25.0.9 cannot be installed on non-EFI, but Calamares pretends and fails

fredvej · 13 October 2025 10:17

As mentioned in Installation issues - bootloader fails to install and Cannot install manjaro-kde-25.0.9-minimal-251003-linux612.iso in VirtualBox Calamares fails to install the boot loader in MBR.

Is demanding EFI a design decision by Manjaro team ? Calamares does not warn about this.

Calamares should either refuse to install on non-EFI systems or work properly installing the boot loader in MBR, as it does in Manjaro 25.0.8 and all older ones I have used.

On my HP Elitebook 820 G1 the BIOS has three boot options: Legacy (MBR), UEFI Hybrid (with CSM), and UEFI Native (without CSM). When I choose Legacy or UEFI Hybrid, Calamares presents MBR as only option to place the boot loader. The installation partitions the disc, installs all software, but fails in the last step. Calamares ends with error message The bootloader could not be installed. The installation command <pre>grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg</pre> returned error code 1.In the Calamares log file it says

[PYTHON JOB]: "Bootloader: grub (bios)" 
WARNING: [PYTHON JOB]: "Cannot install BIOS bootloader on UEFI installation when install_hybrid_grub is 'False'!" 
    .. Running QList("grub-mkconfig", "-o", "/boot/grub/grub.cfg") 
    .. Target cmd: QList("grub-mkconfig", "-o", "/boot/grub/grub.cfg") Exit code: 1 output:
/usr/bin/grub-editenv: error: cannot open `//boot/grub/grubenv.new': No such file or directory.
/usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig: line 271: /boot/grub/grub.cfg.new: No such file or directory

I can accept if EFI is a new demand for Manjaro, but I would like to get a warning rather than installing and ending with a system that cannot boot.

(edit: corrected names of three BIOS boot options)

linux-aarhus · 13 October 2025 10:41

I haven’t heard about it.

I can reproduce the issue in a virtual machne.

https://termbin.com/j6rd

Teo · 13 October 2025 11:12

Seems like a bug. Nobody announced uefi as official requirement, so it has to be a bug @philm

P.s. @fredvej you can use a bit older iso from the gitlab and update from there.

philm · 13 October 2025 11:26

It also fails when I set this config to true. When using a UEFI host, the VirtualBox machine also needs to be UEFI configured. A new code was added via: [bootloader] Add hybrid GRUB installation support, which got introduced via 3.4.0 of calamares. I can try to see what will happen when that is reverted.

philm · 13 October 2025 11:59

@fredvej please try the following on your new ISO:

sudo pacman -U https://download.manjaro.org/pkgs/calamares/calamares-3.4.0-3-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
sudo calamares -D6

I tested it on the GNOME 25.0.9 ISO using VirtualBox in BIOS mode.

fredvej · 13 October 2025 15:07

Yes, that works.

I created a new virtualbox machine without EFI and used manjaro-kde-25.0.9-minimal-251003-linux612.iso to boot. I closed Manjaro Hello, opened Konsole and ran

and then started installation with the icon top left. Chose erase disk, swap with no hibernation and ext4 and ran the installation without problems. Shut down the VM, released the iso, and the VM booted and worked as expected.

Now I will try the same procedure on my HP Elitebook 820 G1 with BIOS set to boot option Legacy (MBR).