HOWTO : Perfect Dual Boot Kali Linux 1.0.6 on MacBook Air (Mid 2013) with rEFInd 0.7.7

IMPORTANT : DO NOT UPGRADE YOUR MAC OSX TO YOSEMITE (10.10) AS REFIND (Version 0.8.3) WILL NOT WORKING PROPERLY AND IT FAILS TO DUAL BOOT.


rEFInd version 0.8.4 is compatible with Mac OSX 10.10.x Yosemite. Existing users please refer to the official site for installation.


UPDATED FOR REFIND 0.8.3 on July 13, 2014

This tutorial is written for MacBook Air (may be other models of Apple computers) and Kali Linux users who want to dual boot Mac OSX and Kali Linux.

Pros :

(1) Use GRUB2 for EFI
(2) Simple and Easy to Use and Install
(3) Mac OSX can be Encrypted but reqires extra work (not in this HOWTO)
(4) Kali Linux can be Encrypted

Cons :

(1) Conexists with Mac OSX
(2) Kali Linux Bootable Live USB cannot be booted with rEFInd (use Option key to boot instead)

Background

Since Kali Linux 1.0.6 is based on Debian 7.0 (Wheezy) which is not EFI enabled by default, the GRUB2 (EFI) will not be installed when installing Kali Linux 1.0.6.

We need to use rEFInd which installed in Mac OSX and post-install the GRUB2 on Kali Linux. Meanwhile, the old GRUB should be removed before hand; otherwise, you will break the system.

Making of Kali Linux Install USB

Please refer to the Kali Linux Documentation of making the install USB at here.

You can also refer to this article for making a persistence USB for the installation if you do not have "Thunderbolt to Ethernet" or "USB 3.0 Gigabit USB LAN Adapter". These two devices can be recognized by Kali Linux out of the box.

Install rEFInd on MacBook Air

Boot up MacBook Air to Mac OSX. Download the rEFInd binary zip file and extract it. Go to "Downloads/refind-bin-0.7.7" "Downloads/refind-bin-0.8.3" and install the rEFInd.

cd Downloads/refind-bin-0.7.7 cd Downloads/refind-bin-0.8.3
sudo ./install.sh --alldrivers

Installation and Partitioning

At the MacBook Air with Mac OSX, execute the "Disk Utility". Create a new partition and making it as two, one is "Macintosh HD" and the new one is "Macintosh HD 2". Applied the change. Then remove the newest created partition (Macintosh HD 2). Do not format it and leave it as is. After that, shut it down.

Insert Kali Linux Live Install USB to the MacBook Air and then power on the MacBook Air with long pressing "Option" key. When the Kali Linux Boot Menu displayed. Select "Live (amd64)" and press "Tab" to append "persistence" at the end of the line. After that, press "Enter". Make sure you are connected to the internet. If not, your install will be failed.

The Kali Linux Live will be launched. Select "Install Kali Linux" from the Menu (Applications -- System Tools). Follow the instructions for the installation. Make sure you have a very strong root password. When you are prompted to do partitioning, you just select "Guided - use the largest continuous free space" for non-encryption installation. Do not select "entire disk" options as it will delete the Mac OSX partitions.

The partitioning for normal install is : /etc/sda1 is EFI, /etc/sda2 is Macintosh HD, /etc/sda3 is Recovery HD, /etc/sda4 is biosgrub (unformatted), /etc/sda5 is / (Kali Linux) and /etc/sda6 is SWAP.

If you want to install whole disk encryption, you need to select "Manual". Do not select "entire disk" options as it will delete the Mac OSX partitions. First of all, create a 400MB to 1024MB EXT2 partition which is mount to "/boot". Then, select "Configure encrypted volumes" and name it as "encrypt_vol" for the remaining available spaces. Choose "/dev/sda free #3" for the encrypt volume. Enter the strong "Encryption passphrase". After that, select "Configure the Logical Volume Manager". Create volume group and name it as "kali". Select "/dev/mapper/sda5_crypt" for the volume group. Select "Create logical volume" and name it as "root" with desired capacity. Re-select "Create logical volume" and name it as "swap" with the remaining spaces. Set mount point "/" as EXT4 for "LVM VG kali, LV root" and "swap" as SWAP for for "LVM VG kali, LV swap".

