[Bug 1860640] Re: Add / Enable "32Bit UEFI Support" in Ubuntu?

[Julian Andres Klode]

It's a cute little feature, but I think the decision was made long ago
that the resources needed to maintain it outweigh the benefit of
supporting a handful of old Macs and Bay Trail devices.

I want to note that we *do* ship unsigned 32-bit grub, so in theory, if
you want to hack this together it should be as easy as installing grub-
efi-ia32 after booting and installing in BIOS mode.

** Changed in: grub2 (Ubuntu)
       Status: Confirmed => Opinion

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Title:
  Add / Enable "32Bit UEFI Support" in Ubuntu?

Status in grub2 package in Ubuntu:
  Opinion

Bug description:
  Hi there!

  I want to add here a request regarding the addition of a very nice,
  currently Fedora-exclusive, feature. It's called "32Bit UEFI Support"
  and makes it possible to boot and install a 64bit Linux onto a 32 bit
  (U)EFI based system which contains a 64bit CPU.

  Source: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/32BitUefiSupport

  So far I understand, this works through a special modified
  BOOTIA32.EFI file. That one acts as some kind of a "wrapper" which
  converts some (essential) EFI64 calls to EFI32 (during the boot-up).

  I have tested this principle with latest Fedora 31 at an early Intel
  iMac which contains a 64bit CPU but has a 32bit EFI. To my big
  surprise it works absolutely GREAT!

  There exist currently some ways to apply this principle also at other
  Linux Distros like Ubuntu and Debian. Unfortunately these are all
  quite complex and needs a lot of modifications. More information can
  be found at the following link:

  https://medium.com/@realzedgoat/a-sorta-beginners-guide-to-installing-
  ubuntu-linux-on-32-bit-uefi-machines-d39b1d1961ec

  I tried to modify a Kubuntu 18.04 LTS DVD ISO image but I failed.
  Fedora Linux uses a quite different DVD install layout (folder & file
  organization) which is not easy applicable at Ubuntu / Debian based
  Distros. In detail I tried to copy the mentioned BOOTIA32.EFI wrapper
  file into the /EFI/boot directory. Well, the edited / modified Kubuntu
  DVD image was not recognized by the 32bit EFI firmware (at an iMac). I
  have uploaded some of the needed files. Fedora seems to include also a
  special macboot.img file which is not present (in that form) in
  Ubuntu.

  Update 18.12.2020:
  The following link shows a step-by-step guide how an installation can be done with latest Ubuntu / Kubuntu 20.04 LTS: https://wiki.ubuntuusers.de/Howto/32-Bit_EFI/

  As mentioned in my initial request the main problem lies in the
  missing grubia32.efi file. That one is unfortunately not included at
  current Ubuntu 64 bit x86-64 install medias. So it is needed to add it
  from another Distro like Debian 10.

  Note, Debian supports that "64bit CPU & 32bit EFI" install option
  since Version 8: https://wiki.debian.org/UEFI#Support_for_mixed-
  mode_systems:_64-bit_system_with_32-bit_UEFI

  Kind regards

  C. Leu

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