MBP 1,1-10,2 MacBook Pro 17" A1212 LINUX?

[Michael Maddan]

Hello!
I'm guessing that this question has been answered several times, so a quick re-direct to an answer is OK.
So: I'm considering installing LINUX on this Old Apple, and I'd appreciate some guidance. It seems ( ? ) that I may not be able to boot from a USB, but that is not an issue, as it's so easy to swap-out a drive. Any suggestions @ a good version of LINUX will certainly help.
As always: THANKS!

 

[Arctic Moose]

It seems ( ? ) that I may not be able to boot from a USB, but that is not an issue, as it's so easy to swap-out a drive. Any suggestions @ a good version of LINUX will certainly help.

I cannot recall what restrictions the 2006 Macs had on booting, you may need to adjust some settings, but it will definitely work.

Try Ubuntu:

Create a bootable USB stick on macOS | Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an open source software operating system that runs from the desktop, to the cloud, to all your internet connected things.

ubuntu.com

 

[Madonepro]

Hello!
I'm guessing that this question has been answered several times, so a quick re-direct to an answer is OK.
So: I'm considering installing LINUX on this Old Apple, and I'd appreciate some guidance. It seems ( ? ) that I may not be able to boot from a USB, but that is not an issue, as it's so easy to swap-out a drive. Any suggestions @ a good version of LINUX will certainly help.
As always: THANKS!

That MBP would have bootcamp, is it possible you could install it that way, and then have the ability to dual boot. Here is a link that has tutorial on how to install Linux that way you've described. Remember, hold option key to chose which bootable drive.

 

[Michael Maddan]

Thanks for getting the process underway. I was happy to find this A1212...it's in nice cosmetic shape, and once I gave it a good cleaning and new paste, it came back to Life. It seems that someone had done the paste at least once, and perhaps ( ? ) felt the need to reposition the motherboard as it was going back in...and, in-so-doing, upset the paste! The coverage was dismal, and I could see areas that were not covered at all...which, must be why the poor Old Apple would run 10-15 minutes, and shut down! I thought it was a hardware issue ( something was failing=not worth fixing ), and was very happy to discover that it was 'simply' a case of redoing an earlier job.

I forget what it's called, but there's a cable that's attached to the bottom of the motherboard, and the online instructions that I used suggested unplugging the cable @ motherboard removal, and reattaching as the board went back in.

I respectfully differ: leave the cable attached, and simply go to where it's plugged in, and unplug it there. It just takes a few minutes to get to the other end, and trying to wiggle it under the board as the board's going back in seems an invitation to Heartache: once the paste is in place, and sure seems as if it would be upset if the board had to be moved around as the darn cable was trying to be reinstalled underneath it.

Something similar obtains @ iBook G4 disassembly: there are a few plugs that some online instructions suggest need to be removed to get at the HDD, etc. Nope! Just leave the Old, Brittle little connectors alone, and make a few cuts in the aluminum sheet, and lift it up and away. The speakers can be unscrewed, and their plug left alone, too. These 20+ year-old connectors are touchy, and trying to pull them apart is--once again!--an invitation to Heartache.

 

[kencu]

Some of the older Intel Macs had 32 bit EFI, and almost all the current ISOs you will find to install Ubuntu or Debian have 64 bit EFI only.

To get past this, somebody sorted out how to tweak the 64 bit EFI ISO to boot as 32 bit. You run this on the ISO before you burn it to disk or USB. Here's the original.

GitHub - demonicsweaters/make_single_eltorito.c: This is a small c program to create bootable 64 bit linux disks for 32 bit EFI Macbooks (assuming they have 64 bit processors)

This is a small c program to create bootable 64 bit linux disks for 32 bit EFI Macbooks (assuming they have 64 bit processors) - demonicsweaters/make_single_eltorito.c

github.com

I tweaked it a bit for my own uses:

GitHub - kencu/Boot-64bit-linux-on-32bit-EFI-Macs: This is a small c program to create bootable 64 bit linux disks for 32 bit EFI Macbooks (assuming they have 64 bit processors)

This is a small c program to create bootable 64 bit linux disks for 32 bit EFI Macbooks (assuming they have 64 bit processors) - kencu/Boot-64bit-linux-on-32bit-EFI-Macs

github.com

I have so far had 100% success installing Ubuntu on these older Intel Macs.

 

[Michael Maddan]

Some of the older Intel Macs had 32 bit EFI, and almost all the current ISOs you will find to install Ubuntu or Debian have 64 bit EFI only.

To get past this, somebody sorted out how to tweak the 64 bit EFI ISO to boot as 32 bit. You run this on the ISO before you burn it to disk or USB. Here's the original.

GitHub - demonicsweaters/make_single_eltorito.c: This is a small c program to create bootable 64 bit linux disks for 32 bit EFI Macbooks (assuming they have 64 bit processors)

This is a small c program to create bootable 64 bit linux disks for 32 bit EFI Macbooks (assuming they have 64 bit processors) - demonicsweaters/make_single_eltorito.c

github.com

I tweaked it a bit for my own uses:

GitHub - kencu/Boot-64bit-linux-on-32bit-EFI-Macs: This is a small c program to create bootable 64 bit linux disks for 32 bit EFI Macbooks (assuming they have 64 bit processors)

This is a small c program to create bootable 64 bit linux disks for 32 bit EFI Macbooks (assuming they have 64 bit processors) - kencu/Boot-64bit-linux-on-32bit-EFI-Macs

github.com

I have so far had 100% success installing Ubuntu on these older Intel Macs.

Thanks...I'll take a look.

I'll also note at this moment that I sometimes have trouble following instructions on sites that seem geared to folks who are really familiar with things like programming and dealing with the intricacies of operating systems...I can get lost.

Then again: if things are spelled-out in 'common language', I can almost always succeed...stay tuned!