The encrypted volume should be "sda5_crypt" and it is /dev/sda5 too. We need to get its UUID for the bug fix later. It is because Kali Linux Manual partitioning has a serious bug that not allowing you to boot the box.

The partitioning for encryption install is : /etc/sda1 is EFI, /etc/sda2 is Macintosh HD, /etc/sda3 is Recovery HD, /etc/sda4 is /boot (Kali Linux, EXT2) and /etc/sda5 is Encrypted LVM volume which includes / and SWAP.

When asking for installing the GRUB to MBR, just skip it. We do not need it. If you do so, you will kill the system and you need to reinstall the Mac OSX. After that, wait for the installation to complete.

Install EFI on Kali Linux

When the installation is completed, it will return to the Live Kali Linux. Do not reboot it.

Open a terminal. And complete the following commands :

(A) Normal install without luks encryption

mkdir /mnt/root
mount /dev/sda5 /mnt/root

cd /mnt/root
mount -t proc proc proc/
mount -t sysfs sys sys/
mount -o bind /dev dev/
mkdir boot/efi
mount /dev/sda1 boot/efi

chroot /mnt/root

apt-get --purge remove grub-pc
apt-get --purge autoremove
apt-get install grub-efi-amd64

nano /etc/default/grub

Change from :

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet"

Change to :

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet apparmor=1 security=apparmor pcie_aspm=force radeon.dpm=1 acpi_backlight=vendor libata.force=noncq"

grub-install
update-grub

exit
reboot

(B) LVM with luks encryption

blkid /dev/sda5

Write down the UUID and the others for further use.

cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda5 sda5_crypt
vgchange -ay kali

mkdir /mnt/root
mount /dev/mapper/kali-root /mnt/root

cd /mnt/root
mount -t proc proc proc/
mount -t sysfs sys sys/
mount -o bind /dev dev/
mount /dev/sda4 boot/
mkdir boot/efi
mount /dev/sda1 boot/efi

chroot /mnt/root

apt-get --purge remove grub-pc
apt-get --purge autoremove
apt-get install grub-efi-amd64

nano /etc/default/grub

Change from :

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet"

Change to :

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet apparmor=1 security=apparmor pcie_aspm=force radeon.dpm=1 acpi_backlight=vendor libata.force=noncq"

grub-install
update-grub
update-initramfs -u

exit
reboot

In case if the Kali Linux cannot be booted and drop you to a initramfs shell. Do not panic. We can fix it.

cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda5 sda5_crypt
vgchange -ay
exit

The Kali Linux can be booted up fine. Upon booted up, you need to do the following :

update-initramfs -u

exit
reboot

Configuration of rEFInd

Boot to Mac OSX and configure the refind.conf.

sudo nano /EFI/refind/refind.conf

Change from :

scan_all_linux_kernels #scan_all_linux_kernels false

Change to :

#scan_all_linux_kernels scan_all_linux_kernels false

Then, you can boot to Kali Linux without problem.

Tailor-made Kali Linux

Boot to Kali Linux. Then configure it by refering to this guide and this guide.

That's all! See you.

HOWTO : Dual Boot Kali Linux 1.0.6 on MacBook Air (Mid 2013) with rEFInd 0.7.7

A better method to dual boot Kali Linux on MacBook Air with rEFInd is here.


Pros :

(1) Simple to Use and Install
(2) Straight Forward
(3) Easy to Use and Install

Cons :

(1) No GRUB on Kali Linux
(2) Need to be coexist with Mac OSX
(3) Bootloader is situated in Mac OSX
(4) Need to Edit rEFInd configure file when the Kali Linux Kernel is upgraded
(5) The Mac OSX should not be whole disk encrypted
(6) The Kali Linux cannot be full disk encryption

Step 1 :

First of all, you are required to create a bootable USB pendrive for Kali Linux. Please refer to the Kali Linux Documentation for the procedure at here. I recommend to use 4GB (or larger) USB 2.0 pendrive.

Step 2 :

Boot up Macbook Air and resize the existing partition by adding one more partition with "Disk Utilities". After applied the change, you need to delete the partition that you just created (the partition without Mac OSX). Then leave it unformated.

