1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
|
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<link rel="icon" href="data:,">
<title>Linux Mint MacBook Air Setup</title>
<link href="/atom.xml" type="application/atom+xml" rel="alternate" title="Atom feed for blog posts" />
<link href="/rss.xml" type="application/rss+xml" rel="alternate" title="RSS feed for blog posts" />
<style>*{box-sizing:border-box;}body{font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1.33;margin:0 auto;max-width:650px;padding:1rem;}img{max-width:100%;}pre{border:1px solid;overflow:auto;padding:5px;}table{text-align:left;width:100%;}.footnotes{font-size:90%;}</style>
</head>
<nav>
<a href="#menu">Menu ↓</a>
</nav>
<main>
<h1 id="linux-mint-macbook-air-setup">Linux Mint MacBook Air Setup</h1>
<p>2020-08-16</p>
<p>I don’t like the idea of throwing away old or outdated tech (within reason), so I try to find a new purpose for some of my “retired” devices. This article will cover how to switch over a mid-2011 model MacBook Air to utilize Linux Mint.</p>
<p><strong>Important</strong>: This setup will completely wipe your existing disk and create a fresh install of Linux Mint on the SSD. You have been warned.</p>
<h2 id="the-specs">The Specs</h2>
<p>My old MacBook Air has a pretty decent spec sheet:</p>
<ul>
<li>Processor: <strong>1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5</strong></li>
<li>Memory: <strong>4GB of 1333MHz DDR3</strong></li>
<li>Graphics: <strong>Advanced Intel HD Graphics 3000</strong></li>
<li>SSD: <strong>128 GB</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>And let’s take a look at the basic system requirements Linux Mint suggests:</p>
<ul>
<li>2GB RAM</li>
<li>Dual Core Processor</li>
<li>20GB free disk space</li>
</ul>
<p>We are looking pretty good!</p>
<h2 id="step-1-download-linux-mint">Step 1: Download Linux Mint</h2>
<p>For this setup we will be using the latest, stable version (at this time of writing) of Linux Mint 20 “Ulyana” - Xfce which is 20. You can download the necessary files here: </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=283">Linux Mint 20 “Ulyana” - Xfce</a> [1.8GB]</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="step-2-flash-linux-mint-to-usb-stick">Step 2: Flash Linux Mint to USB Stick</h2>
<p>Next we just need to flash the Linux Mint OS to a USB storage device. If you need to purchase some, you can easily find them on Amazon (affliate link):</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JB3NXIS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00JB3NXIS&linkCode=as2&tag=uglyduck-20&linkId=494f4c1dd4e21782ecb865bcaa5a526b">Kootion 10 Pack 4GB Flash Drive 4gb USB 2.0 Flash Drives Keychain USB Drive Bulk Thumb Drive Swivel Memory Stick Black</a></p></li>
<li><p>Download <a href="https://www.balena.io/etcher/">Balena Etcher</a> for your current operating system</p></li>
<li><p>Run the installer</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Once installed, open Etcher do the following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select your downloaded Linux Mint ISO file</li>
<li>Select your USB stick/device as the media</li>
<li>Flash media</li>
<li>???</li>
<li>Profit!!</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="step-3-boot-from-usb">Step 3: Boot from USB</h2>
<ul>
<li>Make sure your Macbook Air is turned off</li>
<li>Plug your newly flashed USB stick into the MacBook Air</li>
<li>Turn on the MacBook Air</li>
<li>Immediately hold down the <strong>alt/option</strong> button (keep holding until the prompt screen is visible)</li>
<li>You will be shown drive “icons” - you want to select your USB drive (normally the far right icon)</li>
<li>Press <strong>Enter</strong></li>
<li>Select the first item in the list that appears “Start Linux Mint”</li>
</ul>
<p>After this you will boot into a “live session” of the Linux Mint operating system.</p>
<h2 id="step-4-installing-linux-mint">Step 4: Installing Linux Mint</h2>
<p>Linux Mint makes it very easy for you to install it’s OS step-by-step (similar to most other Linux distros). Simply <strong>double-click</strong> on the “Install Linux Mint” CD icon on the main desktop.</p>
<ul>
<li>Choose your language. then hit <strong>Continue</strong></li>
<li>Select your preferred keyboard layout, then hit <strong>Continue</strong></li>
<li><em>Optional</em>: You might be asked to connect to a WiFi network, if you are set it up now</li>
<li>I would suggest downloading the multimedia codecs to make things easier, then hit <strong>Continue</strong></li>
<li>For installation type, select “Erase disk and install Linux Mint”, then hit <strong>Continue</strong>
<ul>
<li>WARNING: This will wipe your current drive completely - make sure you are okay with this!</li>
</ul></li>
<li>It will issue you with a warning prompt, simply click <strong>Continue</strong></li>
<li>Select your timezone, then hit <strong>Continue</strong></li>
<li>Enter your name, a username, a name for your computer, and set a password (you will use this to login moving forward)</li>
<li>Wait for the installation to complete</li>
<li>Once complete, you will be prompted to <strong>reboot your system</strong></li>
<li>After a reboot you will be prompted to remove the USB device and then press <strong>Enter</strong></li>
<li>Welcome to Linux Mint!</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>
<p>Linux Mint is not only a great operating system, but it is also an excellent starting point for newcomers to Linux in general. It’s stable enough to be used as a daily driver and popular enough that most minor issues can be solved with a quick internet search.</p>
<p>Hopefully this inspires others to try “recycling” their older Apple products instead of tossing them away or having them collect dust.</p>
<footer role="contentinfo">
<h2>Menu Navigation</h2>
<ul id="menu">
<li><a href="/">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="/projects">Projects</a></li>
<li><a href="/uses">Uses</a></li>
<li><a href="/wiki">Wiki</a></li>
<li><a href="/resume">Resume</a></li>
<li><a href="/colophon">Colophon</a></li>
<li><a href="/now">Now</a></li>
<li><a href="/donate">Donate</a></li>
<li><a href="/atom.xml">RSS</a></li>
<li><a href="#top">↑ Top of the page</a></li>
</ul>
<small>
Built with <a href="https://git.sr.ht/~bt/barf">barf</a>. <br>
Maintained with ♥ for the web. <br>
Proud supporter of <a href="https://usefathom.com/ref/DKHJVX">Fathom</a> & <a href="https://nextdns.io/?from=74d3p3h8">NextDNS</a>. <br>
The content for this site is <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC-BY-SA</a>.<br> The <a href="https://git.sr.ht/~bt/bt.ht">code for this site</a> is <a href="https://git.sr.ht/~bt/bt.ht/tree/master/item/LICENSE">MIT</a>.
</small>
</footer>
|
