Solus on MacBook Air 2014

Regalia776

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to install Solus on my MacBook Air 2014 as newer MacOS releases are slowing the device down too much by now.

However, I'm running into a problem. The live USB cannot find the internal SSD. It doesn't contain MacOS anymore as I had previously installed Zorin OS Lite Pro on it as my girlfriend was supposed to use the device, too, and I wanted something more "Windows-like" for her first Linux experience. However Zorin's Ubuntu base is causing me way too much of a headache with broken updates, freezes and whatnot.

Now when I try to run the live USB to install Solus, it will only show me the pendrive as an option but not the internal SSD with Zorin that I would like to erase and reformat. Does anyone have an idea what I could do to make it work?

Thanks in advance for any help!

tomscharbach

Regalia776 Now when I try to run the live USB to install Solus, it will only show me the pendrive as an option but not the internal SSD with Zorin that I would like to erase and reformat. Does anyone have an idea what I could do to make it work?

Check whether your SSD's SATA is set to AHCI (see bottom of page for this and other requirements).

Regalia776

tomscharbach The MacBook Air 2014 has its disks automatically set to AHCI, so the issue cannot come from there. Unless the installation of Zorin was able to somehow change that.

tomscharbach

If SATA on your macBook is set to AHCI, then that is not the issue. Zorin would not (could not) have changed that setting.

I don't know much about macBooks, but is there a possibility that the internal SSD is not formatted GPT or BIOS is not set to UEFI? I used Zorin OS 16 extensively October 2021 through February 2022 to test it for a specific use case, and I cannot think of any reason (other than AHCI, GPT or UEFI settings) why Zorin OS would see the SSD but Solus OS would not. With that comment, I am at the end of my knowledge base.

I hope someone will come along with macBook experience who can help.

WetGeek

tomscharbach I cannot think of any reason (other than AHCI, GPT or UEFI settings) why Zorin OS would see the SSD but Solus OS would not.

That was my impression as well as I read this thread. I, too, tried Zorin, although not as extensively as you did. That said, I didn't notice any special requirements for a computer to know where to install it.

I used it on a VM, of course, but the installer was the same as if I'd installed it on hardware. It identified the disk and used the whole thing without any special spells or incantations required.

nolan

did you checked with gparted?

Axios

I havent installed linux on my mac you may have to format the ssd back to apple format and try that
because you are using usb I think the ssd has be gpt Dunno just kinda what I am thinking

Regalia776

Let me put it like this. I completely erased MacOS from this MacBook by installing Zorin. I have a Mac Mini M1 so there was no need for my MacBook Air to have it anymore, especially since it’s an old but still quite sleek and sturdy laptop that could easily get second wind from Linux. Thus I don’t think I can go back to MacOS unless CMD+R can still redownload Yosemite. Would need to check that.

I haven’t checked with Gparted yet, but I presumed that Gparted under Solus would still be able to see the SSD if the standalone version can. So I guess I’m wrong there? I will try with the GParted live usb version then and see if it can see the SSD. Otherwise, if the SSD is simply not GPT formatted what are my options?

Regarding the bios, MacBooks have no BIOS, only UEFI and Apple is doing everything it can to stop users from entering it. The beauty of a locked down system.

tomscharbach

Regalia776 I haven’t checked with Gparted yet, but I presumed that Gparted under Solus would still be able to see the SSD if the standalone version can. So I guess I’m wrong there? I will try with the GParted live usb version then and see if it can see the SSD. Otherwise, if the SSD is simply not GPT formatted what are my options?

If Zorin OS 16 is currently installed on the computer, you can run disk utilities from Zorin. Zorin OS 16 Lite is Ubuntu 20.04 with a heavily modified Xfce shell.