Linux support for the Keyboard & Trackpad, the networking drivers, and the T2 security chip only just recently got merged into the mainline Linux Kernel. I'm fairly sure you need at least kernel version 5.4+ to get some of these features working and I believe v5.6 may be necessary for T2 support. I don't recall which of the post v5.4 releases has T2 support.
- How To Install Linux On Macbook Air Pro
- How To Install Linux On Macbook Air Backup
- How To Install Kali Linux On Macbook Air
- How To Install Linux On Macbook Air Louder
Computer software stores itunes. Today we'll install Ubuntu onto an old mid 2007 macbooksearch for the wiki page on your model of laptop (search for your model): https://help.ubuntu.com/Twit. Apparently, the recommended approach to installing Ubuntu on a MacBook Air depends on your hardware version. I believe it is best to start with this page.
Currently you cannot easily install Linux onto an Apple computer which uses the T2 security chip because the Linux Kernel with the T2 support is not included in any of the currently released distributions as a default kernel. If you want to run Linux on this laptop, then you will most likely need to first install Linux to an older Mac or other UEFI booting PC and install the latest v5.6 kernel. I would suggest trying to boot this customized Linux boot disk externally to confirm you use the built-in keyboard, trackpad, and either WiFi or ethernet. Then clone the Linux install to the internal SSD (again you will need a boot disk with support for the T2 security chip).
I do not recommend dual booting this laptop with both macOS and Linux unless you have good backups and are prepared to perform a clean install or restore from backup since you will at some point most likely do something which will prevent either OS from booting and possibly risk losing access to all the data in one or both operating systems.
You cannot disable the T2 chip as it is an integral part of the system. The most you can do is disable some of the security settings to allow a non-Apple OS to boot and to allow booting from an external drive.
Apr 9, 2020 5:20 PM
How To Install Linux On Macbook Air Pro
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UNetbootin for Mac OS X can be used to automate the process of extracting the Ubuntu ISO file to USB, and making the USB drive bootable. The resulting USB drive, however, can be booted on PCs only. If attempting to make a USB drive that can be booted from a Mac, follow the instructions below.
We would encourage Mac users to download Ubuntu Desktop Edition by burning a CD for the time being. But if you would prefer to use a USB, please follow the instructions below.
Note: this procedure requires an .img file that you will be required to create from the .iso file you download.
TIP: Drag and Drop a file from Finder to Terminal to 'paste' the full path without typing and risking type errors.
- Download the desired file
Open the Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities/ or query Terminal in Spotlight)
Convert the .iso file to .img using the convert option of hdiutil
- Note: OS X tends to put the .dmg ending on the output file automatically.
Run to get the current list of devices
- Insert your flash media
Run again and determine the device node assigned to your flash media (e.g. /dev/disk2)
Run
(replace N with the disk number from the last command; in the previous example, N would be 2)
If you see the error 'Unmount of diskN failed: at least one volume could not be unmounted', start Disk Utility.app and unmount the volume (don't eject).
Execute (replace /path/to/downloaded.img with the path where the image file is located; for example, ./ubuntu.img or ./ubuntu.dmg).
Using /dev/rdisk instead of /dev/disk may be faster.
If you see the error dd: Invalid number '1m', you are using GNU dd. Use the same command but replace bs=1m with bs=1M.
If you see the error dd: /dev/diskN: Resource busy, make sure the disk is not in use. Start Disk Utility.app Freeware software like photoshop. and unmount the volume (don't eject).
Run and remove your flash media when the command completes
Restart your Mac and press alt while the Mac is restarting to choose the USB-Stick
Please notice: While all of the info and above commands are executed properly on a MacBook Air 3,2 (that is the 2010 version 13' version of the Air) the end result will not produce a bootable USB device, at least not with the image for Ubuntu 10.10 64-bit. When booting of the USB device the following message or something similar will appear: 'Missing operating system' and the process is auto-magically halted.
To get the USB device (e.g. a USB stick) to show up at all in the boot menu you also may have to reboot/turn on/off the computer a couple of times and also resync the partition tables using rEFIt. After doing this the USB should then appear as a bootable device while holding in the alt or c key when you are rebooting the computer. Notice that both the computers built in bootloader and rEFIt will identify the USB device as a Windows device, but that's not a problem and expected.
A workaround to the-usb-device-is-not-booting-problem is to: Best 64 bit video editing software.
- Install rEFIt.
- Create a bootable start disk using Ubuntu and a USB stick.
- Create a separate partition on the Airs HD.
- dd the whole USB stick to that partition.
- Resync with rEFIt. Turn power off and on.
- Select Pingo/Windows logo: Install should start. (Here you might want to press F6 to change parameters, e.g. use nomodeset)
How To Install Linux On Macbook Air Backup
Alternatively, burning a CD and installing via an external CD-drive will work fine on the Macbook Air 3,2.
How To Install Kali Linux On Macbook Air
(Moved from Installation/FromUSBStick)
We would encourage Mac users to download Ubuntu Desktop Edition by burning a CD for the time being. But if you would prefer to use a USB, please follow the instructions below. Note: this procedure requires an .img file that you will be required to create from the .iso file you download. TIP: Drag and Drop a file from Finder to Terminal to 'paste' the full path without typing and risking type errors.
- Download the desired file
Open the Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities/ or query Terminal in Spotlight)
Convert the .iso file to .img using the convert option of hdiutil (e.g., hdiutil convert -format UDRW -o ~/path/to/target.img ~/path/to/ubuntu.iso)
Note: OS X tends to put the .dmg ending on the output file automatically.
How To Install Linux On Macbook Air Louder
Run diskutil list to get the current list of devices
- Insert your flash media
Run diskutil list again and determine the device node assigned to your flash media (e.g., /dev/disk2)
Run diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN (replace N with the disk number from the last command; in the previous example, N would be 2)
Execute sudo dd if=/path/to/downloaded.img of=/dev/rdiskN bs=1m (replace /path/to/downloaded.img with the path where the image file is located; for example, ./ubuntu.img or ./ubuntu.dmg).
Using /dev/rdisk instead of /dev/disk may be faster.
If you see the error dd: Invalid number '1m', you are using GNU dd. Use the same command but replace bs=1m with bs=1M.
If you see the error dd: /dev/diskN: Resource busy, make sure the disk is not in use. Start the 'Disk Utility.app' and unmount (don't eject) the drive.
Run diskutil eject /dev/diskN and remove your flash media when the command completes
- Restart your Mac and press Alt while the Mac is restarting to choose the USB-Stick
