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If you select "USB" and "Mac" on this download page, it gives a series of command line instructions to make a USB key which the MacBook will boot into Ubuntu from.

I've followed them to the letter two or three times on different USB keys, and it doesn't work. There's a very great deal of technical discussion about EFI etc. but this set of instructions seems to suggest it should just work, but it doesn't.

Help? I'm increasingly unhappy with the more locked-down approach Apple is taking, and I'd quite like to start using Linux with a view to transitioning over to using it as my main operating system, but booting from the CD takes forever, runs slowly and I'm really hoping to get it moving off USB.

Can anybody help me?

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I'm not sure you can. I haven't heard any success in doing so. Have you considered making your Macbook dualboot instead? I run a triple-boot Macbook with rEFIt and it's fantastic. – Pete Ashdown Feb 28 '11 at 22:42
Easiest way is to use the bootcamp utility. Here you can insert the Ubuntu CD instead of the Windows one. – giowck Jan 2 '12 at 11:37
It's not possible. I've tried it all (askubuntu.com/questions/251958/…) Forget about it. – cyphunk Feb 21 at 13:21

4 Answers

up vote 12 down vote

Short answer: You can't. Apple doesn't want you to boot an OS other than OS X off USB. If your Mac has a working optical drive, use it. It will save you pain. If you have a newer Mac (64 bit), just remember to use the Mac iso(amd64+mac), not the regular amd64 iso. (See this for an explanation of the difference)

Longer answer: (Ok, I lied above.) You can, but "it's complicated". One method that has worked for a number of people is to dd the bootable USB key to its own partition on your hard drive and then boot off that partition. The basic method is explained nicely here.

This doesn't always work, even on the same hardware. In particular, if you have a MacBook Air, which doesn't have an optical drive, then the forums are filled with posts of trying the dd-to-a-partition trick and failing. For MacBook Air owners, it is strongly advised to obtain a MacBook Air SuperDrive (no, a regular USB CD/DVD drive does not suffice) and then use that to install through the usual CD route (using the Mac iso for a 64 bit install).

Lastly, this USB method actually worked(!) to install 11.10 onto my MacBook Air 3,1 (late 2010 model). However, I expect some modification is needed to work on other versions of the Air, not to mention other Macs.

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1  
The dd method has never worked on my 1) Macbook 3,1 2) Macbook Pro 3,1 3) Macbook Pro 8,2... Any yet they claim in works. I feel betrayed! – gentmatt May 9 '12 at 12:07
The dd method I refer to in the longer answer is not the same as the "official" instructions. It seems to work alright on a fair number of MacBook models, but not the Air. – Chan-Ho Suh May 10 '12 at 9:10
did not work on a macbook aluminium circa 2010. Ubuntu look like fools leaving up this obviously very unreliable FAQ's and instructions for using USB. Considering that most macbooks these days do not have CDrom drives Ubuntu should serious focus on this a bit more or write off a large majority of laptops from their user base. – cyphunk Feb 21 at 13:18
up vote 1 down vote

With this four steps I installed Ubuntu 13.04 on my Macbook Air mid 2011:

  1. Create a new partition using Disk Utility

  2. Install latest version of rEFInd on your Mac

  3. Download the Mac ISO of Ubuntu and create a bootable USB stick with UNetbootin

  4. Restart your Mac select boot from USB and install Ubuntu

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Alternative [Tested on an iMac.2013] 1. install refit 2. download the latest ubuntu iso (13.04 at this point) 3. create a live usb with "Usb Startup Disk Creator" (comes default with all ubuntu installations) 4. connect usb disk to iMac 5. restart iMac 6. hold option or command (alt or super) (i forget which) 7. select efi×Comments may only be edited for 5 minutes×Comments may only be edited for 5 minutes×Comments may only be edited for 5 minutes – airtonix May 17 at 9:28
up vote 0 down vote

This is a FAQ in the Ubuntu Forum: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1046568

It does not work directly, but requires some special handling with GRUB http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=995704

Added: The information on the Download page shows how to build a USB key that is bootable on PCs, but not on Macs.

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Those forums are horrible for trying to grok any sane information from. :( – hendry Apr 22 '12 at 4:25
up vote -1 down vote

Try to get a machine with ubuntu already installed, a pc, notebook, whatever, maybe from a friend, then get an iso image of ubuntu 12.10 amd64.
Using ubuntu open "startup disk creator" utility, select the iso of ubuntu, the usb device and create the disk.
Hold option key while the mac is booting and select the usb drive to boot from and you're done, I've done and it works.

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