Home
A Leap Through Time Mac OS

A Leap Through Time Mac OS

May 26 2021

A Leap Through Time Mac OS

The wikis are now using the new authentication system.
If you did not migrate your account yet, visit https://idp-portal-info.suse.com/

Leap is a combination Spotlight, Bridge, Finder, and more. The Finder on OS X is slow, cumbersome, and limited. The Finder search interface is very cumbersome. Leap shows you all your files and more importantly - where they are on your computer. Mac OS X Server v10.5 or later: 8080: TCP: Alternate port for Apache web service — http-alt: Also JBOSS HTTP in Mac OS X Server 10.4 or earlier: 8085–8087: TCP: Wiki service — — Mac OS X Server v10.5 or later: 8088: TCP: Software Update service — radan-http: Mac OS X Server v10.4 or later: 8089: TCP: Web email rules — — Mac OS X. Connect your Leap to the PC. Start the Leap visualiser with the Leap Api. (see below in the tutorial2/Step4/section 1,2,3) Start MyRobotLab (version above 1.0.2000), add/paste the script in the python tab. Make sure to adapt the min and max values for each of your servos. A range of applications can therefore be launched in Mac OS X, including older versions of the Mac operating system. The Mach-O executable file format In Mac OS X, almost all files that contain executable code, including applications, libraries, and kernel modules, are in Mach-O file format.

Jump to: navigation, search

This is the home page for instructions on installing openSUSE on an Apple Computer. The instructions here were originally made for openSUSE version 11.1, later updated to openSUSE Leap 42.2, subsequently Leap 15.0.

This page will describe the background and common procedures for installing Linux on an Intel Mac, and any special issues with the general openSUSE installation procedure.

While there are several different ways to set-up a Mactel to run Linux, the procedure described here is the most commonly used and most widely supported as of summer 2018.

  • 1Preparation
    • 1.3Re-size The OS X Partition
  • 5openSUSE Installation

Preparation

This chapter describes the steps you should do before you install openSUSE on your Mac.

Remember to always back-up your data first!

A Leap Through Time Mac Os X

You can choose to install only openSUSE, multi-boot OS X and openSUSE, or OS X, Windows and openSUSE. It is recommended that you keep OS X even if you don't intend to use it, as this will allow you to install any firmware updates that Apple releases.

If you intend to install only openSUSE, you can skip all the Preparation steps.

Update OS X

In OS X run the Software Update tool to check for OS and Firmware updates.

rEFInd

rEFInd manages the EFI based boot process. It is installed into one of the disk's partitions, the choice of which is up to you after being exposed to the options the rEFInd installation instructions offer. openSUSE Leap 42.3 and 15.0 overwrite the default EFI boot manager, leaving impossible to load MacOS. Therefore it is necessary to install rEFInd after installing Linux. On some of the Mac hardware a special WiFi driver is needed (see below), so best download the zip file beforehand.

NOTE: rEFInd requires one clean boot cycle to properly install. You don't need to even login to OS X, just click shutdown and the next boot screen should be rEFInd. If you have Oracle's VirtualBox installed in OS X, it will prevent that boot cycle from succeeding. Simply move /Library/StartupItems/VirtualBox (directory) out of the StartupItems, do the boot cycle, and put it back later. Ouila! Be advised other 3rd party programs may similarly prevent the full boot cycle. (May 2012)

rEFInd includes a useful tool to synchronize the GPT and MBR partition details. You should run this after any change to your partitioning scheme either in Mac, Linux or Windows. From the rEFInd initial boot screen, choose 'Start Partitioning Tool', carefully read the output, and type 'y' to confirm. Be aware that rEFInd assumes an American keyboard layout. (before 2012, migrated from the old wiki)

Re-size The OS X Partition

The OS X partition has to be re-sized to make space for Linux (and Windows if desired). This can be achieved using the graphical Disk Utility. You should shrink the large system partition. Do NOT TOUCH the EFI (and recovery if it exists) partitions.

Using Disk Utility in OS X 10.5 Leopard or OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (pre 2012)

This is the recommended method as it both natively shrinks the HFS+ partition and writes a guaranteed valid GPT partition table. Under Applications / Utilities or using Spotlight launch the Disk Utility and resize the OS X partition to the required size. It is also recommended that you set up your chosen partition scheme for Linux and Windows here as well to ensure your GPT partition table is valid. Simply create all the required partitions in the required size and set the type to HFS+, except for your intended Windows partition which you should make NTFS. See the notes on Partition Schemes below.

