How would I create a Ubuntu Live USB drive to work on a Mac?

Question

My friend's Mac is pretty much shot to shit and I want to boot into Ubuntu to try and get some info off before I re-install Mac OS X.

I heard that you need something called rEFIt to boot Ubuntu on Mac hardware but how would I use that?

Answer 1

You can try to use UNetbootin for mac ( http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/ ) and create a bootable usb key from your friend's mac.
But, I saw that you can't boot a usb key with ubuntu on a mac. It has to contain mac os X to boot.
You still can try, and i'm interested in the result. Could you report?