My Pi is 0 2W[1] and I want to convert "RaspberryPi OS" 64-bit to
Debian.

I alrrady tried:

Live Migrating from Raspberry Pi OS bullseye to Debian bookworm https://www.complete.org/live-migrating-from-raspberry-pi-os-bullseye-to-debian-bookworm/

but my Pi got stucked in boot so I had to restore the backup to SD card
using dd command.
I already asked about it on RPIi Forum but no useful answer:

https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?p=2361184&hilit=complete.org&sid=d38151fb0d5709c32075d448218f8497#p2361184

This RPI OS:
- already using debian's APT as source (it's RPIOS' default)
- is version Debian 13
so I believe it should be easy to migrate into pure Debian 13 without formatting.

I believe the guide (above complete.org)'s "Moving /boot to
/boot/firmware" is outdated for Debian 13, that's probably because the
boot went wrong.

Are there anyone tried switching RPIOS to Debian?

[1] https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/RaspberryPi/Raspberry%20Pi%20Zero%202%20W

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

At Sat, 14 Feb 2026 02:37:50 +0000 sundialsvcs@riseup.net wrote:

My Pi is 0 2W[1] and I want to convert "RaspberryPi OS" 64-bit to
Debian.

I alrrady tried:

Live Migrating from Raspberry Pi OS bullseye to Debian bookworm https://www.complete.org/live-migrating-from-raspberry-pi-os-bullseye-to-debian-bookworm/

but my Pi got stucked in boot so I had to restore the backup to SD card
using dd command.
I already asked about it on RPIi Forum but no useful answer:

https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?p#61184&hilit=complete.org&sid?8151fb0d5709c32075d448218f8497#p2361184

This RPI OS:
- already using debian's APT as source (it's RPIOS' default)
- is version Debian 13
so I believe it should be easy to migrate into pure Debian 13 without formatting.

You really don't want to do that. All of the Pi-like SBCs, including the Raspberry Pis themselves need "special" board-specific kernel builds and many (esp. the Raspberry Pis) have non-"standard" boot processes (The RPi's need a VFAT partition to boot from). This means the kernels and the boot infrastructure and firmware needs to be pulled from the board-specific Raspberry Pi repos. This means it still needs to be a RPi OS (Rasbian) system and not a "pure" Debian 13. A "pure" Debian 13 aarch64 install is not going to boot and run on a Raspberry Pi. The necessary boot infrastructure will be missing.

RPi OS (Rasbian) IS Debian and just about all user-mode packages are pulled from the Debian repository. Only the kernel (Raspberry Pi specific) and some other Raspberry Pi specific applications and [system] utilities (eg rasp-config and the like and the RPi boot infrastructure, including firmware, like the kernel overlays) are pulled from Raspberry Pi repos. These little SBCs need certain drivers compiled into the kernel (not as modules) and need their own bits of early start up code (because of the boot logic in the cold start boot ROM logic).

Yes, it is possible to upgrade major versions by diddling with the /etc/apt/sources.list file and doing apt update / apt full-upgrade. But it will still be RPi OS (Rasbian), just a new major release.

I believe the guide (above complete.org)'s "Moving /boot to
/boot/firmware" is outdated for Debian 13, that's probably because the
boot went wrong.

Are there anyone tried switching RPIOS to Debian?

[1] https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/RaspberryPi/Raspberry%20Pi%20Zero%202%20W

--
Robert Heller -- Cell: 413-658-7953 GV: 978-633-5364
Deepwoods Software -- Custom Software Services
http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Linux Administration Services
heller@deepsoft.com -- Webhosting Services


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> wrote:

At Sat, 14 Feb 2026 02:37:50 +0000 sundialsvcs@riseup.net wrote:

My Pi is 0 2W[1] and I want to convert "RaspberryPi OS" 64-bit to
Debian.

