I want to install the nightly build onto my iMac which is a 2017 model. This is a purely dev/test machine, so I have wiped it and I’m trying to boot up with a nightly build, and then install onto the iMac so that it is a single-boot machine into Haiku.
I download the nightly build for 64-bit.
I use the balenaEtcher tool to flash the image to a USB drive that I have.
I insert the USB drive into the iMac while the machine is off.
I turn on the machine, and hold down the Option key.
I choose the option “EFI Boot” from the list of startup drives.
And then, the screen goes black, flickering just a bit like it usually does just before the Apple comes up, when I have chosen a Mac OS… but in this case, the screen just stays black. Nothing boots.
I also tried this with the beta 1 image. The steps I take are the same, but the result is that the Haiku logo comes up with the several icons under it. On the colorization of the third icon under the logo, boom! I get welcomed into Kernel Debugging Land. Input from my keyboard and mouse is not recognized. They are the wireless keyboard and mouse that came with the iMac.
That was why I tried the nightly build, thinking perhaps this was already resolved in a later build.
In any event, I’m very eager to convert my iMac into a Haiku computer, and would appreciate hearing about any other steps that I might be missing or need to do.
Hi! Great that you’re trying Haiku on the Mac! Try with an Apple wired keyboard (or a standard PC one if you don’t have a wired Mac version available)… that should hopefully work without errors as to the keyboard and mouse. As for the page fault KDL that comes up in the beta1 image, the Nightlies fix a lot since then. All I’ve had to test Haiku on so far is MacBooks (although I plan to get an Intel iMac soon), so I’m not sure what the x86 iMacs face personally, but maybe try booting in a VESA mode per the Haiku boot options and see if that allows it to load without blacking out.
Besides what has already been suggested, I would also say that sometimes booting from a DVD may help. Some Mac models are not very welcoming to 3rd party operating systems, especially when booting from USB.
Haiku has a known issue where booting from USB3 sticks causes problems. On my MacBookPro 11.3 (2014), I can only boot from USB2 sticks, not USB3 sticks. See if that helps.
However, once booted, Haiku can read / write USB3 sticks with no issues.
Change of plans… I’m wanting to get started with Haiku, not necessarily fight with Apple over what operating systems I should be allowed to run on computers I buy
So instead I found a decent deal (< $200 USD) on an older refurbished Dell Optiplex 790 computer setup from around 2011-2012. Here are the stats:
Intel Quad Core i5-2400s 2.5Ghz CPU
8GB DDR3 Memory
320GB SATA Drive
Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card (NIC)
USB 2.0
Integrated Video
Integrated Audio (AC97)
1 Serial Port
Windows 10 Pre-installed
Includes pre-installed Recovery Partition.
19" LCD
Keyboard, Mouse and USB Wifi adapter
I’m hoping that this will be a sufficient machine to get up and running with a dedicated Haiku box. From there I can really get to know Haiku better, and in the future, I’ll return to the task of converting my Mac hardware.
I imagine that this will come with its own challenges, but I am hoping that more works out of the box than with the Mac.
I’ve also got Haiku running in a VM in Parallels Desktop for Mac, but I really want to work on this thing on native hardware.
Try with an Apple wired keyboard (or a standard PC one if you don’t have a wired Mac version available)… that should hopefully work without errors as to the keyboard and mouse. As for the page fault KDL that comes up in the beta1 image, the Nightlies fix a lot since then. All I’ve had to test Haiku on so far is MacBooks (although I plan to get an Intel iMac soon), so I’m not sure what the x86 iMacs face personally, but maybe try booting in a VESA mode per the Haiku boot options and see if that allows it to load without blacking out.