Re: Boot Usb Ubuntu
Tommye Hope
I can easily create a bootable USB stick and use that to install Ubuntu 14.04 onto a properly partitioned USB device. However, contrary to some assertions here and elsewhere, after restarting the result is not detected by the Mac as bootable.
I have Googled extensively and I'm sure it's possible to get the Mac to boot it, but the instructions I've found have been either too vague (Installing Ubuntu on and External Hard Drive and boot in a Mac) or in one case, too complex ( -efi/) to make much sense. However, the common thread appears to be using rEFInd to rejig the boot options.
So, I've managed to get rEFInd installed on a partition on the external drive but it does not detect the Ubuntu installation. I have an ext2 /boot partition on the same disk, and copied ext2_x64.efi into the /EFI directory, but no go.
I'm a bit stuck at this point, and the next steps will have to be a detailed study of bootloaders and EFI. However, I think I must be close to cracking this and hope somebody can point to a step-by-step guide somewhere.
In panic, I researched online and I decided to give a try to rEFInd. After the installation from the .deb source ( - it's recommended to install from the .deb file to fix the problem with the Ubuntu 16.x versions - # dpkg -i refind_0.10.3-1_amd64.deb ) I could boot my OS X.
Install a fresh copy of OSX on the external drive and then install Ubuntu on the same external drive as you would a dual boot system. Once the installation is complete, Ubuntu will boot up from the USB drive if it's plugged in. If the USB drive is removed, you will get a Grub command line. Just type "exit" to boot the internal OSX installation. Plug in the USB drive to load up Ubuntu.
I was able to install Ubuntu and then Kubuntu on a 64GB USB flash drive and it runs quite well. I just installed Kodi and it runs surprisingly well from a flash drive. I only have USB 2.0 so it's a little slow. I ended up installing Kubuntu because the Plasma 5.0 desktop environment is a little more refined in think than the one Ubuntu uses.
I partitioned the disk (240GB SSD plugged in USB3.1 caddy) with Gparted, NOT THE INSTALLER. The byte block alignment messes up in the installer, and I could only get it to install in XFS, but that attempt failed to boot. I'd get GRUB, but no Ubuntu. So I tried again with Gparted.
I've never had luck with a straight external USB connection, but not long ago I picked up a Seagate GoFlex thunderbolt adapter and was able to easily boot a 27" iMac to ubuntu on an external SATA connected to it. I used rEFInd but not sure it was necessary. Seagate tries to create the impression that you will need to use one of their drives connected to it, but a standard laptop sized SATA drive worked fine. I did need to shim the drive slightly to fit the enclosure correctly. Not really the answer you're looking for here, and the it isn't a cheap workaround (around $80 if I remember correctly) but it might be worth it depending on your situation.
You just need the option key to get the boot selector.BUT, if you want to boot into Mac OS by default when you don't press this, you will need to set the startup volume by holding the control button when you select your Mac OS disk, otherwise it will/might keep launching into Grub.
You will then be alerted that Rufus has detected that the Ubuntu ISO is an ISOHybrid image. This means the same image file can be used as the source for both a DVD and a USB stick without requiring conversion.
The ISO will now be written to your USB stick, and the progress bar in Rufus will give you some indication of where you are in the process. With a reasonably modern machine, this should take around 10 minutes. Total elapsed time is shown in the lower right corner of the Rufus window.
When Rufus has finished writing the USB device, the Status bar will be filled green and the word READY will appear in the center. Select CLOSE to complete the write process.
To use it you need to insert the stick into your target PC or laptop and reboot the device. It should recognise the installation media automatically during startup but you may need to hold down a specific key (usually F12) to bring up the boot menu and choose to boot from USB.
You can download an Ubuntu image here. Make sure to save it to a memorable location on your PC! For this tutorial, we will use the latest Ubuntu 24.04 LTS release (available on April 25th 2024) which uses the new Ubuntu Desktop installer that will be included in all future Ubuntu releases.
Insert the USB flash drive into the laptop or PC you want to use to install Ubuntu and boot or restart the device. It should recognise the installation media automatically. If not, try holding F12 during startup and selecting the USB device from the system-specific boot menu.
You will be prompted to choose between Interactive installation and Automated Installation. The interactive option is the standard route, but more advanced users can use the automated installation option to import a configuration file from a web server to standardise multiple installs and add further customisations. An example tutorial for Automated installation is available here.
