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Problems With Linux Mint On Mid-2007 MacBook

tensixturtle

tensixturtle

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 30, 2021
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Kepler 22b
Hello,
I am trying to install Linux Mint (20.3 Mate 64-bit) on my mid-2007 MacBook (C2D, 2GB). However, I am having a near impossible time of this and I can't get USB or DVD to boot the live installer. With DVD, I am stuck with a message of "Choose CD-ROM boot type:". When I try holding down 1 during startup, it adds a one after the message but in both cases is unresponsive to anything. When I use USB flashed with dd, I use rEFInd to try to boot from it but it won't recognize the bootable Linux USB. Both of these methods work flawlessly on my late 2009 unibody MacBook. Is there something I'm missing? Is it not compatible with this model?
Thank you very much in advance.
 
I think that model doesn’t support 64 bit booting.
There is a way around this by downloading a specially adapted iso that allows Mint to boot in 32 bit mode - see https://mattgadient.com/linux-dvd-images-and-how-to-for-32-bit-efi-macs-late-2006-models/ which I’ve used successfully on a 2006 iMac to get Mint up and running.
If you download Mint 20 Cinnamon from that site you will find that it will run pretty well, and you can upgrade all the way to the latest version over the air, which you cannot do with Mint 19.

Hope this helps,

Cheers :)

Hugh
 
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@Hughmac thanks, that might fix my problem. I thought that with its 64-bit processor and 64-bit EFI it might work but apparently not. I will definitely try this!
 
I tried the version in the link at it booted the installer fine! However, after installing, it won't recognize it as an operating system the Mac can boot from, even though there were no errors during the installation. I am wondering if I did not set up the partitions correctly? I had them set up as follows:
60GB partition, mount point /, ext4, this is where I installed Mint
60GB partition, no mount point, ext4, this where I was planning on installing OS X Tiger
4GB partition, swap area
4GB partition, efi
I am not sure about the order, unfortunately, but if it matters I can try it again and keep track of it this time.
Thanks in advance.
 
I would start by installing OS X, and leave a blank unformatted partition for Mint. Once you have Tiger the way you want, then you can boot to the Mint installer.
Just let it do its thing; it will offer to install alongside the Mac system and if you let it partition as it wants everything will go fine. It will also handle Grub for you.
After that you can put rEFInd on, either from Tiger or Mint, and you should be good.

Cheers :)

Hugh
 
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1B11142C-7326-4652-94B4-FC02FB10D4EE.jpeg
@Hughmac I tried that and it works very well! Thank you for your advice!

One question I had was with sleep when I shut the lid and open it again later. Often the computer fans are running but the screen doesn't turn on and the keyboard doesn't respond, so I have to do a hard shutdown. I have experienced this in the past with other Macs and Linux distros, but I was wondering if anyone has any ideas for how to fix this? Thanks.
 
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