unable to install the EFI boot loader on '/dev/sda'
- Thread starter qindk
- Start date
Hello Fabian,
thanks for your fast response.
But is there a workaround or a way to solve it anyhow? Or do I have to wait for PVE 6.0 final?
I tried PVE 6.0 beta, but got the same issue. The output has more information (see screenshot), but they are still not helpful to me.
Many thanks in advance
thanks for your fast response.
But is there a workaround or a way to solve it anyhow? Or do I have to wait for PVE 6.0 final?
I tried PVE 6.0 beta, but got the same issue. The output has more information (see screenshot), but they are still not helpful to me.
Many thanks in advance
Attachments
yes, you'd need to start in debug mode and mount the efivarfs
see f238dd03ab1e19ecfaca93843ef02b05680e991c dea730ea4ce9088bf07a101b16d5fd3b91c25a6a for the installer part (2/3), the initrd part would need to be done manually..
- in the initrd environment (first debug prompt)
- inside the chroot (second debug prompt)
- inside the target chroot (need to modify installer)
see f238dd03ab1e19ecfaca93843ef02b05680e991c dea730ea4ce9088bf07a101b16d5fd3b91c25a6a for the installer part (2/3), the initrd part would need to be done manually..
I doubt that you are seeing the same issue. I've never played around with Mac hardware, but IIRC their boot sequence is a bit different. Can you install Debian and then install PVE on top of Debian Buster?
I think you're right. I tried to install Debian yesterday but came up against some other issues. I'll keep looking into.
First thing first, the interesting things about Linux and T2-based Macs seems to be happening here. This (very long) thread gives a lot of useful background.
One of the first issue they had to resolve with T2-based Macs is accessing the NVMe SSD controller. If I understand correctly: it's implemented in software, runs on the T2 chip and Apple slightly extended the NVMe spec to add encryption support, making it incompatible with the Linux driver.
NVMe driver patches have been merged in the 5.4 kernel back in October, 2019. Fedora 31, Arch Linux seems to be stable with those.
As for Debian & Proxmox:
- Debian 10.6 is shipping with kernel 4.19.
You can disable secure boot and enable external boot, flash and attach a USB drive with the Debian 10.6 installer, change the startup disk and boot, add the "
noacpi efi=noruntime" options to the Grub linux line. The Debian installer then runs fine on a Mac mini 2018 but, of course, does not see the internal SSD :-/- Debian Testing seems to use kernel 5.9+ and is scheduled for Hard Freeze in March, 2021.
- Proxmox 6.3 runs on a 5.4 kernel but the installer doesn't boot on the Mac mini. I don't even get to grub: the screen stays black and reboots to macOS, a clue that the T2 detects something fishy and reboots (some suggests to run grub with
--nonvram).This week, I'll try to create a Debian 10 installer with a 5.4+ kernel and test a Debian Testing build.
Then I'll try to install Proxmox...
Yes - I hear you. I only need the Mac Mini so I can legally have multiple guest OSes running different versions of macOS for software testing. I would be much happier with Proxmox than with VMWare Fusion (which is what I'm currently having to use).
Btw, discussions are also happening on Gitter and Discord.
Of more direct interest for Linux > Debian > Proxmox VE support on Mac mini, I found these:
- Ubuntu/Mint/Debian kernel 5.6+ with Apple T2 patches built-in.
- Ubuntu 20.04 ISO with Apple T2 patches built-in.
(I changed my plans to testing the latter: Install mbp-ubuntu on Macmini8,1. Please join the party ;-)
There is also an umbrella "t2linux" project starting: https://t2linux.org, https://github.com/t2linux.