Unleash The Full Potential Of Your Mac: Learn How To Install And Dual Boot Ubuntu Now!

If you’re looking to unleash the full potential of your Mac, then you should know that installing and dual-booting Ubuntu is one of the best ways to do it. By running both macOS and Ubuntu on the same machine, you get the best of both worlds, and can use whichever operating system is right for you at any given time.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to install Ubuntu on your Mac in three easy steps. We’ll also walk you through the process of setting up a dual-boot so that you can switch between macOS and Ubuntu at will.

Before we get started, there are a few things you’ll need. First, you’ll need a Macintosh computer that’s relatively new (within the last 5 years). You’ll also need enough disk space to partition your hard drive and install Ubuntu. Finally, you’ll need to download an Ubuntu ISO file from the official website.

Step 1: Create a bootable USB drive with Ubuntu

The first step is to create a bootable USB drive with Ubuntu on it. You can do this on any computer that has a USB port and internet access. To create a bootable USB drive, you’ll need a program like Etcher, which you can download for free from the official website.

To create a bootable USB drive with Ubuntu, follow these steps:

  1. Open Etcher and select the Ubuntu ISO file you downloaded.
  2. Insert a USB drive into your computer.
  3. Select the USB drive in Etcher.
  4. Click “Flash!” to create the bootable USB drive.

Once your USB drive is ready, you can move on to the next step.

Step 2: Partition your hard drive

The next step is to partition your hard drive to make room for Ubuntu. This will allow you to install Ubuntu alongside macOS so that you can dual-boot between the two operating systems. To partition your hard drive, follow these steps:

  1. Open Disk Utility on your Mac.
  2. Select your hard drive.
  3. Click the “Partition” button.
  4. Click the “+” button to create a new partition.
  5. Set the size of the new partition (we recommend at least 30GB).
  6. Select the format for the new partition (we recommend “MS-DOS (FAT)”).
  7. Click “Apply” to create the new partition.

Step 3: Install Ubuntu

Now that you have a bootable USB drive and a partition on your hard drive, it’s time to install Ubuntu. To install Ubuntu, follow these steps:

  1. Insert the bootable USB drive into your Mac.
  2. Restart your Mac and hold down the “Option” key.
  3. Select the USB drive from the list of bootable devices.
  4. Follow the prompts to install Ubuntu onto the new partition.

If you run into any problems during the installation process, be sure to consult the official Ubuntu documentation or seek help from Ubuntu’s community forums.

Step 4: Set up dual-booting

Once Ubuntu is installed, you can set up dual-booting so that you can switch between macOS and Ubuntu at will. To set up dual-booting, follow these steps:

  1. Restart your Mac.
  2. Hold down the “Option” key to access the boot menu.
  3. Select the operating system you want to boot into.

That’s it! You now have a Mac that’s capable of running both macOS and Ubuntu, and you’re free to use whichever operating system is right for you at any given time.

In conclusion, if you’re looking to unleash the full potential of your Mac, then installing and dual-booting Ubuntu is one of the best ways to do it. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can have Ubuntu up and running on your Mac in no time. So don’t wait any longer, get started today and unleash the full potential of your Mac!

Dual-booting macOS and Ubuntu requires a little adventurousness, but it’s not too difficult. There can be some problems with the bootloader, though, so we’ll need to deal with that. It’s not too hard to install (and dual-boot) Ubuntu on a Mac.

As a warning, it’s way more efficient to run Ubuntu on a virtual machine using VMWare. If for some reason this doesn’t work for you, dual booting should be your second option. Just a warning: some hardware functionality might never work right under Ubuntu. Macs can be weird under Linux, so only proceed if you possess the patience and technical know-how for troubleshooting.

Before you begin, back up your Mac. This is not optional.

1. Download Ubuntu

  1. Download the current Ubuntu LTS installer from the Canonical website. As of publication, that version is Ubuntu 16.04.4 LTS.

