How to Triple-Boot Your Mac with Windows and Linux, No Boot Camp Required

Apple has streamlined the process of dual booting Windows on your Mac, but when it comes to Linux, Boot Camp isn't so friendly. Here's how to triple-boot your Mac with OS X, Windows 7, and the shiny new Ubuntu 10.04.

If you're a Mac user, you may have already used Apple's Boot Camp to get Windows on your system for those must-have programs. With a fast new Ubuntu out, however, you might want to give it a try—but installing Linux isn't exactly easy on Macs, since they don't recognize it by default.

Also complicating things? Linux and Windows' boot loaders will attempt to take over one another. Usually, this is a good thing, because Linux's multi-system loader makes the experience more seamless for PC users—but on a Mac, this really just makes things more difficult (no one wants to go through two menus to choose their OS). As such, installing Linux needs to be done with certain settings applied, or you'll be left with a jumbled mess. Here's a step-by-step guide to making your triple booting experience as user-friendly as possible.

Note that I will go through the steps to installing both Windows 7 and Ubuntu 10.04, but if you already have Windows installed, that shouldn't be an issue—just skip the Windows installation step and move on to installing Ubuntu, which is the more complicated (and important) part anyways.

Install the rEFIt Boot Menu for Macs

Before we do anything else, we're going to install a new boot menu for your Mac that will make your life during and after installation much easier. rEFIt will show up every time you start up your computer, asking you which OS you want to use. By default, it will boot into OS X after 20 seconds of inactivity (so you don't have to be there every time to choose). It's super customizable, though, so you can change your default OS if you want to, as well as tweak other settings to fit into your workflow as best as possible.

Head on over to rEFIt's SourceForge page and download the DMG for the most recent version of the installer (0.14 at the time of this writing). Open it up and launch the installer package, and go through the installation process (which is pretty self-explanatory; it'll do all the work for you). Afterwards, restart your computer to see if it works! If everything goes as planned, your screen should look something like the screen at the top of this article (though if not, you might have to restart twice to get it to show up). Obviously, it'll only have one or two icons instead of three—the others come next!

At this point, the rEFIt boot menu is fully functional, though if you want to customize it, you'll have to edit your configuration file. More information on this is available in rEFIt's documentation; I won't get deep into it now, but it's not very difficult to tweak things like the default OS, or which tools show up along the bottom. You just need to "uncomment" the given option by removing the # before the relevant command in the text file. You can alsocustomize the icons by swapping your own .icns with the default ones in rEFIt's folder on your hard drive. You can do that now, or move on to partitioning your disk.

Partition Your Hard Drive with Disk Utility

We won't be using Boot Camp to partition our disk, mostly because we don't need to. Since we're triple-booting, it's easier to see it all at once, rather than let some tool do it for us (if you've already installed Windows using Boot Camp, though, that's fine—just ignore the Windows parts of this step). Open up Disk Utility, click on your main drive (the very top option in the sidebar) and head to the "Partition" tab.

We're going to make three new partitions; one for Windows, one for Linux, and one for our Linux swap space, the space Linux uses if it runs out of memory. To do this, just click on your Macintosh HD partition. If you have multiple partitions already, click on the one from which you want to take back some space. Next, hit the plus sign enough times so that you have four total partitions. Click on your first new partition (the one under "Macintosh HD") and on the right side of the window, type "WINDOWS" in the name box. Format this Windows partition to MS-DOS, then make the size whatever you want.

The sizes don't particularly matter, as long as your OS will fit on the partition, and you have enough extra space for whatever you want. I partitioned 50 GB to each OS—probably overkill, but hey, I've got a big drive. Do the same for a Linux and Linux swap partition, formatting each to MS-DOS (the format isn't super necessary, but at least for the Windows installation it does make the process easier). Hit the apply button and let Disk Utility do its thing—it'll seem like it stops responding, but just leave it be for a minute, and you should be all set. Once it's done, move on to the next step.

Installing Windows 7

Insert your Windows 7 install disc and restart your computer, unless you've already installed it, in which case, move on to installing Ubuntu). As your computer starts up, listen for the familiar Mac startup sound, then immediately press and hold the Option (or "Alt") key on your keyboard, until you see a drive icon with the word rEFIt under it. You'll need to give your system a second to check the CD drives (assuming you're running Snow Leopard, which is a little slow at doing so), but your Windows CD should pop up on the right. Click on the CD icon, then hit Enter to boot into the installation. You might also get a screen that says "Press any key to boot from CD. . .", in which case you'll have to do what it says, or else just restart your computer.

