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Trouble installing Ubuntu 20.04 on MacBook 2,2 (Early 2008)

N

NO_H2O

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 5, 2021
22
16
Sorry if this has been covered. I did a search and did not see the same issue.
I made a bootable USB flash drive for Ubuntu 20.04. I used it to install on my daughter’s MacBook 4,1 (2008) with a new Sumsung Evo SSD installed. All went as it should have and she is enjoying it.
I wanted to do the same on my MacBook Pro 2,2 (also early 2008). Installed a new (formatted Mac OS Ext Journaled) Samsung Evo SSD, inserted the same USB flash drive, powered it up while holding the option key as I did with the MacBook 4,1. The USB drive will not show up in the boot menu. In fact no boot menu came up at all. I pulled the SSD out and reinstalled the original HD and the machine started normally. Swapped the SSD back in and tried again. No USB in the boot menu or boot menu at all. So I put the original HD in an enclosure, plugged it into the same USB port and again powered it up while holding the option key. The external HD popped up in the boot menu and I selected it and the machine started right up. I went to disc utility and tried a restore with the SSD as the destination and the USB drive as the source while running from the external HD. No joy.
So I know that the machine runs well. The USB ports all work. So I reformatted the SSD again and did a restore with the SSD as the destination and the external (original HD) as the source. It restored the SSD with OS 10.6.8 Snow Leopard and the machine runs fine with the SSD.
The machine run well, the USB ports are fine, the SSD works well. I tried burning the bootable USB to a DVD to install it and that brought no joy. I did an NVRAM reset. No joy.
I know I must be missing something. Any help is welcome.

Dave
 
Your MacbookPro2,2 is a 2006 model, not an early 2008.

I'm mostly guessing here, but...
The processor is a different generation (a "Merom" cpu) from the processor in your daughter's MacBook (a newer "Penryn" cpu).
The firmware may not recognize the Ubuntu installer as a "legitimate" bootable device, but is presented in the newer CPU/firmware in the MacBook.
You might try an older Ubuntu generation in your MBPro.
As far as recognizing the SSD, maybe it's a firmware issue on the SSD itself (?)
What is the Samsung model (850, 860, 870 ?)
 
Last edited:
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The SSD is a Sams 860. It works fine. I copied my old drive to it. The CPU is an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33 GHZ.
 
Copying files from the old drive to new SSD does not mean that the SSD is bootable.
If you did a simple file copy, then one suggestion would be to reinstall the system to that drive, which should make the drive bootable then. That's assuming the system would be OS X. Your MacbookPro2,2 will be limited to OS X 10.7.5
If you are still trying to get Ubuntu to boot - I don't have much to offer about that.
 
Hey !
I have a solution.
To boot your Ubuntu USB, try with rEFInd.
A while ago I had a MacBook Pro 1,1 and I managed to install Xubuntu on it by using rEFInd to boot into the installer USB, otherwise, the classic Option bootmenu won't recognise it.

Hope I've been helpful.
 
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I did a restore of the SSD from my original HD that I had installed in an external enclosure. It has been working great. I will install reFind and try an older Linux install.
 
2006 mbp has 32 bit efi, so need specialized version of linux 64 bit iso to boot.
Check this out-

mattgadient.com

Linux DVD images (and how-to) for 32-bit EFI Macs (late 2006 models) | mattgadient.com

Apple's 32-bit EFI implementation on late 2006 Macs makes it tricky to get 64-bit Linux distros installed. Tricky, but not impossible...
mattgadient.com mattgadient.com

NO_H2O said:
Sorry if this has been covered. I did a search and did not see the same issue.
I made a bootable USB flash drive for Ubuntu 20.04. I used it to install on my daughter’s MacBook 4,1 (2008) with a new Sumsung Evo SSD installed. All went as it should have and she is enjoying it.
I wanted to do the same on my MacBook Pro 2,2 (also early 2008). Installed a new (formatted Mac OS Ext Journaled) Samsung Evo SSD, inserted the same USB flash drive, powered it up while holding the option key as I did with the MacBook 4,1. The USB drive will not show up in the boot menu. In fact no boot menu came up at all. I pulled the SSD out and reinstalled the original HD and the machine started normally. Swapped the SSD back in and tried again. No USB in the boot menu or boot menu at all. So I put the original HD in an enclosure, plugged it into the same USB port and again powered it up while holding the option key. The external HD popped up in the boot menu and I selected it and the machine started right up. I went to disc utility and tried a restore with the SSD as the destination and the USB drive as the source while running from the external HD. No joy.
So I know that the machine runs well. The USB ports all work. So I reformatted the SSD again and did a restore with the SSD as the destination and the external (original HD) as the source. It restored the SSD with OS 10.6.8 Snow Leopard and the machine runs fine with the SSD.
The machine run well, the USB ports are fine, the SSD works well. I tried burning the bootable USB to a DVD to install it and that brought no joy. I did an NVRAM reset. No joy.
I know I must be missing something. Any help is welcome.

Dave
Click to expand...
 
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