Lighting – How to install Light Fixtures – no ground in the ceiling box

If you want the fan and light to operate separately, then connecting the wires as you described is the way to go. If you want the whole fixture to be controlled from a single switch, the manual is describing the proper wiring.

As for the green grounding wire, simply attach it to the green grounding wire in the ceiling. You should use an appropriately sized ring or fork terminal, to connect the ground under the same screw as the ground from the ceiling.

EDITED: Now that you've posted a picture... ;-) Still test to confirm this, but it looks to me as if:

• The 2 blacks and 1 white that are connected, are feeding power through the light box to downstream outlets and also sending power to the switch (on the white wire). Wrap the end of this white wire with black tape or mark it with a black permanent marker. It's a hot wire.

• The lone black wire with a wirenut on it is the power coming back from the switch. This one is hot when the switch is on, dead when the switch is off. Connect this to the black/hot lead on your light fixture.

• The 2 white wires are the neutral (grounded conductor) from the incoming circuit, and the neutral serving the downstream outlets. Connect these to the white/neutral lead on your light fixture. I'd probabaly add a short pigtail so there's only one connection to the neutral on the light fixture, and also so it's that much more obvious which wire(s) connect to the fixture.