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Thread: New MacPro - Ubuntu Surprise (EFI)

  1. #11
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    Re: New MacPro - Ubuntu Surprise (EFI)

    Quote Originally Posted by pelle.k View Post
    You can download the disk image and transfer it to a usb stick to reinstall ML just like you used to do with a DVD. If you purchased it preinstalled, hold option (alt) while clicking the "installed" button in the MAS to download it.

    If you are unable to do so, you could do something like this (from memory, i did it a long time ago). Find the recovery partition:
    Code:
    diskutil list | grep -i recovery | grep -o disk.*
    Mount it using:
    Code:
    diskutil mount <insert_outout_of_above_command_here>
    Open it using finder, open the "Mac OSX Base System", and there you have the "Install OSX Mountain Lion" app. Run that, and start the download of a larger (full size) "install OSX Mountain Lion" app that will be placed in the /Applications folder (i think), but from what i can remember, it's important to not go through the actually reboot and install step, but to force quit the installer at that point (hold shift while scrubbing the apple menu, and "force quit" should become "force quit install osx mountain lion" instead) because the download is deleted if the installer is allowed to go through the full process.

    Now with the (full) installation package in /Applications (acquired using one of the above methods), do something like this: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/07...-install-disk/

    Furthermore, you don't need to install OSX on every disk just to have an EFI on it. Just create a GPT partition table instead of a MBR partition table. An MBR partition table will still be emulated (up to 3 partitions, any more than that you need to specify with gptsync). At least i'm pretty sure that's the case...
    Thanks for the great info. I bought a new system with OSX preinstalled, so there was no way to download it without buying it again. Which I did. It trys to automatically install, but I just closed the install script, and then copied the install fille to 3 different safe places. Then I tested each one to make sure it would start. Then I deleted the one that was in my app folder (so no one - including me - could accidentally click on it).

    Then I read the online methods for making install discs and thumb drives. I made one of each, and tested each. My Mac will boot from all of the back up copies, so I'm good there.

    Thanks for your help.
    Mac Pro 5,1 6-Core 3.33GHz, 48GB, Sapphire RX580
    Optical -- Apple Super Drive & MCE Internal Blu-ray
    512GB SM 970 Pro NVMe/HighPoint 7101A/10.14.5
    SonnetAllegro Pro USB 3/ 4TB WD/4TB - Barracuda

  2. #12
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    Re: New MacPro - Ubuntu Surprise (EFI)

    Quote Originally Posted by supermariofan25 View Post
    Like I said in my previous post rEFIt is better for booting Linux based operating systems and is also a great help with triple booting.
    Actually, I'm still learning and loving OSX. I haven't yet tried installing anything else yet. I'm not going to do that until I can buy a new 4TB drive to play with and learn. I'm protecting my original drive/install like it's gold at this point. I've got to craw before I walk.

    I did however make an rEFit USB stick and tried to boot 2 other intel laptops I own. Neither worked past the boot selection screen that the USB stick presented.
    Last edited by crjackson; March 26th, 2013 at 01:47 PM.
    Mac Pro 5,1 6-Core 3.33GHz, 48GB, Sapphire RX580
    Optical -- Apple Super Drive & MCE Internal Blu-ray
    512GB SM 970 Pro NVMe/HighPoint 7101A/10.14.5
    SonnetAllegro Pro USB 3/ 4TB WD/4TB - Barracuda

  3. #13
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    Re: New MacPro - Ubuntu Surprise (EFI)

    Quote Originally Posted by supermariofan25 View Post
    Well It depends on what specs you have, my Quad Core iMac with 4 GB RAM runs Parallels 8 with Windows XP and both Mac OS X and Windows run slower than they would by the selfs and Mac OS X gets pretty slow when Windows XP is running in the background, but I gave half of the computers resources to the VM and I got the base model for 2011, but with you it may be a different story as you have 6 cores and 8 Gigs of RAM to distribute, graphics wise games can run fairly smoothly on the windows side as well as the Mac side with the VM running in the background and if you have enough resources (which you do) then you will able to run windows at half the power that it could be but it would still run smoothly.
    Right now I'm upgrading all my peripherals and adding a internal Blu-ray drive. When finished, I'm going to upgrade memory to 32GB and the boot drive to SSD. I was originally purchasing the 12 core machine, but I found that the 6-core machine was faster (due to clock speed) for 99% of my usage. I do dabble (only a little) with video editing and rendering that would have benefited more by the 12 core system, but given the small amount of dabbling, I opted for the faster core speed rather than the raw pulling power of the 12 core. The system is so much faster than my previous dual core system that I have no regrets at all.

