Xubuntu Installation on old Intel iMac

[@quietlyloudintrovert8461]

I just got an Imac G5 and will most definitely be doing this, thank for the video!

[@questaonda6142]

Hi! If there any way to do it with a USB Installer instead of a CD? Many thanks for de the video!

[@magpieeverspirit9773]

I do love learning something new, And that's what's great about your videos, Thank you for sharing.

[@MacintoshMen]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@femalefishingadventures]

Pretty awesome , i have been trying to get Ubuntu onto my imac 6.1 for months , everything has failed , this worked , thanks

[@MacintoshMen]

Awesome! I'm glad I could help you

[@femalefishingadventures]

@@MacintoshMen I wound up using 16.4 LTS as i couldn't find a 32 bit of 18.4 to download , i spent an hour running in circles , however like you i had wireless issues and downloaded the propriety driver and now all works fine , sadly there's one issue you can't overcome , the lack of Bluetooth support in the refit boot screen , although i can get the magic keyboard / mouse to work fine within Ubuntu , you loose it when you reboot and it default boots to OS-X I'll just have to live with the old HP USB keyboard and mouse , thanks again , PS a tip for anyone doing the same , a TP-Link wireless dongle is plug & play until you can download the WiFi driver

[@AlexVAlcantar]

June 2020 - Thanks for helping me give extra life to my 13" mid 2007 MacBook. Cheers!

[@MacintoshMen]

You are very welcome. This is for sure the best way to speed up any old Mac nowadays.

[@NicksLocker]

i have the same iMac and i must say that between Xubuntu and Lubuntu, i have made this thing run fast as heck. it's not your high power computer, it's like a chromebook. i use it for office things, youtube, just browsing the web, and i must say it handles it as if it's a brand new computer, in fact if not even better than some brand new computers. i am amazed at the performance.

[@MacintoshMen]

I was also pleasently suprised how well it behaved. Linux can breathe new life into old computers.

[@madd_9467]

How do you get lubuntu to boot from the hard disk partition? I installed it and removed the disk and it just says no bootable disk please insert CD and press any key

[@NicksLocker]

@@madd_9467 how did you install it? Did you install grub loader? I'm not sure if there's an option I don't remember, but I think there is an option to install the grub bootloader. Also, have you installed rEFInd from the Mac side? From what I know, some Macs require it to boot up Linux. That's what I use on this Mac in particular.

[@NicksLocker]

@@madd_9467 on some of them, it seems like just starting up holding down option won't do the trick

[@madd_9467]

@@NicksLocker ok I’ll try that thanks

[@TGRTGR]

How do you install radeon x1600 driver on windows 7??? I tried to install official drivers from AMD and from apple, but its not working. In macos graphics works fine.

[@evodgamehunter4290]

Did you figure this out. I have mine setup with nomodeset as a work around but want it working correctly

[@Plipas]

You are amazing ! Thank you . I have an old macbook white and I made it work with linux .

[@gianp86]

love your channel. I have the same imac and i m following your guide

[@RFLCPTR]

Lubuntu 18.04 is more stable and faster with LXDE. In my experience.

[@MacintoshMen]

Yeah it’s basically the most resource efficient distribution

[@tomrowe9876]

Hey MacintoshMen, I was checking out a couple of your videos on converting an iMac to Linux and had a couple of questions, if you don’t mind. I have a late 2006 iMac (Intel based) 24” that had a dead drive. It was gifted to me as a project. I replaced the drive with a WD 1TB drive but need to load Linux on the drive. Is it as straightforward as formatting a thumb drive as a bootable device and load the distribution of Linux on it then run the installer or are there other steps that need to be performed? Thanks, Tom

[@MacintoshMen]

The safest way to install Linux on these iMacs is to first install the refit bootloader, and then BURN the .iso to a DVD and boot from it. Macs from 2006 to 2008 are super picky when trying to boot from USB, they only like certain USB flash drives. (Had it happening on my 2007 Macbook Pro and also on a 2006 Mac Pro I had, none of them wanted to boot from most of my flash drives). You can of course try to boot it from a USB drive, and maybe it will work just fine. The rest is just like a normal Linux installation.

