From 078c5f4f9443d69b0b91666aa97059db223c9dc0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Breadway <plasticbread849@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2026 17:57:50 +0800
Subject: [PATCH] Fix unbootable installs: lay the kernel into the target and
 own GRUB

archiso keeps vmlinuz/initramfs in the ISO boot dir, not the squashfs, so
unpackfs lays down an empty /boot. The chroot's mkinitcpio/grub-mkconfig had
nothing to work with and the ESP ended up empty (firmware found no bootloader).

- shellprocess@kernel (dontChroot) copies the live kernel into the target
  /boot before the bootloader step
- post-install.sh now runs grub-install itself, including a --removable pass
  so firmware with no NVRAM entry still boots via EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI
---
 .../modules/shellprocess-kernel.conf          |  8 +++++++
 iso/airootfs/etc/calamares/post-install.sh    | 21 +++++++++++++++-
 iso/airootfs/etc/calamares/settings.conf      |  8 +++++++
 iso/airootfs/usr/local/bin/bos-copy-kernel    | 24 +++++++++++++++++++
 iso/profiledef.sh                             |  1 +
 5 files changed, 61 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 iso/airootfs/etc/calamares/modules/shellprocess-kernel.conf
 create mode 100755 iso/airootfs/usr/local/bin/bos-copy-kernel

diff --git a/iso/airootfs/etc/calamares/modules/shellprocess-kernel.conf b/iso/airootfs/etc/calamares/modules/shellprocess-kernel.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e5ab5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/iso/airootfs/etc/calamares/modules/shellprocess-kernel.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+# Lay the kernel into the target /boot before the bootloader/initramfs steps.
+# Runs in the live environment (not the chroot) so it can read the ISO boot dir.
+dontChroot: true
+timeout: 60
+
+script:
+    - "/usr/bin/bash /usr/local/bin/bos-copy-kernel ${ROOT}"
diff --git a/iso/airootfs/etc/calamares/post-install.sh b/iso/airootfs/etc/calamares/post-install.sh
index 1a81b5a..e126a22 100644
--- a/iso/airootfs/etc/calamares/post-install.sh
+++ b/iso/airootfs/etc/calamares/post-install.sh
@@ -35,7 +35,26 @@ fallback_options="-S autodetect"
 PRESET
 mkinitcpio -P || echo "WARN: mkinitcpio regeneration failed"
 
-# Refresh GRUB so it references the rebuilt initramfs (and the new fallback).
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Install GRUB ourselves. Calamares' bootloader module runs before the kernel
+# and initramfs exist (archiso keeps them out of the squashfs; shellprocess
+# @kernel only lays vmlinuz down just beforehand), so its grub-install/config
+# leaves the ESP empty. Redo it here, now that /boot is fully populated.
+#
+# Two passes: the standard NVRAM entry, plus a --removable copy to
+# EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI so firmware that lost/never wrote an NVRAM entry (the
+# "no boot device / screen just refreshes" failure) still finds a bootloader.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+if command -v grub-install &>/dev/null; then
+    grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi \
+        --bootloader-id=BOS --recheck \
+        || echo "WARN: grub-install (nvram) failed"
+    grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi \
+        --removable --recheck \
+        || echo "WARN: grub-install (removable) failed"
+fi
+
+# Refresh GRUB so it references the kernel + rebuilt initramfs.
 if command -v grub-mkconfig &>/dev/null; then
     grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg || echo "WARN: grub-mkconfig failed"
 fi
diff --git a/iso/airootfs/etc/calamares/settings.conf b/iso/airootfs/etc/calamares/settings.conf
index ea17565..bb6f01c 100644
--- a/iso/airootfs/etc/calamares/settings.conf
+++ b/iso/airootfs/etc/calamares/settings.conf
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 ---
 modules-search: [/etc/calamares/modules, /usr/lib/calamares/modules]
 
+# Second shellprocess instance: copies the live kernel into the target /boot
+# (archiso keeps it out of the squashfs) before the bootloader step runs.
+instances:
+- id: kernel
+  module: shellprocess
+  config: shellprocess-kernel.conf
+
 sequence:
   - show:
     - welcome
@@ -22,6 +29,7 @@ sequence:
     - networkcfg
     - hwclock
     - packages
+    - shellprocess@kernel
     - bootloader
     - shellprocess
     - umount
diff --git a/iso/airootfs/usr/local/bin/bos-copy-kernel b/iso/airootfs/usr/local/bin/bos-copy-kernel
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..1d75e46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/iso/airootfs/usr/local/bin/bos-copy-kernel
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Copy the live kernel into the freshly-unpacked target /boot.
+#
+# archiso keeps vmlinuz/initramfs in the ISO boot dir (arch/boot/x86_64/), NOT
+# in the squashfs, so the rootfs that unpackfs lays down has an empty /boot.
+# Without a kernel, the chroot's `mkinitcpio -P` and `grub-mkconfig` produce
+# nothing and the installed system is unbootable.
+#
+# Runs in the LIVE environment (Calamares shellprocess, dontChroot) so it can
+# read /run/archiso/bootmnt; the target root mount point is passed as $1.
+set -uo pipefail
+
+ROOT="${1:?target root required}"
+SRC="/run/archiso/bootmnt/arch/boot/x86_64"
+
+install -d -m 0755 "$ROOT/boot"
+cp -f "$SRC/vmlinuz-linux" "$ROOT/boot/vmlinuz-linux"
+
+# Microcode, if the live medium carries it (grub-mkconfig picks it up).
+for u in amd-ucode.img intel-ucode.img; do
+    [ -f "$SRC/$u" ] && cp -f "$SRC/$u" "$ROOT/boot/$u"
+done
+
+echo "Copied live kernel into $ROOT/boot"
diff --git a/iso/profiledef.sh b/iso/profiledef.sh
index 1d1e595..6c496b2 100644
--- a/iso/profiledef.sh
+++ b/iso/profiledef.sh
@@ -19,4 +19,5 @@ file_permissions=(
     ["/etc/calamares/post-install.sh"]="0:0:755"
     ["/usr/local/bin/bos-live-setup"]="0:0:755"
     ["/usr/local/bin/bos-launch-calamares"]="0:0:755"
+    ["/usr/local/bin/bos-copy-kernel"]="0:0:755"
 )