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  12   <h1>The rEFInd Boot Manager:<br />Installing rEFInd</h1>
  13
  14 <p class="subhead">by Roderick W. Smith, <a
  15 href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.com</a></p>
  16
  17 <p>Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update:
  18 4/27/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.3.1</p>
  19
  20
  21 <p>I'm a technical writer and consultant specializing in Linux technologies. This Web page is provided free of charge and with no annoying outside ads; however, I did take time to prepare it, and Web hosting does cost money. If you find this Web page useful, please consider making a small donation to help keep this site up and running. Thanks!</p>
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  87 <hr />
  88
  89 <p>This page is part of the documentation for the rEFInd boot manager. If a Web search has brought you here, you may want to start at the <a href="index.html">main page.</a></p>
  90
  91 <hr />
  92
  93 <p class="sidebar"><b>Important:</b> A rEFInd zip file, when uncompressed, creates a directory called <tt>refind-<i>version</i></tt>, where <tt><i>version</i></tt> is the version number. This directory includes a subdirectory called <tt>refind</tt> that holds the boot loader, along with another that holds documentation, as well as miscellaneous files in <tt>refind-<i>version</i></tt> itself. When I refer to "the <tt>refind</tt> directory" on this page, I mean the directory with that precise name, not the <tt>refind-<i>version</i></tt> directory that is its parent.</p>
  94
  95 <p>Once you've uncompressed a rEFInd binary zip file, you can copy the entire <tt>refind</tt> directory into your EFI System Partition's (ESP's) <tt>EFI</tt> directory on UEFI-based PCs, so that rEFInd resides in <tt>EFI/refind</tt>. If you've tried rEFInd using a CD-R image file, you can copy the files from the <tt>EFI/refind</tt> directory on the CD to create an equivalent directory on the ESP. To avoid confusion, though, you should delete the rEFInd binary file for the CPU type your computer does <i>not</i> use. To the best of my knowledge, all UEFI-based PCs use 64-bit CPUs, so you should keep the <tt>refind_x64.efi</tt> binary and delete the <tt>refind_ia32.efi</tt> binary. Most Intel-based Macs also have 64-bit EFI implementations, so you should do the same thing; but very early Intel-based Macs have 32-bit EFIs (and sometimes 32-bit CPUs), which require the <tt>refind_ia32.efi</tt> file. You can determine whether your Mac needs the <i>x</i>86-64 or IA32 build by typing the following command in a Mac Terminal window:</p>
  96
  97 <pre class="listing">
  98 $ <b>ioreg -l -p IODeviceTree | grep firmware-abi</b>
  99 </pre>
 100
 101 <p>The result should read either <tt>EFI32</tt> or <tt>EFI64</tt>, indicating that you should use the <tt>refind_ia32.efi</tt> or <tt>refind_x64.efi</tt> binary, respectively.</p>
 102
 103 <p>Of course, before you can install the files, you must be able to access the ESP. The details of this task vary from one OS to another. If you have a choice, I recommend using <a href="#linux">Linux</a> for rEFInd installation on UEFI PCs and <a href="#osx">OS X</a> on Macs. (On Macs, you can optionally use OS X's main partition rather than the ESP for this purpose.) <a href="#windows">Windows</a> provides relatively primitive tools for accessing the ESP and manipulating the EFI's boot list. I also describe some <a href="#naming">options for naming rEFInd</a> that may be useful on some systems. Finally, I describe how to install some <a href="#addons">extra tools</a> that you may find useful but that are not included with rEFInd.</p>
 104
 105 <a name="linux">
 106 <h2>Installing rEFInd Using Linux</h2>
 107 </a>
 108
 109 <p>Accessing the ESP is easiest from Linux: The ESP is usually mounted at <tt>/boot/efi</tt>. You can verify that this is the case by using the <tt>df</tt> command:</p>
 110
 111 <pre class="listing">
