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Ubuntu Server On Mac Mini?

A

alucard001

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 15, 2010
2
0
Hi all, I got a question and I hope that everyone can give me a hand.

I bought a mac mini from Apple shop today and would like to remove OSX and totally transform it into an Ubuntu server.

However, when we just put the server disc to mac mini and it seems that the mac is not able to detect everything, including network card and hard drive.

And at last, I failed install ubuntu.

After google this issue, it seems that installing ubuntu server on mac mini required some little tricks. But I don't understand what it is.

I also go through this forum but it seems that some of people have this problem also, but cannot fix it properly.

So here are my questions:

- Are there any real "steps" that can be used to remove default OSX and install linux on mac mini?

- What do you think about the performance if I install Ubuntu in virtualbox/vmware running on Mac Mini? I think it can solve a lot of problem but I doubt if it is a good choice or not.

Can you please give me some suggestions about it?

Thank you in advance for all your help.
 
I

indg

macrumors 6502
Feb 7, 2007
459
12
comparing performance of vmware to parallels, i've found parallels to be much better with Windows at least. i can only assume it would be faster for linux as well. i have not tried virtualbox. if i had to ponder a guess, i'd say you would get at least 90% native speed for an os running in a VM. they've come a long way since the days of virtualpc.
 
D

dyn

macrumors 68030
Aug 8, 2009
2,708
388
.nl
Parallels is only faster and supports a bit more things when you're using Windows. If you're using anything else VirtualBox and VMware Fusion are far better solutions. Especially Fusion since VMware has support for a lot of different OS's. Performance when virtualising something really depends on the hosts specifications (cpu speed, amount of memory, fast or slow drive (hdd/ssd)) and what you want to do with the vm (a webserver for 10 people or for 10.000 people is quite different in setup and system requirements). What are you planning to do with the Ubuntu vm and what amount of memory do you want to assign to the vm?
 
Giuly

Giuly

macrumors 68040
Oct 16, 2009
3,348
4
That depends whether you ask for timezone, state o
alucard001 said:
Hi all, I got a question and I hope that everyone can give me a hand.

I bought a mac mini from Apple shop today and would like to remove OSX and totally transform it into an Ubuntu server.

However, when we just put the server disc to mac mini and it seems that the mac is not able to detect everything, including network card and hard drive.

And at last, I failed install ubuntu.

After google this issue, it seems that installing ubuntu server on mac mini required some little tricks. But I don't understand what it is.

I also go through this forum but it seems that some of people have this problem also, but cannot fix it properly.

So here are my questions:

- Are there any real "steps" that can be used to remove default OSX and install linux on mac mini?

- What do you think about the performance if I install Ubuntu in virtualbox/vmware running on Mac Mini? I think it can solve a lot of problem but I doubt if it is a good choice or not.

Can you please give me some suggestions about it?

Thank you in advance for all your help.
Click to expand...
First, congratulations, you've just trashed a couple of hundred bucks. For the same money you could have build an AMD hexa-core server with a 2TB hard drives that runs Ubuntu Server. If you bought it for it's dimensions, then congratulations again for being ignorant about Mini-ITX. Or the power consumption? Then Intel Atom is for you, for about $100 plus RAM, case and hard drive(s).

And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who burn their money in a purgatory with an inadequate choice of hardware even if thee are blinded by the brushed aluminum with the :apple: in front of their eyes. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.
Click to expand...

Second, you need to install Ubuntu Server via Bootcamp. Everything you read there about Windows applies to Ubuntu as well, at least about the installation. The manual is available in many languages, which may make you understand it better. Just go to the support page of Apple in your language and search for Bootcamp.
 
D

dyn

macrumors 68030
Aug 8, 2009
2,708
388
.nl
Giuly said:
First, congratulations, you've just trashed a couple of hundred bucks. For the same money you could have build an AMD hexa-core server with a 2TB hard drives that runs Ubuntu Server. If you bought it for it's dimensions, then congratulations again for being ignorant about Mini-ITX. Or the power consumption? Then Intel Atom is for you, for about $100 plus RAM, case and hard drive(s).
Click to expand...
You're completely ignorant about the many problems Linux has with Intel Atom systems. There are only 2 kinds of chipsets that work properly and both chipsets have a high power consumption. You're also completely ignorant about the computing power the mini packs into a small package. The Core 2 Duo is much faster and the mini can take up to 8 GB of memory. The Intel Atom's can only take up to 2 GB due to limitation by Intel. You're also completely ignorant about the tests some people did comparing the Mac mini and some Intel Atom systems regarding power consumption. In every test they concluded the Mac mini has a lesser power consumption compared to the Intel Atom systems.

In other words: the Mac mini is the best choice regarding both computing power and power consumption. The only advantage the Intel Atom systems have, is their smaller price. It's cheaper if you build an Atom machine yourself.
 
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