Arch Linux

navaneethkn

Member

Registered: 2010-05-22

Posts: 31

Installing on MacBookPro

Hello,

I am trying to install Arch linux and dual boot on my MacBookPro. Following the Arch wiki which explains MacBook installation, I successfully finished steps till partition (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ma … Arch_Linux).

Quoting the wiki page.

Boot the Arch install CD by holding down the alt key during Boot. If you wish to boot Arch Linux in EFI mode use the first method (recommended), else use the second. Using EFI allows you to have more than 4 partitions, which may be useful when dual-booting.

1: EFI mode

    Run cgdisk

I am not sure where to run 'cgdisk'. I booted from the Arch CD and went to root user console where to start the installation. Entered 'cgdik', but the command is not available. I tried installing it using Pacman, but it didn't work as pacman was not setup before install.

I am looking for any help to get this command working and partition my drive. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

/dev/zero

Member

From: Melbourne, Australia

Registered: 2011-10-20

Posts: 1,247

Re: Installing on MacBookPro

If I recall correctly, cgdisk comes as part of gptfdisk. To get this, you'll need to configure your network and use pacman from within the install cd environment.

Edit: Hint - the Installation Guide will tell you how to configure your network inside the install cd environment.

Last edited by /dev/zero (2011-12-15 05:36:09)

cam217

Member

From: France

Registered: 2011-12-17

Posts: 1

Re: Installing on MacBookPro

Hi,

I am using archlinux 64 bits on a macbook pro. To install it here's what I did:

First, update your macOS and make some space for the archlinux system. Then install rEFIt. After one or two reboot you must see the rEFIt menu at start.
Then put the archlinux disc in your macbook and press C to start from it. You can use parted to create your partition in ext2 format for your / (of course you can do every partitions you need).
IMPORTANT PART: reboot and go to the shell of rEFIt and type in it: "gptsync", this is important for your macbook to discover the new partitions.
Reboot again and then you should be able to install archlinux on your laptop. When you finish the install of the system put grub on the / partition and not the MBR! Add "reboot=pci" to the end of your kernel line in the menu.lst.
That should do it :-)

EDIT: You might need to install grub from a live disc/usb, as I had to do it because the install wasn't working after the installation. Launch grub as root then the commands are:

find /boot/grub/stage1

you should have something like that:

(hd0,2)

Then type:

root (hd0,2)
setup (hd0,2)

Exit grub shell by typing "quit", reboot and enjoy archlinux on your macbook pro.

Last edited by cam217 (2011-12-17 20:12:38)

navaneethkn

Member

Registered: 2010-05-22

Posts: 31

Re: Installing on MacBookPro

Hello cam217,

Thanks a lot for the help. I managed to complete the installation. But I am not able to get GRUB installed. On the bootloader installation screen, only /dev/sda is listed. I don't see any of my other partitions. I have created 4 partitions using "parted". One for '/', then '/home', /boot and swap. Arch linux package installation and all the other setup was successful. I just need to get the bootloader working.

Any help would be appreciated

persiankid400

Member

Registered: 2011-12-19

Posts: 10

Re: Installing on MacBookPro

When grub gives you the option to install to /dev/sda , press cancel. When you exit the installer, it should say failed. Then follow these instructions. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/MacBookPro#GRUB

navaneethkn

Member

Registered: 2010-05-22

Posts: 31

Re: Installing on MacBookPro

Hello,

Thanks. Whatever "persionKid400" said worked. But I am facing another problem to get the grub setup. I am in the grub console and typing "root (hd0,M-1)" fails with message "unrecognized device string". I have "/" installed on /dev/sda3 and /boot on /dev/sda6.

Any help to resolve this issue would be nice.

navaneethkn

Member

Registered: 2010-05-22

Posts: 31

Re: Installing on MacBookPro

More updates.

It looks like I am not getting the proper hd value for my /boot partition. After doing

# cd /
# mount -t ext3 /dev/sdaN /mnt # where sdaN is the location you installed to.
# mount -t ext3 /dev/sdaM /mnt/boot # where sdaM is the location of the /boot partition, if you have a separate one
# mount -t proc proc /mnt/proc
# mount -t sysfs sys /mnt/sys
# mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev
# chroot /mnt /bin/bash

I can see /mnt/boot/grub/stage1 file. To get the details, from the grub console I have tried,

find /mnt/boot/stage1

but this resulted with error saying invalid file name.  When I tried

find /sbin/init

I got '(hd0,2)'

I am not sure how should I continue. Any help would be great.

rvega

Member

From: Colombia

Registered: 2011-12-20

Posts: 25

Re: Installing on MacBookPro

I'm having a similar issur issue here with a macbook pro 8,1.
I partitioned successfully like this:

/dev/sda1 ->  fat32 efi system partition
/dev/sda2 ->  HFS+ Mac OS
/dev/sda3 ->  MscOS recovery
/dev/sda4 ->  HFS+ Data
/dev/sda5 ->  ext4 /boot
/dev/sda6 ->  swap swap
/dev/sda7 ->  ext4 /

But I haven't been able to install grub with the methods described in this thread. With cam217's method I get "Error 15: File not found" and with persiankid400's method I get "Error 22: No such partition".

I read somewhere that MBR only supports 4 partitions, maybe that's the problem? How should I work around it?

Thanks for any help.

rvega

Member

From: Colombia

Registered: 2011-12-20

Posts: 25

Re: Installing on MacBookPro

Here's what worked for me. I rearranged the partitions in my disk so now the /boot partition is on /dev/sda4, synced with rEFIt and then the grub installer was able to setup correctly. I'm loving Arch so far

semihandy

Member

Registered: 2012-07-15

Posts: 1

Re: Installing on MacBookPro

cam217, thanks so much! I wasted a whole night trying to figure this out, and your tips solved it