USB EFI BOOTER FOR MAC INSTALL
USB EFI BOOTER FOR MAC MAC

# grub-install -target=x86_64-efi -efi-directory=/boot -bootloader-id=arch_grub -recheck Fortunately, with /dev/sda1/ mounted as /boot, I got GRUB to work nicely.

I could not get gummiboot to work but maybe you will have better luck.

Now we can chroot into the system and follow all the directions, up to (but not including) installing the bootloader.

USB EFI BOOTER FOR MAC INSTALL

Now you can happily install the base system and generate an fstab file:Ĭonfiguring the base system and installing the bootloader.

The part that was non-obvious to me is that the boot directory we want is actually the “EFI” directory (likely /dev/sda1) that OSX already provides. There are three directories we need to mount, the main filesystem and the home directory, as well as the EFI boot directory. The command lsblk -f will print out the partitions and their labels. Warning: Please, please make sure that you are formatting the right partitions. However, it is necessary to format the newcly created partitions above.

We’ve already created the partitions in Disk Utility above, so there is no need to change the partitions themselves now.

Since rEFInd is installed, it should give you the option of booting into the USB.

Now that the partitions and rEFInd is set up, and the USB is written, we can proceed with the actual installation.Īt this point, one can basically follow the standard procedure with a few changes. This leaves me to something like NAME LABEL TYPE SIZEīooting into the USB and finishing up the partitions I like to create a partition for my Arch Linux system (which I name “Arch”) and a fifth partition just for the /home directory (which I name Home”). (This output is from lsblk, and is not what Disk Utility looks like). My OSX installations appear to come with three partitions, a small one called “EFI”, a main “OS X HD” partition, and then a small “Recovery HD”, like so:

Set up the partitions I find it easier (and less dangerous) to just use the OSX Disk Utility to do this.

Create a Arch Linux installer USB by dd-ing (or anything else) the latest installation medium onto a USB drive.

This worked out of the box for me, and makes it possible to boot via USB. My method is to create the partitions in Disk Utility, install rEFInd, and then install the grub bootloader into /dev/sda1. This is almost the same as any other installation of Arch Linux, with a few changes that took some hours of frustration to figure out because of the EFI booter. Obligatory Disclaimer: Use at your own risk or not at all. This is mostly for my reference in the likely event that I will be doing anything similar in some years, so it assumes some competence fortunately, the Arch Wiki’s Beginner’s Guide probably fills in any gaps I left out.

USB EFI BOOTER FOR MAC MAC

This post briefly outlines the process of setting up a dual boot OSX and Arch Linux on a Mac Mini.

Usb efi booter for mac