I have successfully installed Debian Jessie using the multi-arch netinst iso
https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/multi-arch/iso- cd/debian-8.6.0-amd64-i386-netinst.iso which leverages the new mixed mode support described in https://wiki.debian.org/UEFI Support for mixed-mode systems: 64-bit system with 32-bit UEFI Some systems have been released containing 64-bit Intel Atom CPUs (such as the Bay Trail), but unfortunately use 32-bit UEFI firmware with no BIOS compatibility mode. Using the 32-bit UEFI x86 support, an i386 installation should be possible on these machines but it won't make the most of the 64-bit hardware. Debian Jessie (8.0) was the first Linux distribution to include full support for mixed-mode UEFI installation on these machines. The multi- arch installation media (available in netinst and DVD form) include the UEFI boot loaders necessary for both i386 and amd64 boot. By selecting "64-bit install" from the initial boot menu, debian-installer will install a 64-bit (amd64) version of Debian. The system will automatically detect that the underlying UEFI firmware is 32-bit and will install the appropriate version of grub-efi to work with it. The resulting Debian Jessie install was transitioned to Ubuntu 16.10 by... 1) replacing the /etc directory with a copy from a fresh Ubuntu 16.10 x86_64 install while retaining copies of the fstab, shadow and passwd files generated by the Debian Jessie installation. 2) Using apt-get -f update apt-get clean for pkg in `dpkg --get-selections | awk '{print $1}' | egrep -v '(dpkg|apt|mysql|mythtv)'` ; do apt-get -y -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confdef" -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confnew" --force-yes install --reinstall $pkg ; done At this point, the only problem remaining was that the boot selector doesn't detect the Ubuntu installation. I solved this by reformatting the /boot/efi partition as HFS+ with journaling disabled so that Linux could access it for writing. I then used the following script to generate the appropriate boot.ef in /tmp, depending on whether the machine has EFI-32 or EFI-64 firmware, and then installed in /boot/efi/System/Library/CoreServices along side the SystemVersions.plist installed from the current mactel-boot package files and a /boot/efi/mach_kernel file. Lastly the script blesses the newly installed boot.efi. #!/bin/bash -ex # update-efi-booter script pushd / grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg efi_arch="x86_64" coreservices_dir="/boot/efi/System/Library/CoreServices/" boot_efi_dir="/boot/efi/" mactel_boot_dir="/usr/share/mactel-boot/" mactel_boot_logo_dir="/usr/share/mactel-boot-logo/" grep -q "32" /sys/firmware/efi/fw_platform_size && efi_arch="i386" echo 'Creating boot.efi for '$efi_arch case "$efi_arch" in x86_64) grub-mkstandalone -o /tmp/boot.efi -d usr/lib/grub/x86_64-efi -O x86_64-efi --compress=xz boot/grub/grub.cfg ;; i386) grub-mkstandalone -o /tmp/boot.efi -d usr/lib/grub/i386-efi -O i386-efi --compress=xz boot/grub/grub.cfg ;; esac echo 'Installing boot.efi for '$efi_arch mount -t hfsplus -o force,remount,rw $boot_efi_dir && sleep 1 test ! -d $coreservices_dir && install -d $coreservices_dir install -m 644 /tmp/boot.efi $coreservices_dir test ! -f $boot_efi_dir/.VolumeIcon.icns && -f $mactel_boot_logo_dir/ubuntu.icons && install -m 644 $mactel_boot_logo_dir/ubuntu.icns $boo t_efi_dir/.VolumeIcon.icns test ! -f $boot_efi_dir/mach_kernel && echo "This file is required for booting" > $boot_efi_dir/mach_kernel test ! -f $coreservices_dir/SystemVersion.plist && -f $mactel_boot_dir/SysytemVersion.plist && install -m 644 $mactel_boot_dir/SystemVersi on.plist $coreservices_dir hfs-bless $coreservices_dir/boot.efi && sleep 1 && mount -t hfsplus -o remount $boot_efi_dir ** Attachment added: "script to automate the generation and installation of the appropriate architecture boot.efi into a HFS+ formatted /boot/efi partition" https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/1369187/+attachment/4792306/+files/update-efi-booter -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1369187 Title: Installation on Macs could use EFI booting instead of legacy BIOS To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/debian-installer/+bug/1369187/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