I alrrady tried:

Live Migrating from Raspberry Pi OS bullseye to Debian bookworm https://www.complete.org/live-migrating-from-raspberry-pi-os-bullseye-to-debian-bookworm/

but my Pi got stucked in boot so I had to restore the backup to SD card using dd command.
I already asked about it on RPIi Forum but no useful answer:

https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?p=2361184&hilit=complete.org&sid=d38151fb0d5709c32075d448218f8497#p2361184

This RPI OS:
- already using debian's APT as source (it's RPIOS' default)
- is version Debian 13
so I believe it should be easy to migrate into pure Debian 13 without formatting.

You really don't want to do that. All of the Pi-like SBCs, including the Raspberry Pis themselves need "special" board-specific kernel builds and many (esp. the Raspberry Pis) have non-"standard" boot processes (The RPi's need a VFAT partition to boot from). This means the kernels and the boot infrastructure and firmware needs to be pulled from the board-specific Raspberry Pi repos. This means it still needs to be a RPi OS (Rasbian) system and not a "pure" Debian 13. A "pure" Debian 13 aarch64 install is not going to
boot and run on a Raspberry Pi. The necessary boot infrastructure will be missing.

RPi OS (Rasbian) IS Debian and just about all user-mode packages are pulled from the Debian repository. Only the kernel (Raspberry Pi specific) and some
other Raspberry Pi specific applications and [system] utilities (eg rasp-config and the like and the RPi boot infrastructure, including firmware,
like the kernel overlays) are pulled from Raspberry Pi repos. These little SBCs need certain drivers compiled into the kernel (not as modules) and need their own bits of early start up code (because of the boot logic in the cold start boot ROM logic).

Yes, it is possible to upgrade major versions by diddling with the /etc/apt/sources.list file and doing apt update / apt full-upgrade. But it will still be RPi OS (Rasbian), just a new major release.

It may not be easy to **migrate** from Raspbian to Debian but it's
certainly possible to run 'real' Debian on a Pi. I have two doing
exactly that (as well as one running Raspbian). I don't quite know
how I did it though! :-)

So, one of the Debian ones shows:-

Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie) - Kernel: 6.12.47+rpt-rpi-v8 aarch64

and /etc/sources.list is:-

deb http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/ trixie-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware


Whereas the Rasbian one shows:-

Raspbian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie) - Kernel: 6.12.62+rpt-rpi-v7 armv7l

and two files in /etc/apt/sources.list.d have:-

chris@upspi$ more raspbian.sources
Types: deb
URIs: http://raspbian.raspberrypi.com/raspbian/
Architectures: armhf
Suites: trixie
Components: main contrib non-free rpi
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/raspbian-archive-keyring.gpg
chris@upspi$ more raspi.sources
Types: deb
URIs: http://archive.raspberrypi.com/debian/
Suites: trixie
Components: main
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/raspberrypi-archive-keyring.pgp


I wouldn't like to try migrating from one to the other! :-)




--
Chris Green
ú

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

At Sat, 14 Feb 2026 14:27:08 +0000 Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:

Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> wrote:

At Sat, 14 Feb 2026 02:37:50 +0000 sundialsvcs@riseup.net wrote:

My Pi is 0 2W[1] and I want to convert "RaspberryPi OS" 64-bit to
Debian.

I alrrady tried:

Live Migrating from Raspberry Pi OS bullseye to Debian bookworm https://www.complete.org/live-migrating-from-raspberry-pi-os-bullseye-to-debian-bookworm/

but my Pi got stucked in boot so I had to restore the backup to SD card using dd command.
I already asked about it on RPIi Forum but no useful answer:

https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?p#61184&hilit=complete.org&sid?8151fb0d5709c32075d448218f8497#p2361184

This RPI OS:
- already using debian's APT as source (it's RPIOS' default)
- is version Debian 13
so I believe it should be easy to migrate into pure Debian 13 without formatting.

You really don't want to do that. All of the Pi-like SBCs, including the Raspberry Pis themselves need "special" board-specific kernel builds and many
(esp. the Raspberry Pis) have non-"standard" boot processes (The RPi's need a
VFAT partition to boot from). This means the kernels and the boot infrastructure and firmware needs to be pulled from the board-specific Raspberry Pi repos. This means it still needs to be a RPi OS (Rasbian) system
and not a "pure" Debian 13. A "pure" Debian 13 aarch64 install is not going to
boot and run on a Raspberry Pi. The necessary boot infrastructure will be missing.

