Grub failling instalation on Old Macbook 4,1 (2008)

That seems to be the problem. Redownloading it and using rufus stopped the "boot not found" and goes through to the Try Zorin. Still, the instalation only goes to the "installing grub2..." and gives out "the 'grub-efi-amd64-signed' package failed to install into /target/". That's the root of my problem, hence why I was looking for a way of not installing grub and finding an alternative.

In your BIOS EFI settings, is Secure Boot Disabled?

Is your EFI partition large enough?

Is the partition table GPT (you can check in LiveUSB - Gparted)?

Unfortunately, I don't know about Secure Boot and how exactly I can change it without Mac OS (it seems that I needed to have changed it with the Disc Utility). My EFI partition is 512Mb in size, as I've searched the ideal size is between 100~250Mb, so that's ok, right? And yes, I can access Gparted and it says that the partition table is GPT.

Yes, that is fine.

GPT is good...

I Forgot that this is a Macbook.:neutral_face:
It would not have Secure Boot as that is for Windows.

Searching the web, I found this response (Scroll to the bottom) in regards to a peculiarity on Macbook.

I tried using fsck to check the partitions integrity and it seemed fine, also tried making the swap partition and turning on ethernet but it still fails at the grub2 installation :pensive:

Well, you could try installing as MBR Legacy boot...

Sorry, but how can I do that? Do you mean having the Usb as MBR (If that's the case, it already is)? Or something related to the partition table?

In your BIOS Motherboard Settings, enable Legacy Boot.
How this is done varies a bit by the manufacturer.

When selecting your Boot Options from the motherboard after plugging in your USB stick and reboot, select the USB to boot that is listed without the "EFI" option.

The problem I'm facing is that I either can't access it, or it doesn't have BIOS settings accessible that way. I found this thread and it seems that Intel Macs only use EFI.

Startup option for access to firmware/BIOS - Apple Community

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We just cannot win on this MacBook...

Sadly :frowning:
That's why my initial ideal was to somehow bypass or find an alternative to the grub installation that was having problems. Because it seems like the rest of the process goes by fine. Any clue of what I could try?

Your question reminds me of this option:

I have never tried this, so I cannot fully vouch for it.

Systemd boot i do use with my pop installation, it does run alot faster compared to grub with zorin (at least on my machine). Tested this one last year where both where using 20.04. Zorin took 30 sec to boot and pop only 6 second.

So, I tried following these instructions, but can't quite manage to adequate it to what I should be doing with my system booted on a LiveUSB. I also followed this guide to make sure I was partitioning my drives correctly and it seems that I have and the grub error is due to something else as we've been discussing. So, armed with a fresh install and now with the following partitions:
/dev/sda1 - 512Mb - EFI partition
/dev/sda2 - 4Gb - Swap partition
/dev/sda3 - 33Gb - root (/) partition
/dev/sda4 - 200Gb - /home partition

I then tried following the steps to install systemd. At first I wasn't quite sure how to mount de drives and the correct paths, but I ended up mounting /dev/sda3 to /mnt, and then /dev/sda1 to the /boot/efi folder inside /dev/sda3 (the full path now as /mnt/boot/efi), my reasoning being that the main goal is to install everything to the main drive, not the USB, so I just piggybacked of the /mnt as a temporary mounting point (I have no idea if that's the correct reasoning or if I'm just completely wrong). So I made the folders and files that the guide gives, switching every instance of "ubuntu" with "zorin". Then, while creating the bash file some questions came to mind, mainly about the LUKS volume as I don't know what exactly to change that to, so I just put "sda1" (Possibly a mistake here? I really don't know what to point that to), the rootflags I just put "quiet splash". After following the rest of the guide with seemingly no errors (at least the terminal didn't warn about anything, but I find doubtful that I did everything correct at this point) it came to the systemd installation, I used "bootctl install --path=mnt/boot/efi", and it gave a dreaded error with the following:

root@zorin:~# bootctl install --path=/mnt/boot/efi
Copied "/usr/lib/systemd/boot/efi/systemd-bootia32.efi" to "/mnt/boot/efi/EFI/systemd/systemd-bootia32.efi"
Copied "/usr/lib/systemd/boot/efi/systemd-bootia32.efi" to "/mnt/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/BOOTIA32.EFI"
Failed to Create EFI Boot variable entry: No such file or directory

