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Re: EFI boot installer



On 2021-09-05 at 14:21, Gunnar Gervin wrote:

> Hi all. Where do I find a live Debian x86-64 iso image with EFI 'cd
> image' in it ?

As far as I understand, all of the Debian install ISOs will support both
EFI and non-EFI-style boot.

(At my workplace, we have Linux-based utility CDs which do support
booting in both modes depending on which version of the optical drive is
selected at the F12 "select a boot device" menu. In that instance it's
easy to confirm that they really are booting to different
configurations, because the visual experience is significantly
different, but that doesn't always have to be the case.)

Whether the resulting install is itself EFI-boot or not depends on other
factors; I knew about them relatively recently, when I built my current
computer and installed it for EFI boot, but just at the moment I don't
remember the specifics.

If memory serves, all I really did on that front was to boot into the
installer via EFI boot mode, create and designate appropriate partitions
to fit the requirements for EFI boot, and possibly select appropriate
options during the install process; the installer did the rest. I
suspect that the first step was the one which told the installer which
boot mode to set up the new install for.

> (My 2007 ex-Mac computer now only runs Puppy x86-64 live dvd in
> RAM.) My Macbook 64b computer won't open any iso without a cd image
> named EFI. Alt key on boot up will show distro's ISO image, on the
> right side I need an EFI cd. Read that Debian supports EFI. So I'm
> here, asking for your help &/or a link to ISO.

I used the amd64 netinst ISO for Debian 11, via writing it to a USB
drive; IIRC I performed the install during late June / early July, so
assuming I downloaded right before using it, that wouldn't be far
different from what became the release version. That's available at

https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-cd/debian-11.0.0-amd64-netinst.iso

which is linked to from

https://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/

. It's not named as EFI, but naming is irrelevant to the contents. I can
confirm that the bullseye amd64 netinst ISO which I have locally right
now (which seems to be from April, not June) includes the EFI
subdirectory which is probably what should make EFI boot possible.

If your machine will actually refuse to use a given ISO based on its
*name*, then you need to either figure out how to rename the ISO (which
may or may not be as simple as changing the filename), or use a
different machine; that's not a reasonable design, and there's probably
not much we can do about it.

-- 
   The Wanderer

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all
progress depends on the unreasonable man.         -- George Bernard Shaw

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