  2. Donate to support Ubuntu, or click “Not Now” to go directly to the download page.

2. Create Your Ubuntu Installation Drive

We will use a USB drive for this example. The drive must be at least 2 GB and empty.

Formatting the Drive

  1. Insert your USB into your Mac.

  2. Open Disk Utility from “Application/Utilities.” Select your USB drive in the sidebar.

  3. Click “Erase” in the menu bar to format the drive.

  4. In the next screen, set the format to “MS-DOS (FAT)” and the scheme to “GUID Partition Map.”

  5. Click “Erase” and wait for the formatting process to complete.

If you have trouble with formatting, try doing the same thing with Terminal.

Writing the Image

We will use Etcher to write the Ubuntu install image to disk.

  1. Download and install Etcher.

  2. Open Etcher. Click “Select Image” and choose the Ubuntu ISO file.

  3. Click “Select Drive” and choose your USB drive.

  4. Click “Flash!” to write the image to your USB drive.

3. Prepping Your Drive

rEFInd will be our bootloader for both Ubuntu and macOS.

Installing rEFInd

  1. Download rEFInd’s binary package.

  2. Unzip the downloaded file.

  3. Open Terminal from “/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.”

  4. Drag the “refind-installer” file onto the Terminal icon to run the script.

You may need to disable System Integrity Protection (SIP) before proceeding or install rEFInd from the recovery partition. To do so:

  • Reboot your Mac. When the startup screen shows up, press and hold the Command + R until the Apple logo appears on your screen.
  • Once it finishes loading and brings you to Recovery Mode, click “Utilities -> Terminal.”
  • In the Terminal window, type in csrutil disable and press Enter.
  • Restart your Mac.
  1. Reboot your Mac to ensure rEFInd is operational.

Resizing the Boot Partition with Disk Utility

If we want to dual boot macOS and Ubuntu from the same hard drive, we’ll need to make a partition for Ubuntu with Disk Utility.

  1. Open Disk Utility from the “/Applications/Utilities” folder.

  2. Select your boot disk in the sidebar and click the “Partition” button.

  3. Click “Partition” in the dialog box to confirm.

  4. Click the “+” button to add a partition

  5. Set the size and name. Choose “MS-DOS (FAT)” for your partition type. This will be erased by the Ubuntu installer.

  6. Click “Apply,” then “Partition” to execute.

If you encounter trouble, you may need to either use Terminal to partition the drive instead or clear Time Machine snapshots.

4. Installing Ubuntu

With all that accomplished, we are finally ready to install Ubuntu on our Mac! Unfortunately, high-quality screenshots were not available for these steps.

Booting from the USB

  1. Reboot your Mac.

  2. Select your USB drive in rEFInd to boot from it.

Running the Ubuntu Installer

  1. Connect to your wireless network (if you can) and choose to install third-party software.

  2. At the installation selection screen, choose “Something Else” from the bottom.

  3. Select the partition you created earlier. Click the “–” button to delete it.

  4. With the free space selected, click the “+” to create a new partition.

  5. Set the size to 4000 MB and “Use as” to “swap.”

  6. Create another new partition with the “+” button. Use all the available free space. Set “Use as” to “Ext4 journaling file system.” Set the mount point to “/.”

  7. Choose the ext4 partition under “device for bootloader installation.”

  8. Click through the remaining steps to create your user and finish the installation.

Setting Up Boot Order

Upon completion, your Mac will likely boot into Ubuntu automatically. If so, the GRUB bootloader has taken over: we need to reassert rEFInd’s control. Follow the instructions in this guide to use efibootmgr from within Ubuntu to solve the problem.

There might be a shortcut, though. If you only have rEFInd and Ubuntu installed, this Ubuntu Terminal command should set you right. However, circumstances vary, so don’t just run it blindly:

Conclusion: After Installation

You likely need to install additional drivers and software specifically for your Mac model. The best advice is to search out appropriate drivers and software changes for your hardware in particular.

Alexander Fox is a tech and science writer based in Philadelphia, PA with one cat, three Macs and more USB cables than he could ever use.

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