Hello, sorry to post twice in a row, I just have a burning question:

I copied the .iso for DSL to my Flash Drive and a CD, I restarted my mac, when it made the bong I held option, it brought me to that screen where you choose from which location you boot, and the only thing that was on there was my Mac HD. Flash drive or CD were not. Is there anything else I need? Am I doing something wrong? I have serached all over the internet and cannot find anything. Thanks

 

You need to burn the ISO as an image on the Flash or CD drive to make it bootable.

Dave

 

May I ask how I would go about doing that? I really don't think it's as simple as changing the file extension...

 

This article - http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060619181010389 - may help out.

 

May I ask how I would go about doing that? I really don't think it's as simple as changing the file extension...

You are correct it isn't that simple. The ISO is a single archive file that contains the data and structure information of a disk image. When you burn the image it creates the actual hierarchy and data structure from the information in the ISO. The single file format of the ISO archive makes distribution of complex software, such as an operating system, easy to achieve.

This article - http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060619181010389 - may help out.

That is exactly how it is done in OSX. In Windows you would require 3rd party software which most OEM installs ship with.

Dave

 

Well, it worked, so thanks, it booted off the disc, but I couldn't figure out how to use Disc utility to put it on the Flash. Am I able to just do a copy to get it on the the flash drive?

The rather odd part is that some things didn't work. I booted up, it went through the whole song and dance of booting and configuring devices but wen I got to the desktop, nothing worked except the arrow keys and space bar with which I scrolled over that first document that opens. My trackpad on my MacBook didn't work and I tried two separate USB mice, both of which did not work. Anybody know why? By the way, will I need to get a windows formatted keyboard to run this correctly? I would assume not.

THANKS

 

Well, it worked, so thanks, it booted off the disc, but I couldn't figure out how to use Disc utility to put it on the Flash. Am I able to just do a copy to get it on the the flash drive?

You can copy the disk image to the Flash drive and then make the Flash drive bootable from the EFI settings - actually what you are doing is making the Flash drive a higher boot priority than the primary HD.

The rather odd part is that some things didn't work. I booted up, it went through the whole song and dance of booting and configuring devices but wen I got to the desktop, nothing worked except the arrow keys and space bar with which I scrolled over that first document that opens. My trackpad on my MacBook didn't work and I tried two separate USB mice, both of which did not work. Anybody know why? By the way, will I need to get a windows formatted keyboard to run this correctly? I would assume not.

THANKS

I assume your issue is driver related - I am not aware of DSL being supported on generic Mac hardware, therefore in the absence of proper drivers for the hardware in DSL then you are going to experience malfunctioning.

Perhaps you should try one of the more mainstream distros such as Ubuntu or Linux Mint (built on Ubuntu and is highly recommended) where hardware is more widely supported. The full versions of Ubuntu and Linux Mint are only ~690MBs and will easily fit on a standard CD or Flash drive.

Dave

 

Ok, I am downloading Ubuntu right now.

So if I change the EFI, do I still have to hold any keys down during boot?

 

So let's see, Ubuntu was a pretty good success, I got on, and most controls worked. However that left click for the start menu all over the screen didn't work, I tried ctrl click and plugged in a separate mouse, which worked except for the left click. Also, The icons on the desktop didn't work. And then the applications menu had some good apps, but some got launch errors, any idea why? Finally, where are internet options? All I need to do is select the DHCP, right? Regardless tough, thanks for the help, it was my first time running linux on one of my computer instead of trying someone else's. Definitely better than everything else.


Now I just have one question, cause I kinda scared myself, I made a Bootcamp partition for "Windows" for the minimum 5GB. I restarted, holding option, it brought up mac HD and the disc icon with windows below it. selected the "Windows" Disc, It brought up the Ubuntu login thing I said install ubuntu (Whatever the second option on the list.) It took me through installation, time, name etc.. I selected the partition that 5.8 GB, which I figured was the one I wanted, it said it need 2.2 GB for the full version of Ubuntu and 3.6 for my files, I click continue, and it brought me to a command prompt looking thing and it said all kinds of things I don't understand. It paused for a little after printing that text I don't understand at which time it accepted input from my keyboard than all the sudden it just went crazy outputting many error messages, still in that command prompt which I suppose was the terminal, I think one of the words in the message was bread. at which point I got horribly scared I would lose all my OSX data and quickly shut down. Does this sound ok? Is there anything to worry about?

Also, is it possible to go back and give the ubuntu side more space on the partition? If so, How would I go about this?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH IF THERE'S ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HELP YOU ALL, PLEASE ASK!!!!!!!

 

Ok, I am downloading Ubuntu right now.