[@lopesmorrenofim]

Hey! I've been trying to do that on a early 2000s macbook, but I didn't succeed. Will you be willing to help me?

[@stsheej]

Will this work on the early imac 2006 10.6.8?

[@malcytull]

A great video, thank you for sharing.

[@pierpig1482]

I have refit on a Mac book 3.1 2gb ram, 2 partitions mac 10.6 and Ubuntu 13, i would like to replace Ubuntu 13 with Xubuntu 18.04 but refit detect the USB stick as legacy and then Ubuntu 13 starts. How can I create a DVD of Xubuntu 18?

[@StephenYT.]

I have an iMac 20" 2006 and installed Zorin Lite 15.3 is essentially xubuntu 18.04, but youtube on firefox is super laggy and internal wifi doesn't work how to fix all?

[@mattgrimaldi13]

Thanks for the great channel. Any advice for installing Refit on my 2GHz PowerPC G5 1.5 gb ddr sdram G5 running 10.5.8? I have heaps of burned l/x/k/ubuntu discs 32 and 64 and none will load. USB boot loading does not work. I am trying to get Refit going, but it gives an error indicating Refit is only for Intel based. I think I need a PowerPC compatible Refit or equivalent, any advice?

[@MacintoshMen]

Refit is for Intel only, doesn't work on PowerPC. Also, you'll need PPC specific linux distros for your G5. The regular ones are for X86 only. Forget booting it from usb, it can be done but is complicated and doesn't work correctly for a lot of distros. Stick with CD/DVD in your case.

[@mattgrimaldi13]

@@MacintoshMen Seems right. I managed to manually install Adelie Linux short of a visual display (terminal) only. xtartx and logx just cause a flash and error... Still trying. Maybe lubuntu 16 via dvd. This will be the 12th distro burned to disc that does not work. So far only Adelie is recognized in the boot/option sequence.

[@mofmanp8874]

I was given a g5 when I put in password for wifi it says there was an error joining the airport network. Any idea what I can try please

[@Sp1d3r_34]

Thanks for this video. I saved the same computer from the trash and it works with this method. Do you know if a more recent version works (ubuntu for i686)?

[@MacintoshMen]

I'm glad it was helpful. I don't know about a more recent version though. You could try Lubuntu or similar.

[@rodolac7848]

but can you use it as monitor?

[@stefanoguitarplayer]

SEI UN GRADE, THANKS

[@MichaelGavGuruBraunMicha]

Hi. Is this possible to do at this point, in a simple direct way with a USB disc on key if all I have at home is the iMac running 10.6.8? Ubuntu or other versions etc? Thanks

[@MacintoshMen]

You can without problems create bootable USBs with any Linux distro you like using a tool called "Unetbootin" or similar. But booting it; I'd reckon it's tricky, because those old Macs are very picky when it comes to booting from USB. Sometimes, not even OSX installers can be booted sucessfully from USB. You might have to look into a third party bootloader such as "refit" or "refind". There it will most likely show you the USB drive but if it boots from it, that's another story.

[@MehdiRahmouniOfficial]

amazing video, thank you so much

[@MehdiRahmouniOfficial]

i forgot to say, danke hahaha

[@MacintoshMen]

You are very welcome!

[@madd_9467]

It freezes randomly no matter what J do, it doesn’t matter, I’ve hear that I need to update kernel but it freezes before I can get there. And when I try to reinstall it freezes on downloading the languages, the mist notable freeze is when Firefox is opened

[@_Jheee_]

Thanks for the great video, I am trying to repurpose my late 2006 iMac 24". I have installed rEFIt, it works good, and I even got the 64bit current version of Xubuntu (20.04) installed with the help of the Matt Gadient techniques. Everything installed great with no errors, but when I reboot, I get a black screen with odd horizontal bars on it. It appears it is trying to load but there may be a video problem, but can't see anything. The other odd thing is I do not see GRUB come up on my screen when I launch from rEFIt like you show in this video. Any ideas on the black screen? I am almost there...thanks for any help you can provide.

[@MacintoshMen]

That's very strange that it installed fine.. I'm really sorry, I can't come up with an idea what's going on.

