rich's questions

I've installed 18.04 and updated the BIOS to 44.
I've tried adding nomodeset to the end of the linux line.
I've tried kernels 4.17.3 and 4.18-rc3 too. I've tried running off each individual stick of RAM and both together.

It freezes with just the text:

Loading Linux 4.15.0-23-generic
Loading initial ramdisk

Annoyingly, the Live CD just runs fine with nomodeset, but the installed version apparently doesn't, although I can chroot it from the live CD, fetch updates, etc fine.

Any suggestions?

I've got a new MacBook Air which I'd like to install Ubuntu on. It has no internal optical drive, I have no external one.

I do have the ability to partition the disk and also have a USB flash drive and USB external hard drive. None of these I've been able to successfully boot the Ubuntu installer with though.

So... how can I install Ubuntu on a MacBook Air 3,2? Thanks in advance.