Sorry for the long post and for most probably incomplete informations, but I appreciate the help in getting this Macbook to finally boot on it's own hahah :smiling_face_with_tear:

I had no idea you were encrypting the drive, as well.
IF you are encrypting it, then placing boot outside of Root as you are doing may well be the cause of the repeated fail to install.
The bootloader would need to be able to decrypt, first.

Have you tried using a Basic Install to see if it will work?

Oh, I'm not encrypting the drive. It seems that the tutorial includes that, but I don't really know what I should change to fit to my case. Sorry, but what do you mean by basic install? Just bootctl install would do the job? Is it necessary to follow with the bash script and copying the kernel files like the guide? Sorry if I'm asking for specifics, it's because I think I'm in deeper waters than I'm capable to swim in hahah. So I'm not really sure what should be changed to fit with what I want. And what I want is just the normal partitions (/,/home, swap,efi), no encrypting, no dual-boot, just a clean install and the most basic systemd boot install to see if it works as a bootloader and solves the booting problem.

Yes, I mean allowing Ubiquity Installer (that is the name of the installer software included in Zorin OS to install the Operating System) to run the partitioning rather than setting up separate /boot or /home or even... /swap.

You only need a Swap partition if you plan on setting up additional Hibernate functionality.
Having Boot or Home on a separate partition can be helpful and I support the process vocally. But I never do it on my own machine simply because I use a different method, that I prefer, for backup and restoration.

Since you want no Dual Boot or anything else... Why not use gparted in LiveUSB to wipe all partitions excluding EFI or MB focused partitions. I mean just the ones you made like boot, home, etc.
Expand the largest partition into the free space created to reclaim it.

Then run the installer. When you get to the screen for 'Wipe disk and install Zorin", choose that one and do not do the "something else" with all the partitioning.

Then see if it installs.
Let's say it does (for the sake of discussion), then once it is installed, you can go back in and set up a /swap partition later if you need it.

Ok, now everything's reset, set up the partitions on gparted, wiped and reinstalled Zorin OS (I don't quite remember if I mentioned, but I'm installing the 15.3 32bit version), still, Grub didn't install, which is expected I think, nothing done so far would've changed this outcome, I suppose. So the partitions are as follows:
/dev/sda1 - 512Mb - EFI
/dev/sda2 - 232Gb - ext4

It automatically mounted sda2 to /target. So, what would be the next steps to install systemd boot? Should I follow the guide similarly as I've done before? Also I've noticed that it didn't format the EFI partition, so what I've set up previously is already there(folder structure, systemd bootia files and loader.conf).

Hey everybody! So, good news. I've managed to install Zorin successfully without errors, not being necessary to install a different boot-loader or anything like that. So, I was almost giving up but decided to give rEFInd another shot and right when I ran refind-install it gave a message of something like "EFI 32-bit computers are VERY RARE", so it got me thinking. Then I decided to try the Zorin OS Lite 64-bit installation just as a last resort (I remembered already trying that, but what could I lose by trying again, right?). And it successfully recognized the USB, good start, successfully entered the installer, even better. I don't really know if it's got anything to do with it going right, but I also decided to run an ethernet cable and check every box on the installer. And there I was, just waiting for the grub installation error, but it never came! It then booted correctly without the USB and seems to be working fine! I thank you immensely for the patience and willingness to help, Aravisian, I would've probably given up a long time ago. It's been quite the journey for a couple of weeks, and I'm sorry if anybody reads this forum in the future and sees this end without a proper solution to the boot-loader problem, hope you can find a way as well!

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