[@_Jheee_]

Thanks for reply, but I started over with Lubuntu 20.04 and got it running. My machine has an nVidia card, and credit once again to the genius, Matt Gadient, I was able to edit grub command and now it’s up and running! Thanks again for the video it helped me tremendously. I also learned a lot by trying nearly every lightweight Ubuntu distro available, I think I must have burned 10 DVDs 😂

[@calvitocalvon1711]

If i wanted to upgrade the HDD would i have to put mac osx on it so the pc would work?

[@MacintoshMen]

When you put a new HDD in you can install any OS you like.

[@calvitocalvon1711]

@@MacintoshMen how so? Sorry im a big noob coming into macs, i always install windows by booting it up with a pendrive, if i add a new hdd with lets say linux will it just boot it up normally or what

[@colinmoriarty2211]

Thank you for the video it was very useful

[@amonster8mymother]

Cool!

[@David-zp7kl]

Hi I was wondering how you go about installing windows on this machine. Is it the same process but instead of a Linux iso we download a windows iso?

[@MacintoshMen]

Windows 32 bit is easy, just burn it to a DVD and boot from it. 64 bit however is a little more tricky because these Macs have 32 bit EFIs.

[@andersonpalma617]

The best

[@edwardc5700]

Could you make a tutorial on how to create the Xubuntu bootable cd?

[@MacintoshMen]

Mount the iso in Disk utility, insert a blank CD, Right Click on the iso „burn“ and you are done

[@amonster8mymother]

What size of drive do I need for 3 OS?

[@MacintoshMen]

Depends on how much space you want for each os. I'd say get a leat a 120 GB, everything below that will be quite small.

[@thomasjensen1590]

Please help. I want to replace both the superdrive and harddrive on my old imac with ssds, is it possible? Also I want it to run only linux, possible? How to do it? My superdrive is dead so I will need to install from USB. My imac is the early 2006 model with a 32 bit core2, no duo. I have the adaptor needed to replace superdrive with a ssd and I have 2 128 GB PNY SSDs. Id like to then use a Mac like window manager.

[@MacintoshMen]

Yes it's possible. If you want to run only Linux then just wipe the entire disk.

[@thomasjensen1590]

@@MacintoshMen but what about the bootloader and its special uefi, bootcamp, refit and all that? Only relevant for dualboot? Also if I save the original harddrive then Id always be able to go back to a working macos on it. Id rather install some ssds in it and install linux on those.... maybe dual boot linux and windows xp

[@DaroEP]

imac 5,1. Did the same, but stalled in ISOLINUX 6.03 20171017... dont know why. Exact version of XUBUNTU 32bits ,refit, etc

[@madd_9467]

Ok I got it to work but my imac keeps freezing, any fixes?

[@MacintoshMen]

Where does it freeze?

[@madd_9467]

@@MacintoshMen just randomly, no matter wha I do, even just connecting to wifi

[@gianp86]

I have problem after check ram etc etc , I read loading kernel modules and stop . Please Have a solution ?

[@MacintoshMen]

Sorry, I don't know.

[@gianp86]

MacintoshMen solution , I downloaded a correct release for Mac

[@rentonplay8101]

Thank you MacintoshMen. I thank you for your video. You are the Men. I have gotton late 2006 Imac6,1 with Lion 10.7.5. I would like to put Windows 7 and Linux 32 bit (18.04 - what ever) on my machine just like yours exactly. However, I can not get my machine to boot from installed DVD. Boot from DVD (WIN7 and LINUX), I got stuck on White Screen. I will appreciate VERY MUCH if you can show/give us how to do this. I got stuck with this issues for months now with no help from Apple and Microsoft. PS: Some people said I have issues with medias. The medias have to be made certain way so that Apple will be able to boot from (windows 7 doesn't have EFI boot 32bit mode - for example). Or you can post you ISO files in your website so that I can download to try out (i don't care it is trial version or not - Just want to make it works). Thank you.

[@MacintoshMen]

32 bit Win7 DVDs should boot just fine, maybe you messed something up when burning them.

