Ubuntu Mate 16.04 Beta 2 on Macbook Pro(3,1) : Installer iso loads to grub console

Support & Help Requests
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[SOLUTION]

Future Updates will be done here: Booting Ubuntu Mate 16.04 Beta 2 on MacBook Pro (3,1)

To single boot Ubuntu Mate Linux 16.04 Beta 2 on a 2007 MacBook Pro(3,1):

To create the USB media, simply dd the iso to the USB stick, it will just work:
dd bs=4M if=path.to.iso of=/dev/sd_ status=progress && sync

When the MBP boots, hold the “Alt” key until boot options come up, choose “EFI BOOT”

When grub comes up, edit the grub menu and add “nomodeset” to the grub line, then boot. Otherwise I got a black screen.

When installing Ubuntu Mate 16.04 Beta 2, the default partitioning options did NOT work for me (the system did not find any bootable devices). I did one giant partition which had / and /boot/ and /home etc etc, then 1 swap partition. This worked.

I will update with tweaks and tips as I go.

[ORIGINAL POST]

I have a Macbook Pro(3,1), 2007 edition, 2.4Ghz Dual Core. I have a properly formatted USB with the correct efi configuration. I have Ubuntu Mate 16.04 Beta 2 x64 iso loaded as boot.iso on the USB installer.

When I turn the laptop on with the USB inserted, I see the “EFI Boot” option. When I select that, I am brought to a black grub prompt.

I’m not sure how to proceed; the USB is formatted correctly since the MBP sees it. I believe the iso is being read since grub would be within that. All documentation I find on the grub prompt seems to refer to systems with an OS already installed, and the recommendation is to reconfigure grub…this laptop has a brand new SSD so there’s no OS to boot from. The optical drive is long dead (so it’s been replaced with a caddy for another hard drive).

I am not sure it’s specifically an Ubuntu Mate issue, as Ubuntu 16.04 also does the same thing. I plan on trying an older LTS shortly. Nevertheless, if there’s any guidance to do something on the grub screen, I’d love to try it. Thanks!

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First off, my disclaimer :slight_smile: I do not use apple products and have not yet owned anything new enough to offer EFI. But I do have an idea.

Since this seems to be an EFI problem, I may be able to at least point you to this.

http://www.googlubuntu.com/results/?cx=006238239194895611142:u-ocqbntw_o&q=Macbook+Pro+efi+ubuntu+oldfred&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9

Not much, but may help. Oh, the 'oldfred' in the search is a resident EFI expert there. Anything he says can pretty much be taken as the gospel :slight_smile:

Not that we don't have good help here, we do. Just depends whos on line. I expect there will be other comments.

And last, here is one of our tutorials.

Good luck :wave:

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Read the Apple Mac section here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFIBooting

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I’ll check that out. Since I posted, Ubuntu 12.04LTS and Ubuntu 14.04 LTS all had the same result…making me question my efi configuration. I’m currently re-burning the USB with unetbootin, then I’ll try this.

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I was overcomplicating things. I’d read about doing things with /efi/boot folders and renaming iso files to “boot.iso”. Turns out, dd’ing the iso to a thumb drive works acceptably.

Appreciate the help!

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One more thing! I got it to get to the real grub screen by dd’ing the image, then when I choose ANYTHING (Install, Boot Live, even Disk Check) it would just show a black screen. In grub, I had to edit the launch line and add “nomodeset” then it booted normally. Hopefully this helps someone else!

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I have more updates…I’m gonna start editing/updating my OP :confused:

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Hi @surfrock66,

you might want to move this thread to the tuts section as you have solved it and you have done an edit!. :smiley: (Just a suggestion btw!).

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Done! Booting Ubuntu Mate 16.04 Beta 2 on MacBook Pro (3,1)

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