 112 $ <b>df /boot/efi</b>
 113 Filesystem     1K-blocks  Used Available Use% Mounted on
 114 /dev/sda1         191284 16604    174681   9% /boot/efi
 115 </pre>
 116
 117 <p class="sidebar"><b>Warning:</b> If you're running Linux on a Mac, I recommend you install rEFInd under OS X. The Mac's boot process deviates a bit from EFI standards, so you'll probably have to use a tool called <tt>bless</tt> under MacOS to do the job. Alternatively, there's a new Linux program, <tt>hfs-bless</tt>, part of the <a href="http://www.codon.org.uk/~mjg59/mactel-boot/"><tt>mactel-boot</tt></a> package, that's supposed to work with <tt>efibootmgr</tt> to make a Mac HFS partition bootable. I've not yet tried it, though. There are also reports that the <tt>efibootmgr</tt> tool used under Linux can corrupt some Macs' firmware. Although I've seen some vague suggestions that this problem has been fixed under 3.<i>x</i> kernels, I haven't tested this claim.</p>
 118
 119 <p>This example shows that <tt>/dev/sda1</tt> is mounted at <tt>/boot/efi</tt>, which is a typical configuration. (The ESP can be on another disk or partition, but <tt>/dev/sda1</tt> is the most common place for an ESP.) If your output shows <tt>/boot</tt> or <tt>/</tt> under the <tt>Mounted on</tt> column, then your ESP isn't mounted. If you get a <tt>df: `/boot/efi': No such file or directory</tt> error message, then the <tt>/boot/efi</tt> directory doesn't even exist. In such cases, you may need to jump through some extra hoops, as described on my <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/installation.html">EFI Boot Loader Installation</a> page.</p>
 120
 121 <p>Assuming the ESP is mounted at <tt>/boot/efi</tt>, you can install the rEFInd files as follows (you must be <tt>root</tt> to issue these commands, or precede each of them with <tt><b>sudo</b></tt>):</p>
 122
 123 <ol>
 124
 125 <li>Type <tt><b>cp -r refind /boot/efi/EFI/</b></tt> from the <tt>refind-<i>version</i></tt> directory in which the <tt>refind</tt> directory exists. This copies all the files that rEFInd needs to work.</li>
 126
 127 <li>Type <tt><b>cd /boot/efi/EFI/refind</b></tt> to change into rEFInd's new directory on the ESP.</li>
 128
 129 <li>Type <tt><b>rm refind_ia32.efi</b></tt> to remove the IA32 binary if you're using an <i>x</i>86-64 (64-bit) system; or type <tt><b>rm refind_x64.efi</b></tt> to remove the <i>x</i>86-64 binary if you're using an <i>x</i>86 (32-bit) system. You can optionally rename the binary you keep as <tt>refind.efi</tt>, but this isn't required.</li>
 130
 131 <li>Rename the configuration file by typing <tt><b>mv refind.conf-sample refind.conf</b></tt>. Consult the <a href="configfile.html">Editing the rEFInd Configuration File</a> page for information on how to adjust your options.</li>
 132
 133 <a name="efibootmgr">
 134 <li>On a UEFI-based system, type <tt><b>efibootmgr -c -l \\EFI\\refind\\refind_x64.efi -L rEFInd</b></tt> to add rEFInd to your EFI's list of available boot loaders, which it stores in NVRAM. (Adjust the path to the binary as required if you install somewhere else.) You may need to install this program on some systems; it's a standard part of most distributions' repositories.</li>
 135 </a>
 136
 137 <li>If other boot loaders are already installed, you can use <tt>efibootmgr</tt> to adjust their boot order. For instance, <b><tt>efibootmgr -o 3,7,2</tt></b> sets the firmware to try boot loader #3 first, followed by #7, followed by #2. (The program should have displayed a list of boot loaders when you added yours in the preceding step.) Place rEFInd's number first to set it as the default boot program.</li>
 138
 139 </ol>
 140
 141 <p>Note the use of doubled-up backslashes (<tt>\\</tt>) rather than forward slashes (<tt>/</tt>) in the directory separators when using <tt>efibootmgr</tt>. This command will work on most systems that are already booted into EFI mode; however, it won't work if you're booted in BIOS mode. You may also need to add options if your ESP is in some unusual location or if your system is unusual in some way. Consult the <tt>efibootmgr</tt> man page if you need help.</p>
