How to install ubuntu 14.04 on my Mac Pro 1,1 with a raw hard drive by a bootable USB stick

Question

I have a Mac Pro 1,1 and I replaced the original hard drive with a new 3TB hard drive (just got, never initialized). I try to install ubuntu by a bootable USB stick which I crated on my Mac When I fellow the instruction on [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacPro][2] However I find out it does not work. And in this instruction, it mentioned Mac pro 1,1 is EFI incompatibilities, That is also the reason I can not install rEFind. This instruction has a link [http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/11.04/release/][3] seems can help my situation, but that page is not available. Now the bootable USB stick never show up when I restart my Mac pro with pressing the option button. I appreciate any answer can help me out.

Solution 1

Look for the ISO's with "amd64+mac" in the name. There are both Desktop and Server versions.

Go to this page: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/14.04/release/ to see the full list of available ISO's for download. Again, look for the "amd64+mac." It's faster to download them as torrents if you can.

My aim is to convert three of these Mac Pros into Ubuntu servers along with an XServe 1,1 as their master for a private cloud at work. All of them have 32GB RAM installed, and these machines are still in great condition. I'd hate to have to discard them just because Apple will no longer update Mac OS X Lion when Yosemite is released.

Solution 2

The Mac Pro 1,1 is special in that it has a 32-bit EFI. Later models have a 64-bit EFI which does not have as many issues installing linux.

The easiest way to run Ubuntu (or any linux, really) on a Mac Pro 1,1 (2006) is installing VirtualBox on your MacOsX, and running linux in a virtual machine.

The alternative is described here: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianOnIntelMacPro

But, again, save yourself a lot of hassle and just run linux in a virtual machine.

Comments

[kraxor]

Please refer to this question for some tips.

[amanthethy]

Some of the old macs can be tricked to boot from USB by using both a DVD and a USB stick. The Mac should pick up the DVD to boot from, then once booted the USB should automatically take over for the installation. That way you don't have to suffer through the slow DVD install. There are also some MACS that will boot form DVD but fail to install from that DVD, making this the only way to install on those devices. That's where this trick comes from.

[Kay V]

regarding a link not working, you can get a live daily build of the various releases at cdimage.ubuntu.com

[Fabby]

Although your answer is 100% correct, it might also become 100% useless if that link is moved, changed, or the main site just disappears... :-( Therefore, please edit your answer, and copy the relevant steps from the link into your answer, thereby guaranteeing your answer for 100% of the lifetime of this site! ;-) You can always leave the link in at the bottom of your answer as a source for your material...