I am trying to install Ubuntu 14.10 (also tried 14.04.1 LTS) on my 2009 Macbook Pro 5,2. I have installed rEFInd, I have made a bootable USB as instructed on the Ubuntu site. I can get to the grub screen. But when I select to either try Ubuntu or install it, I get an error saying i8042: No Controller Found and the process freezes. I have to turn off the machine using the power button.

I have googled around and it seems that it might be related to the keyboard or trackpad, maybe?

I have tried using nomodeset boot option from rEFInd and the grub boot command editor, but I still get the same result. I also tried using these boot options: i8042.nopnp noacpi nolapic atkbd.reset. Same result.

For what its worth, I have replaced my optical drive with a second hard drive, which is the intended destination for the install. Any help getting started would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

edit: Also, my primary hard drive is an SSD and is running OS X Mavericks with disk encryption. Note that I am not trying to install Ubuntu on this disk but on a second internal HDD. Not sure if the disk encryption matters though.

Update: I have made some progress. By editing the boot options in the grub loader, I have new information. I removed the quiet and splash parameters and added acpi=off. The process is much more verbose now. Also, it ends up dropping into the Busy Box terminal with a flashing cursor. But I can not type anything, the keyboard is not responsive at all.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated!