Macintosh
There are many options for using Sugar on an Apple Macintosh Computer.
| Taste of Sugar | provides a safe read-only experience that does not alter your Mac. Get to know the Sugar Learning Platform by using it first hand. The quickest way to experience Sugar is to go here... | |
| Sugar in a Window | installs to a directory on your Hard Disk. In a Window or Full Screen you can switch between Mac and Sugar instantly. Your journal is safe and remembered between restarts. Read more... | |
| Sugar on Linux | Linux runs on Apple computers long after Apple discontinues support. There are many choices available for easy installation; but after first boot, their support for Sugar varies. Read more... |
pick a flavor:
- Strawberry v1 for intel processor
- Blueberry v2 for intel processor
- Mirabelle beta for intel processor
- Linux for powerPC processor
Click Sugar. Click Mac.
Use Mac and Sugar at the same time on the same computer. Sugar in a Window allows you to switch instantly between them. This is the most flexible way of using Sugar on an intel Mac.
- The Journal is saved to disk, so a learner's work is preserved.
- Multiple learners may share the same machine with minor effort.
- Sugar shares your Mac's media effortlessly. CD/DVD, Network, etc.
All this is possible by using Virtual Machine software. Virtualization puts an entire computer into a file on your Intel Mac. Install Sugar in that file and boot it with a Virtual computer. Once the boot finishes, you have Sugar in a Window. There are many virtualization applications for Intel Mac, to name a few:
- VirtualBox
- Parallels
- Fusion
VirtualBox has a free to use license. Learn how to use it here: VirtualBox. Instructions for other applications may be available on this wiki and elsewhere.
Note: Virtualization doesn't have a speed penalty like emulation. The use of intel processor Emulation on powerPC Mac is not recommended. Due to the aging speeds of powerPC Macs, installing Linux and Sugar will drastically outperform emulation.
Farewell Mac. Hello Sugar.
Linux runs on Mac.
Sugar runs on Linux.
A two step install of both Linux then Sugar onto an erased Hard Drive will work on most Macintosh computers including powerPC Mac and Intel Mac.
To identify the Mac's processor and OS X version
Choose Apple menu > About This Mac. A small window will appear titled About This Mac. The processor type should be in the window.
Note: Sugar on a Stick is for the intel processor only. Macs with powerPC will need to get their sugar from a Linux distribution.
To get started, get Linux
Sugar has been ported by the major Linux distributions and many minor ones. There are many choices available for easy installation; but after first boot, their support for Sugar varies. Search the internet for Linux Mac powerPC Install. Once you've found a version of Linux for your processor, search within to see if Sugar is pre-packaged for easy install and what support or discussions they've had.
Other ways to get Sugar on your Mac
Sugar on a Stick loaded USB devices should run on Intel Macs. Follow these instructions every time you wish to use your Sugar on a Stick device on an intel Mac:
- Boot the Mac with the boot-helper CD
- interrupt the boot sequence
- edit the kernel parameters
vmlinuz0 initrd=initrd0.img root=LABEL=FEDORA rootfstype=iso9660 rw liveimg overlay=LABEL=soas-2-blueberry quiet rhgb selinux=0
- continue the boot.
You can create a Sugar on a Stick device with a Mac. However, to save the Journal you must create your stick on a PC or Linux machine: Instructions for Windows and Linux
- Download the boot helper from: http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/releases/soas-boot.iso
- Put in the boot-helper CD
- Plug in the USB
- Turn on the Mac
- At the chime press the "C" key
The Mac should boot first from the CD then from the USB device. As of 12 April 2009, this is experimental. Let us know what results you get.