first-time poster, fairly long-time Ubuntu user, zero Mac experience. Trying to help a friend select a version of Ubuntu for her MacBook Pro (Intel Core2 Duo 2.53GHz chip). Having a tough time finding a version to download and my Google-fu is failing me. Can someone post a direct-download link for an image of 13.04 that will work on this hardware? I see a lot of different versions but am unsure which to use. Ideally we'd like one with a "LiveCD" option, so she can try it out prior to committing to a full install. Thanks!! :)
1 Answer
I too have a Mactel, Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz triple-booting Ubuntu 13.04, OS X and Vista using rEFInd.
Look for Mac ISO in:
http://releases.ubuntu.com/raring/
Core 2 Duo should be able to use 64-bit linux.
You could also use UNetBootin for Mac to automatically download and create a live CD (pretty sure it can get you an ISO that works on a Mac.)
http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
Presumably your friend is not going to a single-install but is going to keep OS X on the machine as well (doesn't need much space, and highly recommended in case something goes funky with the Mac firmware.)
For instructions on how to do the installation see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MactelSupportTeam/AppleIntelInstallation
Pay attention to partitioning: Ubuntu needs an "msdos" type partition which is not the standard OS X uses. Rather than create multiple partitions in OS X Disk Utility, I prefer to create "free space" and then use gparted from the Ubuntu LiveCD to format the appropriate partitions on final install of Ubuntu. Actually if you're not triple-booting, you can probably just let the Ubuntu installer format the partition on its own. The point is, if the instructions you are following have you creating a whole bunch of partitions in OS X Disk Utility...ignore that, you just need free space.
Note that the above and most install instructions mention using "rEFIt"; rEFInd is the newer fork.