Using BootCamp in OS X 10.5 Leopard or OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (pre 2012)

Bootcamp provides a simple GUI to split the exisiting OS X drive into two partitions, non-destructively shrinking the first partition for OS X and creating a second partition as FAT32, which can be re-partitioned later as you require. Once finished partitioning, exit BootCamp without installing Windows, even if you plan a triple-boot set-up. The Disk Utility method is preferred as it is more flexible.

Using diskutil in OS X 10.4.6 or later (pre 2012)

BootCamp was originally released in beta form for OS X 10.4, but is no longer available for download. An alternative is to use the Mac OS X program diskutil. The ability to non-destructively re-size volumes was added to diskutil in OS X 10.4.6 (for more information see macgeekery.com).

The following command example assumes that 'disk0s2' is the OS X partition and will resize it to 60 gigabytes):

Warning: this may or may not work depending if your partition has been re-sized before.

Alternate approach

Disable journaling in MacOS, boot to Linux, use Parted to re-size the MacOS partition and turn journaling back on in MacOS and have the filesystem checked.

Download WiFi drivers

Some of the mac wireless cards may not be supported by open source drivers. if you have no wired connection to the internet, you should download the driver beforehand. otherwise you can skip the following and use yast later.There is a relatively complete list of macs and their hardware support on ubuntu help.You can find your Mac version by:

  1. Open 'About This Mac' under the Apple menu
  2. Click the 'System Report' button
  3. The 'Model Identifier' will be in the default dialog.

The closed source driver is called broadcom-wl in openSUSE and bcmwl-kernel-source in Ubuntu based distributions.There are two (!) packages to install, one of them is a kernel module and needs to match the kernel version.

Making a bootable USB pen drive on MacOS

On MacOS you can also use dd, but the command is slightly different:

Note that of goes to rdisk (otherwise it can take hours) and the bs takes small letters instead of capital ones.

Booting From Install CD / DVD

To make your Mac boot from a Linux or Windows CD or DVD, you need to hold down the 'Alt' key as the Mac starts up (EFI-Boot), keep holding it down until it is obvious the CD is booting (pre 2012).

On a MacBook Air (booting from a pen drive) the alt/option key needs to be pressed. Boot to the installation via the EFI method (you should see a selection after pressing the alt/option key).

Partitioning

All that is needed is to ensure that:

  • The first partition (/dev/sda1) is kept for the EFI boot partition, do NOT delete or format. However it MUST be mounted in /boot/efi during Linux installation.
  • The second partition (/dev/sda2) is kept for OS X, do not delete or format.
  • The third partition (/dev/sda3) is kept for GRUB, so use for either Linux / or /boot
  • The fourth partition (/dev/sda4) is kept for Windows
  • The fifth and subsequent partitions are used for Linux as required, e.g. /, /home, /tmp, swap, etc.

Notes:

  • There is a an EFI Grub option that should be selected automatically. However, ensure that it is. Do NOT under ANY circumstances overwrite the first partition. Go through EVERY page in the GRUB page of the installer and make sure of that. (In case you wonder what would happen: As far as I understand, EFI boot managers stop working, which includes the one from MacOS. I was able to boot into recovery, then crashed the complete EFI partition (also called ESP) and somehow managed to restore it in just a day.)
  • OS X can actually be on any partition other than the ESP, but is easiest left where it already is. As with Linux, or Windows for that matter, OS X can have more than one partition, such as one for the operating system, and another for user data analogous to /home.
  • Most references to specific partitions here assume that Linux (and Windows) would be added to an existing Mac OS installation. It's just as possible to install to a new or wiped disk openSUSE first, then Windows then Mac, or Windows, then Mac, then Linux, or Linux, then Mac, then Windows. The important points are creation of an ESP partition at the start of the disk, and smart allocation of space on the rest of the disk. I decide in advance what partitions to create, what size, and where, and create them before starting the first OS installation. One can just as well use the openSUSE installer's partitioner to either create them all before installing any OS, or just create the ones openSUSE will use, leaving blank space for others.

Multi-Booting With Windows (pre 2012)

You can multi-boot your Mac with OS X, Windows 7, 8, and/or 10, and Linux. If you want to do this, it is commonly advised to install Windows first before openSUSE. You will need to re-partition the hard-drive to your chosen scheme for Windows AND openSUSE before you install Windows.

