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Re: Install Debian 10 amd64 onto USB flash drive with and for Macintosh

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On 8/31/21 3:53 PM, Dan Ritter wrote:
> David Christensen wrote:
>> debian-user:
>>
>> I have an Apple MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) with an Intel Core
>> i7-4770HQ processor, 16 GB memory, and 256 GB SSD:
>>
>>
>> If I now power up the machine with the buster-mac USB flash drive installed,
>> Debian starts.
>>
>>
>>
>> If I now power up the machine without the buster-mac USB flash drive
>> installed and hold the Option key, I see the MacBook firmware disk window
>> showing the internal SSD.  Selecting the internal SSD starts macOS.
>>
>>
>> If I now power up the machine without the buster-mac USB flash drive
>> installed and hold the Command-R keys, I see the MacBook firmware POST
>> screen, then the MacBook firmware utilities window.  Selecting Disk Utility
>> and View -> Show All Devices, I see:
> 
> I am pretty sure you didn't want to install GRUB at all -- the
> Mac's own EFI booter should work on your USB stick; it's invoked
> by holding down option at boot time.


Thank you for the reply.  :-)


If I now power up the machine with the buster-mac USB flash drive 
installed and hold the Option key,  I see the MacBook firmware disk 
window showing the internal SSD only; the target USB flash drive with 
the Debian instance is not shown.


Perhaps the debian-10.10.0-amd64-xfce-CD-1 Debian Installer USB flash 
drive holds a clue, as the MacBook firmware Option key disk window 
displays two "EFI Boot" disks:

2021-08-31 16:56:36 root@buster-mac ~
# fdisk -l /dev/sdd
Disk /dev/sdd: 3.6 GiB, 3887595520 bytes, 7592960 sectors
Disk model: USB Flash Drive
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x08fe9327

Device     Boot Start     End Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdd1  *        0 1425407 1425408  696M  0 Empty
/dev/sdd2        7272   12199    4928  2.4M ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32)

2021-08-31 16:57:10 root@buster-mac ~
# mount -o ro /dev/sdd2 /mnt

2021-08-31 16:58:30 root@buster-mac ~
# tree /mnt
/mnt
`-- efi
     |-- boot
     |   |-- bootx64.efi
     |   `-- grubx64.efi
     `-- debian
         `-- grub.cfg

3 directories, 3 files

2021-08-31 17:01:22 root@buster-mac ~
# file /mnt/efi/boot/bootx64.efi
/mnt/efi/boot/bootx64.efi: PE32+ executable (EFI application) x86-64 
(stripped to external PDB), for MS Windows

2021-08-31 17:01:35 root@buster-mac ~
# file /mnt/efi/boot/grubx64.efi
/mnt/efi/boot/grubx64.efi: PE32+ executable (EFI application) x86-64 
(stripped to external PDB), for MS Windows

2021-08-31 17:01:46 root@buster-mac ~
# file /mnt/efi/debian/grub.cfg
/mnt/efi/debian/grub.cfg: ASCII text

2021-08-31 17:01:59 root@buster-mac ~
# cat /mnt/efi/debian/grub.cfg
search --file --set=root /.disk/info
set prefix=($root)/boot/grub
source $prefix/x86_64-efi/grub.cfg


My guess is that efi/boot/bootx64.efi and efi/boot/grubx64.efi 
correspond to the two "EFI Boot" disks displayed by the MacBook firmware 
Option key disk window (?).


I also noted that the ESP partition on the target USB flash drive is empty:

2021-08-31 17:02:02 root@buster-mac ~
# umount /mnt

2021-08-31 17:06:43 root@buster-mac ~
# mount -o ro /dev/sdb1 /mnt

2021-08-31 17:07:08 root@buster-mac ~
# ls -alF /mnt
total 8
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Dec 31  1969 ./
drwxr-xr-x 19 root root 4096 Aug 31 00:09 ../


I expect it needs the equivalent of boot/bootx64.efi, boot/grubx64.efi, 
and/or debian/grub.conf as found on the Debian Installer USB flash 
drive, but I very much doubt that simply copying those files from the 
Debian Installer USB flash drive to the target USB flash drive would 
work, given the "hybrid ISO" layout, overlapping partitions, etc., of 
the Debian Installer USB stick.


Here is the ESP partition of the MacBook SSD again for comparison:

2021-08-31 17:33:40 root@buster-mac ~
# tree /boot/efi
/boot/efi
|-- BOOTLOG
`-- EFI
     |-- APPLE
     |   |-- CACHES
     |   |   `-- CAFEBEEF
     |   `-- FIRMWARE
     |       `-- MBP114.fd
     `-- debian
         |-- BOOTX64.CSV
         |-- fbx64.efi
         |-- grub.cfg
         |-- grubx64.efi
         |-- mmx64.efi
         `-- shimx64.efi

6 directories, 8 files


Maybe if I copied the EFI/debian tree to the target USB flash drive ESP 
partition, reworked /etc/fstab, and/or reworked whatever other system 
configuration files are involved (?), the target USB flash device would 
be self-booting (?).


Booting the debian-10.10.0-amd64-xfce-CD-1 Debian Installer USB flash 
drive, I see

-> Advanced options...
-> Expert install

Maybe if I do an expert install, I will be given the opportunity to 
install GRUB and related onto the target USB flash drive (?).


Alternatively:

-> Advanced options...
-> Rescue mode

May if I knew enough, I could enter the right commands in a rescue shell 
and fix the target USB flash drive (?).


I'll wait and see if anyone else has more information.


David

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Thread

Install Debian 10 amd64 onto USB flash drive with and for Macintosh David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com> - 2021-09-01 00:40 +0200
  Re: Install Debian 10 amd64 onto USB flash drive with and for  Macintosh Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org> - 2021-09-01 01:00 +0200
    Re: Install Debian 10 amd64 onto USB flash drive with and for  Macintosh David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com> - 2021-09-01 02:40 +0200
      Re: Install Debian 10 amd64 onto USB flash drive with and for  Macintosh Keith Bainbridge <keithrboz@gmail.com> - 2021-09-01 06:00 +0200
  Re: Install Debian 10 amd64 onto USB flash drive with and for  Macintosh didier gaumet <didier.gaumet@gmail.com> - 2021-09-01 10:20 +0200
    Re: Install Debian 10 amd64 onto USB flash drive with and for  Macintosh David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com> - 2021-09-02 01:10 +0200
      Re: Install Debian 10 amd64 onto USB flash drive with and for  Macintosh David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2021-09-03 02:40 +0200
        Re: Install Debian 10 amd64 onto USB flash drive with and for  Macintosh David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com> - 2021-09-03 07:40 +0200
          Re: Install Debian 10 amd64 onto USB flash drive with and for  Macintosh David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2021-09-09 05:50 +0200
          Re: Install Debian 10 amd64 onto USB flash drive with and for  Macintosh Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-09-11 17:40 +0200

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