    I'll prolly wait until I get an additional drive before playing with windows / linux on this machine. OSX is VERY fast on this system, I'm astonished at it's speed really. I can't wait to do the SSD / Memory upgrade. I'm going to install a Sonnet card that provides SATA3 and 2 512 SSD cards in raid 0.

    Thanks for the information.
    Mac Pro 5,1 6-Core 3.33GHz, 48GB, Sapphire RX580
    Optical -- Apple Super Drive & MCE Internal Blu-ray
    512GB SM 970 Pro NVMe/HighPoint 7101A/10.14.5
    SonnetAllegro Pro USB 3/ 4TB WD/4TB - Barracuda

  4. #14
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    Re: New MacPro - Ubuntu Surprise (EFI)

    Quote Originally Posted by supermariofan25 View Post
    First of all I don't have a Mac Pro... yet, but I do have a fair bit of experience with Macs as I have an iMac.
    So you want to install Ubuntu on one HDD of the multiple HDD's in your Mac Pro, Well First you will need to make shure that you are able to back up you OS X partition so if something does go wrong you can always restore it. The second thing you need to do is to open Disk Utillity to partition the Hard Drive that you want to use, to do so open your Applications folder and open the Utilities folder inside there, inside you will find Disk Utility, another way you can do this is by pressing Command and Space together and then typing Disk Utility and pressing Enter. Lets say you are using the second HDD to install Ubuntu, this will usually be the second HDD in the list and have the identifier of disk1, you have to select that Disk and then select the Partition tab, in the drop down list that says "Current Layout" Select "2 Partitions", Click on the "Options" button and make shure that GUID Partition Map is selected then click Done, rename the first partition to Ubuntu and set its partition format to MS DOS FAT, rename the second partition to Linux Swap and and set the partition format to MS DOS FAT, next you will need to set the size of the Swap partition to 2 - 4GB's whichever one you want the swap to be, this makes shure that the Linux Swap isn't half of your HDD, next click "Partition" (It may help to turn off you computer and remove all hard drives except the First HDD in slot "1" and the hard drive that you wish to install Ubuntu on to minimise confusion). Once this is done you may insert your Ubuntu disk into the DVD drive and turn off your computer, If you want you can remove the OS X HDD in slot "1" so that Ubuntu only sees the HDD that you want to install to. When turning on your computer make shure you are holding down the Option/Alt key on your keyboard as this will open the OS selection menu, use your mouse or keyboard to select the "Windows" disk icon not the "EFI" disk icon, this will start the Ubuntu live CD so you can start the installation, pick either "Try Ubuntu Now" or "Install Ubuntu", I personally pick "Try Ubuntu Now" so I can setup Wifi, change some settings before installing, Go though setup as usuall until you get to the screen that says Choose installation type, Click "Something Else" instead of erasing the entire disk, once on the next screen you will need to select the First Partition of /dev/sdb (or /dev/sda if you chose to remove the OS X HDD before installing), click Change and set the partition type to ext4, set the mount point to "/" and check the Format option, click done and select the second partition, this partition should be 2-4 GB as it is the swap partition, set the partition type to Linux Swap and click done, next make shure the boot loader is set to install on /dev/sdb (or /dev/sda if you took all other HDD's out before hand), finally make shure that the first partition is highlighted and click Install, continue installation as usual until it finishes, when finished don't restart your computer as you will need to shut it down so you can insert the HDD with OS X on it if it was removed and then start up your computer, at this stage your computer will start up to OS X and not Ubuntu, this is fine as you will need to install rEFIt in order to be able to boot Ubuntu, to do so goto http://refit.sourceforge.net/ and download the .DMG file from there, open the DMG file and select the installer file that is inside it, continue with the installation of rEFIt, make shure you check "Macintosh HD" as the install destination or it may stuff up your computer or just won't work properly. Once done you will be prompted to restart your computer, when booting nothing will show up and OS X will start as usual, your will need to restart a second time for the rEFIt menu to show up, once your Mac has restarted rEFIt should have shown up on your screen and you can select either Mac OS X or Linux, don't select Linux yet as you will need to open the Partition Tool at the bottom of your screen, it may or may not say that your partition table needs resyncing, if so type y and press Enter if not press Enter anyway, reboot once more than Select either OS X or Linux, Enjoy!
    This method if done properly should work as the Mac EFI automatically knows if the BIOS emulation layer needs to be used and rEFIt handles booting Linux more better the the Mac EFI does, please note that rEFIt, even thou works very well, is outdated and may not work with future updates of OS X, but for now it works fine and is the best way to run Ubuntu on a Mac, hope this helps you on your quest to Triple boot OS X, Ubuntu and Windows on your new Mac Pro!

