[YichenWang]

i wanna install the linux on my mac book pro.

i did some research and i found a way:

use bootcamp to partition disc
then put the dvd in the dvd-rom
reboot..
and just like the way you install the windows.
does it work?

but the problem is:
my dvd-rom doesn't work...

so if i make a .dmg file and load it in to my flash drive
then use bootcamp partition disk
reboot and press option choose the flash drive to install the os
is it a way to the end?

i'm appreciated if you can help me
forgave my english [not my first langurage] lol..

[cgc]

I believe some distros have installers that can run from a USB drive but don't know if OSX/EFI allows this.

[ghporter]

Welcome to our forums!

The process you suggest to get around the inoperative DVD drive will work, but with one modification. The Boot Camp Windows installation routine won't look for an image file, and it won't look for an installer anywhere but the optical drive, so you need to put the Linux installer disc's contents on your flash drive-including all the partition data that makes the installer disc bootable. Then you simply tell Boot Camp you'll "install later," and let it quit after marking your newly created partition as being a Windows bootable partition. Now you restart the computer and hold your ALT key as soon as the boot chime sounds-the boot manager (installed by Boot Camp) will now offer you a choice of all bootable devices, including your OS X partition, your empty Windows partition, and the Linux installer on your flash drive.

Another work around would be to put a CD or DVD drive in a USB enclosure and the Linux install disc in that. Connect the enclosure to your computer, reboot and use ALT to invoke the boot manager as above, then select the Linux installer from the options offered. You CANNOT install Windows this way because the Windows installer re-scans all USB ports during its initialization, and thus effectively disconnects itself. But I don't know of a Linux distro that does this, so I believe any USB source, as long as it looks like an install disc should work fine.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

restart the computer and hold your ALT key as soon as the boot chime sounds-the boot manager (installed by Boot Camp) will now offer you a choice of all bootable devices,

The boot manager is not installed by Boot Camp.

It has been part of Mac firmware since at least the Open Firmware machines of 1998.

[YichenWang]

thank you guys very much for helping me.
i think i understand it, but few more questions.
as ghporter said: "so you need to put the Linux installer disc's contents on your flash drive-including all the partition data that makes the installer disc bootable."

1.if i format my flash drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and load a .dmg file in to it. will it work?
and how to convert .iso file to .dmg file? can i use"hdiutil convert filename.iso -format UDTO -o outputfile.dmg"?
or my method is dead wrong?

2.is there no way to install windows when my optical drive broken?

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

The boot manager is not installed by Boot Camp.

It has been part of Mac firmware since at least the Open Firmware machines of 1998.

Huh. I didn't know that. My introduction to Boot Camp had made it look like the boot manager was something new. Thanks for the correction.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by YichenWang 

thank you guys very much for helping me.
i think i understand it, but few more questions.
as ghporter said: "so you need to put the Linux installer disc's contents on your flash drive-including all the partition data that makes the installer disc bootable."

1.if i format my flash drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and load a .dmg file in to it. will it work?
and how to convert .iso file to .dmg file? can i use"hdiutil convert filename.iso -format UDTO -o outputfile.dmg"?
or my method is dead wrong?

2.is there no way to install windows when my optical drive broken?

You have it "sort of" right. You mount the .dmg file and then "burn" it to the flash drive using Disk Utility. Just copying the .dmg won't work because that's just a file; burning it makes the flash drive bootable. Disk Utility will also work just fine with .iso files for this purpose.

Windows' installer needs to be on an "installed" drive. I've seen people set up a drive with two partitions and put the Windows XP installer on one of them, then install onto the other partition. Hard drive-based installs are actually pretty fast, and it's not too challenging to do this with a Mac. After you have Boot Camp partition the drive, use the "install later" option. Now you need to copy the entire contents of the install CD onto that second partition; this task has two parts. First, you need to get the partition formatted so you can put data on it-Disk Utility will format it as FAT32, which is fine for putting the installer onto it. The second part is to put the CD's entire contents on a USB drive; you can use the "external enclosure/optical drive" method, or on some other machine copy the CD to your flash drive. Use a full binary copy tool so you get the entire thing and don't miss any hidden files.

The easiest way to install Windows on that MBP is to get the optical drive fixed. Otherwise you're going to experience a lot of work-arounds that will start to get old really fast.

[YichenWang]

thank you man, i think i'll try it later. it seems like pretty hard for me~
but now i think i've got lots of information and i think i can do that.
the reason why i dont fix my optical drive is price....too expensive.. - -

thx!