Hi All.
I have a problem with a Macbook pro.
I went about installing Ubuntu and had to switch my boot up to cd as ubuntu was on a cd so everything worked fine until i take out the cd.
The mac wont start up without the ubuntu cd in it.
None of the usual Option or command keys work on start up to choose from the start up options.
Can anyone help with this issue.
Is there an option in ubuntu to change the start up back to normal?
Thanks in advance
Dave

What options did you pick when installing Ubuntu? Did you overwrite the whole disk drive which previously had your Mac OS on? If so, there isn't really a way to change back to Mac OS, as you've overwritten it.

It also sounds like the install didn't work properly, or it would be able to boot straight into Ubuntu. Which version were you installing, and on what version of the Macbook Pro?

When installing i used the one that said run alongside my current operating system.
Not sure what version i had as i cant go to the info anymore.
its booting direct from the cd because thats what i told it to do before i started the install.

It's not really clear to me exactly what you did. You set your BIOS to boot first from the CD drive so you could install Ubuntu? Did you get a message that the installation completed successfully and told to reboot?

Does that mean you can boot the Mac with the CD in the drive? Can you boot Ubuntu on the hard drive? Have you changed the boot priority in the BIOS to the hard drive? Do you have an option when booting the CD to boot from the hard drive?

Exactly what happens when you try to boot from the hard drive? Messages? Did you install the Ubuntu Grub bootloader to the master boot record? and which Ubuntu do you have?

i have ubuntu 11.04
So,
when i switch on the mac without the ubuntu cd in the drive i get a black screen that says
"there is no cd in the drive, please insert and press any key to continue"

so i put in the cd, press any key and ubuntu starts and i get an option to "try it" or "Install it"

If i restart the machine with the cd in the drive i get to that option screen also to "try it" or "install it"

I have went through the install scenario and i got the message that the installation has completted but needs to be resarted and it automatically ejects the cd itself, then restarts and and it goes back to the black screen again that i have mentioned above.

QUOTE]Have you changed the boot priority in the BIOS to the hard drive?[/QUOTE]
I dont know how to do this.
I knew how to do this on the mac operating system but not the ubuntu.

No, No option.

I dont know what that means. Sorry.

If you hit the "Shift" key when the ghastly purple screen with the two cryptic icons on the bottom comes up when you boot the LiveCD you will get the real menu. This will give you the option to boot from the HDD.

If this menu shows you the Mac install and will boot to it, you need to go to your bios and change it to boot the HDD first.

This sounds very strange to me as it should be booting from the HDD if no bootable disk is in the CD./DVD drive. You should probably check your bios and make sure you have a list of where to boot from that includes both he CD and HDD. Currently the CD should be first and the HDD second.

If that is the case then you should not need the CD in there to boot at all.

The MBR is the master boot record. This is the first, small sector of your drive. It boots your HDD from the info it has on it.

Your installation of ubuntu should have installed grub on the MBR.

ok so when i press the shift button it goes into that menu all right and then the 5th option is boot from first hard disk
When i do that it brings me to 4 more options.

ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-11-generic-pae
ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-11-generic-pae (recovery mode)
Memory test (memtest86+,)
memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)

Thats all the options i have.
Is it possible that i have overwritten the Mac os?

Yes, it's possible but not seeing a Mac entry in this menu doesn't mean you did overwrite it.
I don't know if the Ubuntu bootloader (Grub2) will auto-detect a Mac install. You can boot the Ubuntu CD, go to the Desktop and open a termial. It was under an applications tab in earlier versions. I've not used 11.04 so I'm not sure if you have that option. If you can find the terminal and open it, type this command: sudo fdisk -l(Lower case Letter L in the Command)

Post that output here as it will give drive/partition information and should show if you still have your Mac filesystem.

This is exactly what it says

david@david-MacBookPro:~$ sudo fdisk -l
[sudo] password for david:

WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.


Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 1 16+ ee GPT
/dev/sda2 1 60802 488385742+ ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32)
david@david-MacBookPro:~$

Boot the Ubuntu CD and go to the System tab on the Desktop (if it is there in 11.04??) or find GParted, open it and post the partition information from it.

GParted
Partition file system Size Used Unused Flags
/dev/sda1 ext2 465.76 GiB 9.69 GiB 456.07 GiB

If that's all you see in GParted, it looks like you've overwritten your Mac install. If you have data on it you would like to try to save, download TestDisk or SystemRescueCD which contains Test Disk to try to save data. It would probably be a good idea to use a different computer to do this if possible as the more frequently you reboot, the less likely it will be that you can save the data.

All that does not look good. The new Ubuntu installer has had some problems but this is one of the worst I have heard of for some time. Thought this was supposed to have been fixed for 11.04.

It also does not explain why you can't boot directly to the HDD without the LiveCD.

Getting the system rescue disk or just booting to the live cd and installing testdisk on the live session seems to be the best next step.

I also do not like gparted reporting an ext2 partition when the default is supposed to be ext4.

Did you check the md5sum of the ISO when you downloaded it?

Another thing that should be done on any Ubuntu install, which Ubuntu made difficult by hiding the real menu, is to use the menu option of checking the disk for errors.

By checking the md5sum, you are assured that what you got was the same as what was sent to you by the server. If any errors happened in transmission they would be shown by a mismatch in the given md5sum and the one you generate from the ISO received.

The check disk for errors checks the disk for physical errors and write errors. Any of these things can be a killer of installs.

That is on top of just plain bugs in the installer which may have run into a problem with your hardware configuration that may not have been well tested, or a bug that has not yet been fixed.

These are reasons that most folks that have made more than 2 installs use the manual (something else in Ubuntu speak) options for installing and usually use gparted to pre create the partition(s) you want used, point the installer at said partitions and do not let the installer format anything.

If you have another computer to use it would be good to get a new ISO, along with the rescue disk. Check the md5sum on EVERY ISO you ever download. Checking the disk for errors, if given the chance, is also a good thing to do on every ISO you burn to disk.

Sorry for the lecture but this is something that Ubuntu should make clear to everyone downloading their images. The real menu should be up by default. They didn't want to scare folks off. This is the result that is possible from that policy.

Most other distros do not give you a lesson in this either but they are not obsessed with getting new users with no Linux experience either. They assume you have spent time doing research on your own before ever downloading that first ISO.

Most folks have never installed any OS before. I was lucky in that I had installed MS a number of times and knew of some of the pitfalls. I did do a lot of research and am still glad that I decided to install on a separate HDD for my first install.

Dual booting is fun, relatively easy, and comforting to folks looking at a new OS. It also is, the vast majority of the time, painlessly easy.

I am sorry that yours is not proving to be that way.

Keep up this thread and do not hesitate to ask for help. As you can see there are plenty of folks willing to do so.

At sometime in the past we all did our first install and know what it is like and we have had problems. Others helped us out. We will do the same to the best of our abilities.

Where did you write GRUB in MBR ?
Mac does not use MBR to start up .
According to what I read from the MAC forum it gives you trouble when write GRUB in MBR .
From what I know they who dual boot on a MAC with linux use rEFIT.
rEFIT is used on a INTEl based MAC using EFI to boot

First of all a huge Thanks to everyone here for trying to sort this issue.
unfortunetly through my own lack of research i managed to overwrite the whole operating system on the mac.

Im Back in action now though.
I found my Snow Leopard install cd so threw that in, Booted up and when i got to the screen where it said choose where you want to install Snow Leopard. It was Blank.
I had to go back to the disk utility and go through the whole partitioning thing again.
So instead of three i put it back to just the one. went back to choose the HD to install there was the mac's Hd again. Sorted.

I have downloaded Virtual Box and that is running Ubuntu now with Snow Leopard in the backround, No choosing at the start up.
Seems to run fine so far

If nothing else, this was a great learning experience for me.
Thanks again for the help.