Go ahead and navigate through the first few steps of the installation. When you're asked what type of install you want to perform, choose "custom install", so you can pick and format the partition. You'll want to choose the one named WINDOWS (obviously), though you'll have to format it by clicking "drive options" and then "Format". It should reformat that partition to NTFS for you, after which you can hit the next button. It'll take a little while to install, and it'll restart a few times during that process—whenever it does, select the Windows partition on boot (which should show up in rEFIt now, so you won't need to hold option down again).

When it's done and you finally get to the Windows desktop, you can go ahead and install the Boot Camp drivers from your Leopard or Snow Leopard install DVD. Since your eject key won't work yet, you'll have to eject your Windows disc manually by going into Windows Explorer, clicking on your optical drive, then choosing the "Eject" button in the toolbar. After inserting your Snow Leopard DVD, it should start automatically with the option to run setup.exe. Pick that, then let the installation run. Once you're done, head back over to OS X, so you can burn and install Ubuntu.

Installing Ubuntu 10.04

If you don't already have an Ubuntu installation CD, you'll need to head back into your Mac system (or Windows, if you want to give it a go) and grab the ISO from Ubuntu's website. Make sure you get the right one for your machine, whether it be a desktop/laptop or a netbook, and 32- or 64-bit. Once it's downloaded, burn it with your burning program of choice (I'm quite partial to the flexible, open-source Burn myself, though you could also do it with Disk Utility). Once it's burned, keep it in the drive and restart your computer, once again holding option at the startup sound and clicking on the CD that shows up in your boot menu. It will say it's a Windows disc, but don't worry—it's the right one. OS X is just a little confused when it comes to the world outside itself.

It'll take a few minutes for the CD to boot, but you should eventually be presented with the option to try Ubuntu or install it on your computer. Choose install, then go through the first few steps of the process, picking your language, time zone, and keyboard type (USA probably works fine, but I usually pick USA - Macintosh because, you know, that's what I have). When you're presented with the partition window, choose the bottom option to "specify partitions manually"—this is where the fancy footwork comes in.

Double click on your Linux partition's entry. If you've been following this how-to to the letter, it should be /dev/sda4. You'll be presented with a window in which you manually set the partition's characteristics. I chose to use the partition as Ext4, although you can pick something else if you want—Ext4 seems to be the new standard, so I'd recommend it if you don't know the difference between them all. Check the box to format the partition and make the mount point "/". Hit OK and double click on your 1 GB partition at the end of the drive, set it to be used as a swap area, and then hit OK. At this point, your window should look something like this:

Go through the rest of the installation until the last window, where it's ready to install and asks you to double-check everything. Hit the advanced button. Make sure "install boot loader" is checked, and change the device for boot loader installation to the same partition on which you installed Linux (in the above case, /dev/sda4). Hit next and let 'er rip. When it's done it should restart your computer and your rEFIt boot menu should contain an option for all three operating systems. If you can successfully boot into both partitions, congratulations! You've got a working triple-boot system.

Unfortunately, installing drivers in Ubuntu is not nearly as easy as installing them in Windows. Actually, it's probably the hardest part of this entire process. It's model-specific to each Mac, so I can't detail it all here, but the Ubuntu Community Documentation is usually quite good at compiling a how-to for each model, so head on over to the page for your model of iMac or MacBook to get everything up and running. Follow the instructions as closely as you can, don't be afraid to ask for help on the Ubuntu forums, and God be with you.

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There are, of course, a few different ways to set this up (see our guide to dual booting Windows 7 and Ubuntu on a PC for a few possible modifications, such as creating a swap file within Ubuntu instead of on a separate partition), but in general this is a straightforward, user-friendly way to get it all working. You won't have to deal with a bunch of different boot menus, and you won't have to deal with OS X's limitations in recognizing Linux drives at boot (though you still won't be able to see your Linux partition from the Mac desktop). If you've got experience with this, though, we'd love to hear your preferred method of triple booting your Mac

A history of viruses on Linux

We recently gave you a brief history of viruses on the Mac and as requested by a user we wanted to give you a history of viruses on Linux. Given the tight security integrated into Linux, it is difficult to take advantage of a vulnerability on the computer, but some programmers have found ways around the security measures. There are several free options for anti-virus on Linux that you really should use, even if it isn't always running - a weekly or monthly scan doesn't hurt. Free anti-virus solutions include: ClamAV, AVG, Avast and F-Prot.

1996:
The cracker group VLAD wrote the first Linux virus named Staog. The virus took advantage of a flaw in the Kernel that allowed it to stay resident on the machine and wait for a binary file to be executed. Once executed the virus would attach itself to that file. Shortly after the virus was discovered the flaw was fixed and the virus quickly became extinct. VLAD was also responsible for writing the first known virus for Windows 95, Boza.

1997:
The Bliss computer virus made its way out into the wild. The virus would attach itself to executables on the system and prevent them from running. A user had to have root access for the virus to be affected, and to this day Debian lists itself as still being vulnerable to this virus. The threat to Debian is minimal though as users do not typically run as root.

