Hi guys, I'm trying to install Garuda Linux on an "old" 2009 iMac 21.
Having confirmed that the specifications are sufficient for the installation, I go to start the live USB but unfortunately I am not allowed to format the Mac's SSD, so I can't install Garuda.
KDE partition manager tells me that some tools are needed and sends me to a link with files of a type I have never seen.
I'll post some screenshots later to show you, but in the meantime, does anyone already have an idea of what the problem could be? Has anyone encountered this? Do you have a possible solution?
Anyway, from the screenshots I see that the error arises in the last step of Calamares, when the files have already been installed and the system just needs to create the ESP partition and install GRUB (I don’t know if there is anything else actually, I am not a developer).
Maybe you could use the live USB, and from the Garuda Welcome use the “Chroot” button, to see if you can get into a terminal on the installed system. Then you could try to install that package and format the ESP partition and then install GRUB.
I’ll add a couple of other links I found, but I don’t know to what extent they are useful (maybe in case of subsequent problems with efibootmgr, called as part of the grub installation):
Forgive me, being new to the Linux world in general it is difficult for me to find a starting point.
How should I move? or rather where I start
Edit. to be specific I'm not really a newbie. I've had to deal with Mint, Ubuntu and especially Debian
However, one thing that perhaps wasn't clear in the messages is that I'm very limited as any attempt to format or create a partition seems to be rejected.
I'm also trying to understand by reading the links you gave me which tools I should actually use, given that some, as you said, are not available live
Furthermore. What is chroot?
I know it's not going to be easy...
First of all, try to see if the system has been installed.
From the live USB, open Garuda Welcome and hit the "chroot" button, to see if the system has been installed (if really only the ESP partition and GRUB are missing).
"chroot" is a linux command that changes the root, in this case from the live USB where you booted to the root partition of the system (hopefully) installed on /dev/sda2.
From that moment onward, if you get a root terminal (starting with #) without errors, everything you do (e.g. installations) is done on the sda2.
If chroot works, you can install that package with:
paru hfsprogs
You will be presented with some text concerning the PKGBUILD, press button 'q' to wuit it and confirm installation. And
The newer the Apple hardware is, the more complicated or impossible it is to install anything other than macOS, as long as updates are provided for the device.
After all, they want to make money and if the hardware lasts so long, you screw with the software.
From that picture it looks like the /dev/sda1 ESP partition was created, so it might not be needed to install that AUR package.
From inside the chroot, try:
╭─garuda@garuda in ~ as 🧙 took 41ms
╰─λ # mount /dev/sda1 /boot/efi
╭─garuda@garuda in ~ as 🧙 took 41ms
╰─λ grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=garuda --recheck
Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
grub-install: error: failed to make directory: '/boot/grub'.
╭─garuda@garuda in ~ as 🧙 took 5ms
[🔴] × grub-install --no-nvram --removable
Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
grub-install: error: failed to make directory: '/boot/grub'.
╭─garuda@garuda in ~ as 🧙 took 10ms
[🔴] × update-grub
grub-mkconfig: You must run this as root
╭─garuda@garuda in ~ as 🧙 took 47ms
[🔴] × # update-grub
╭─garuda@garuda in ~ as 🧙 took 47ms
[🔴] ×
PS. I have reason to think that the partition we are interested in is /dev/sda2
The step we were trying to perform (install GRUB) was to be done on the esp, which is /dev/sda1, but now (sorry) I see that /dev/sda2 is still hfsplus instead of btrfs, so the installation was not successful...
Sorry, I'm at wit's end
If you don't mind, I'd be curious to see what plain old parted has to say about it.
Run parted on the SSD.
sudo parted /dev/sda
This will open the interactive parted prompt on your device. From inside parted, run print.
print
This should give some information about the current layout of the disk. Paste the output from the terminal into the thread as text (no more screenshots please). You can use the preformatted text button (looks like this: </>) to format the text as a code block.
Next, create a new partition table.
mklabel gpt
Run print again after making the partition table and paste it into the thread.
╭─garuda@garuda in ~ as 🧙 took 47ms
[🔴] × sudo parted /dev/sda
GNU Parted 3.6
Using /dev/sda
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) print
Model: ATA Intenso SSD Sata (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 256GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 20.5kB 210MB 210MB fat32 EFI System Partition boot, esp
2 210MB 255GB 255GB hfs+
3 255GB 256GB 650MB hfs+
(parted) mklabel gpt
Warning: The existing disk label on /dev/sda will be destroyed and all data on this disk will be lost. Do you want to continue?
Yes/No? y
(parted) print
Model: ATA Intenso SSD Sata (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 256GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
(parted)
