iMac screen too big for Ubuntu to use

Question

Contrary to most questions, my 27" iMac is too big for Ubuntu to display on. Pre-startup messages show, but no text, no splash, and no desktop ever appears, just a black screen. I do hear the bongoes, however :S.

The iMac is Late 2009, 27-inch, 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 16 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 RAM, ATI Radeon HD 4670 256 MB Graphics, with 1 TB HDD.

I am attempting to boot from Ubuntu 14.04 LiveUSB on an UEFI 1.X system, I believe. Please help!

PS: Can I dd and boot or does it have to be installed with a program like LiLi? I've tried both.

Please try to boot again, but this time edit the boot parameters and add nomodeset next to quiet splash. — s3lph, Dec 14 '15 at 15:52
Possible duplicate of My computer boots to a black screen, what options do I have to fix it? — Rod Smith, Dec 14 '15 at 21:05

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered May 26 '16 at 19:19

All I had to do was install rEFInd (with some difficulty, I might add, due to some new settings in OS X El Capitan,) and then boot to my Live USB from the boot menu. This runs the Live mode in UEFI -CSM and somehow completes boot successfully.

Warning - The mac will not shut down correctly, need force-off after about 15 seconds of shutdown sequence.

iMac screen too big for Ubuntu to use

1 Answers1