Step 3 :

Go to rEFInd official site and download the binary zip file. Unzip the downloaded file.

cd Download/refind-bin-0.7.7/
sudo ./install.sh --alldrivers

Step 4 :

Insert the bootable Kali Linux USB pendrive and reboot the Macbook Air with long pressing the "Option" or (alt) key. Upon the boot menu is displayed, select the "Windows" icon to boot the Kali Linux.

Make sure you are connected to the internet by "Thunderbolt to Ethernet" or "PCi USB 3.0 Gagabit LAN Adapter UE-1000T-G3". If you want to connect to internet with wifi, you are required to install the wireless driver by following this guide.

Select "Install" or "Graphical Install". When going to the partition part, select "Install on the available free space". Do not select entire disk; otherwise, you will delete the Mac OSX partitions.

Follow the instruction on screen to install. When you are prompted to select where to install the GRUB, just skip it. GRUB is not required to install.

Then finish the install. Reboot and unplug the USB pendrive.

Step 5 :

Boot to Kali Linux via rEFInd Boot Manager menu. Find out the UUID of EXT4 partition. You can find it at /etc/fstab or "System Monitor". You are also required to write down the file names of /boot. After that, reboot to Mac OSX.

Step 6 :

Boot to Mac OSX via rEFInd Boot Manager menu. Go to the /EFI/refind.

cd /EFI/refind
sudo nano refind.conf

Append the following to the end of the file :



* replace the captioned UUID with your UUID; otherwise, it will not be booted up.

* where 'volume "3:"' is the forth partition that the Kali Linux root is situated.

Step 7 :

Reboot and you will see two Linux icons. The first one is detected automatically which has no optional kernel parameters. Select the second Linux icon which is labelled "Kali Linux". If you can boot to the Kali Linux. The setup is almost completed.

Step 8 :

Reboot to Mac OSX again. Go to the /EFI/refind/refind.conf.

Locate "scan_all_linux_kernels" and comment it out with "#" in the front of the line.

Step 9 :

Reboot to Kali Linux and configure the Kali Linux by following this guide and also this guide. Do not follow the "CUDA" part if you have no nVidia display card.

Step 10 :

After done the Step 9, you can reboot to Kali Linux by selecting the only Linux icon. Now, the setup is completed. Enjoy!

Remarks :

If the Kali Linux kernel is upgraded, you need to change the kernel version at the rEFInd config file.

The full disk encryption for Kali Linux and Mac OSX are not supported.

You may consider to add "noatime, nodiratime, discard" to the /etc/fstab.

That's all! See you.

HOWTO : Kali Linux 1.0.6 on MacBook Air (Mid 2013) 13 inches

I make a persistence USB pendrive for the Kali Linux 1.0.6 (x86_64). I boot it up and find out that almost everything is working out of the box on my MacBook Air (Mid 2013) 13 inches.

The procedure of making a persistence Kali Linux USB pendrive and how to boot to persistence mode, please refer to the official site of Kali Linux.

One of the out-of-order devices is wireless. The wireless device of my MacBook Air is Broadcom 4360. Since Ubuntu is based on Debian and Kali Linux is based on Debian, I steal the Broadcom STA driver from Ubuntu and apply to Kali Linux.

Wireless

The Broadcom driver of Ubuntu is situated at here.

Step 1 :

apt-get install dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)

Step 2 :

Download the latest version of the source file.

wget http://ftp.wa.co.za/pub/ubuntu/ubuntu/pool/restricted/b/bcmwl/bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.141+bdcom-0ubuntu2_amd64.deb

dpkg -i bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.141+bdcom-0ubuntu2_amd64.deb

After the installation, the wireless APs will be detected and login.

Keyboard

Step 3 :

The keyboard is not mapping correctly and the following will fix it.

nano /etc/modprobe.d/hid_apple.conf

Append the following :

options hid_apple iso_layout=0
options hid_apple fnmode=1


For reference, please refer to this article.

Power Saving

You can have more than 10 hours battery life if you apply the following.

Step 4 :

nano /etc/modprobe.d/i915.conf

Append the following :

options i915 i915_enable_rc6=1
options i915 i915_enable_fbc=1
options i915 lvds_downclock=1

Step 5 :

Download this file, "99macbookair6", make it executable and place it at /etc/pm/power.d/99macbookair6



nano /etc/rc.local

Insert the following before "exit 0".