RPi OS (Rasbian) IS Debian and just about all user-mode packages are pulled
from the Debian repository. Only the kernel (Raspberry Pi specific) and some
other Raspberry Pi specific applications and [system] utilities (eg rasp-config and the like and the RPi boot infrastructure, including firmware,
like the kernel overlays) are pulled from Raspberry Pi repos. These little
SBCs need certain drivers compiled into the kernel (not as modules) and need
their own bits of early start up code (because of the boot logic in the cold
start boot ROM logic).

Yes, it is possible to upgrade major versions by diddling with the /etc/apt/sources.list file and doing apt update / apt full-upgrade. But it
will still be RPi OS (Rasbian), just a new major release.

It may not be easy to **migrate** from Raspbian to Debian but it's
certainly possible to run 'real' Debian on a Pi. I have two doing
exactly that (as well as one running Raspbian). I don't quite know
how I did it though! :-)

You probably didn't do anything.

So, one of the Debian ones shows:-

Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie) - Kernel: 6.12.47+rpt-rpi-v8 aarch64

This is the Rasbian kernel.

My RPi 5 (updated, etc.) from the original sd image from Raspberry Pi Foundation image download has this in /etc/issue:

Debian GNU/Linux 12

with kernel 6.12.47+rpt-rpi-2712

/etc/apt/sources.list is:

deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/ bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
# Uncomment deb-src lines below then 'apt-get update' to enable 'apt-get source'
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/ bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware

and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ contains

raspi.list which contains:

deb http://archive.raspberrypi.com/debian/ bookworm main
# Uncomment line below then 'apt-get update' to enable 'apt-get source' #deb-src http://archive.raspberrypi.com/debian/ bookworm main

Actuall all of my various Raspberry Pis have much the same pattern, as do my BeagleBoards: they have a sources.list with references to http://deb.debian.org/debian, and a raspi.list which references http://archive.raspberrypi.com/debian/. The only ARM SBC that does not follow this pattern is the Banana Pi M64, which is running Armbian. Whether they say they are running Debian or Rasbian is somewhat immaterial - I think it might only be where and when they got /etc/issue. I don't think anything else actually makes any difference. Rasp OS / Rasbian is something of a misnomer. Like the similar misnomer that the language the Arduino IDE uses is something other than C++ -- it is truely C++ -- it is just that the Arduino IDE's build process allows for some minor coding "laziness".

and /etc/sources.list is:-

deb http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/ trixie-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware

Whereas the Rasbian one shows:-

Raspbian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie) - Kernel: 6.12.62+rpt-rpi-v7 armv7l

and two files in /etc/apt/sources.list.d have:-

chris@upspi$ more raspbian.sources
Types: deb
URIs: http://raspbian.raspberrypi.com/raspbian/
Architectures: armhf
Suites: trixie
Components: main contrib non-free rpi
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/raspbian-archive-keyring.gpg
chris@upspi$ more raspi.sources
Types: deb
URIs: http://archive.raspberrypi.com/debian/
Suites: trixie
Components: main
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/raspberrypi-archive-keyring.pgp

I wouldn't like to try migrating from one to the other! :-)

--
Robert Heller -- Cell: 413-658-7953 GV: 978-633-5364
Deepwoods Software -- Custom Software Services
http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Linux Administration Services
heller@deepsoft.com -- Webhosting Services


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

You really don't want to do that. All of the Pi-like SBCs, including
the Raspberry Pis themselves need "special" board-specific kernel
builds and many (esp. the Raspberry Pis) have non-"standard" boot
processes (The RPi's need a VFAT partition to boot from). This means
the kernels and the boot infrastructure and firmware needs to be
pulled from the board-specific Raspberry Pi repos. This means it
still needs to be a RPi OS (Rasbian) system and not a "pure" Debian
13. A "pure" Debian 13 aarch64 install is not going to boot and run
on a Raspberry Pi. The necessary boot infrastructure will
be missing.

