HOWTO: Install Ubuntu on a MacBook and use GRUB to boot.

[blot0]

i did it with the macOSX cd1.
boot with it in, goto tools up the top.
load up disk utility. select the internal hdd (not one of the partitions) then there is a tab you can select (i think its the third one from the left by memory)
and there will be an options button down the bottom.
you can select MS-DOS there, then hit partition.

[mdmunoz]

But assuming I don't have expedient access to my os x install disk, how can I use the live cd to do this?

[mdmunoz]

Okay, I have gotten through the installation without error, mounted, chrooted, etc., but when I type

unzip grub_0.97-1ubuntu10_i386.zip

I get

unzip:  cannot find or open grub_0.97-1ubuntu10_i386.zip, grub_0.97-1ubuntu10_i386.zip.zip or grub_0.97-1ubuntu10_i386.zip.ZIP.

Which is very odd, sice I just saved it to the desktop.

If I simply open the zip file and click the Install button in the UI, I am informed that it has been installed, but

grub-install /dev/sda

returns

Probing devices to guess BIOS drives. This may take a long time.
Could not find device for /boot: Not found or not a block device.

And when I restart the computer, grub fails to work in the usual manner.

What do I do?

[blot0]

from your above post.. you didnt install the patched GRUB.
grub will be on there for you to be able to "grub-install /dev/sda"
but.. not the patched version.

because you are chrooted into you HDD and not the live CD's file system. it wont show up.
the way i managed to do it is i had the .zip file on a usb drive, i mounted that after chrooting.
cd'ed to where i mounted it and all worked fine

after you have mounted /dev/sda to /mnt/ubuntu (i think thats right yeah?)
sudo cp ~/Desktop/<grub file> /mnt/ubuntu
that should copy it onto your hdd.. so when you chroot over.. you should be able to unzip it and dkpg it.

but someone more experenced might want to check that.. i'm only new

[mdmunoz]

On the contrary, you said exactly what I needed to hear (10 posts and already saving people from Live CD hell?). It now works fine. Thanks to you and Entity for the guide.

I have one thing to add: I did this successfully without changing the partition table, or using the OS X cd. I did not need to use parted, since the flag was already there.

One last question: will this howto work for xubuntu?

[jedsen]

I guess those of us who ditched OS X are missing out on the SMC firmware update, which seems to make the fan more sensitive, at least until someone creates a cutter/loader.

[goneskiing]

In the install I deleted all partitions and created a "/" "swap" and "/home" set of partitions - then install went fine except bootloader (tried to install elilo). So I used LiveCD and I copied and installed the patched grub but when I run "grub-install /dev/sda" it gives error "/boot/grub/stage1 not read correctly"

Any ideas ? can I edit grub ? should I just load regular grub ?

[Entity]

jedsen, for the updates, the best would be to install Mac OS X on an external drive.

goneskiing, this might be because you didn't convert the partition table to MD-DOS type?

[louistan3]

will your your howto work with OS X still in a partition? and i just create a new partition for ubuntu?

[mikkas]

Hey Mikkas here from the UbuntuOS podcast
I've been looking around the 'net and still can't really find a Working guide for installing Ubuntu on my macbook.

I'm really new to the os in general, so the whole "chroot to your install" is a little confusing to me. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has got a dual boot working with OSX and Eft beta1? (So far I can only boot 6.06, 6.06.1crashes (Live), 6.10b1 alt kinda works, and 6.10b1 live gets stuck on the brown screen).

Would anyone also know, if a "Macbook" iso could be made / or is in the works? I think this would be SO handy for noobies like myself. Even if old versions of bootloaders were included on the iso, I wouldn't mind, I just really want to get Ubuntu installed as the main OS, with minimal hassles. So far, I've been unsuccessful for about 12 hours all up now.

Any replies would be great Thanks in advance.

Michael.