How to install Ubuntu 12.04 on a Macbook

[geovino]

Is there a iso version of Ubuntu 12.04 or 12.10 that will install on a Mac?

[Sef]

Is this an Intel based Mac?

[geovino]

Is this an Intel based Mac?

Yes.

[buzzingrobot]

Yes. Look for a filename with "+mac+ in it. There's one here (http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/12.04/release/).

Bear in mind that it won't do an EFI install, using BIOS compatibility mode instead. If you have a MacBook with two video cards, one an onboard Intel and the other a discrete Nvidia or AMD card, your install will only see one of them. You need to install in EFI mode to see both cards.

I spent most of this weekend trying to setup 12.04.02 on a MacBook Pro 8,2. I installed in EFI mode and BIOS compatibility mode, with no problems. In EFI mode, the system saw both video cards, but I was unable to switch from the AMD to the Intel. In either mode the machine ran too hot and the fans were always maxed out. In the end, I went back to OS X.

Hardware varies across the MacBook range, so your experience might easily be different.

(Fedora 18 does install in EFI mode on its own.)

[geovino]

So if this is a 3 yr old mac book which has an Intel chip I can use the regular Ubuntu live CD whether 12.10 or 12.04?

Maybe I was thinking of when there was PPC chips that had their own Ubuntu version a few years ago. You don't see those too much anymore.

[buzzingrobot]

So if this is a 3 yr old mac book which has an Intel chip I can use the regular Ubuntu live CD whether 12.10 or 12.04?



Yep.