It is strongly recommended to use the built-in OS X Disk Utility as this will guarantee a valid GPT table. Alternatively use a Linux Live CD with a GPT capable partition tool (parted > x.x.x), such as openSUSE >= 11.1 or Ubuntu >= 8.10 or Mandriva >= 2010 to boot your Mac and set up your partition scheme (see partitioning below).

Now proceed with your Windows install. You cannot use BootCamp to do this, as it only supports a Mac/Windows partition scheme. Instead boot your Windows install CD directly. Ensure you have either a full Windows install disk, or if you have an upgrade disk a second external CD drive, as you cannot manually eject the main install CD on most Macs when required to insert your original licensed disk. Afterwards install the Mac drivers from your OS X install DVD.

Once Windows is installed, you can then proceed with your Linux install.

openSUSE Installation

The normal openSUSE installation process is followed so is not covered here in detail. This section will only discuss where the Mac install differs from the normal.

kepp in mind that

  • The first partition (/dev/sda1) is kept for the EFI boot partition, do NOT delete or format. It MUST be mounted in /boot/efi during installation.
  • Install into the space that you previously made in MacOS.
  • In the summary before starting the actual installation process, open the GRUB page. There is a an EFI Grub option that should be selected automatically. However, ensure that it is. Do NOT under ANY circumstances overwrite the first partition. Go through EVERY tab in the GRUB page of the installer and make sure of that.

when the system is installed, unpack the refind zip and run refind-install as root

WiFi drivers

A Leap Through Time Mac Os Download

Once the installation process is finished, you may encounter a boot message about firmware issues, like the one below:

As of this writing, these instructions are not entirely complete: after installing the firmware as directed, you must run sudo mkinitrd to ensure that the firmware is loaded at the appropriate time during the boot process. (This extra step may be resolved in a future bugfix.)

Mac

Once that's done, you can install the WiFi drivers from the USB pen drive via Software Management (right click and open on the RPM in Dolphin) or Zypper. Note that the packaging system will complain that the RPMs are broken. this is because the signing key is not installed in the system. Note also, that Software Management will complain about missing dependencies (the two packages require each other and Software Manager does not look into the directory), just press ignore.

if you have problems with wifi after a suspend, this needs to be executed

on Linuxmint, pm-utils deals with calling it, but i believe openSUSE uses a different system.

On certain models (like MBP 2015) the WiFi driver is installed by default. Sometimes YaST doesn't recognize it during the installation though. The solution for this is opening YaST, then Network Configuration and selecting 'use Network Manager' instead of Wicked service. After the reboot, WiFi should work.

Keyboard Issues (pre 2012)

It has been reported that sometimes the built-in keyboard of the MacBook and Macbook Pro is not recognized during the boot. If the openSUSE install menu (with install/rescue/options) hangs on the 'boot from hard-drive option', try rebooting your MacBook. A workaround is connecting a USB keyboard to your MacBook when the installation menu starts.

The keyboard backlighting will certainly work but needs some help. I have successfully compiled lightum. You will need to add these packages (pre 2012, worked fine in Leap):

  • dbus-1-devel
  • dbus-1-glib-devel
  • xorg-x11-devel
  • gcc
  • make

Compile as root, run it as user. Test with a '-f' for foreground -> lightum -f
Enjoy!

Webcam

If the webcam doesn't work (try starting `cheese`), and is a FaceTime Camera:

Then there are drivers which may well work.

After that, in the 'sudo lspci -vd 14e4:' output (14e4 is the Broadcom vendor ID), you should see the Facetime HD Camera with 'facetimehd' in the 'kernel driver in use' field. Assuming it works for you, you'll probably want to auto-load the module on boot. To do that, add a file in modprobe.d:

You'll likely want to rebuild the module automatically when the kernel is updated. To do that, use DKMS. First, remove the current module and the autoload config, since the module will cause conflicts and the dkms service takes over loading installed modules:

Then install and rebuild the module using DKMS:

That will copy the source to /usr/src/facetimehd-1.0 and does all the make/make install/depmod steps whenever a new kernel version is installed. The dkms restart loads the facetimehd module if it's not already present, and enabling the dkms systemd service will autoload the module on reboot. You can check the status of the module for the current kernel using

Suspend to RAM

There is an issue with the backlight in MacBook Airs 6-x as the brightness setting stops working, documented here, including a solution.there are OBS packages for Leap 42.3 and 15.0 and Tumbleweed, you can install via one click install.

If you are testing suspend and the display is dark after wake up, try to make it brighter with the keyboard. Try with and without Fn key, because the function can be swapped. Try pressing it often, because you don't see whether it's changing something or not.

i had problems with the laptop waking up seconds after the suspend.

This needs to be executed at every start of the system. i switched to Linuxmint and put it into /etc/rc.local, not sure it also works in openSUSE. the laptop does not wake up automatically anymore if you open the screen or press a random button, but the power button does work. not that on some hardware you could get problems because you are basically switching off the events that can wake the system up. but in the worst case you have to wait until the system drains the battery, and the hardware reset should always work.

Leap

Other things

  • To reduce energy consumption, I recommend the installation and activation of tlp (it is in the default repositories, but needs manual activation in system services is WONTFIX).
  • there are more power saving options for Mac laptops here (that is specific for MacBookAir6-2, but others are probably similar. i'm still testing).
  • there is more documentation on the apple keyboard, including a link to a patch for switching Fn and Ctrl buttons. Not that if you only want to switch command and alt button, that's also possible by default in KDE's System Settings -> Input devices -> Advanced -> Configure keyboard options -> Alt/Win key behaviour -> Alt is swapped with Win.
Retrieved from 'https://en.opensuse.org/index.php?title=SDB:Installation_on_a_Mac&oldid=140234'

Two decades ago this week, the first version of Mac OS X hit shelves. We're not talking figuratively. The software was sold direct to consumers on disk, with a suggested retail price of $129 (roughly $190 today, adjusted for inflation).

Back in 2001, Mac OS X 10.00 Cheetah was a rough-around-the-edges break from the ageing Classic Mac OS, which had much of its origins in the original Macintosh’s System 1 software. In the years since, the platform has undergone two architecture shifts (PowerPC to Intel, and now Arm) and matured to the point where it commands nearly 10 per cent of desktop market share globally.

Getting there, however, wasn’t easy.

From big problems to big cats

The story of Mac OS X didn’t start in 2001, but rather in 1985, when Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple following a failed boardroom coup, and multiple product flops. The Apple Lisa project was a dismal failure, selling just 10,000 units. The Macintosh, although infinitely more successful by comparison, failed to slow the ascent of IBM in the PC market, and didn’t meet the company’s lofty sales goals.

Although Jobs was no longer part of Apple, he remained involved in the computer industry, later founding NeXT Inc, which aimed to build workstation-class machines for the higher education market. Its first computer, revealed in 1988, was a powerful (albeit excruciatingly expensive) cube of black aluminium based on a 25MHz Motorola 68030 CPU and 68882 FPU, with 8MB RAM and an optional 330MB or 660MB hard disk. It came with a bespoke UNIX-based operating system called NeXTSTEP that was founded on the Mach and BSD kernels, with object oriented programming principles throughout.

It was revolutionary, but that wasn’t enough to overcome its steep $6,500 ($14,500 in today’s money) asking price. Universities didn’t bite – although the hardware was used to develop the first web browser and server, as well as id Software’s Doom and Quake. By 1993, NeXT had left the hardware business to focus on porting NeXTSTEP to IBM-compatible PC, as well as PA-RISC, SPARC, and the Motorola 68k architectures.

Apple had its own problems, too. The Macintosh was stagnating. Windows 95 – which combined the previously separate DOS and Windows software – proved to be a roaring success, helping Microsoft expand its market share. When it arrived in 1995, Windows 95 was highly usable for first-time computer owners, and had features Mac OS 7 simply lacked, like preemptive multitasking. Separately, a disastrous decision by then-CEO Michael Spindler to license Mac OS 7 to third-party manufacturers resulted in the company’s high-margin hardware sales shrinking further.

The Next Step

By 1997, Apple was mere weeks away from bankruptcy. As a Hail Mary, CEO Gil Amelio (who replaced Spindler in 1996) acquired NeXT, bringing Jobs back to the company he founded from a Los Altos garage. While Jobs (who would assume the top role the following year) would ultimately nurse the company back to health, Apple was most interested in the NeXTSTEP operating system.

The Fat iPhone, 11 years on: The iPad's over a decade old and we're still not sure what it's for

READ MORE

You see, Mac OS was, at the time, stagnant. Whereas Windows had made leaps and bounds in terms of things like peripheral support and the internet, Apple had yet to implement basic system-level features like pre-emptive multitasking, multithreading, and protected memory. During the Amelio years, Apple had attempted to create a new operating system on a clean-sheet kernel called Nukernel, but it died in the fiery pits of development hell.