    Best regards, supermariofan25

    P.S. If this method doesn't work then try setting the Partition Table Map to Master Boot Record instead. Disclaimer, I have not tried this method before as I currently don't have a Mac with multiple hard drives and should only be used as a guide line so please do proceed at your own risk, I will update or remove this post later on when I do have access to a Macintosh with multiple hard drives in the near future. Therefore I do highly recommend that you make a backup of you entire OS X HDD with Time Machine on an external HDD before proceeding so that if anything does seem to go wrong then you can restore your Mac to its original condition.
    I really appreciate the time you took to make this post. I'm quoting the entire post just in case you decide to remove it, I'll still be able to refer back to it. I actually do have 2 other drives already installed, but one is a data drive and the other is a BU drive for time machine.

    I actually want to take a fresh drive (all other drives removed) and install Ubuntu there along with rEFIt that is needed to boot. Then I'd like to pop all the drives back into there desired places and see if I can use the command key to select the rEFIt / Ubuntu drive without disturbing the OSX drive. I realize I would end up having to navigate through to boot menus (if this works) but that's fine too. If possible, I'd prefer NOT to have rEFIt on my OSX drive. This may not be possible, but that's what I'm hoping for.
    Mac Pro 5,1 6-Core 3.33GHz, 48GB, Sapphire RX580
    Optical -- Apple Super Drive & MCE Internal Blu-ray
    512GB SM 970 Pro NVMe/HighPoint 7101A/10.14.5
    SonnetAllegro Pro USB 3/ 4TB WD/4TB - Barracuda

  5. #15
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    Re: New MacPro - Ubuntu Surprise (EFI)

    Okay, I realize we've kind of covered this already, but I do have this nagging question I hope I can get answered befoe I take the plunge. I can boot to the Ubuntu CD perfectly as with any other PC. If I install a clean HD and disconnect the OSX drive, will simply installing to a clean drive work without the rEFIt solution? Probably not, but I just don't see how it can boot the CD (oh wait, does it read the EFI on the HD before it try's to boot the CD? I bet that's it).

    Screenshot from 2013-03-24 00:09:24.png

    I've got to say, I've never seen a faster Ubuntu session. I guess my old system with a dual core 2.4GHz AMD CPU was a dog comparatively speaking. Man, everything worked... Wireless, MagicMouse, Sound etc... I was a great surprise, but the biggest surprise was the quickness. Now don't get me wrong, OS X is blazingly fast on this system and just as snappy as Ubuntu, but when I compare Ubuntu on this system to my old system... Well... It was shocking to say the least. Like I said, I guess my old system was a dog and I didn't know it.
    Last edited by crjackson; March 24th, 2013 at 01:30 AM.
    Mac Pro 5,1 6-Core 3.33GHz, 48GB, Sapphire RX580
    Optical -- Apple Super Drive & MCE Internal Blu-ray
    512GB SM 970 Pro NVMe/HighPoint 7101A/10.14.5
    SonnetAllegro Pro USB 3/ 4TB WD/4TB - Barracuda

  6. #16
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    Re: New MacPro - Ubuntu Surprise (EFI)

    Quote Originally Posted by crjackson View Post
    Actually, I'm still learning and loving OSX. I haven't yet tried installing anything else yet. I'm not going to do that until I can buy a new 4GB drive to play with and learn. I'm protecting my original drive/install like it's gold at this point. I've got to craw before I walk.

