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Recently, I set up an Ubuntu Kodi-based home theatre system on a 2007 Intel A1176 Mac Mini.

This is a 64-bit system with firmware that expects a 32-bit EFI. After some experimentation, I created a working system running 64-bit Ubuntu 16.04 (with the default CONFIG_EFI_MIXED kernel), along with a 32-bit EFI grub and i386-efi grub image set.

This works perfectly, but the grub installation and grub.cfg file are custom, and not based on the package manager offering. I tried installing the 32-bit efi grub from the package database and this appeared to run correctly, but resulted in an unbootable system.

Is it possible to set up Ubuntu to work harmoniously with a custom grub setup not sourced from the repositories, and yet have the system as a whole be updateable from the repository collection?

Braiam
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salafrance
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  • First of all, create an image of the disk, so you can restore that if things go wrong. The grub config should be backed up as well on the disk itself, so you can restore that easily. See https://askubuntu.com/questions/503417/how-to-prevent-ubuntu-from-overwriting-grub-bootloader-after-update – SPRBRN May 23 '16 at 09:43
  • Hi, thanks for your reply. The system is currently functional, I have backups, as well as a bootable hybrid 32/64 usb flash drive which duplicates the function of the system on the hard drive. – salafrance May 23 '16 at 21:12
  • I just want to know whether I can leave the system as-is, minus the official grub package, and be confident that future updates will not pull in the default grub system. Alternatively, can I install the default 32-bit efi grub package and be confident that it will work with updated 64-bit kernels? – salafrance May 23 '16 at 21:19

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