Cannot boot new base Ubuntu Server 13.04 installation on Mac Mini 6, 1

[Patrick Asselman]

On 2013-08-08 09:33, Jason Heeris wrote:
> On 8 August 2013 16:52, Patrick Asselman <iceblink at seti.nl> wrote:
>>
>> You forgot to mention what the error is you are getting when 
>> booting.
>
> Ah, so I did. That's probably because in the usual Mac style, there 
> is
> no *error* per se. When I boot I just see a pleasing grey background,
> in the centre of which is the slowly blinking image of a folder with 
> a
> question mark.
>
> Like this: https://blog.hep-cat.de/pics/flashing-question-mark.png
>
>>From what I can tell, this indicates that the Mac Mini couldn't find 
>> a
> bootable drive. (I don't quite know what's doing the "finding", which
> may be why I'm unable to fix it.)
>
>> Also useful might be to show your /etc/fstab file, and to check what 
>> type of filesystems your partitions are.
>
> Here's fstab (sorry if it wraps, I'm stuck using GMail right now):
>
> ----
> # <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  
> <pass>
> # / was on /dev/sda2 during installation
> UUID=fafe48ca-13e2-4064-8572-c239a248be3d /               ext4
> errors=remount-ro 0       1
> # /boot/efi was on /dev/sda1 during installation
> UUID=00B3-643F  /boot/efi       vfat    defaults        0       1
> # swap was on /dev/sda3 during installation
> UUID=73ddc0a8-96f3-456d-a6c0-9553062ce33b none            swap    sw
>            0       0
> ----
>
> Here's parted's output (parted /dev/sda print):
>
> ----
> Model: ATA APPLE HDD HTS545 (scsi)
> Disk /dev/sda: 500GB
> Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
> Partition Table: gpt
>
> Number  Start   End     Size    File system     Name  Flags
>  1      1049kB  99.6MB  98.6MB  fat32                 boot
>  2      99.6MB  496GB   496GB   ext4
>  3      496GB   500GB   4196MB  linux-swap(v1)
> ----
>
> In the time since the last email, I actually restored OSX, checked
> that it booted normally (it did) and re-ran the Ubuntu Server
> installation. This time, I made sure to *skip* the GRUB installation
> step. Alas, it didn't help, I still get the aesthetically pleasing
> grey folder.
>
> Cheers,
> Jason

Hmmm, according to this article
http://regebro.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/installing-linux-on-a-macbook-without-os-x/
Apple will only boot from a HFS+ partition. Since your Mac does not 
have one, it shows the missing boot media flashy icon thing.

The only solution seems to be to create a HFS+ partition on the disk, 
with either a full OSX on it, or something smaller like rEFIt boot menu. 
The article does not clearly say if you can make it choose a default 
boot item, or if you need to make a choice every time you reboot.

The article also says you could use an alternative EFI boot loader like 
ELILO but then you will not have BIOS compatibilty mode and most likely 
not get fast graphics. (But since you are installing Ubu server edition 
this may not be an issue for you?)

For my curiosity, why do you want to install Ubuntu the Mini? I have 
one at home but I'm quite happy with running OSX on it (also using it as 
a media center sort of thing), and use Macports for everything 
Linux-like.

Oh and perhaps useful for future endeavors: Mac startup keys: 
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1533

Best regards,
Patrick Asselman