Hey there, I’m trying to install Mint on a 2015 MacBook Pro and for some reason the laptop won’t show the USB in the boot menu when I try to access it. I’ve tried using both baleneaEtcher on both my Macbook and my Linux desktop, and ventoy on the desktop to make the drive but neither has worked.

Does anyone have experience with this era of macs and installing Linux on them?

EDIT: Changing the flash drive worked ¯_(ツ)_/¯

  • Eugenia@lemmy.mlEnglish
    10·
    3 months ago

    Try another usb, different brand. It might not be the burning app, it could be the usb itself. Also, try different ports of usb. Finally, have an ethernet usb adapter, if your laptop doesn’t have an ethernet port, because you will need that to install the wifi driver, which is not included by default on linux, because it’s not a Free driver.

    • Chimaeratorian@beehaw.org
      2·
      3 months ago

      This explains so much! It took me ages to get the Broadcom working correctly and even now I’m not sure how I got it to work (it sometimes goes away and I have to reboot to bring it back).

  • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    3·
    3 months ago

    Macs dont support EFI booting OSes other than Mac OS properly. You either need to install a bootloader or make sure you flash drive is made in “legacy bios mode”.

  • Chimaeratorian@beehaw.org
    2·
    3 months ago

    The etcher worked for me but I installed elementaryOS on a 2013. Have you verified the checksum and verified the USB works to boot any other computer you have available (your Linux desktop, maybe?)

    • msmc101OP
      1·
      3 months ago

      yeah I used the same USB to install Garuda on my desktop just very recently

      • Chimaeratorian@beehaw.org
        1·
        3 months ago

        Haha I think there’s some confusion. I’m not asking if the USB is confirmed working, I’m asking if your Mint image is correctly written and can boot another machine successfully.

        • msmc101OP
          1·
          3 months ago

          oh sorry, yes the mint image is working

  • LeFantome@programming.dev
    1·
    3 months ago

    I have installed Linux on several Macs. Just installed EndeavourOS on a 2013 MacBook Air a couple nights ago.

    As somebody else said, wait for the chime and then hold down the Option key to get presented with the USB stick as an option.

    It may have to be the left Option key. In rare cases, you may need Shift-Option.

    Worst case, install Legacy Core Patcher and it will show the USB even without pressing Option.

    You need a version of Linux that can boot from EFI of course.