Comments on: Linux on an Apple Xserve EFI only machine

By: Saad

Saad — Fri, 10 May 2013 06:17:49 +0000

Yes Chris, I have tried it and it did not boot.. I get to the grub menu then it doesn’t boot the kernel even with nomodeset.

[updates] on the above installation of 12.10 server now after installing fglrx, I can boot to the kernel without a problem and adding random xorg.conf file and rebooting without nomodeset solved the problem and I can see Lightdm because I did install ubuntu-desktop, however ubuntu gnome loads only desktop without unity panels.

installing xubuntu-desktop xfce loads well without a problem with menu and everything however the resolution is only 800×600!

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 03 May 2013 08:19:57 +0000

Did you try Fedora 18 live cd?

-c

By: Saad

Saad — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:47:33 +0000

Here is another video which I have tried ubuntu server 12.10 which should be console only and not graphical! Adding nomodeset boots it all the way except I cannot see anything but the system is intact and stable, what video any ideas?

http://youtu.be/pmJRlc3DvMA

By: Saad

Saad — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:22:53 +0000

https://www.dropbox.com/s/50fk4h9iwwx0399/Photo%2024-04-13%203%2024%2026%20PM.jpg

By: Saad

Saad — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:25:33 +0000

Well, i tried 12.04 ubuntu and 12.10 x64 on xserv which has EFI64 and using nomodeset in the kernel parameters ended up like JohnD, kernel loads, text appear however the moment it hits the ubuntu Anaconda installer for the graphics it gives unreadable display colors and text ,
I can see the mouse cursor moved but not readable! I think iam going to install it blindly like what JohnD did. And see where it gets me.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:49:36 +0000

Maybe use your package manager to see if any packages provides */sh.mod and then install that? It’s been too long I’m afraid for me to remember. Other than that I’d be looking for bug reports in Debian.

-c

By: Jens

Jens — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 05:19:18 +0000

Hi again,
Okay so I managed to get that part working also. The problem was -d . had to be changed to -d grub-core during the ./grub-mkimage command. (BTW: I’m using the Grub2 source files from Debian).

Now I’m left with just ‘cannot stat sh.mod’ error message. If I remove sh from the module list it produces the file. Continuing with the remaining steps worked flawlessly, but when booting with the USB and selecting EFI from the boot menu it leaves me on the grub command prompt instead of showing me the boot menu gui. I’ve double and triple checked grub.cfg file I created. (kernel and initramfs found here: http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/installer-amd64/current/images/netboot/ubuntu-installer/amd64/).

Will skipping the sh module have this effect? I searched the net for sh.mod and did a ‘find / -name sh.mod’ on my system but cannot locate that file. Any suggestions?

-j

By: Jens

Jens — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 02:09:19 +0000

Hi Chris,
This is a question for you. I’m trying to compile my own grub mkimage. I’m using the following options:

./grub-mkimage -d . -o bootx64.efi -O x86_64-efi part_gpt
hfsplus fat ext2 normal sh chain boot configfile minicmd
linux loadbios reboot appleldr halt search
sudo cp bootia32.efi efi/boot/

As you can see the only difference is that I output to bootx64.efi and using -O x86_64-efi (without this grub-mkimage complains)

Problem is I get an error stating that ./moddep.lst cannot be opened. When I locate this file and copy it into the current directory and try again I get a similar error but for the next module. Could you suggest a solution to this problem?

-j

By: Jens

Jens — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 19:09:59 +0000

Saad,
Could you post an update regarding your Ubuntu 12+ installation Xserve systems? Any insight on this process would be much appreciated.

-j

By: Saad

Saad — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 18:12:47 +0000

Sure, will try it on Monday @ work. We have like 7 xserve standing there…