Hey guys

I have a standard 2009 white MacBook & recently I have been reading up recently on how to go about installing Linux onto it. I would like to stick with Ubuntu/unity or Ubuntu/mate. I still have osx installed on my main internal hard drive but plan to wipe this when installing Ubuntu. I have also moved the osx installation onto a portable drive for when I install Ubuntu over osx on my internal drive.

Anyway my question are as follows...

If I install Ubuntu how can I enable my MacBook to boot from my external drive containing my osx installation ?? I think that I edit a file, but I'm not sure which one. The drive is a wd usb hd & at the moment I can boot from it using the option key on boot to access the boot menu.

I created a usb using the basic 64bit Ubuntu download direct from the website. Upon boot I receive the following error message “could not open \EFI\BOOT\failback.efi :14” This error message stays on screen for a short period of time before Ubuntu begins to then boot. Will this error message effect me installing Ubuntu in any way ??

The usb contains the standard unity desktop & I am able to navigate the desktop and perform tasks as usual. My only problem is that I have no right click functions & the mouse is slow / jerky with it's movements. How can I get a basic right click function ?? Also I am not 100% sure but will synaptics fix my mouse jerky woes ??

I haven't tested anything like the sound or brightness button yet, but if they do not work can I get them to work ??


Many thanks in advanced for your replies & help.