I have an old macbookpro 2009, which I’m repurposing as a Linux machine exclusively, since there is no way to re-install an OS (the CD ROM is rejecting all disks, so I can’t even use original disks, and because the machine has a CDROM drive, there is no way to book from a USB stick, nice one Apple).
I have been on a bit of a roller coaster, trying out different Linux versions (Linux newbie). I have now decided that I like the look of OpenSuse with GNOME. I started off with LinuxMint, which exhibited a system lock up whilst browsing NAS folders, but I accidentally corrupted the installation by doing a hard power down, to try and fix the lockup; bad move :(. Then I moved to MX Lint, ok, but I don’t like the look of it. It was stable after installing refind and using that as the boot manager, which was a recommendation, I found was necessary for reliable bootup.
I have now attempted to move to OpenSuse. The OpenSuse installation process sets up GRUB as the boot manager, which, as I discovered using MX Linux doesnt work well. I needed refind to make things work properly, and it seems the installation of OpenSuse with GRUB is failing because its not using refind. So, how do I fix my current OpenSuse? When I reboot, nothing happens, I just get a flashing symbol of a folder, which I presume means that it can’t find the boot loader for OpenSuse. This is worse than MX Linux, because at least with MXL, it was only unreliable in booting (it would take in the region of 6 attempts to get a successful bootup. This was fixed simply by installing refind).
It looks like refind is essential for macs. I am not trying to dual boot, all I want is an OpenSuse tumbleweed installation using refind as the boot manager. Is there a way to get OpenSuse installation process to use refind instead of GRUB? How do I do this? Thanks.
Hi and welcome to the Forum
Ahh that’s not correct, I have a 2007 MacBook it boots via USB… Insert the USB device (MacOS or Linux) then power on and hold the option key down to get to the boot menu, select the USB efi icon and away you go. I dual boot MacOS and openSUSE Leap this way and avoid the likes of refind, by default it boots into openSUSE.
Thanks for your reply. The reason I’m I posted is because I’m having a problem that I need to repair. Holding down the option/alt key does not do the trick, which is why I’m trying to get back to using refind, or what ever method that allows OpenSuse to boot. If I hold down alt/option with my OpenSuse USB stick plugged in, all I get is a grey screen with a mouse pointer and then nothing.
I don’t mind not using refind as long as there is a workaround. So far, I have found that using refind is the most reliable setup.
I do have an MX Lint live USB stick that I can boot into via holding alt during startup. Perhaps I can install refind onto the system partition, but I don’t know how to do this, or even if that’ll work.
