How to install Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS on a MacBook Pro Retina 15" Mid 2014 (11,3)

mint_17.2_macbook_pro_retina_15_inch_mid_2014.md

How to install Linux Mint 17.2 64-bit on a MacBook Pro Retina 15" Mid 2014 (11,3)

** THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE AT THE MOMENT ONLY PARTIALLY DONE **

Credits

These instructions skip some of the steps what is instructed in the version for Ubuntu:

• Instructions for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS installation over here (by @pinge)
• Instructions to make bootable USB with OS X using fairly simple shell commands
• Intructions to resize hard drive partition

Preparations

• Download Linux Mint 17.2 64-bit ISO, both Cinnamon and MATE versions will do fine http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
• Have an (erasable) USB stick, size 2GB should be fine

Notes

• This installation process aims to have Linux Mint and Mac OS on dual boot mode
• CHECK THIS: No need to repair GRUB after installation, the MacBook Pro 11,2 and 11,3 are now able to recognize multi-boot CD images, so there is not need to use the Mac version of the Ubuntu installation image (the USB disk with the will work just fine in native EFI mode)
• The first boot won't have network access because you'll need to set up driver in order to be able to use the wireless adapter - which is simple to do once Linux Mint is installed

Preparing your USB installation

• Open the Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities/Terminal 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
  • OS X tends to put the .dmg ending on the output file automatically.
  • in my case it is hdiutil convert -format UDRW -o ~/Downloads/ ~/path/to/ubuntu.iso
  • TIP: you can drag'n'drop downloaded .iso -file to terminal window to "copy-paste" file path

$ hdiutil convert -format UDRW -o ~/Downloads/linuxmint-17.2-cinnamon-64bit.img ~/Downloads/linuxmint-17.2-cinnamon-64bit.iso
Reading Driver Descriptor Map (DDM : 0)…
Reading Linux Mint 17.2 Cinnamon 64-bit  (Apple_ISO : 1)…
Reading Apple (Apple_partition_map : 2)…
Reading Linux Mint 17.2 Cinnamon 64-bit  (Apple_ISO : 3)…
..............................................................................
Reading EFI (Apple_HFS : 4)…
..............................................................................
Reading Linux Mint 17.2 Cinnamon 64-bit  (Apple_ISO : 5)…
..............................................................................
Elapsed Time:  6.429s
Speed: 242.0Mbytes/sec
Savings: 0.0%
created: /Users/rpsu/Downloads/linuxmint-17.2-cinnamon-64bit.img.dmg

• There is no need to use UNetbootin, but you can also use it to create bootable USB through UI install UNetbootin and create your bootable Ubuntu installation disk (set Diskimage as the Ubuntu ISO image and Drive: as your USB drive)

Prepare hard drive

• Open the Disk Utility (in /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility or query Disk Utility in Spotlight)
• Create space in your hard drive
  • Choose Macintosh HD in the right sidebar and Partition -tab.
  • Choose
  • NOTE that if you have encrypted hard drive you might need to boot into recovery mode and Unlock the partition in question first

Installing Linux Mint

• with your USB drive plugged in, boot your Mac and hold the option (ie. alt) key
• select the EFI USB drive as the boot device
• wait until Linux Mint boots (Live CD mode is automatically selected)
• click Install Linux Mint to start the installation and install Ubuntu

fixing kernel boot values to avoid periodic SSD freezing

$ sudo nano /etc/default/grub

and change the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX line to:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="libata.force=noncq"

$ sudo update-grub

fixing booting to Mac OS

$ sudo nano /etc/grub.d/40_custom

and append to the end of file:

menuentry "MacOS" {
  exit
}

$ sudo update-grub

fixing blank screen after suspend / resume

System Settings > Software & Updates > Additional Drivers

and change the NVIDIA driver to `Using NVIDIA binary driver - version 331.38 from nvidia-331 (proprietary, tested)"

fixing wireless after suspend / resume

$ sudo nano /etc/pm/sleep.d/99_wifi_fix

and add this to the contents of the file:

#!/bin/sh
case "$1" in
    resume|thaw)
        service network-manager stop
        rm /var/lib/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.state
        service network-manager start
        ;;
esac

and set its permissions to 755:

$ sudo chmod 755 /etc/pm/sleep.d/99_wifi_fix

fixing text scaling for the retina display

$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface scaling-factor 0
$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface text-scaling-factor 1

fixing connecting to new wireless networks

$ sudo apt-get install -d --reinstall network-manager network-manager-gnome
$ sudo apt-get purge network-manager-gnome network-manager
$ sudo apt-get install network-manager-gnome

fixing Magic Mouse not pairing

run bluez agent

$ bluez-simple-agent

and try to pair the device using the Bluetooth settings. You should be prompted for the PIN on the terminal. Type in 0000 and the Magic Mouse should successfully pair.

fixing encrypted swap that disappears after reboot

identify your swap partitions by looking at the 8200 Code (probably around 16 GB)

$ sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda

initialize an available swap partition and identify it by-id

$ sudo mkswap /dev/sdaX
$ sudo ls -al /dev/disk/by-id

and update crypttab

$ sudo vim /etc/crypttab

with the partition ID instead of UUID

cryptswap1 /dev/disk/by-id/wwn-0xXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-partX /dev/urandom swap,cipher=aes-cbc-essiv:sha256

reload the crypto disks and verify that the swap partition is active (and persists across reboots)

$ sudo /etc/init.d/cryptdisks reload
$ sudo swapon -s