Installing Linux on 2009 iMac, black screen after bootloader

This is a simple fix

Here’s what you need to do when booting the mac to get your video output workng:

  1. Choose the EFI Boot option from the startup screen and press Return.
    • You will see a black and white screen with options to Try Ubuntu and Install Ubuntu. Don’t choose either yet, press “e” to edit the boot entry.
  2. Edit the line that begins with Linux and place the word “nomodeset” after “quiet splash”.
    • The whole line should read: (Or something thereabouts
      "linux /casper/vmlinuz.efi file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash nomodeset --.
  3. Press F10 to boot.
  4. Now install ubuntu as normal
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