So if I change the EFI, do I still have to hold any keys down during boot?

Once you set the boot priority, then all you have to do is use the CD or Flash drive to boot your OS - provided the combo drive or USB drive has higher priority than OSX then it will boot to that OS first. If there is nothing in the combo drive or USB port then the EFI config will poll these areas, deduce that there is nothing to boot from, then will boot from the primary HD. This polling will increase your boot-time slightly, but it prevents you dipping into the EFI settings each time.

Dave

 

So let's see, Ubuntu was a pretty good success, I got on, and most controls worked. However that left click for the start menu all over the screen didn't work, I tried ctrl click and plugged in a separate mouse, which worked except for the left click. Also, The icons on the desktop didn't work. And then the applications menu had some good apps, but some got launch errors, any idea why?

Sounds strange. Did you md5checksum the ISO when you downloaded it to ensure the ISO wasn't borked?

I had several problems with Ubuntu 8.04 so went back to 7.10.

Finally, where are internet options? All I need to do is select the DHCP, right? Regardless tough, thanks for the help, it was my first time running linux on one of my computer instead of trying someone else's. Definitely better than everything else.

I assume you are connecting wirelessly? If so, no config is necessary. Just connect as you would if you were using Airport on OSX - click the network connection icon in the top right, select a network, select the encryption type (if necessary), entry the encrytion key for the network, and you're done.

Now I just have one question, cause I kinda scared myself, I made a Bootcamp partition for "Windows" for the minimum 5GB. I restarted, holding option, it brought up mac HD and the disc icon with windows below it. selected the "Windows" Disc, It brought up the Ubuntu login thing I said install ubuntu (Whatever the second option on the list.) It took me through installation, time, name etc.. I selected the partition that 5.8 GB, which I figured was the one I wanted, it said it need 2.2 GB for the full version of Ubuntu and 3.6 for my files, I click continue, and it brought me to a command prompt looking thing and it said all kinds of things I don't understand. It paused for a little after printing that text I don't understand at which time it accepted input from my keyboard than all the sudden it just went crazy outputting many error messages, still in that command prompt which I suppose was the terminal, I think one of the words in the message was bread. at which point I got horribly scared I would lose all my OSX data and quickly shut down. Does this sound ok? Is there anything to worry about?

Also, is it possible to go back and give the ubuntu side more space on the partition? If so, How would I go about this?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH IF THERE'S ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HELP YOU ALL, PLEASE ASK!!!!!!!

Provided you selected the Windows partition, then your OSX partition should not be affected.

Without seeing the error messages I cannot comment on what the problem is. I would assume that the error messages might be because you are trying to install Linux, where Windows is the install Bootcamp is designed for (i.e. the bundled drivers are for Windows).

Without the error messages I would only be guessing.

Dave

 

Ummm... I don't know what md5checksum is. sorry

I will try 7.10 instead

Ok, thanks, so all my mac files shouldn't be affected, that's good. Also, may I ask how to delete a partition from the mac side?

 

Ummm... I don't know what md5checksum is. sorry

The md5checksum verifies that the ISO did not become corrupted when downloaded - this may account for some of the problems.

You can check from the Terminal but I recommend you download the MD5 Checksum software from Apple (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/automator/md5checksum.html) and pass the Ubuntu 8.04 ISO file into the programme. Verify the checksum is:

8895167a794c5d8dedcc312fc62f1f1f

If not, then something has gone awry with the ISO download and you are advised to redownload the ISO from one of the Ubuntu mirrors.

Ok, thanks, so all my mac files shouldn't be affected, that's good. Also, may I ask how to delete a partition from the mac side?

I haven't tried doing this so I will point you to Apples documentation; see: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/15554.html

Dave

 

ok, thanks, I will give that a shot.

Now I feel better about installing, I was worried before that my mac side would go boom, for lack of better words

 

ok, thanks, I will give that a shot.

Now I feel better about installing, I was worried before that my mac side would go boom, for lack of better words

Have you booted into OSX since? If not, try it just to alleviate your fears.

Dave

 

Well I haven't completed Linux install yet, but yes, I have successfully booted into OSX

 

Well I haven't completed Linux install yet, but yes, I have successfully booted into OSX

Good to hear your OSX install is fine. As for installing Linux, I'm not aware that it is natively supported under BootCamp which is designed for dual-booting Windows. Something you may wish to keep and eye on is something called Mubi, which is a Mac installation project similar to Wubi for Windows. This will allow you to install Linux from within OSX without partitioning the drive, whilst giving you the option to boot into Linux from the boot loader.

Mubi isn't available on general release, but keep it in mind.

Dave