 142
 143 <p>On some systems, <tt>efibootmgr</tt> won't do what you expect. On such systems, you may have better luck renaming the rEFInd files, as described in the <a href="#naming">Alternative Naming Options</a> section.</p>
 144
 145 <a name="osx">
 146 <h2>Installing rEFInd Using Mac OS X</h2>
 147 </a>
 148
 149 <p class="sidebar"><b>Warning:</b> One of the reasons I've abandoned rEFIt's GUI installation tools for Mac OS X is that there are several bug reports (such as <a href="https://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=3147364&group_id=161917&atid=821764">this one</a> and <a href="https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=3218104&group_id=161917&atid=821764">this one</a>) that the rEFIt installer may be causing filesystem corruption on disks over about 500 MiB. <a href="https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=3218104&group_id=161917&atid=821764">This</a> report on the problem, and particularly the post by mic-marchen, suggests that the problem is related to a bug in OS X's <tt>bless</tt> utility, and particularly its <tt>--info</tt> option, that causes it to corrupt data on disks with 4 KiB sectors. These <i>Advanced Format</i> disks are becoming increasingly common, particularly at larger disk sizes. Therefore, I <i>strongly</i> recommend that you <i>not</i> type <tt class="userinput">sudo bless --info</tt> to check the status of your installation if you have such a disk, or even if you suspect you might have such a disk. (I've seen Advanced Format disks as small as 320 GB.)</p>
 150
 151 <p>The procedure for installing rEFInd on a Mac is similar to that for installing it under Linux, except that you can (and probably should) install it to OS X's system partition or some other HFS+ partition rather than to the ESP, and you must use the <tt>bless</tt> utility rather than <tt>efibootmgr</tt>. To be precise, you should follow these steps:</p>
 152
 153 <ol>
 154
 155 <li>Open a Terminal window in which you'll type the following
 156     commands.</li>
 157
 158 <li>If you want to install rEFInd on your ESP, you must first mount it. You
 159     can do this by typing <b><tt>mkdir /Volumes/esp</tt></b> followed by
 160     <b><tt>sudo mount -t msdos /dev/disk0s1 /Volumes/esp</tt></b>. Note
 161     that this step is usually optional, and it makes the procedure a bit
 162     more complex, so you might want to forego it. On the other hand,
 163     installing to the ESP is required if you're using the whole-disk
 164     encryption feature of OS X 10.7. Note that you may need to change
 165     <tt>/dev/disk0s1</tt> to something else if your ESP is at an unusual
 166     location. Use a tool such as my <a
 167     href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/">GPT fdisk (<tt>gdisk</tt>)</a>
 168     to examine your partition table to find your ESP if necessary.</li>
 169
 170 <li>Type <b><tt>sudo mkdir -p /efi/refind</tt></b> to create a suitable
 171     directory for rEFInd. If you want to place rEFInd on the ESP or some
 172     other partition, you should adjust the pathname appropriately, as in
 173     <tt>/Volumes/esp/efi/refind</tt>. Alternatively, you can use the Finder
 174     to create the directory.</li>
 175
 176 <li>Copy the files in the <tt>refind</tt> subdirectory of the rEFInd binary
 177     package to the like-named directory you've just created. You can do
 178     this in the Finder or by typing <b><tt>sudo cp -r refind/*
 179     /efi/refind/</tt></b> in your Terminal window after changing into the
 180     rEFInd package's main directory.</li>
 181
 182 <li>Remove the file for the version of rEFInd you're not using, as in
 183     <b><tt>sudo rm /efi/refind/refind_ia32.efi</tt></b> on a Mac with a
 184     64-bit EFI or <b><tt>sudo rm /efi/refind/refind_x64.efi</tt></b> on a
 185     Mac with a 32-bit EFI.</li>
 186
