Debian 12 ARM64 on Apple Silicon with UTM converted to DietPi - Fails

Troubleshooting
1

Creating a bug report/issue

I have searched the existing open and closed issues

I am attempting to install Debian 12 in a VM using UTM, then use the DietPi conversion script. (Is there a dedicated ISO for Apple Silicon? I didn’t see one that made sense to use.)

After installation, the VM reboots and GRUB shows only “UEFI Configuration” as a possible boot option. Selecting that results in what appears to be a virtual BIOS screen for the VM. Exiting it does nothing.

I have tried this 3 or 4 times without success.

Has anyone successfully accomplished this on Apple Silicon with UTM?

Required Information

  • DietPi version | cat /boot/dietpi/.version

v9.11 (whatever is being installed using the DietPi conversion script)

  • Distro version | echo $G_DISTRO_NAME $G_RASPBIAN

Debian 12 NetInst

  • Architecture | dpkg --print-architecture

ARM64

  • SBC model | echo $G_HW_MODEL_NAME or (EG: RPi3)

M2 MacBook Air
UTM

  • SD card used | (EG: SanDisk ultra)

NA. Internal SSD.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Complete Debian install
  2. Login as root via SSH
  3. Download and run the DietPi conversion bash script
  4. Reboot
  5. Display “BIOS”
2

installed successfully on a mac14,2 (M2 Air) some time ago. I add my “internal rough” UTM VM notes (reverse chronological) FYI, hope this helps you (maybe the bridged network before booting?). Updated to 9.11.2 today to be sure it is still usable :+1:

notes

dietpi_debian_arm64

20250414

dietpi-update to 9.11.2

20240305

dietpi-update to 9.1.1

20231210

  • start of dietpi_debian_arm64 (copy of primary_dietpi_debian_arm64) start the dietpi update script and throw´s an error “network not found”

  • exit to a subshell edit /etc/network/interface

  • eth0 to enp0s1

  • reboot

  • updates run but unable to fetch som archives

  • suggestion run apt-get update or try with --fix-missing

  • TAB and select DietPi-Config, 8 Network Options: Misc, APT Mirror German

  • survey opt out

  • keyboard generic 105-key PC

  • keyboard layout Germany - German Macintosh

  • AltGr - the default for the keyboard layout

  • compose key - no compose key (always by Ctrl+.)

  • set Global software password - cancel

  • chage root, dietpi user password - cancel

  • Serial/UART consol - disable (enable by diet-config > Advanced Options > Serial/UART)

  • DietPi Software - Install : Go >> Start Installation

  • Continue DietPi as a pure minimal image - TAB Ok

  • shutdown -h now

—

DietPi made by

Supported hardware - DietPi.com Docs

Debian 12 (bookworm)

https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/arm64/iso-cd/debian-12.1.0-arm64-netinst.iso

change to bridged Network before booting

users, password

root, dietpi

user, user

dietpi, dietpi

mirror set to my local mirror

installed

apt update

apt install -y curl ca-certificates systemd-sysv

bash -c “$(curl -sSfL ‘https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MichaIng/DietPi/master/.build/images/dietpi-installer’)”

selected bookworm and no WiFi

systemctl poweroff

now it is a dietpi_debian_arm64 reference UTM image

dd to a sc card to create a .img

and further use

bash -c “$(curl -sSfL ‘https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MichaIng/DietPi/master/.build/images/dietpi-imager’)”

to create a compressed DietPi image

Supported hardware - DietPi.com Docs

3

Thanks! I’ll give it another go after reviewing your notes.

4

Has anyone tried to use the dietpi blog method and install instructions here https://dietpi.com/blog/?p=1444
If so how do they differ from your attempts.

5

This is the method I typically use, except in this case I’m installing to a VM running on Apple Silicon.

I’d rather not run an x86 distribution in emulation if I don’t have to and there is no ARM64 version of DietPi for download.

Unless someone has a better approach, the next best thing seems to be installing Debian 12 for ARM64, then converting it to DietPi.

Or just forego the conversion, but I like using the DietPi tools.

1 Like
6

After much trial and error, I ended up installing a DietPi x86 image.

It’s slow. Like, Raspberry-Pi-3-slow. But all I want is a local VM running open-webui that connects to Anthropic’s Claude and Google Gemini, so speed is not really a concern.

(If someone has an easy way to run open-webui locally on macOS that doesn’t require learning about Python virtual environments, please let me know.)

I’m not sure how much less efficient emulation may be with regard to battery life, but we’ll find out.

Thanks for the help.

7

why not use Docker for Desktop and the docker install info? Works great.

8

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