System: NUC i3, 2 hdmi ports, ethernet, no wireless. UEFI boot 2x2gb ram 30gb mSATA internal drive

Ubuntu 64bit 12.04.03

Hello i am having much trouble loading an OS on my NUC.

I started out attempting another OS with various loaders (beast/hack) without much success,(various panics on boot or endless reboot loops, or graphics failures) after many tries i decided to attempt Ubuntu.

Many years ago i loaded Ubuntu on an e-machine without an issue so i figured it would go smoothly, nothing could be further from the truth.

The Live USB stick loads, but when i am installing the OS it always fails to load grub 2. Obviously it wont boot from SSD without grub2.

I searched and found that Boot-repair should fix it...so i created a live usb with boot repair...it refuses to repair the grub because the install never finished and the needed partions are not fully created and flagged. It also demands an internet connection which i am unable to provide. I then ran gparted in an attempt to create the needed partitions manually, then re-ran boot repair turning off the "check internet" option. and disabling the re-install grub hoping it would create the missing directories and or fix the flags.

it appeared to run successfully but upon return to the Ubuntu live USB it still fails at the grub2 install.

also gparted doesnt have the same choices that Ubuntu install has when creating partitions, causing it to not recognize that i already had a root, or an EFI directory or it sometimes couldnt tell what the format of the partition was...all very annoying

the reason i cant connect to internet (and cant upload the error logs) is the nuc only has Ethernet and the location i have to set up is too far away from modem. i can not move the monitor closer to modem as it is a 50inch LCD.

I just want to do a basic install with one user acct and remote desktop (vnc) turned on so i can move the NUC to the modem connect via ethernet and then finish setting it up via Remote desktop/VNC chicken from my mac.

While i await any assistance you maybe able to provide i am going to attempt to switch to the 32bit version and legacy boot to see if that can load grub.

thnx again to anyone that can come up with a possible solution.

i would love to hit "erase and install ubuntu" if anyone can figure out what is stopping that simple answer from working.

Also disks (CD/DVD) are not an option as neither my Mac mini or my NUC have optical drives, and i have no desire to buy one for one task