1999:
No significant viruses were reported this year but oddly enough a hoax message went around stating there was a virus that was threatening to install Linux on your computer. At the time the Melissa virus was ravaging PCs worldwide and on April 1, 1999 (April Fools Day) a message went out warning that a virus named Tuxissa was running about secretly installing Linux on unsuspecting computers.

2000:
A rather harmless virus, Virus.Linux.Winter.341, showed up and inserted itself into ELF files; ELF files are executable Linux files. The virus was very small, only 341 bytes, and would insert LoTek by Wintermute into the Notes section of an ELF file. The virus was also supposed to change the computer name to Wintermute but never gained control of a machine to effect the change.

2001:
This was an eventful year for Linux viruses; the first was the ZipWorm, a harmless virus that would simply attach itself to any zip files located in the same directory it was executed in. Next was the Satyr virus which was also a harmless virus, it would simply attach itself to ELF files adding the string unix.satyr version 1.0 (c)oded jan-2001 by Shitdown [MIONS], http://shitdown.sf.**(edited as URL causes Avast to block page). There was also a virus released called Ramen which would replace index.html files with their own version displaying Ramen Crew at the top and a package of Ramen Noodles at the bottom. Later a worm by the name of Cheese came out that actually closed the backdoors created by the Ramen virus. There were several other viruses released this year that were relatively harmless.

2002:
A vulnerability in Apache led to the creation and spread of the Mighty worm. The worm would exploit a vulnerability in Apache's SSL interface, then infect the unsuspecting victims computer. Once on the computer it would create a secret connection to an IRC server and join a channel to wait for commands to be sent to it.

2003:
Another harmless virus showed up, it was called the Rike virus. The virus, which was written in assembly language, would attach it self to an ELF file. Once attached it would expand the space the file required and write RIKE into that free space.

2004:
Similar to the virus from the previous year, the Binom virus would simply expand the size of the file and write the string [ Cyneox/DCA in to the free space. The virus was spread by executing an infected file.

2005:
The Lupper worm began spreading to vulnerable Linux web servers. The worm would hit a web server looking for a specific URL, then it would attempt to exploit a vulnerable PHP/CGI script. If the server then allowed remote shell command execution and file downloads, it would become infected and begin searching for another server to infect.

2006:
A variant of the Mighty worm from 2002 named Kaiten was born. It would open a connection to an IRC channel and wait for commands to be sent and executed.

2007:
An exploit in OpenOffice led to the spread of a virus named BadBunny. This virus would infect Windows, Mac and Linux machines. The virus creates a file called badbunny.py as an XChat script and creates badbunny.pl, a Perl virus infecting other Perl files. There was also a trojan horse released by the name of Rexob. Once on the machine, it would open a backdoor allowing remote code execution.

2009:
A website for GNOME users to download screensavers and other pieces of eye-candy unknowingly hosted a malicious screen saver called WaterFall. Once installed on the machine it would open up a backdoor that when executed would cause the machine to assist in a distributed denial of service attack (DDOS). The DDOS attack was very specific and targeted a specific website, MMOwned.com.

2010:
The koobface virus, a virus that spreads through social networking sites targets Windows, Mac and, in a more recent variant, Linux computers. Once infected, the virus attempts to gather login information for FTP and social networking sites. Once your password has been compromised the virus will send an infected message to all of your friends in your social network.

This is by no means a complete list of Linux viruses but it does cover the major ones. It also points out that most of the viruses found on Linux are fairly harmless. That doesn't mean they don't exist though. Be sure to keep an eye on what your downloading and where you're going on the Internet and you will most likely stay virus free. An occasional virus scan wouldn't hurt either.

How To Record "Real" Guitar With a Rock Band 3 Controller in GarageBand

If you’ve been keeping up with the technological arms race of music video games, you’re probably aware that Rock Band 3, released this October, features a Pro mode that teaches players to actually play guitar or keyboards. A real, stringed electric guitar is forthcoming, but at the moment, Pro guitar mode can only be played with the Mustang – a plastic controller with strings only for strumming, and a neck littered with buttons.

$150 gets you a controller for Rock Band 3 that also doubles as a MIDI controller.

Sure, it’s not a "real" instrument, but thanks to a MIDI output, you can use the Mustang to make very real music...and some things simply not possible with a regular guitar. Here's how to use GarageBand to shred on that plastic.

Difficulty Level: Medium

What You Need:

>> Rock Band 3 Wireless Fender Mustang PRO-Guitar Controller ($149.99)
>> MIDI-to-USB adapter, ex. E-MU Xmidi 1x1 ($29.99)
>> Garageband

1. Tune Up

Don't get ahead of yourself, choosing Guitar here won't do you any good.

Open GarageBand and create a new project. Select Piano as the template, name your project something saucy, and click Create. Before you do anything else, plug your MIDI-to-USB adapter in. We used the $30 E-MU Xmidi, but similar adapters can be found on Amazon for about six bucks. You should get a notification saying, "The number of MIDI inputs has changed. Now one input is available." This is good. Plug the adapter into the Mustang using the plug labeled "MIDI IN" if your MIDI-to-USB’s got one. Turn on the guitar, either with the power switch or by holding down the Xbox button if it’s the 360 controller. Run your fingers across the strings. Hey, check it out: You're strumming a piano!

You can find cheaper MIDI-to-USB adapters, but we won't testify as to their quality.

If you don't see this, something's wrong.

2. Sound Check

You can try other guitar styles, but they'll probably sound pretty funky in the next step.

Now that you’ve got it working, it’s time to make it sound more like a guitar. Click the Info button in the lower right of GarageBand to bring up the track info. You'll see the Grand Piano is selected. Click on Guitars in the left column, and choose Clean Electric in the right column. Give those strings another swipe. Better, right? Still, no one's going to mistake that sound for a real electric guitar, but we’ll get to that.

3. In the Studio

It may seem counterintuitive because it's not going to sound spectacular, but this is the point where you want to record your masterpiece. Hit the Record button and go to town. Play the Mustang just as you would a normal guitar. Now, you will notice a couple idiosyncrasies when playing. For one thing, if you strum an open note it'll just keep ringing out until you hit a button higher on that string; that is, laying a hand over the strings themselves won't stop the sound as it would a real guitar.

$5 to the first person who can identify this song.

Since the MIDI information is transmitted only when you strum a string, you can’t perform hammer-ons or pull-offs. If you were born to shred, you can tap the Start button on the guitar to switch from Strum to Synth mode, which will detect any button press even when you're not strumming. This mode has some weird idiosyncrasies too, but it makes things like hammer-ons, pull-offs, and two-finger tapping possible, so go ahead and get the Eddie Van Halen out of your system.

X and B, Square and Circle, whatever you call 'em, they're Octave Down and Octave Up.

If you find yourself playing too high or too low, tap the left and right "face" buttons on the guitar (X and B on the 360 version or Square and Circle on the PS3) to adjust the octave up and down.

4. A Second Take

Once you're satisfied with the fundamentals of your guitar track, locate the Share menu and choose Export Song to Disc. If you've created any other tracks at this point, you'll want to mute them before doing this by clicking on the speaker icon under the track name; we want just the guitar track exported. In the dialog that pops up, make sure "Compress" is unchecked, and click Export.

Make sure you have any additional tracks muted or you'll have to start all over.

You could compress, but it'd sound nasty.

By default, the guitar track will be saved as an .aif file in the folder where your GarageBand project is stored. We recommend naming it something you’ll remember. Once it's finished saving, switch to Finder, locate the file you just created, and drag it back into GarageBand. This will create a new Real Instrument track – even though you recorded it as a Software Instrument. Make sure you drag the recording in the new track all the way to the beginning of the song to sync it properly with the MIDI track.

You can barely see it, but the new track is being dragged into the Tracks pane.

5. Post Production

Now it’s (finally) time to give your guitar some depth. First, mute your original track. Then select the newly imported track. In the Instrument Info pane, click the Edit tab. Hover over one of the open slots and you'll see a message saying, "Click here to add an effect." Do it and select Amp Simulation and click on the drop-down menu to choose a new effect (it will say "Default" by default). Select anything except the Clean sounds. The American and British Overdrive amps seem to provide particularly crisp results.

The only one we found sounded truly awful was Thick Jazz.

You can experiment with other EQ settings, but focus on brightening or boosting the top end.

No matter what combo you choose, your end result might lack a bit of presence. If it does, click on Visual EQ at the bottom of the Info pane and select Guitar Brighten, and make sure On is checked. Now hit Play. Holy cats, it's a real guitar! Don't worry, we won't tell anyone you're faking.

6. The Experimental Years

Feel free to experiment with other effects, but we make no guarantees.

You can experiment with other EQ settings, but focus on brightening or boosting the top end.

This setup will give you a surprisingly good simulation of a real guitar. But it also gives you a lot more. Since you still have the original Software Instrument track, you can play with the instrument settings to accompany (or harmonize) with your guitar track with a variety of software instruments. Try switching the track instrument from Clean Electric to Organs > Cathedral Organ for an eerie tone, or go for Strings > Hollywood Strings to make it more dramatic. The possibilities are practically endless, especially since you can duplicate either of the track types and apply different effects. And you thought video game controllers were just for playing video games!

Check out audio of our guitar experiment below.

Try some of the Sound Effects for some real hilarity.