Arch Linux

0x000000

Member

Registered: 2011-11-23

Posts: 57

Installing to 64-bit Mac Mini with 32-bit EFI

It's the Macmini 2,1/A1176 (http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/m … specs.html).

Is this possible? Installs fine from an ArchBang live CD built without UEFI, just can't get it to boot. I only get the blinking question-mark-folder icon. I've tried:

- rEFInd with 32 and 64-bit binaries (copied to /boot/efi/boot.efi)
- gummiboot installed normally via the guide
- GRUB2 using both i386 and x64 targets

I know there's got to be something special I'm missing, right?

WorMzy

Administrator

From: Scotland

Registered: 2010-06-16

Posts: 12,605

Website

Re: Installing to 64-bit Mac Mini with 32-bit EFI

Installs fine from an ArchBang live CD

Your post is ambiguous -- have you installed ArchBang, found you can't boot it, and now want to install Arch? Or have you installed ArchBang, and you want to boot ArchBang?

If it's the latter, please redirect your query to the ArchBang forums.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fo … pport_ONLY

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0x000000

Member

Registered: 2011-11-23

Posts: 57

Re: Installing to 64-bit Mac Mini with 32-bit EFI

Sorry for the confusion. I was booting to the ArchBang live CD in attempts to get my installed Arch system (201505) booting properly -- just a little easier since I can use Firefox to read some documentation.

Anyway, I'm totally stuck at getting the bootloader working. The UEFI wiki article clearly states that the bitness of the EFI and system must match to get UEFI variable support, and to presumably "bless" the proper EFI binary. So I can't use UEFI to boot, that's fine, the Arch install disc booted in BIOS mode anyway. I've tried both MBR and GPT partitioning, both just result in the blinking folder.

Gusar

Member

Registered: 2009-08-25

Posts: 3,606

Re: Installing to 64-bit Mac Mini with 32-bit EFI

If you can boot in BIOS mode, just install a BIOS bootloader then.

For UEFI, a 32bit syslinux can boot a 64bit kernel. Grub can probably do it as well, but I have no experience with that, I'm not touching that monster.

0x000000

Member

Registered: 2011-11-23

Posts: 57

Re: Installing to 64-bit Mac Mini with 32-bit EFI

... I'm not touching that monster.

Thanks for making my day. I'll give syslinux a shot and see what happens.

0x000000

Member

Registered: 2011-11-23

Posts: 57

Re: Installing to 64-bit Mac Mini with 32-bit EFI

If you can boot in BIOS mode, just install a BIOS bootloader then.

Installed GRUB for BIOS as in the install guide. Now I get the grey screen for 30 seconds before it shows me the blinking folder. I thought it might have something to do with the startup disk selection, so I cleared NVRAM as well, and the startup sound returned. Do I really have to `bless` the partition and set legacy mode from OS X or is there a way around?

satchmosgroove

Member

From: Long Beach, NY

Registered: 2010-01-13

Posts: 88

Re: Installing to 64-bit Mac Mini with 32-bit EFI

I recently did an uefi install with syslinux and that went very smooth following https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Syslinux. They have notes on how to use either 32- or 64-bit uefi-systems.

Grub always created headaches for me, syslinux never. Just be careful reading and get your folder names straight ;-) They differ, depending on 32/64-bit and uefi/bios.