Problem installing Ubuntu hosts (stable and otherwise)

[OneCatFamily]

Hi all, and happy new years to all you VB nuts!

I'm experiencing problems installing various Linux distros, mostly Ubuntu stable (10.10) and unstable (11.04) versions, but this series of problems also happened when I was trying to install the latest Mandriva distro too: I get an error message when booting from the ISO image (I hate to waste time burning them on CDs), which usually works flawlessly. The message says I must update my BIOS, which is kind of funny knowing I'm on an Intel Mac... Have some of you experienced the same kind of problem?

Update : my second attempt at installing Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" (where do they get those names...?) seems to be proceeding alright, but I remember being able to install the Meerkat before, only to be unable to boot it afterwaards...

[Sasquatch]

The 'error' that you get can be ignored. It's just a warning that it expected certain features or values to be returned that aren't there. There is nothing preventing the OS to be installed or run. If you do have problems. please state what they are so we can see if it's a config error, a corrupted download or something else.