Macbook 8,2 EFI install / GPU switching

[SilverOne]

Dear Ubuntu Community,

I have a macbook 8,2 and want to install ubuntu 12.10. I need both GPUs to work, since i need external display support and decent battery life.

I've found tutorials to :

enable EFI to work on 12.10: http://www.rodsbooks.com/ubuntu-efi/index.html

Full install with switching kinda working?: http://dentifrice.poivron.org/laptops/macbookpro8,2/ However, this one seems to be made for debian (ubuntu?) Oneiric and seems a little bit out of date, i'm not exactly an experienced user and i'm wondering if it'll work.

Full gentoo linux install with switching: http://ck.kennt-wayne.de/2012/jun/ge...o-82-late-2011 well this one is for a completely diferent linux distribution and seems a little bit dated as well, i'm not sure this will work too.

So i'll probably end up trying the first tutorial.

i might also remove rEFInd through this tutorial : http://glandium.org/blog/?p=2830

Unfortunately there seems to be very little information on "graphic switching" and i'm not sure on how to switch between both GPUs.
The https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookPro8-2/Quantal says switching doesn't work. So how do i choose which GPU to boot and use ? i don't mind rebooting each time i need a different GPU.

Best Regards,
SilverOne

[Chav]

Hopefully this will help you get on your way.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2103743

[SilverOne]

Hopefully this will help you get on your way.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2103743

Dear Chav,

Thank you! I've been searching for tutorials for days now!! .
I've never compiled a Kernel before but i'm sure with the help of some tutorials i'll figure out a way to do it .

Best Regards,
Silver

[Chav]

Glad I could help.

I used this guide to learn how to compile the kernel from a git repository.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/GitKernelBuild

If I had to choose a repository to build from I would use the raring ubuntu kernel here: git://kernel.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-raring.git


One caveat is that after you dpkg -i your kernel it will sym link /lib/modules/(your kernel)/build and /lib/modules/(your kernel)/source to your build directory. After you install your kernel header package you can manually fix the sym link. It's not a huge problem but it will become an issue if you need to build kernel modules such as Virtual Box or any other DKMS and you've removed or cleaned your build directory.

[SilverOne]

Glad I could help.

I used this guide to learn how to compile the kernel from a git repository.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/GitKernelBuild

If I had to choose a repository to build from I would use the raring ubuntu kernel here: git://kernel.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-raring.git


One caveat is that after you dpkg -i your kernel it will sym link /lib/modules/(your kernel)/build and /lib/modules/(your kernel)/source to your build directory. After you install your kernel header package you can manually fix the sym link. It's not a huge problem but it will become an issue if you need to build kernel modules such as Virtual Box or any other DKMS and you've removed or cleaned your build directory.

Dear Chav,

Thanks for the links . i'll follow the tutorial you posted and i'm not sure i need those kernel modules?

Anyway I'll try it out during the weekend and report back!

Best Regards,
Silverone

[SilverOne]

Hello

I kinda veered off track here ... those tutorials seemed really complex when ubuntu 12.10 supports U(EFI) booting from the start. so i loaded up the "regular" iso and not the mac one.
At first it didn't work, the screen was black but i did happen to hear the "turck" sound when selecting "Try Ubuntu", that's when i figured i should add the following to the grub 2 selection menu :

outb 0x728 1
outb 0x710 1
outb 0x740 2

it installed just fine but gave me a "linux will run in low graphics mode" or something like that each time i tried to boot.
i added

outb 0x750 0

and it works great now, except for the amd support. Could you tell me where i can edit the grub.cfg ? i saw it on some directory but it had so many things inside i didn't know where to start.

anyway i've been trying some commands i've found on these websites :

http://ck.kennt-wayne.de/2012/jun/ge...o-82-late-2011
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2103743 ( your thread )
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFIBooting

if i add :

outb 0x750 1

- i can hear the turck sound but the screen goes black.

i feel like i'm really close here but writing all the commands every time takes a long time.

[SilverOne]

Okay, so i've managed to get a custom grub option by following this tutorial :
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2/CustomMenus

it's not the default option but it'll do for now, keep in mind i'm not using refind or refit... geez... that really saved me allot of time

mac os x booting from grub doesn't work though, i'll look into it later since i can always press option while booting up.

Mr. Chav, i trust the next step would be to build the kernel per your tutorial ?

UPDATE:

after booting back into the OS x partition i can't seem to get back in. I only see a "windows" partition and that kinda loads bios mode.


i'll have to install refind and then follow this tut:
http://glandium.org/blog/?p=2830

[Chav]

Yes, the next step (once you can boot back into Ubuntu) is to compile your kernel.

I'm not sure how your machine is setup. Are you using a hybrid Master Boot Record (Boot camp)? That would explain the "Windows" boot option.

Can you still boot into OSX? If you can please post the output of the following:

diskutil list

Hopefully you've already got this sorted and nothing too important was on the harddrive!

[SilverOne]

Yes, the next step (once you can boot back into Ubuntu) is to compile your kernel.

I'm not sure how your machine is setup. Are you using a hybrid Master Boot Record (Boot camp)? That would explain the "Windows" boot option.

Can you still boot into OSX? If you can please post the output of the following:

diskutil list

Hopefully you've already got this sorted and nothing too important was on the harddrive!

Hello , well... i have no idea what i'm using :

/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *121.3 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh SSD           88.5 GB    disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
   4:       Microsoft Basic Data                         32.0 GB    disk0s4
silver-mbp:~ silverone$

Nothing ever broke i just had to reinstall refind and launch ubuntu from there instead of the default EFI.

[Chav]

Excellent! I was worried that your partition table and/or EFI partition got trashed. I was about to go into a long, complicated, and risky set of steps on how to repair it.