AFAIK, the kernels can be plain old Debian kernels and AFAIK the
`u-boot-rpi` package provides a working boot loader, so it's not
as hopeless as you make it sound.

Have you checked https://sd-card-images.johang.se/ to see if their
images work on your device? I can vouch for them working on a NanoPi R5S.


=== Stefan

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sat, 14 Feb 2026, Robert Heller wrote:

My RPi 5 (updated, etc.) from the original sd image from Raspberry Pi Foundation image download has this in /etc/issue:

Debian GNU/Linux 12

with kernel 6.12.47+rpt-rpi-2712

/etc/apt/sources.list is:

My 4B is running:

Linux rpi.home.woodall.me.uk 6.1.0-42-arm64 #1 SMP Debian 6.1.159-1 (2025-12-30) aarch64 GNU/Linux

I'm running absolutely stock debian with nothing installed from
elsewhere. (does use non-free for raspi-firmware)

I used to have some really old boards running armel stock debian too.

My install script has this:

jessie-arm64|stretch-arm64|jessie-armel|stretch-armel)
#TODO checkout raspi3-firmware in non-free
echo "No firmware to boot rpi in jessie or stretch."
exit 1
;;
buster-arm64)
kernel=linux-image-arm64
grubkernel=
extrapackages="buster-backports-main-sources buster-backports-non-free-sources raspi-firmware"
cat <<EOF >${BUILDCHROOT}/etc/apt/preferences.d/raspi-kernel
Package: linux-image-arm64
Pin: release o=Debian Backports,n=buster-backports,l=Debian Backports Pin-Priority: 500
EOF
create_firmware_partition
;;
*-arm64)
kernel=linux-image-arm64
grubkernel=
extrapackages="${debian_release}-non-free-sources raspi-firmware"
create_firmware_partition
;;
*-armel)
kernel=linux-image-rpi
grubkernel=
extrapackages="${debian_release}-non-free-sources raspi-firmware"
create_firmware_partition
;;
*)
echo "Don't know how to boot ${ARCH}"
exit 1
;;

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

I use rasberry's since 2012 and debian on it since it is available.
Here are ready to use debian images, https://raspi.debian.net/

You can also try to use the debian netinstall iso, with some manual work
(copy installer kernel to sd card and boot this) but keep in mind that
in my case the keyboard is not working with debian installer kernel but
with the installed debian kernel, so you need a serial console for installation.

All my systems are headless.

root@rpi-ks:~# uname -a
Linux rpi-ks 6.12.63+deb13-arm64 #1 SMP Debian 6.12.63-1 (2025-12-30)
aarch64 GNU/Linux
root@rpi-ks:~# cat /proc/device-tree/model
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Plus Rev 1.3

One other note, I use the sd card only for the /boot/firmware partition
to boot, all other is on a external (usb) drive.

So it's possible to run it, but i never try to switch from rasbian to
debian on the fly.

Best regards

Am 14.02.26 um 18:17 schrieb Stefan Monnier:

You really don't want to do that. All of the Pi-like SBCs, including
the Raspberry Pis themselves need "special" board-specific kernel
builds and many (esp. the Raspberry Pis) have non-"standard" boot
processes (The RPi's need a VFAT partition to boot from). This means
the kernels and the boot infrastructure and firmware needs to be
pulled from the board-specific Raspberry Pi repos. This means it
still needs to be a RPi OS (Rasbian) system and not a "pure" Debian
13. A "pure" Debian 13 aarch64 install is not going to boot and run
on a Raspberry Pi. The necessary boot infrastructure will
be missing.

AFAIK, the kernels can be plain old Debian kernels and AFAIK the
`u-boot-rpi` package provides a working boot loader, so it's not
as hopeless as you make it sound.

Have you checked https://sd-card-images.johang.se/ to see if their
images work on your device? I can vouch for them working on a NanoPi R5S.

=== Stefan

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)