You will be prompted to choose between the Default selection and Extended selection options. The default installation comes with the basic essentials to get started which you can then expand on after install using the App Center. The extended selection contains additional office tools and utilities, useful for offline situations.
In the following screen you will be prompted to install third-party software that may improve device support and performance (for example, Nvidia graphics drivers) and support for additional media formats. It is recommended to check both of these boxes.
If you select this option you will be given a simple interface that allows you to select the drive you want to install Ubuntu on and a slider to determine the amount of disk space you would like Ubuntu to use. The available space is limited by the existing contents of the disk and is designed to avoid overwriting existing files.
If your PC has multiple hard drives then this option allows you to install Ubuntu alongside an existing OS as long as they each have their own drive. Take care to ensure that you are selecting the right drive in this instance!
Manual partitioning is designed for advanced users who want to create specific configurations for their use-cases. As such we assume that these users will be comfortable with this interface and will not go into detail during this tutorial on specific setups.
Disabling Windows BitLocker is not required when fully erasing Windows or when there is a separate, unencrypted drive available for Ubuntu. For more information see the final section at the end of this tutorial.
The easiest way to do this is via the Software Updater app. Search for Software Updater via the app menu (the icon with 9 squares in the bottom corner of your window) and it will check for updates and apply them.
BitLocker Drive Encryption is a data protection feature that integrates with the Windows operating system. When activated, it will encrypt the contents of the hard drives in Windows, making the data inaccessible without the correct decryption key. It is designed to minimize the risk of data theft or exposure from lost or stolen computers.
When a user starts their computer and properly authenticates with the correct credentials, BitLocker will decrypt the data and allow seamless usage of the hard drive and the data it contains. Without the correct credentials, the encrypted hard drive data will look like random noise.
If you are not using BitLocker, Ubuntu will be able to see the correct hard drive structure, including any partitions and data stored on it. This allows the guided wizard to correctly map the data, and safely make adjustments to accommodate the additional installation of Ubuntu alongside Windows.
Decide that the data stored in Windows is not important, and that you are willing to overwrite the data contents. The Ubuntu installer can then erase the entire contents of the hard drive and create its own structure (partitions and data). This is a destructive operation, with no option to recover any Windows data.
Decide to turn BitLocker off. This will turn off the encryption feature, and the hard drive and its data will be visible and accessible from the Ubuntu installer, allowing it to correctly and safely set up a side-by-side configuration. For systems with BitLocker enabled but not yet encrypted you will need to first turn BitLocker on and then turn it off.
Note: Not all versions of Windows will allow you to re-enable BitLocker after disabling it. If you wish to re-encrypt your Windows partition after installing Ubuntu alongside it, please check that your version of Windows supports this.
Back your data up - any encryption procedure, hard drive structure change or installation of new operating systems on a hard drive that already contains data can potentially lead to a data loss. You need to make sure your personal data is safe. Even simply copying the important files to an external drive can minimize the risk of data loss.
I installed Ubuntu 11.10 on a newly bought Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 71 (model: 1577-G3G) with EFI boot enabled. I opted for the Use Entire Disk option. Even though the installation process went without any problems/errors, when rebooting it now just gives me:
Then log out from the default live cd user and log in as root in gui mode.Plug in the hard drive. I use a USB3 portable HDD but in most cases the hard drive is a SATA internal drive. Anyway, be sure you've BACKED UP ALL YOUR DATA, cause the process is going to wipe off everything on the drive.Launch Gparted (a gui tool is much easier than the text one) and select the drive you're willing to install the system into. (Be sure to select the right one!)Point to the top menu and select Device>Create Partition Table... A warning message pops out. Click on Advanced and select "gpt". Say OKA new GPT disk layout had been created. Now you need to create partitions on it. It's very important that you create as the first and primary partition, a FAT32 volume and you need to assign the label EFI to it. Once the partition is created, right click on it and select "manage flags". Check the "boot" flag and say OK.Move on to the creation of the / partition (you may want to separate /home and /boot. Do it as you usually do. In my case I've just created the / partition), and a swap area. Always prefer primary partitions cause with GPT the 4 primary partition limitation has been removed.Close Gparted.
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