Since Apple launched ARM Macs, various groups have tried to port Linux to the machines. The software provider Corellium, known for its practical tools for iOS virtualization, which Apple would like to prevent, has now had its first success. The developers were now able to boot a full Ubuntu rpi desktop on the M1 Mac. The machine is a Mac mini.

Code and tutorials There are still some restrictions – you have to go into the network with a USB-C dongle (USB support works) and you cannot use the integrated Ethernet. Corellium had been trying the port for weeks. The necessary code and patches are distributed via the company’s GitHub repository. A tutorial is also available there. Corellium hopes that other developers will participate in the project.

Starting point Raspberry Pi GPU acceleration is also not yet possible. Graphics are completely rendered via software, which is still relatively little fun in everyday use. Apple uses its own graphics units in its ARM Macs, so the appropriate drivers must first be found for this; It was initially unclear whether this was already being worked on. Corellium started from the starting point of the Raspberry Pi, which is also ARM-based and uses an adapted Ubuntu. I2C and DART are already running Chris Wade, Corellium’s chief technology officer, said the port is “fully usable”. You can boot via USB.

Ubuntu on an iPhone 7 Most recently, a hobbyist managed to install Ubuntu on an iPhone 7. It was even a model whose flash modules were defective – it is used via netboot. In order for this to be possible, however, a jailbreak had to be performed beforehand. The hack succeeded with a “largely” unmodified Ubuntu version 20. 04 for ARM 64. Nevertheless, some patches were necessary.

(bsc)