diff --git a/deployment/check/common/targetNode.nix b/deployment/check/common/targetNode.nix
index 3db097b8..c5986a28 100644
--- a/deployment/check/common/targetNode.nix
+++ b/deployment/check/common/targetNode.nix
@@ -50,7 +50,20 @@ in
       services.getty.autologinUser = lib.mkForce "root";
 
       ## Test VMs don't have a bootloader by default.
-      boot.loader.grub.enable = false;
+      # boot.loader = {
+      #   # GRUB enabled: installation of GRUB on /dev/disk/by-id/virtio-root failed: No such file or directory
+      #   grub.enable = false;
+      #   # systemd boot enabled: '/boot' is not a mounted partition. Is the path configured correctly?
+      #   systemd-boot.enable = true;
+      #   efi.canTouchEfiVariables = true;
+      # };
+      # # same issue as no bootloader
+      # boot.loader.generic-extlinux-compatible.enable = false;
+      # builds but won't boot back up
+      boot.loader.grub.forceInstall = true;
+      # # builds but won't boot back up
+      # # to be used with --no-bootloader, which i could only find for flakes
+      # boot.loader.grub.enable = false;
 
       users.mutableUsers = false;
       users.users.root = {