a bootloader. Or you can use something minimalist like gummiboot.

Once you have rEFInd installed, it's a simple matter of installing Arch normally but mounting the ESP partition as /boot. If you follow the beginner's tutorial (or maybe it's the main one) there will be instructions for how to configure rEFInd to use an EFI Stub boot (aka no bootloader). If you didn't botch anything, upon a reboot arch *will* work.

Edit:
MAKE SURE TO GRAB ALL THE WIRELESS DRIVERS DURING INSTALLATION. The broadcom chips in a lot of MBP's are notoriously painful to deal with so you want to make sure you sort it all out while you're chrooted.

Last edited by fx101 (2013-12-28 04:46:57)

Linux_Beast_Man · 2014-01-11 06:55:34

Hi, tried it again and this time i installed dosfstools and upgraded the system and i get the same error
mount: unkonwn filesystem type 'vfat'

Can you also tell me the way to set up the partitions.(fdisk gptdisk)(size for boot would also be nice)
thank you

Arch Linux

#1 2013-12-25 05:42:31

How do I install on mac?

#2 2013-12-25 06:48:25

Re: How do I install on mac?

#3 2013-12-25 12:57:43

Re: How do I install on mac?

#4 2013-12-26 09:54:55

Re: How do I install on mac?

#5 2013-12-26 12:58:45

Re: How do I install on mac?

#6 2013-12-26 20:21:13

Re: How do I install on mac?

#7 2013-12-28 04:43:43

Re: How do I install on mac?

#8 2014-01-11 06:55:34

Re: How do I install on mac?

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