    I did however make an rEFit USB stick and tried to boot 2 other intel laptops I own. Neither worked past the boot selection screen that the USB stick presented.
    Where they Mac laptops or PC laptops? if they where PC laptops then rEFIt doesn't work with PC laptops, even with UEFI

  7. #17
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    Re: New MacPro - Ubuntu Surprise (EFI)

    Quote Originally Posted by crjackson View Post
    Okay, I realize we've kind of covered this already, but I do have this nagging question I hope I can get answered befoe I take the plunge. I can boot to the Ubuntu CD perfectly as with any other PC. If I install a clean HD and disconnect the OSX drive, will simply installing to a clean drive work without the rEFIt solution? Probably not, but I just don't see how it can boot the CD (oh wait, does it read the EFI on the HD before it try's to boot the CD? I bet that's it).

    Screenshot from 2013-03-24 00:09:24.png

    I've got to say, I've never seen a faster Ubuntu session. I guess my old system with a dual core 2.4GHz AMD CPU was a dog comparatively speaking. Man, everything worked... Wireless, MagicMouse, Sound etc... I was a great surprise, but the biggest surprise was the quickness. Now don't get me wrong, OS X is blazingly fast on this system and just as snappy as Ubuntu, but when I compare Ubuntu on this system to my old system... Well... It was shocking to say the least. Like I said, I guess my old system was a dog and I didn't know it.
    Seems like you already have the CD/DVD booted anyway, good luck!

  8. #18
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    Re: New MacPro - Ubuntu Surprise (EFI)

    Quote Originally Posted by crjackson View Post
    I really appreciate the time you took to make this post. I'm quoting the entire post just in case you decide to remove it, I'll still be able to refer back to it. I actually do have 2 other drives already installed, but one is a data drive and the other is a BU drive for time machine.

    I actually want to take a fresh drive (all other drives removed) and install Ubuntu there along with rEFIt that is needed to boot. Then I'd like to pop all the drives back into there desired places and see if I can use the command key to select the rEFIt / Ubuntu drive without disturbing the OSX drive. I realize I would end up having to navigate through to boot menus (if this works) but that's fine too. If possible, I'd prefer NOT to have rEFIt on my OSX drive. This may not be possible, but that's what I'm hoping for.
    Dont worry, Im not going to remove it in fact im thinking of reposting it more spaced out and with steps so its easier to read and understand

  9. #19
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    Re: New MacPro - Ubuntu Surprise (EFI)

    Quote Originally Posted by supermariofan25 View Post
    Where they Mac laptops or PC laptops? if they where PC laptops then rEFIt doesn't work with PC laptops, even with UEFI
    Sorry for the belated reply, I've been under the weather. They were PC laptops with Core2Duo processors and i5 processors with Intel Video. An OSX without rEFIt does nothing at all on these systems, with rEFIt I get to the rEFIt boot screen and that's as far as it goes. It won't even give me a flashing cursor without rEFIt. I thought that was the point of the rEFIt loader (to provided an EFI emulation so that a non-Mac could boot). How else would you get a non-Mac to boot OSX then.
    Mac Pro 5,1 6-Core 3.33GHz, 48GB, Sapphire RX580
    Optical -- Apple Super Drive & MCE Internal Blu-ray
    512GB SM 970 Pro NVMe/HighPoint 7101A/10.14.5
    SonnetAllegro Pro USB 3/ 4TB WD/4TB - Barracuda

  10. #20
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    Re: New MacPro - Ubuntu Surprise (EFI)

    Quote Originally Posted by supermariofan25 View Post
    Seems like you already have the CD/DVD booted anyway, good luck!
    Yeah, but I'm thinking it had some help from the OSX HD or something. I could be wrong. As soon as I'm feeling well again, I'll crack it open and pull the boot drive, and then see if it'll boot the CD. If it does, I'll try an install on a clean drive and see what happens.
    Mac Pro 5,1 6-Core 3.33GHz, 48GB, Sapphire RX580
    Optical -- Apple Super Drive & MCE Internal Blu-ray
    512GB SM 970 Pro NVMe/HighPoint 7101A/10.14.5
    SonnetAllegro Pro USB 3/ 4TB WD/4TB - Barracuda

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