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I recently downloaded and installed Ubuntu 14.04 onto my MacBook Pro using rEFit. However, after choosing to run Ubuntu as my OS, every time I restart the computer, the rEFit menu is skipped and I am taken straight to a GRUB menu where I can choose from Ubuntu, OSX 32bit or OSX 64bit. But when I choose either of the OSX's I am led to a screen (awful awful image of screen) which I cannot leave. Is there any way of returning to the rEFit menu and selecting OSX as my OS? I can boot Ubuntu no problem and I was running Mountain Lion if this helps.

Thanks a bunch,

Sam

SFSH
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  • See my answer to https://askubuntu.com/a/1284401/693497 which explains one way to stickily reset to macOS as the default OS, from within Ubuntu. – MikeBeaton Oct 16 '20 at 23:55

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WayToDoor's answer is correct as far as it goes, but there are other options, too....

First, be aware that rEFIt is abandonware; it hasn't been updated since 2010, and it requires increasing numbers of tweaks to work with recent versions of OS X. In 2012, though, I forked rEFIt into a new project, rEFInd. This version is still under development. It also adds many new features, including some that are relevant for repairing your current problem. Namely, you can install rEFInd in Ubuntu by using a Debian package or PPA (see its downloads page for details). This isn't really the ideal way to install on a Mac, since their EFIs are strange and may not respond quite properly to the way Linux manages them. OTOH, in tests I've done recently on both an old 32-bit Mac Mini and a new (bought in late 2014) MacBook Air, installing rEFInd from Ubuntu has worked. Alternatively, you could boot into OS X as WayToDoor suggests and then install rEFInd instead of re-installing rEFIt.

Another possibility is to adjust GRUB so that it boots OS X. In theory it should be able to do so, but I can't say what's wrong without seeing the /boot/grub/grub.cfg file and knowing something about your partitions. If you want to pursue this possibility, run the Boot Info Script. This should generate a file called RESULTS.txt. Post it to a pastebin site and post the URL to your document here. Inform My GRUB configuration skills aren't the best, but I may be able to at least offer suggestions once I see what your current configuration is.

Rod Smith
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Macs have an integrated boot menu on their EFI software. You can access it and choose where you want to boot, at the EFI level, witch is the same thing that rEFIt do. However, as I can't read what's written on your screen, it won't help if, during the install of ubuntu, the installer overwritten some files in the os x partition.

To access the bootmenu, press Option ⌥ (ALT) on startup. Apple have a good help page on what keys you can press on boot, and what they do. I suggest you take a look Apple list of statup keys.

If you boot successfully into os x, just reinstall rEFIt.

If you have trouble getting into, the same help page show how to access the recovery partition, that will help you in reinstalling os x : use Command (⌘)-R to boot locally or use Command-Option-R to boot to recorvery over the internet.

WayToDoor
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