 187 <li>If this is your first installation, type <b><tt>sudo mv
 188     /efi/refind/refind.conf-sample /efi/refind/refind.conf</tt></b>
 189     (adjusting the path as necessary) to rename the sample configuration
 190     file so that it will serve as a real configuration file. (Again, you
 191     can do this with the Finder, if you prefer.)</li>
 192
 193 <li>"Bless" rEFInd by typing one of the following two commands:
 194     <ul>
 195     <li>If you're installing rEFInd to an ordinary HFS+ volume, type <tt
 196         class="userinput">sudo bless --setBoot --folder /efi/refind --file
 197         /efi/refind/refind_x64.efi</tt>. (Adjust the path and filename as
 198         necessary if you're placing rEFInd somewhere else or using the
 199         32-bit version.)</li>
 200     <li>If you're installing rEFInd on the ESP, type <tt
 201         class="userinput">sudo bless --mount /Volumes/esp --setBoot --file
 202         /Volumes/esp/efi/refind/refind_x64.efi</tt>, adjusting the mount
 203         point and exact path to the file as appropriate for your
 204         installation.</li>
 205     </ul>
 206     As per the Warning earlier, <i>do not</i> use <tt>bless</tt>'s
 207     <tt>--info</tt> option to try to confirm the change to the boot status
 208     unless you're certain you do <i>not</i> have an Advanced Format hard
 209     disk.</li>
 210
 211 </ol>
 212
 213 <p>When you reboot, your Mac should bring up the rEFInd menu, and should continue to do so thereafter. If you make changes that break this association, you can re-run the <tt>bless</tt> command (if necessary, restoring the rEFInd files first). This might be necessary after installing system updates from Apple or if you upgrade rEFInd to a newer version.</p>
 214
 215 <p>If you're replacing rEFIt, you may discover that rEFInd works on the first boot, but the system reverts back to rEFIt or a direct boot to OS X on the second boot. To fix this problem, you can remove the rEFItBlesser program, which is located at <tt>/Library/StartupItems/rEFItBlesser</tt>. This program attempts to keep rEFIt set as the default boot loader, but it also has the purpose of protecting the computer from launching the wrong OS after waking from sleep. If you want that protection, my suggestion is to install rEFIt and rEFItBlesser and then replace the <tt>refit.efi</tt> file with <tt>refind_x64.efi</tt> or <tt>refind_ia32.efi</tt> (renaming it to <tt>refit.efi</tt>. Used in this way, rEFInd will still look for its own configuration file, <tt>refind.conf</tt>, so you'll need to move it but <i>not</i> rename it. If you don't move the icons from the rEFInd package, your icons will continue to look like rEFIt icons, and you'll be missing the new icons for specific Linux distributions that rEFInd provides. One final caveat: It's conceivable that rEFItBlesser is what's causing filesystem corruption for some users, so if you've been having this problem with rEFIt, it might be worth disabling this program and not using it with rEFInd.</p>
 216
 217 <p>If you want to remove rEFInd from your system, you can delete its files. The Mac will revert to booting using whatever standard boot loader it can find. Alternatively, you can use <tt>bless</tt> to bless another EFI boot loader. The GUI Startup Disk utility in System Preferences provides a simplified interface that enables you to select which OS X installation to boot, but it doesn't look for non-Apple boot loaders, so you can't use it to enable rEFInd.</p>
 218
 219 <a name="windows">
 220 <h2>Installing rEFInd Using Windows</h2>
 221 </a>
 222
 223 <p>To install rEFInd under Windows, you must first find a way to access the ESP, which Windows normally hides from view. One way to accomplish this goal, and to proceed forward once the ESP is accessible, is as follows:</p>
 224
 225 <ol>
 226
 227 <li>Locate Command Prompt in the Start menu, right-click it, and select Run as Administrator. This action opens a Command Prompt window with administrative privileges.</li>
 228
