Greg Albrecht

Following up on my article on single booting Solaris on a MacBook Pro, what follows are almost identical instructions for single booting Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx on a MacBook Pro. There are two key differences with this procedure:

1. A Master Boot Record (MBR) partition table is not necessary to boot Ubuntu.
2. The hard drive must be blessed after installation.

Prerequisites

1. MacOS X Install DVD (any version, OEM or full)
2. Ubuntu 10.04 Install CD (server or desktop)

Overview

• Using a MacOS X Install DVD format the disk with a single partition. (Phase I)
• Boot from the Ubuntu 10.04 Install CD and install Ubuntu. (Phase I)
• Boot from the MacOS X Installation DVD once more and bless the hard drive. (Phase II)

Steps, Phase I

1. Boot a MacOS X Install DVD (Don’t worry about the version of the DVD or if it’s OEM, Upgrade or whatever, we won’t actually be installing the OS.)
2. Once booted choose your language and select Utilitites > Disk Utility from menu bar.
3. Select your hard disk drive and click Partition.
4. Under Volume Scheme select 1 Partition.
5. Click Apply then Partition.
6. Quit Disk Utility, Quit Mac OS X Installer and reboot.
7. On reboot hold down the first (left or only) mouse button to eject the Mac OS X Install DVD.
8. Insert the Ubuntu 10.04 Install CD.
9. Hold down the C key to boot from cd.
10. Walk through the installer to get Ubuntu 10.04 setup on your system.
11. When installation completes the CD will eject and the system will reboot.

  

At this point you will have Ubuntu installed on your system but will be unable to boot. If you attempt to boot you’ll be presented with a flashing question mark folder. Do not fret!

  

Steps, Phase II

1. Once more, Boot the MacOS X Install DVD.
2. Once booted choose your language and select Utilitites > Terminal from menu bar.
3. In Terminal, enter:

   bless --device /dev/disk0s2 --setBoot --legacy --verbose

4. Quit Terminal, Quit Mac OS X Installer and reboot.
5. On reboot hold down the first (left or only) mouse button to eject the Mac OS X Install DVD.
6. Done!

  

You are now ready to enjoy your single boot Ubuntu 10.04 MacBook Pro. Have fun!

Sources: Greg Albrecht, Ubuntu Forum, iLinux, Ubuntu Community Documentation.