[@rentonplay8101]

@@MacintoshMen It should but it doesn't in my case... Some people say I have to use DVD+R and I did. I tried many to burn the DVD+R and it doesn't work. OEM DVD doesn't work (some people say that they don't work). Download from Heidoc.net (com) windows 7 32bit and burned it to DVD+R and they don't work. I am trying to pinpoint to the root cause why it is not working. My super drive does work (boot) with Apple installed disk, 32bit bionicpup.iso. Therefore, I rule out that the super drive is still function. A couple of Matt Gradient iso files don't work (boot)... This is more than annoying for me trying to make this *@#$% computer to work. That is the reason why I am asking people to give me details (step by step) what software they used to make it to work. Thank you for your times and effort to help me.

[@houston7497]

Hello, I have tried making a live CD a couple of times to do this for an iMac Core Duo and it hasn't worked. I am not sure if I am choosing the wrong iso file. (if you could include the link to the iso file you used pleased). I tried Puppy Linux and Lubuntu, but neither worked. For Puppy, I got the rEFIT menu to pop up a couple of times before it started ejecting the CD, but it gave me several options to choose from including Legacy OS. When I clicked Linux it would load a screen saying "Select CD-ROM Boot Type" but my keyboard wouldn't work. I don't know how to use torrents and there is a large list that I don't know what to pick from. Also, the live CD keeps ejecting before the rEFIt menu pops up. Any help is much appreciated! (This is my first time trying to install Linux). Mine is also a 32 bit.

[@MacintoshMen]

Since it's a Core Duo (32 bit CPU), are you sure you downloaded a 32-bit Linux?

[@houston7497]

@@MacintoshMen I downloaded bionicpup32-8.0+8-uefi.iso

[@LL-ck4ei]

@@houston7497 thx!

[@karlsour500]

Hi, so can I install Xubuntu 64 bits version? I have a macbook 1,1 version intel core duo 2006 edition.

[@MacintoshMen]

No, 64bit is not possible because the Core Duo is only a 32 bit CPU.

[@madd_9467]

Linux won’t show up and my optical drive works fine, any fixes?

[@MacintoshMen]

Probably you have a 64bit image, that doesn't boot on those iMacs because of the annoying 32bit EFI

[@madd_9467]

@@MacintoshMen I have the 32 bit 18.04 xubuntu

[@madd_9467]

@@MacintoshMen do you need to use a specific type of disk?

[@yanksrock1000]

Last week I tried installing Lubuntu on a PowerBook...epic fail, it crashed mid boot every time. I’ll give Xubuntu a try lol

[@MacintoshMen]

Linux on PowerPC is a huge pain in the a**. I did a video where I installed Ubuntu 12.04 on mine. Never had sucess with later versions. Some would freeze, others would do the same as yours. And most would not boot

[@marcos_pctech]

Recover the grub. wacth this video . (sorry is in spanish) kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWGqlpWPl9J0j5I

[@marcinmarcin5802]

Is there a possibility of installing 64 bit version?

[@MacintoshMen]

Yes, it is a 64 bit machine

[@RFLCPTR]

@Arturo Fernández MX Linux is perfect for something like this because it supports 32 bit EFI with 64 bit Linux out of the box. Also, installing 64 bit ubuntu mate on my 32 bit EFI convertible worked by removing the 64 bit grub files and adding the bootia file from the MX Linux disk, for example

[@Seb512]

Yes, see mattgadient.com/linux-dvd-images-and-how-to-for-32-bit-efi-macs-late-2006-models/ for info and instructions

[@twylite137]

Hey my favourite MacintoshMen, I have a problem with loading ReFit, my iMac G5 says it's processor is an Intel-based one and the program fails to run, I DLed it onto my MacBook pro then copied across as my iMac G5 has no Browsers that work. Stay safe

[@MacintoshMen]

G5 is PowerPC, completely different architecture than Intel

[@mattgrimaldi13]

I also received this error on my Intel based 2Gz PowerPC G5, Refit will not install. I have not found another option. By the way: TenFourFox works as a browser in 10.5.8. Artic Fox is on Gethub and is supposed to work, but I have not tried it yet. And why I am still screwing around with this old mac? :P Post if you find a suitable Refit solution please.

