Cannot install bootloader into VMWare on MacOS

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Cannot install bootloader into VMWare on MacOS

Postby AaronR » Fri Jan 21, 2022 3:31 am

Hi there,

I have been using linux for a while now, but only through live images with installers. This is my first attempt into installing linux manually, on a VMware Fusion virtual machine under MacOS M1.

I am trying to install Arch linux (arm64) on a virtual machine. I booted from an Alpine linux live image. I partitioned the disk with an EFI, a swap, and an ext4 partitions.

I mounted them, downloaded the arm64 Arch linux tar file, and installed linux on my partition.

Did chroot, continued with the setup but I am not able to install the boot loader, as I get a "Couldn't find EFI system partition. It is recommended to mount it to /boot or /efi." error.

As you would see below, the partition is EFI System, it is mounted to /boot. What is going on? Also note the "Failed to open file system "/dev/block/259:1": No such file or directory" error that I also get when running "bootctl install"

Thanks for your help!

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'fdisk -l

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/nvme0n1p1 2048 1050623 1048576 512M EFI System
/dev/nvme0n1p2 1050624 4005887 2955264 1.4G Linux swap
/dev/nvme0n1p3 4005888 41943006 37937119 18.1G Linux filesystem')

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'lsblk

NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
loop0 7:0 0 105.5M 1 loop
sr0 11:0 1 160.8M 0 rom
nvme0n1 259:0 0 20G 0 disk
|-nvme0n1p1 259:1 0 512M 0 part /boot
|-nvme0n1p2 259:2 0 1.4G 0 part
`-nvme0n1p3 259:3 0 18.1G 0 part /')


$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'bootctl

Failed to open file system "/dev/block/259:1": No such file or directory
Couldn't find EFI system partition. It is recommended to mount it to /boot or /efi.
Alternatively, use --esp-path= to specify path to mount point.
Failed to open file system "/dev/block/259:1": No such file or directory
System:
Firmware: n/a (n/a)
Secure Boot: disabled (unknown)
TPM2 Support: no
Boot into FW: active

Current Boot Loader:
Product: n/a
Features: ✗ Boot counting
✗ Menu timeout control
✗ One-shot menu timeout control
✗ Default entry control
✗ One-shot entry control
✗ Support for XBOOTLDR partition
✗ Support for passing random seed to OS
✗ Load drop-in drivers
✗ Boot loader sets ESP information
ESP: n/a
File: └─n/a

Random Seed:
Passed to OS: no
System Token: not set

Boot Loaders Listed in EFI Variables:
Title: GRUB
ID: 0x0001
Status: active, boot-order
Partition: /dev/disk/by-partuuid/b9f61df7-bf83-704c-b6de-af9e9f7a5f16
File: └─/EFI/GRUB/grubaa64.efi

Title: Arch Linux
ID: 0x0006
Status: active, boot-order
Partition: /dev/disk/by-partuuid/b9f61df7-bf83-704c-b6de-af9e9f7a5f16
File: └─/vmlinuz-linux
')

It may or may not help, but I also noticed that in the /boot directory there is no vmzlinux_linux file. I did some research and it is supposed to be created when installing the kernel (pamac -Syu linux) but it is not generated, although initramfs-linux.img is there. Thinking it might have been a problem with systemd_boot, I tried grub, but it does not see the linux bootable drive, and my only boot option with grub is "EFI Firmware Settings"

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'ls /boot

EFI Image Image.gz dtbs grub initramfs-linux-fallback.img initramfs-linux.img
')

Thanks!
AaronR
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jan 21, 2022 3:19 am

Re: Cannot install bootloader into VMWare on MacOS

Postby robg » Sat Jan 22, 2022 12:29 am

I am not familiar with installing ALARM in the virtual environment you mentioned, but nonetheless have some pointers that may prove useful.

I assume that you are trying to install the generic image. In that case, note that the description mentions an EFISTUB that will indicate where to mount the EFI partition (this is just to double check; I assume you are right in mounting it at /boot. EDIT: Note that /boot/vmzlinux_linux is just /boot/Image.)

Regarding the installation of systemd-boot: You can specify the ESP location explicitly via the --esp-path option. It is worth a try, altough I don't quite expect this to work, as /boot is examined by default.

Another route might be trying to boot the EFISTUB directly.
robg
 
Posts: 186
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2021 8:22 am

Re: Cannot install bootloader into VMWare on MacOS

Postby AaronR » Wed Feb 02, 2022 11:19 pm

Thank you, robg. I have given up on Arch on the VM. I will try again in the next few weeks and follow your advice. Thank you!
AaronR
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jan 21, 2022 3:19 am


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