ubuntu dual boot

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I have watched the videos on loading ubuntu onto a macbook. They all partition before they load from USB. Is it not ok to just let the ubuntu installer do the partitioning? When I load ubuntu on a pc it works fine to do that.I dont mind doing the manual partition but would like to know why hopefully from an expert,maybe someone who has made one of those youtube videos..
 

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Generally you'll find that Linux works really well within virtualization software like Virtualbox, VMWare Fusion or Parallels. Is an app or something forcing you down the dual boot route?
 
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Maybe you can do it, and post your results here and on youtube?
 
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Couple of thoughts. If your Mac is running Mojave, then your internal drive is formatted APFS and so the typical partition software probably won't work because APFS is relatively new. I don't even know if a drive can be partitioned for APFS and HFS+ on the same device. I guess it can because Bootcamp can still run Windows as a dual boot, but as I said, the typical Ubuntu installer won't know about APFS at all. Those installers assume you want to put Ubuntu or whatever on a PC that has NTFS format.

In addition, Windows uses a Master Boot Record to start with, but macOS does not, so just letting the Ubuntu installer do it's thing will most likely end up in an un-bootable machine.

So stick to the steps in the videos to manually partition, and if I were you, I'd be looking for one that specifically refers to Mojave and APFS.

EDIT: I correct one spellcheck error and I would also like to add that Ubuntu in Parallels is a pretty good way to run it and not muck with dual boot. I have that here, don't use it much because I prefer macOS, but it does run well.
 
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I tried Ubuntu via USB drive and it worked fine. So maybe I should try virtual.Do I load ubuntu into that?? I would like to avoid plugging in a USB stick every time.
How do I do this virtual or parallels..??
 
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Well, Parallels is a third party product you have to buy. Here is the website: https://www.parallels.com

Or, you could try VirtualBox from Oracle. It's free: https://www.virtualbox.org

They each have instructions on how to create a virtual system. Once it's created, you launch Parallels or VB just like any other application, and then inside Parallels or VB, boot Ubuntu. It runs in a window just like any other application, or can be made full screen if you want. When you are done with Ubuntu, you shut it down just like you would normally, and once it is shut down you can then quit Parallels or VB and be back in macOS.
 

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I tried Ubuntu via USB drive and it worked fine. So maybe I should try virtual.Do I load ubuntu into that?? I would like to avoid plugging in a USB stick every time.
How do I do this virtual or parallels..??

First thing is to purchase or download virtual software. For Ubuntu, I recommend using the free VirtualBox from Oracle. Install VirtualBox first and then follow its directions to install Ubuntu to it.
 
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I just read some on Virtual Box. Sounds interesting. A few things come to mind...
You still install Ubuntu on the hard drive...so its totally separate? I mean I dont want any Mac app of ANY kind being able to mess with my Ubuntu. I mean in ANY way. Is VB really secure?
Do they share files or folders at all?? Tell me about anything negative you know about VB in regards to Ubuntu please. But it does seem like a good way to go. But I want the Ubuntu world and the Mac world to be on their own....what do you know??
 
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The virtual machine is an image, VB (or any emulator), loads that image and runs the base software as an app in macOS. The emulator then provides the responses to the guest machine for all of the hardware that the guest thinks is there. Configure a network, and macOS will provide, through VB, network connectivity. Configure a hard drive and Ubuntu will 'see' a hard drive in that image and respond accordingly. But the drive is entirely virtual, it only exists in the image.

Once the virtual machine is "shut down" the image file is updated with whatever changed in the machine while it was running and then the file is closed. If, and only if, you write a file from Ubuntu into the Mac file space will that file be available to macOS. For example, if you run a word processor in Ubuntu and then, instead of saving that file to the virtual drive controlled by Ubuntu, you decide to save it to the "real" drive of macOS, then when you return to macOS that file will be available to you. But if you saved that file to the virtual drive inside the Ubuntu virtual machine, it is not available to macOS.

Hope that makes it clear. The emulation of the hardware is pretty spectacular, at least for Parallels, which is what I use to run WIndows7 for one app I need.

