Bootable USB stick on MacOS

**coffeecat** · December 23rd, 2020

Originally Posted by llama99

Then I dragged what I downloaded onto the USB stick, which I assume is the correct procedure.

No, it isn't. Read the tutorial steps 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

**llama99** · December 23rd, 2020

I want to get the order of operations straight. I read through steps 3-7 of this link: https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/create-...cos#1-overview

In Step 6, it says, "After entering your password, Etcher will start writing the ISO file to your USB device."

Going back to Step 2, after clicking on "Get Ubuntu" and "Ubuntu Desktop," I'm lead to this page: https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop. This is where I'm downloading Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS in order to get the Ubuntu ISO file.

How does the installation of Etcher relate to downloading Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS? If I'm starting at Step 3, at what point do I return to downloading Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS? After step 6?

**llama99** · December 24th, 2020

Ignore last post, I figured out the steps. I completed step 5 of the tutorial (https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/create-...-configuration), getting a successful "Flash" which indicates that Etcher is configured on the USB drive. Then I got this error message: "The disc you inserted was not readable by this computer."

After some Startpaging, I came upon this webpage: https://www.easeus.com/mac-file-reco...ter-mac.html#4. I went to Step 4, performed the steps for initializing the USB drive. I couldn't repair the disc, got a message stating, "Disc Utility can't repair this disc." So I erased the USB drive. According to the webpage, "After this your Mac should now recognize the disc correctly. You will no longer receive such an unreadable disc error."

Then I did Step 5 of the Ubuntu Mac tutorial over again, successfully "Flashed," and got the same error message: "The disc you inserted was not readable by this computer." So I haven't been able to get Etcher to write the ISO file to the USB.

Any tips on how to proceed?

**CelticWarrior** · December 25th, 2020

The resulting drive may not be supposed to be read from the installed OS, but it should be a bootable one.
Have you actually tried to boot from it?

**llama99** · January 3rd, 2021

Well I backtracked to this link: https://www.pendrivelinux.com/univer...easy-as-1-2-3/. I managed to install the Ubuntu on a USB via an HP Stream laptop.

I popped the USB into a Mac, pressed "Alt Option" while restarting, and the USB did show up as "EFI Boot" as it's supposed to. I clicked on EFI Boot and the system checked for errors, there were none.

Then I landed on a page which offered these options: "Try Ubuntu" and "Install Ubuntu." I tried to opt for the former since Ubuntu is already on the USB, but my mouse was non-functional. I couldn't select anything.

I manually shut off the computer, started it up, and found that the mouse works fine on the regular Mac operating system. I restarted while pressing "Alt Option" and again selected "EFI Boot." After the error check, I was brought to the same page containing "Try Ubuntu" and "Install Ubuntu," and my mouse was again non-functional. In fact, my keyboard doesn't appear to work either on this page, as I tried hitting using the arrows to select a different language ("English" was highlighted by default) and nothing moved.

Any idea on why the mouse doesn't work when trying to use Ubuntu? Thanks.

**sudodus** · January 3rd, 2021

A that early stage of booting, in the grub menu, the mouse is not yet activated. You can navigate with the arrow keys ('arrow down' and 'arrow up') and activate the selected item with then 'Enter' key.

**llama99** · January 5th, 2021

The keyboard doesn't work either at this stage. The up and down keys and the "Enter" key don't work. Any tips on how to proceed?

**sudodus** · January 5th, 2021

If you know how run Ubuntu on a Mac computer in general and to make the keyboard work during boot, please chip in

**gary1008** · March 6th, 2021

It is trickier if you have a 2019 or later MacBook Pro. The problem is to make the stick bootable. Just having the install file on it is not enough.
This link: https://www.lifewire.com/dual-boot-l...mac-os-4125733
suggest using UNetbootin to download a Ubuntu installation and make the stick bootable. The whole link is confusing and technical but the part about downloading and installing UNetbootin isn't too bad if you just find it.
Basically you don't install it - you download it and copy to the Applications folder.
There are a couple of spots to fill in when you run it. But first you have to format the stick into FAT using Disk Utility.
Good luck!