amd64 images use BIOS or UEFI. Macs use a variant of EFI (an earlier version of what's now called UEFI), they apparently can't cope with multi-catalog CDs and the MAC variant images fix this.
Can anyone talk about how well a Macbook Pro copes with the UEFI version of Ubuntu?
Fedora 20 on a 2009 13" MBP is an unfun experience. Using the UEFI boot means you get broken graphics drivers. Using the regular boot means you have to hold boot to get the image boot menu every time you power on. (I think - I could easily be wrong). You have to make sure the disk is blessed otherwise there's a large boot delay. (Fedora 20 doesn't use the right Broadcom drivers which means some interesti g catch22 about needing to connect to the internet to get WIFI drivers but not being able to because lol no drivers.)
I don't want to rant about Fedora when most of this is my lack of knowledge. But the combination of Gnome3 and this kind of fiddling around was odd and reminded me of a much older install experience. (Having said all that, Fedora 20 is nice and does have some really nice features.)
> Can anyone talk about how well a Macbook Pro copes with the UEFI version of Ubuntu?
I don't know if this is still a case, but I was unable to use the proprietary nvidia drivers booting in pure UEFI mode (not BIOS compatible mode). I know that they've done a tone of UEFI work in grub/linux since then, so it's possible that this is no longer an issue.
So far, Ubuntu 14.04 is working flawlessly here on a MacBook Pro with retina display (2012).
Just speaking personally here. I've never been this impressed by a Linux release. If you have an HiDPI screen, then be prepared for a treat. It's absolutely stunning. It's fast, gorgeous, and near pixel perfect. Using the beta over the past few weeks has rekindled the joy and excitement of first discovering Linux as a kid (anyone remember those CDs in the back of magazines?)
The font rendering and window elements are now as sharp as OSX. The new version of GNOME provides integer scaling for all UI elements, not just text. That means no more huge fonts with tiny menu bars. Fonts look even better with anti-aliasing disabled using the gnome-tweak tool (IMHO). After years of tweaking ugly fonts & window managers, and being spoiled by a “retina” display, this is such a refreshing & welcome change to see in a mainstream distribution. After installing the restricted Nvidia driver, Unity is smooth and intuitive. It's clear they've put some effort into fixing the UI annoyances of prior versions.
This was my first time ever installing Linux on a Mac. I've always used a virtual machine. The first attempt using rEFInd was successful, but somewhat tedious. But then I found an easier way.
I installed rEFInd on OSX, booted into the Ubuntu Live Desktop, and then ran the installer with “ubiquity -b”. This worked. But Unity was a bit sluggish. This is because Ubuntu installs the open source version of the Nvidia driver by default (called “nouveau”). I learned the hard way that the restricted Nvidia drivers will not work with this boot method. If anyone else ends up with a frozen black screen, just do an F2 when rEFInd comes up, and add "text" to the boot command. Then you can remove the Nvidia drivers in console mode (although you'll need perfect vision for this, or a magnifying glass).
Now the easy way. The Ubuntu install tool provides several options on the first screen – one of which is to 'Install Ubuntu alongside OSX'.
I booted back into OSX, removed rEFInd, and deleted the Linux partitions - so now I just had the Mavericks partition, followed by free space. Download the Mac version of the ISO & create the installation USB courtesy of Google's assistance.
Now you can simply reboot OSX, hold down the Option key, and select the USB drive. Select the 'Install alongside Mac' option. It will automatically install to the free space. If you need Wifi during the installation, just open the terminal and run 'apt-get install bcm*'. This will load the Broadcom drivers & you'll be able to install any updates. Reboot to your desktop. Now use the Ubuntu software tool to install the Nvidia restricted drivers. Reboot once more, and savor the pixels and speed.
That's all there is to it. I'm going write this up in a blog post, along with some post-install tweaks (enabling the keys for brightness & the keyboard backlight, installing flux, vim/sublime, and remapping the keys in a Mac-friendly way). Just FYI, the various incarnations of Chrome do not yet support HiDPI on Linux. However, the Firefox Aurora version is fantastic (just set the scaling option in the about:config page).
Wow, this is really informative and thorough. Thanks for going through all of this. I've got an older MBP 2010 that was a real pain the last time I tried to install Ubuntu (13.10) when OSX got me pretty irate.
The other big gripe I had was the touchpad. It was weirdly sensitive and didn't understand many gestures. The weirdly sensitive part is probably the biggest deal, as any incidental brush was picked up. I guess OSX ignores certain patterns to cut down on the accidental movements.
Your experience (a lovely distribution; frustrating to install on Mac (and I am carefully avoiding placing blame on any one organisation here)) is odd in 2014.
All that kind of fiddling around is similar to the hoops people jumped through with earlier distributions.
I run Ubuntu on a Macbook Pro, and it works just fine with UEFI. However, I did have to do some tinkering with ReFind as part of the initial setup: http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/
Peeps, don't fuck with Ubuntu on Mac hardware unless you have reFind installed. Always useful to have the installation files on the mac as well as the ubuntu drive.
See: http://askubuntu.com/a/40480/117820