Hi all,
I have been pulling my (precious) hair out.
I have a mac mini (serial YM833200YL1) and would (desperatiely) love to install Linux/FreBSD/ChromiumOS on it. Preferably Linux, then FreeBSD or ChromeOS...if it has to be...
I tried just about anything:
- take a bootable USB stick : no luck: legacy boot
- take a bootable DVD 64 bit : no luck: legacy boot
- take a bootable Linux 32 bit : no luck: legacy
- take a bootable FreeBSD 32 bit: no luck: legacy
- burn a DVD from the mac to get a mac-readable medium: no luck...no bootable
- create a bootable USB stick with the mac: no luck...
I'm seeing a pattern...
Help?
Thanks
Melissa

Plenty of tutorials; what's the problem with legacy boot?? BOOTING the installer that way doesn't mean it won't do an EFI install. Have installed openSUSE on numerous iMac's and all of them are using EFI.
https://wiki.debian.org/MacMiniIntel
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbumtuOnMacMini

The serial number is of no help; the MODEL number would actually tell us something.

Yes, knowing the specific model of mac mini is important. The serial number is not relevant. How old is it? What kind of CPU does it have?

Can you go into more detail about the methods you have tried to boot? Do you hold down the alt key also known as the "⌥" key?

Ah, I see, sorry...this page shows all the specs. I have a model with 320Gb disk and 3Gb ram, by the way...
(serial numbers is the way to look up a certain mac, it seems. That was new to me too...)
The legacy boot freezes in a black screen with text (familiar for us Linuxeans) where it says that the firmware refused to boot legacy and that it's not well supported by apple...
I have put rEFInd on it to see the other ledia (disks, sticks) so I can select.
A DVD/CD gets ejected right away from the internat drive by the way, so booting from that is not possible because it wont stay put...

I press thr Alt key...when rEFInd is not installed. Normally, I'd want to go into the recovery (Alt-R) to disable secure boot) but rEFInd restarts the system if I touch the R key...

Thanks, I'm reading the Debian page now (the ISO seems not available anymore, but I wonder if the new ISO's ar'nt able to boot a mac...)

Nothing is 'well supported by Apple', unless Apple makes it. I didn't use rEFInd at all...there is no need, as far as I can tell. I've never used it, and have installed Linux on numerous iMacs without it, one of them being an older 21" core 2 duo, probably not dissimilar to your Mac Mini, only difference was it had a built-in screen. I never kept OSX installed, though...I single-boot Linux only. You don't say whether or not you want to keep OSX, which will complicate things ENORMOUSLY.
Enable legacy boot, and boot from USB; perform a standard install, and the installer should recognize EFI is needed. Again, I've done this with openSUSE with very good results.

That is the plan here too: one OS. Period. I lookes at the (severely) outdated OS on it now...one more look and I need therapy...
...if I can get into the recovery...
I'll see what keycombinations I can use...write down what I tried...

According to a quick search, hold down the option key during power-on...you'll see boot devices; select the USB stick with Linux installer on it.

I thought it was the "⌥" or "alt" key that one should hold down while powering on the machine in order to get it to seek out alternative boot sources. For the optical media, hold down the "c" key while powering on. In either case, hold the key until you get a graphical menu from the Macintosh with the "alt" key or the installer from the optical medium in the case of the "c" key.

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Done that (found the same info), either the optical medium got spat out, or the USB was still in there (penguin or other logo), I could select it but the boot failed...

Same result, visible yet not bootable...

Burn your USB from a different computer, and verify it can boot THERE, before putting it into your mini. If you're getting to the boot-selection menu, and have legacy enabled, it'll boot up fine. Wouldn't boot from optical, though...not only is it slower, but too many possibilities for error (burn speed, etc.), that could hang things up.

Again; enable legacy boot...might also help to tell us what version/distro of Linux you're trying.

What hav'nt I tried yet, LOL! Manjaro, Xubuntu, Debian, FreeBDS (okay, that is not Linux)...
I suppose all PC's are legacy boot?
I'll try a stick now...
Thanks

Yes, they are...again, enable legacy boot and the installer will install EFI automatically. Again, openSUSE works well on a core2 machine, and had zero problems. You also don't say what VERSIONS of these things you're trying, or how you're burning those images to the stick, since you say none of them boot at all.

This is not bootable...(how is that possible? I feel like a noob...sorry)
So, I'm setting up a new install, and will try to boot from it....
Then..."Alt" to see the media...select and (hopefully) install something decent onit...
Let me tell you...macOS is toxic...