Re: ISO installer image: GPT versus MBR partitions

[pelzflorian (Florian Pelz)]

On Thu, Apr 25, 2019 at 06:34:16PM +0200, Ludovic Courtès wrote:
> I lost track of the discussion.  You’re looking at a MacBook-specific
> issue, right?
> 
> (The underlying question being: can this wait after 1.0 is out?  :-)
> If it’s MacBook-specific, I would answer “yes.”)
> 

As I understand it, Thomas’ work is about
- making a correct ISO image and
- making it work on more machines.

I would have hoped the 1.0 ISO could already be made correct.
Older ISOs work on cooperative motherboards as well though, it appears
only old Macs are affected.  A more recent 2014 Macbook Air boots fine
though.

As for the latter, here are my findings when booting the USB
installer:


|                     | Nvidia PC with        | AMD GPU PC with                 
     |
|                     | Asus P8H67-V board    | Asus P8H67-?                    
     |
|---------------------+-----------------------+--------------------------------------|
| x86_64              | boots with UEFI       | boots but graphical installer   
     |
| unpatched master    | and legacy            | only works with UEFI            
     |
|---------------------+-----------------------+--------------------------------------|
| x86_64 with Danny's | boots with UEFI       | boots but graphical installer   
     |
| patches (wip6)      | and legacy            | only works with UEFI            
     |
|---------------------+-----------------------+--------------------------------------|
| i686                | boots graphical       | boots in legacy mode w/o        
     |
| unpatched master    | installer in legacy   | graphical installer, boots from 
     |
|                     | mode, boots from      | harddisk instead when selecting 
UEFI |
|                     | harddisk instead when |                                 
     |
|                     | selecting UEFI        |                                 
     |
|---------------------+-----------------------+--------------------------------------|
| i686 with Danny's   | boots graphical       | boots in legacy mode w/o        
     |
| patches (wip6)      | installer in legacy   | graphical installer, boots from 
     |
|                     | mode, boots from      | harddisk instead when selecting 
UEFI |
|                     | harddisk instead when |                                 
     |
|                     | selecting UEFI        |                                 
     |
|---------------------+-----------------------+--------------------------------------|

|                     | 2010 Macbook       | Lenovo Ideapad 100S |
|---------------------+--------------------+---------------------|
| x86_64              | boot gets stuck    | does not appear     |
| unpatched master    | before listing     | in the boot         |
|                     | devices to boot    | selection           |
|                     | from               |                     |
|---------------------+--------------------+---------------------|
| x86_64 with Danny's | boots fine with a  | does not appear     |
| patches (wip6)      | selection of “EFI  | in the boot         |
|                     | Boot” and “GRUB    | selection           |
|                     | 2.02”; both appear |                     |
|                     | to boot in UEFI    |                     |
|                     | mode though        |                     |
|---------------------+--------------------+---------------------|
| i686                | boot gets stuck    | boots fine (is      |
| unpatched master    | before listing     | only shown as EFI   |
|                     | devices to boot    | device)             |
|                     | from               |                     |
|---------------------+--------------------+---------------------|
| i686 with Danny's   | only “GRUB 2.02”   | boots fine (is      |
| patches (wip6)      | can be selected,   | only shown as EFI   |
|                     | but boots from     | device)             |
|                     | harddisk instead   |                     |
|---------------------+--------------------+---------------------|

I wonder why guixsd-install-0.15.0.i686-linux.iso did not boot on the
Lenovo Ideapad 100S before.  Windows claims the Lenovo is a 32-bit
machine only btw.

Regards,
Florian