With Jobs at the helm, work started on a new operating system based on NeXTSTEP. The old Mac OS 9 nanokernel was replaced with Darwin, itself a direct descendant of the NeXTSTEP kernel. Other NeXT features - like the use of object-oriented programming, the Objective-C language, and the Dock - also made an appearance. It was a clean break with the past, with a brand new interface dubbed Aqua, and APIs that would allow developers to port their existing software.

The full release version of Mac OS X 10.0's UI (click to enlarge)

This, ultimately, became Mac OS X 10.00 Cheetah. And while its legacy continues to this day, the initial launch was somewhat underwhelming. It lacked feature parity with Mac OS 9, with DVD playback and CD burning unavailable at launch. Despite the release of a public beta, many developers (including Microsoft and Adobe) hadn’t updated their software to use the Aqua APIs. And it was dog slow, particularly when running applications using the backwards-compatible Classic APIs.

Worse, while many had hoped the Unix foundations and protected memory of Mac OS X would improve stability when compared to its predecessors, the software was rife with fatal bugs, which frequently presented themselves when using external peripherals.

The road since travelled

Teething problems with Mac OS X Cheetah didn’t stop Apple’s upward trajectory, and many of these issues were resolved in later releases. The next release, Mac OS X 10.1 Puma focused on performance improvements and improving feature parity with the Classic Mac OS, and was offered as a free update to existing users.

The next major update came in 2002. Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar fixed the long-standing issues with printer support through the release of CUPS – the Common Unix Printing System – which was subsequently open-sourced and is now widely used across the Linux sphere. By that point, Apple was so confident in Mac OS X, Jobs performed a mock funeral for the Classic Mac OS X on stage at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

At the time, Mac OS X was exclusively available for the PowerPC platform. By the decade’s halfway point, it was struggling to compete with chips from Intel in key metrics like power consumption. IBM, which built PowerPC chips on behalf of Apple, was manufacturing on larger nodes than those used by Intel, which was already transitioning to 65nm. Whereas it once enjoyed a competitive edge in processing power, Apple was faced with the prospect of losing that advantage.

And so, in 2005, Apple announced the transition to Intel, starting with Mac OS X 10.4.4 Tiger. This had been on the cards for some time. For each version of Mac OS X released, Apple had secretly created an x86 port, so there wasn’t much re-architecting required internally.

Apple had flirted with a move to Intel in the past. Rhapsody OS, which later became Mac OS X Server 1.0, was released for both PowerPC and x86, with versions for IBM RISC System/6000 and DEC Alpha architectures considered. Additionally, the foundational basis of Mac OS X, NeXTSTEP, was also available for Intel processors. This preparation and experience allowed Apple to recognise the writing on the wall and pivot.

As transitions go, the shift to Intel was as painless as could be, especially compared to the jarring leap from Mac OS Classic to Mac OS X. Legacy apps were able to run via the Rosetta compatibility mode (which was later discontinued in 2012). Developers could target both PowerPC and Intel platforms with universal binaries. And Apple offered developers a rental “transition kit” ahead of the public launch, giving them a head start.

In retrospect, this experience informed Apple’s next platform shift, with the company moving from Intel to its own Arm-based Apple Silicon processors in 2020. It has used the same playbook, down to the developer tools and pre-release transition hardware.

Plus ça change

In the two decades since the launch of Mac OS X, a few things have changed. Objective-C is declining in popularity, with Apple’s syntactically nicer Swift programming language gathering pace. The name changed a few times too, with Apple re-branding the system OS X in 2012, and finally macOS with the launch of version 10.12 Sierra. We’ve seen the launch of the Metal graphics API, which provided better rendering performance for games and other visually-intensive apps, as well as the inclusion of iOS and iPadOS features, like Siri.

Apple: We'll tailor Swift to be a fast new programming language

READ MORE

But the foundations first introduced in 2001 are still there, from the UNIX underpinnings to the NeXTSTEP Dock. While Windows has undergone multiple UI changes, macOS has largely remained mutually intelligible with its predecessors. As a collector of retro Apple kit (your correspondent has around 30 machines, ranging from a Mac OS 7-era Performa, to various post-Jobs PowerBooks and iBooks), it’s amazing to see how little has changed. I can use an iBook G4 running Mac OS X 10.3 Jaguar and feel just at home as I would with a latest generation M1 MacBook Air.

And that is the story of Mac OS X. It didn't seem like it would make it, but getting the fundamentals right – dare we say it even more than the cult of Steve Jobs – matters. ®

Get ourTech Resources

A Leap Through Time Mac OS

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply