2025 - Study Group!

[Blackcloud]

@MJG017 I did all of the methods that I've followed from the guide step-by-step, including holding down the option key button method but still nothing has happened or showed up. I wonder if this has to do with the type of external hard drive that I'm using? 

This is the one that I've bought and am using, as I've spoke with a customer service representative on JB-HIFI almost a week ago as he also studied I.T in the past and is very familiar with it. He recommended me to use this one specifically so I bought it.

Samsung T7 Portable SSD Drive [1TB] 

I know that external hard drive and SSD are pretty different (as far as I know, if im correct) but I did tell him that I needed an external hard drive (to help install Ubuntu on my MacBook and all) specifically but yea according to him he recommended that I use an SSD drive.

Thanks - I was thinking of doing computer science (bachelors) after I complete my certificate (IF I'll be able to get the offer once I complete the certificate) - but according to my university's student connect customer service people, that would mean I would have to do either a bachelor of I.T or cybersecurity for the first 6 months before I transition into doing bachelor of CS. Why I'm thinking of computer science is mainly because the other day I was doing some research on what degrees/fields to do for someone who has really bad social anxiety and stuff, and a few people have mentioned computer science (well thats part of  the main reason why I chose to study I.T. Also, because I've always been using technology myself throughout the majority of my life lol) so I thought, hmm... 

do you think computer science would involve programming? 😳

[MJG017]

@Blackcloud 

Because of the different hardware Macs have been based on over time, there may be different key combos for getting into the boot options.  Assuming Etcher made the USB drive bootable when you wrote the image to it.  Either way though you should be able to get the boot options to come up.  A quick search indicates an alternative to holding down the Option key.  They suggest holding down the power button, like so...

1. Shut down your Mac completely
2. Plug in the USB drive
3. Press and hold the power button until you see "Loading startup options."
4. Your bootable USB should appear as an option

If you're not seeing this menu then you're not using the right key to get the menu.  If you can get to the menu, but the USB drive doesn't come up as an option then its an issue with that drive (or it's configuration)

IT definitely comes up a lot for people with social anxiety, it's why i gravitated to it as well.  But it can depend a lot on the area that you go with it as well.  How much liaising and dealing with customers, clients, team members, users, reps etc.

If you have a look at some Bachelor of CS courses you'll see what they mostly consist of.  I would assume there would be a lot of programming.  I would think programming and software development, algorithms and date structures, information systems, the architecture of the hardware, etc would all be a big part of it.  This level of study would also involve more low level programming like assembly I would have to assume.  My only advice would be to find the area that you enjoy and have some passion for.  It would really be a grind without that.  Like anything I guess.

It would really depend on what are you are looking to go in to and what level.  System admin, engineer (software or hardware), software or web development, there's so many areas each with different levels.  You can always visit an IT related forum like Whirlpool (forums.whirlpool.net.au).  Lots of IT people there who will be happy to answer questions about what sort of area may be most suitable for you to look into as there is so much experience there in all areas of IT.

You may find this thread has a bit of useful information for you in regards to studying CS.  https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/3m01rwzm, but there's plenty of others there as well.  It's a great resource.

[Blackcloud]

@MJG017  the power button method worked, thank you! 🙂

however, what’s appearing on my screen (even after following your instructions step by step) is nothing like the one on the guide (step 7) so I don’t even know what to do now lol as it’s not showing anything Ubuntu related on there

Oh damn, now it says (after I logged into my laptop) “the disk you attached was not readable by this computer” ok interesting…

Yes I totally get that as well, I really want to do something I.T related that I’m passionate about - basically anything cybersecurity related I would think or whatever in computer science I can find that’s interesting haha. I personally find programming to be the hardest one to do - though I did a unit based on that last semester and the reason I was able to complete the unit was thanks to the help of my classmates who I’ve sought assistance with for this one assignment that I couldn’t get myself to do until they gave me the codes to write/enter.

Oh cool, thanks for the whirlpool forums link and the other link as well - I’ll definitely look into to those! 🙂

[MJG017]

@Blackcloud 

Looks like you've gone into the Disk Utility.  This is a tool to check hard drive for errors and repair them if possible.  Bootable USB drives will sometimes contain partitions which the host won't be able to read, this is normal and you'll get that message when it tries to read them.  If you can't get it to work, them i'm assuming the problem is either your mac not being compatible with Ubuntu or it hasn't been imaged as a bootable USB correctly.  I'm assuming you imaged the USB drive using the Ubuntu .ISO file?  If you can get a Windows PC/laptop for this stuff then I think it will make your life a lot easier.  You really dont need much, a Dual core CPU with 4GB RAM will do the job.

A lot of IT areas will have some coding.  Even cybersecurity will probably have you coding bash scripts and stuff like that.  Not everything you access will have a GUI so you'll need to know the command line stuff pretty well.  This is where playing around with Linux will be very helpful.

[Blackcloud]

@MJG017Yeah, do you know any specific windows laptops that i can use specifically for I.T (and that are long lasting as well) that i can get from perhaps jb hi-fi - or would any windows laptops be fine? 

Ahhh I see 🙂

[MJG017]

@BlackcloudI'm more of a desktop guy than a laptop guy, but anything will do if you're just looking to run Ubuntu. just get one with 16GB RAM, as it's pointless getting less as 16GB is so cheap that it's so much little extra to get 16.  I'm not sure I would back any for long term reliability these days, it can be a bit of a lottery.  One with an SSD as a main drive is recommended as well as they can get a bit slow with those 2.5" solid state drives.

[Blackcloud]

@MJG017 I've emailed my lecturer and we'll see if he also suggests that I too need to get a windows laptop based on the same situation I've faced that I've mentioned about.

Also, if I want to get better at programming in general (since I generally struggle with it hard) other than just following tutorials and all of that, do you think I would need to take like a foundations to programming course somewhere or something in order for me to at least know/understand the basics and knowing/understanding what code I need to enter/write and all? 😅 

Please help a girlie out haha 🤣 at the moment, we're learning how to write/create an algorithm in this semester 

[MJG017]

@Blackcloud 

I'm not programming expert, but I would say maybe something like python is good place to start for a beginner.  Is simpler to learn and will teach you the basics of codes, syntax, and the basic loops and tests that a lot of code is based around.  Udemy have a lot of free classes, and youtube is full of tutorials.  I use freecodecamp a bit... https://www.youtube.com/@freecodecamp

If you can get your head around if-then-else loops, you're well on the way to coding a lot of stuff.