 229 <li>Type <b><tt>mountvol S: /S</tt></b> in the Administrator Command Prompt window. This makes the ESP accessible as drive <tt>S:</tt> from that window. (You can use a drive identifier other than <tt>S:</tt> if you like.)</li>
 230
 231 <li>Change into the main rEFInd package directory, so that the <tt>refind</tt> subdirectory is visible when you type <b><tt>dir</tt></b>.</li>
 232
 233 <li>Type <b><tt>xcopy /E refind S:\EFI\refind\</tt></b> to copy the <tt>refind</tt> directory tree to the ESP's <tt>EFI</tt> directory. If you omit the trailing backslash from this command, <tt>xcopy</tt> will ask if you want to create the <tt>refind</tt> directory. Tell it to do so.</li>
 234
 235 <li>Type <b><tt>cd S:</tt></b> to change to the ESP.</li>
 236
 237 <li>Type <b><tt>cd EFI\refind</tt></b> to change into the <tt>refind</tt> subdirectory</li>
 238
 239 <li>Type <b><tt>del refind_ia32.efi</tt></b> to delete the unused 32-bit version of rEFInd. (Windows only supports EFI boots on 64-bit EFI implementations and in 64-bit versions of Windows.)</li>
 240
 241 <li>Type <b><tt>rename refind.conf-sample refind.conf</tt></b> to rename rEFInd's configuration file.</li>
 242
 243 <li>Type <b><tt>bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \EFI\refind\refind_x64.efi</tt></b> to set rEFInd as the default EFI boot program. Note that <tt>{bootmgr}</tt> is entered as such; that's not a notation for a variable.</li>
 244
 245 <li>If you like, type <b><tt>bcdedit /set {bootmgr} description "<i>rEFInd description</i>"</tt></b> to set a description (change <tt><i>rEFInd description</i></tt> as you see fit).</li>
 246
 247 </ol>
 248
 249 <p>At this point, when you reboot, rEFInd should appear as your new default boot program. One caveat: My only EFI Windows installation uses UEFI DUET, which "forgets" its boot options upon reboot. Thus, I'm unable to test the last two steps (which were provided by a helpful user) myself. If it doesn't work for you, you have several other options, such as:</p>
 250
 251 <ul>
 252
 253 <li>You can rename files on the ESP. as described in the next section, <a href="#naming">Alternative Naming Options.</a></li>
 254
 255 <li>You can boot from an optical disc into an emergency OS to do the job. Ubuntu, for instance, provides an EFI-bootable installer with a "try before installation" mode. You'll need to type <b><tt>sudo apt-get install efibootmgr</tt></b> to install <tt>efibootmgr</tt>, but you can then use that program as described <a href="#efibootmgr">earlier</a>. (If you're using Ubuntu, you'll need to precede the command with <b><tt>sudo</tt></b>.</li>
 256
 257 <li>You may be able to use rEFInd's bootable CD image to use rEFInd to boot an OS that's been installed but rendered inoperable because of changes to your boot order. You can then use <tt>efibootmgr</tt>, <tt>bless</tt>, or some other tool to restore rEFInd as the default boot loader.</li>
 258
 259 </ul>
 260
 261 <a name="naming">
 262 <h2>Alternative Naming Options</h2>
 263 </a>
 264
 265 <p>Some EFI implementations do a poor job of honoring the boot options set via Linux's <tt>efibootmgr</tt> or other tools. You may also lack access to such utilities, such as if you must install rEFInd in Windows. In such cases, you may need to change the boot loader's name so that the EFI will see it as the default boot loader. rEFInd should then boot when your NVRAM lacks information on specific boot loaders to use. To do this, follow these steps:</p>
 266
 267 <ol>
 268
 269 <li>Access your ESP and install rEFInd to it, as described in earlier sections.</li>
 270
 271 <li>Look for an existing directory called <tt>EFI/BOOT</tt> or <tt>EFI/Microsoft/BOOT</tt>. If neither of these directories exist, skip the next step. (Note that FAT is case-insensitive, so the name may vary in case.)</li>
 272
