MacBookPro (2015) Install Fails

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1

I have an intel-based macbook pro with 16gb ram, and a single 250gb ssd. I created a bootable USB drive with manjaro-cinnamon-23.0.1-230921-linux65. I selected proprietary drivers at the install. All the hardware including wifi was recognized by the installer. I then proceeded with the install, letting the installer erase the SSD and install manjaro.

My attempt to install fails at the end of the calamares installer with

Bootloader installation error
Details:
The bootloader could not be installed. The installation command
<pre>grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --
bootloader-id=Manjaro --force</pre> returned error code 1.

I searched the forum for a similar problem, and did not discover it. Any insights would be welcome.

2

I would suggest using one of the official distributions, XFCE for example, instead of the community distribution ISOs which often lag behind. The XFCE ISO, for example, uses the current 6.6.x kernel range whereas the Cinnamon still uses 6.5.x, which has reached EOL and is recommended not to be used.

4

I will give that a try this evening! Do you think it is kernel related?

5

MacBookPro (2015) could be MacBookPro 11,4 or 11,5. Probably not MacBookPro 12,1 as they had only 8GB RAM

MacBookPro11,x - ArchWiki has information on how to create a systemd-boot bootloader

Mac - ArchWiki has information on creating a boot loader with GRUB (Manjaro default bootloader) systemd-boot, rEFInd and MacOS

6

see this

if possible format with GPT & HFS+ if possible ( this is for /boot/efi by apple )

7

It could be; it could also be an issue with Calamares; it could be a badly prepared disk; or a number of other things. I suggest you investigate the links given by @nikgnomic for relevant advice installing on Mac hardware; and the possible use of rEFInd, in particular.

8

Since you are

you are not planning to keep macos as a dual boot. Could be that the installer stumbles over left overs of apple’s disk setup, either gpt/mbr partition table or odd efi partition.

I’d boot from manjaro usb, open gparted and prepare the internal drive by ‘New’ >> ‘Partition Table’ >> pick ‘gpt’, apply changes, exit gparted and then run the manjaro installer again.

This is a big no no, Manjaro needs no macos ‘bits’ to run on apple hardware, any new ssd will work on devices that have removable drives. In fact even accessing data on the macos partitions of dual boots can knock out MacOS. Ask me how I know…

9

It is 11,4. I switch the xfce iso and it installed without a hitch.

1 Like
10

I did read that before I posted. But I wasn’t dual booting, I blew IOS away. I finally switched to the xfce iso and the install went without issue.

11

I appreciate your help, I just wish I had been patient. I did not think about prepping the drive from the installer with gparted. I installed from the xfce iso and that went with no issues.

12

I installed from the xfce iso without issue. I am inclined to think this is a calamares issue. If I get another macbookpro, i’ll try again. Thank you for taking the time to reply.

13

XFCE is a reasonable choice for older hardware; nestled nicely within the goldilocks zone between lightweight distributions and the generally heavier Gnome or KDE, for example.

I have KDE on an older laptop (for a specific purpose) which often suffers from a lack of resources; it too is a fine candidate for XFCE.

14

Community ISOs with outdated kernel v6.5 are not a good option at the moment. If Cinnamon install had worked there would still be a lot of updates, and installing a newer kernel.
But when new Cinnamon ISO is released, Installing should be no different to an Official ISO

15

Good to know! And yes, on my other three laptops, I always updated the kernel after moving from stable to testing. Thank you for your informative reply. I appreciate it.

16

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