Maybe the best way to see what I mean is to go ahead and install VB and then create an Ubuntu guest in VB and experiment with it. If you don't like it, you can always to back to trying to figure out how to dual boot the Mac.
 

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I guess my question to you is why would you want to run both macOS and Ubuntu? For many years I ran Windows and Ubuntu dual booting which makes more sense than running any Linux OS alongside macOS. What can Ubuntu do for you that macOS can not?

Not criticizing you but just wondering. Of course it's your choice...
 
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to me Linux is the best.Its lighter,faster and doesnt have the annoying closed system features that Mac has some of. If I want to change a font on my macbook it should simple. But Apple
makes it harder. Ubuntu is made for personal customizing. Windows in my opinion is so bad that its a joke.Microsoft is a lousy company and people should move away from any of their products.The future is Unix.
back to VB....have you heard of any really odd or negative aspects to it??
 

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VB is free, why don't you download it and try it out yourself? I've used VB, VMWare Fusion and Parallels and know what works for my use case, which is going to be different than yours. What exactly are you going to be using Linux for (as someone who's been playing with it for over 25 years, the customization is over rated if you REALLY want to use it).
 
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linux is fast ,reliable,not encumbered by secret coding. I have had nothing but a good experience with it.
 

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linux is fast ,reliable,not encumbered by secret coding. I have had nothing but a good experience with it.

Sounds like you're all out for Linux. Ubuntu is a good choice for a Linux OS. Why not just erase your macOS, install Linux Ubuntu and just go with that? If you participate in the Ubuntu forums, you'll run into folks who have done that with either their Mac or PC.

However, my opinion is the same as that of our moderator RazOrEdge, and that is that Linux is over rated. :smile
 
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I need access to Mojave to run Cubase and other programs occasionally.One of the reasons I bought a Mac.
 
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However, my opinion is the same as that of our moderator RazOrEdge, and that is that Linux is over rated. :smile

Four years of Linux.. including a year, and a half, when XFCE version of Ubuntu was the only thing I could rum on the old and underpowered netbook (underpowered netbook, redundant, I know, I know!)... On the one hand I loved the tinkering, and customization, to make the 'puter look the way you want it to. On the other, I got SOOO sick and tired of having to do a lot of work, to try to get functionality that Mac (and even Windoze) starts with.
 

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Four years of Linux.. including a year, and a half, when XFCE version of Ubuntu was the only thing I could rum on the old and underpowered netbook (underpowered netbook, redundant, I know, I know!)... On the one hand I loved the tinkering, and customization, to make the 'puter look the way you want it to. On the other, I got SOOO sick and tired of having to do a lot of work, to try to get functionality that Mac (and even Windoze) starts with.

20 years of Linux, starting with Redhat 2.0, built Kernel 0.95 from scratch (took about 3 days, had to first build the compiler and libc), then went to Slackware, then SuSE and Debian and Mint and Arch and Fedora and (more that I can't remember) finally Ubuntu for a number of years starting with the first one Ubuntu 4.10 Warty Warthog to 9.10 Karmic Koala at which point in time I switched over to Mac as my primary OS. Mind you, I was Linux as my primary desktop through all of this.

Since that time, I've used Ubuntu up to about 12.04 for work purposes or other things and then for the past few years, I've stopped since I don't need to use it anymore.

I've been through XFCE, TWM, FVWM, Enlightenment, Gnome, KDE, pure console only, i3, Compiz and a few more that I can't remember.

I've tinkered with the system to the worlds end customizing every part possible, have had 3D desktops because that was the nerdy cool thing to do. I've customized my editors to literally code for me. :)

So when I say customizing Linux is overrated or a waste of time, I'm not saying it frivolously, it's baked with decades worth of experience and knowledge.
 
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Do you think Ubutnu would work faster in a Mac Air SD slot than on a USB for doing live sessions?
 
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my macbook air has a SD slot. I dont really need it much so was thinking to make a Linux session boot card to run Ubuntu sessions from..
Anyone have luck doing this? I thought it might be a little faster than booting from a USB drive.Anyone run other OS from a SD card slot
on a Macbook?
 
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If it's a live session with no persistence, I can't imagine that it's going to be a big difference between using the SD slot or USB.
 

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