/etc/pm/power.d/99macbookair6 true

Step 6 :

nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Append the following :

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/linrunner/tlp/ubuntu lucid main

Save and exit. Then run the following :

apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 02D65EFF

apt-get update
apt-get install tlp tlp-rdw

nano /etc/default/tlp

Change the following values.

DISK_IDLE_SECS_ON_AC=0
DISK_IDLE_SECS_ON_BAT=2
MAX_LOST_WORK_SECS_ON_BAT=60
CPU_SCALING_GOVERNOR_ON_BAT=powersave
DISK_APM_LEVEL_ON_BAT="1 1"
RUNTIME_PM_ALL=1
RESTORE_DEVICE_STATE_ON_STARTUP=1

* Or, leave the /etc/default/tlp settings untouch

Step 7 :

Reboot. Upon bootup, press <tab>, and append "persistence" to launch Kali Linux.

Step 8 :

To examine the power saving condition, you can install "powertop" and run "tlp-stat".

Remark

You can apply the power saving part to any Linux laptop.

If you want to install Kali Linux on your MacBook Air (Mid 2013), you have to fight to EFI.

By the way, this Kali Linux USB pendrive can boot from any laptop that support x86_64 CPU.

If you are using USB 3.0 pendrive, after the making the live USB or updated the live USB, you need to boot it up once on USB 2.0 computer. Otherwise, the USB 3.0 pendrive cannot be bootup on MacBook Air. It is very interesting.

If Kali Linux is installed on the MacBook Air, you need to do the following :

update-initramfs -u

Meanwhile, if Kali Linux is installed on the MacBook Air, you need to add "noatime, nodiratime" to ext4 at /etc/fstab.

For dual boot Kali Linux on MacBook Air, you can refer to this guide.

Reference

(1) Ubuntu Documentation - Apple MacBook Air (Mid 2013)
(2) Debian Documentation - Apple Keyboard
(3) TLP - Linux Advanced Power Management

That's all! See you.

REVIEW : MacBook Air (Mid 2013)

In 70's, I was attracted by Apple ][. I then started to learn how to program in BASIC. Apple products were very expensive that I could not afford when I was a teenager. Later, IBM PC launched. Everyone focused to it in my country. I started to use PC DOS in 80's. In 90's, everyone was using Windows. I was attracted by the concept of Open Source and started to learn Linux in 90's.

I have some experience in using Windows but except the Windows 8. I have been using Linux for over 15 years. Last year, I was attracted by MacBook Pro Retina. I bought one and it was the highest model of MacBook Pro. It is Intel i7 CPU, 16GB RAM and 768GB SSD as well as 15" Retina display. It comes with Mac OS X 10.8.x. When the new MacBook Air comes out in Mid 2013, I bought one. It is 13", Intel i7 CPU, 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD. Meanwhile, I also purchased 3TB Time Capsule.

After using Mac OS X with Pro and Air for months and days, I like Apple products very much. It is very well designed. Users are not required to have much computing knowledge. Almost all her products are plug and play.

The boot up time is in several seconds with SSD. The Time Machine is working great that I do not need to take part in the operation. It is 100% automatically backup your Mac hourly, monthly and yearly. The Time Capsule recognised my network automatically and no setting is required. The WiFi feature of the Time Capsule is one of the function in my network in a ease.

My MacBook Pro/Air comes with some useful programs, such as iMove, which is very useful for me to record the screen by QuickTime and then edit with iMove. You can also learn how to use iMove in Apple's Workshop. It is free of charge. Meanwhile, Apple's programs are not as expensive as Windows. It is just several dollars or just a hundred something (USD).

Being an experienced Linux user, I find out that Linux Desktop cannot beat Mac OS X, even Ubuntu Desktop cannot. The learning curve for Mac OS X is none comparing with Linux and Windows. Mac OS X and Linux are not required to use Anti-Virus programs. Meanwhile, Mac OS is lesser vulnerability than Linux and Windows.

In conclusion, if you want to switch from Windows or Linux, Mac is your first choice. I grantee you will 100% satisfied.

That's all! See you.