[@MacintoshMen]

@@mattgrimaldi13 Refit doesn't work on PowerPC architecture, also you'll need a specific PPC ubuntu version to boot it

[@scriptwriter617]

it doesn't work it says hit any key to continue that's all

[@angelicaschlitz9933]

Hi, your voice sounds a lot like Edward Snowdens!

[@MacintoshMen]

Haha well that's something new.

[@creativekat109]

omg i have same problem it do not read the usb on boot in option.ok i try to burn disk n try again thanks for the infor

[@MacintoshMen]

I installed it from CD, booting it with USB is tricky and doesn't work most of the time.

[@ericdekeersmaeker5780]

I’m so frustrated. I have tried everything. I have the same iMac, the same Linux build, no go. Tried the build in dvd drive, an external…. Nope I deon’t understand why for some people it works, and others not.

[@MacintoshMen]

It sometimes is tricky with those old iMacs. For me it worked with DVD but it was an older version.

[@ericdekeersmaeker5780]

@@MacintoshMen It finally worked. Guess what, it was a dvd-reader issue. I have tried three different ones, the build in (that spits them all out), an external usb type, and a third one that finally exepted all my versions of Linux.

[@Seb512]

Hey MacintoshMen, very useful video and has helped me try and work out what's going on with a stubborn Mac. I've been using a late 2006 iMac with a Linux Mint image from Matt Gadient's website for a while, but it only has 2GB of RAM and I thought it would be a good idea to install Lubuntu 20.04 on it. However when I install it onto the HDD, I get a question mark folder icon when I reboot after installation, probably due to the installer defaulting to GPT, wiping the EFI partition and not making a /boot partition or something. I am going to try a manual partition layout in the installer and change it to MBR, and if all else fails I'll reinstall macOS and try using rEFInd to boot into Linux instead. If you or anyone has any other ideas then they would be greatly appreciated - Thanks! 😉

[@rentonplay8101]

You're lucky to come this far. I did not. I have not had any luck to boot DVD (either Linux or Windows 7 32bit version). All I get is WHITE SCREEN. Who said that Apple is great product?

[@Seb512]

@@rentonplay8101 yes, older Mac's can be very annoying. Thankfully I realised that the problem was the Lubuntu installer was using GPT instead of MBR, and when I installed Linux Mint 20 it worked perfectly. If you are getting a white screen, then try using a dvd image from mattgadient.com/linux-dvd-images-and-how-to-for-32-bit-efi-macs-late-2006-models/ - I followed it and the trick is to burn the dvd on another Mac as if you do it on a PC it won't boot - good luck!

[@rentonplay8101]

@@Seb512 It is more than very annoying... Thank you for your time and effort to help me. I did download xUbuntu from Matt Gradient website per you suggestion. I have 500gb on my Imac6,1 and repartition to have 100gb free space per MacintoshMen video. I burned it to DVD+R using Simplyburn (there are several options and I choose option ISO9660). I have rEFI installed. I have chosen bootx64.efi and grubx64.efi and I got message that it has no support. I choose penguin Icon and I got A penguin and it got frozen screen. I boot with option/alt and choose windows CD icon and it is frozen. In short, It is not working. Perhaps, you may tell/inform me in details instead of having me trying to do this blindfully. One thing I have learned is that I download BionicPup 32 bit version and installed it to an USB drive. This works with bootx32.efi. The EFIboot is working. Thank you.

[@Seb512]

@@rentonplay8101 no problem - good to hear

[@rentonplay8101]

@@Seb512 Do you see what I have done wrong with the way I did to install xUbuntu? The bionicpup OS is good but it is a toy... I did it just want to make sure that the superdrive is working as it is supposed to.

[@leoandwar7219]

Is this 64 bit linux ?

[@MacintoshMen]

No, that was 32 bit

[@antonpodkur3520]

Did u use dmg or iso ?

[@MacintoshMen]

Iso. DMG files are a Mac thing and basically non existent on any other platform. You might also encounter a .img, but iso 80% of time

[@antonpodkur3520]

@@MacintoshMen thx)))

[@cheaplife2320]

People can’t read German ? sie mussen Deutsch lern, die Schweiz hat ein anderes Layout, sie das ß nicht und haben auch das schreckliche AZERTY Layout😑😑😑 danke für die Schweizer-Franzosen