Anaconda generates an error if aarch64 does not support UEFI

[pamolloy]

I can currently boot an unmodified Fedora aarch64 raw.xz image with a non-UEFI boot chain, however a check in Anaconda prevents me from using the installer.

In platform.py:get_platform() aarch64 is the only architecture that seems to require EFI. ARM and RISC-V are supported with and without EFI. Oddly, x86 does not have a check for EFI. And the IBM architectures also do not have the check.

I know that Fedora only officially supports UEFI on aarch64. I'm not advocating for official support for anything else. As a boot chain developer, I accept the responsibility if issues arise from not following the UEFI standard. However, the check in Anaconda acts as a kind of vendor lock-in by blocking non-UEFI alternative boot chains from using the installer, which makes it more difficult to develop and promote open community-based alternate boot chains.

Currently, I can either modify Anaconda and generate custom ISO installer images, which I have found to be a complex process, or modify my boot chain enough so Anaconda thinks it is a UEFI boot chain. I haven't discovered how that is determined since is_efi() depends on earlier code to determine if it is an EFI system and I quickly get lost in Python classes and inheritance. Any help here would be greatly appreciated. 🙏

I'm not blocked by the fact that the kernel includes the UEFI stub header or that UEFI applications and files are stored on a UEFI partition. I just depend on the boot loader entries that already exist. Being able to use the installer is not strictly necessary since raw.xz images work, but it would be nice to be able to use the normal ISO installer flow as with any normal PC.

Thanks in advance for any help or consideration!