 273 <li>Rename the existing directory or boot loader file to something else. For <tt>EFI/BOOT</tt>, try renaming it to <tt>EFI/Oldboot</tt>. For <tt>EFI/Microsoft/BOOT</tt>, move or rename the <tt>bootmgfw.efi</tt> file it contains. For instance, you can move it to <tt>EFI/Microsoft</tt>. This will keep the boot loader accessible to rEFInd's menu, while preventing the firmware from launching it automatically.</li>
 274
 275 <li>Rename/move your <tt>EFI/refind</tt> directory to <tt>EFI/BOOT</tt>. If you're working from <tt>EFI/Microsoft/BOOT</tt>, you should move the contents of your rEFInd directory to <tt>EFI/Microsoft/BOOT</tt>.</li>
 276
 277 <li>Rename <tt>EFI/BOOT/refind_x64.efi</tt> to the name of the boot loader it's replacing&mdash;it should become <tt>EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi</tt> or <tt>EFI/Microsoft/BOOT/bootmgfw.efi</tt>.</li>
 278
 279 </ol>
 280
 281 <p>When you reboot, rEFInd should come up. With any luck, it will detect your old boot loader as an option, if one was installed before.</p>
 282
 283 <a name="addons">
 284 <h2>Installing Additional Components</h2>
 285 </a>
 286
 287 <p>rEFInd includes the ability to launch any EFI program; however, rEFInd detects only certain programs. These include boot loaders in traditional locations and a handful of other programs. To launch these other programs, you must download and install them separately from rEFInd:</p>
 288
 289 <ul>
 290
 291 <li><b><a href="http://tianocore.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=tianocore/edk2;a=blob_plain;f=EdkShellBinPkg/FullShell/X64/Shell_Full.efi;hb=HEAD">shell.efi</a></b>&mdash;This
 292     file, placed in the ESP's <tt>efi/tools</tt> directory, adds the
 293     ability to launch a text-mode EFI shell from rEFInd. Note that the
 294     download link is to a 64-bit binary that must be renamed before rEFInd
 295     will recognize it.</li>
 296
 297 <li><b>gptsync.efi</b>&mdash;This program creates a <a
 298     href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/hybrid.html">hybrid MBR</a> from
 299     your regular GPT disk. A hybrid MBR is a dangerous hack that enables
 300     Windows and OS X to coexist on a Macintosh disk. If you're using a
 301     UEFI-based PC, a hybrid MBR will be useless at best, so you shouldn't
 302     create one, and it's safest to not install <tt>gptsync.efi</tt>. If
 303     you're using a hybrid MBR to enable dual-booting Windows and OS X on a
 304     Mac, though, placing this program file in the ESP's or Mac boot
 305     partition's <tt>efi/tools</tt> directory will enable you to regenerate
 306     your hybrid MBR should some other tool convert the MBR to a standard
 307     protective MBR. You can obtain the file from the <a
 308     href="http://refit.sourceforge.net">original rEFIt package.</a></li>
 309
 310 <li><b>Drivers</b>&mdash;You can install drivers to extend the capabilities
 311     of the EFI. Most notably, filesystem drivers for ext2fs and ReiserFS
 312     are available. These can enable you to boot a Linux kernel with EFI
 313     stub support from an ext2fs, ext3fs, or ReiserFS partition. See the <a
 314     href="drivers.html">Using EFI Drivers</a> page for more on this
 315     topic.</li>
 316
 317 </ul>
 318
 319 <p>I've seen links to other versions of these tools from time to time on the Web, so if you try one of these programs and it crashes or behaves strangely, try performing a Web search; you may turn up something that works better for you than the one to which I've linked.</p>
 320
 321 <hr />
 322
 323 <p>copyright &copy; 2012 by Roderick W. Smith</p>
 324
 325 <p>This document is licensed under the terms of the <a href="FDL-1.3.txt">GNU Free Documentation License (FDL), version 1.3.</a></p>
 326
 327 <p>If you have problems with or comments about this Web page, please e-mail me at <a href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.com.</a> Thanks.</p>
 328
 329 <p><a href="index.html">Go to the main rEFInd page</a></p>
 330
 331 <p><a href="using.html">Learn how to use rEFInd</a></p>
 332
 333   <p><a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/">Return</a> to my main Web page.</p>
 334 </body>
 335 </html>