code.delx.au - refind/blob - NEWS.txt

   1 0.2.7 (4/19/2012):
   2 ------------------
   3
   4 - After much trial and tribulation, I've overcome a GNU-EFI limitation and
   5   enabled rEFInd to load EFI drivers. This feature was present in the
   6   original build of rEFIt but was removed in the versions that could
   7   compile under Linux, but now it's back -- and still being compiled under
   8   Linux! To use it, you should place your drivers in a convenient directory
   9   on the ESP (or whatever partition you use to launch rEFInd) and add a
  10   "scan_driver_dirs" entry to refind.conf to tell rEFInd where to look. (As
  11   always, you should specify the driver directory relative to the root of
  12   the filesystem.) Note that you can't launch drivers from another
  13   filesystem; they must be on the same volume that holds rEFInd. Those who
  14   compile from source code should note that implementing this feature
  15   necessitated using a more recent version of the GNU-EFI library. I'm
  16   currently using version 3.0p, and version 3.0i does NOT work. I don't
  17   know where the change occurred, but you may need to upgrade your GNU-EFI
  18   installation.
  19
  20 - Fixed bug that caused rEFInd to show up in its own menu sometimes.
  21
  22 - Added new refind.conf token: also_scan_dirs. When scanning volumes for
  23   EFI boot loaders, rEFInd always scans the root directory and every
  24   subdirectory of the /EFI directory, but it doesn't recurse into these
  25   directories. The also_scan_dirs token adds more directories to the scan
  26   list. It defaults to "elilo,boot", but you can set it to any directory or
  27   directories you like.
  28
  29 0.2.6 (4/14/2012):
  30 ------------------
  31
  32 - Added "volume" keyword to configuration file's stanza options. This
  33   option changes the volume from which subsequent files (specified by
  34   "loader" and "icon") are loaded. You pass "volume" the name/label of the
  35   FILESYSTEM you want to use (not the GPT partition name), or a number
  36   followed by a colon (e.g., "1:"). The former should reliably identify a
  37   filesystem, assuming the name is unique. The latter assigns numbers based
  38   on the order in which they're scanned, which may not be as reliable but
  39   should work when a volume is unnamed.
  40
  41 - Fixed bug in 0.2.5 that caused failure of Linux initial RAM disk
  42   mapping on some (but not all) systems. Affected computers include at
  43   least some Intel motherboards, maybe others.
  44
  45 0.2.5 (4/9/2012):
  46 -----------------
  47
  48 - Fixed bug that caused an inability to associate initial RAM disks with
  49   Linux kernels stored in a volume's root directory.
  50
  51 - Volume badges (that override default badges) are now stored in
  52   .VolumeBadge.icns. Although undocumented, rEFInd formerly loaded custom
  53   volume badges from .VolumeIcon.icns. This carryover from rEFIt was a
  54   confusing name, given the next (new) feature, so I've changed and
  55   documented the name....
  56
  57 - Added ability to set a default icon for a loader stored in the root
  58   directory of a volume: The icon is stored in .VolumeIcon.icns. This icon
  59   is also used for Mac OS X volumes booted from the standard location.
  60
  61 - Fixed bug that caused icons to drop back to generic icons when rEFInd
  62   was launched in certain ways (such as from an EFI shell in rEFInd's
  63   directory) on certain systems.
  64
  65 - Fixed bug that caused "unknown disable flag" to be shown (very briefly)
  66   instead of "unknown hideui flag" when an improper hideui flag was set.
  67
  68 0.2.4 (4/5/2012):
  69 -----------------
  70
  71 - Created new refind.conf entry: "showtools". This entry takes options of
  72   "shell", "gptsync", "about", "exit", "reboot", and "shutdown". This
  73   option is in some respects an affirmative version of portions of the old
  74   "disable" and "hideui" options; however, it enables users to specify the
  75   order in which these options appear on the screen. Also, the "exit"
  76   option is new; it terminates the program. The effect is usually to return
  77   to whatever tool launched it or to launch a default OS; however, this is
  78   somewhat unpredictable. The default therefore omits the "exit" option, as
  79   well as "gptsync", which has always been dangerous (but necessary on most
  80   MacOS/Windows dual-boot setups on Macs). As part of this reconfiguration,
  81   I've eliminated the "rescue Linux" option, which always seemed pointless
  82   to me.
  83
  84 - Folded "disable" and "hideui" refind.conf entries into one ("disable"),
  85   and reduced the number of options to six: "banner", "label",
  86   "singleuser", "hwtest", "arrows", and "all". ("arrows" is new and
  87   disables the scroll arrows when a system has too many tags to display
  88   simultaneously.)
  89
  90 - Added max_tags option to the refind.conf file, enabling users to reduce
  91   the maximum number of OS loader tags that can be displayed at once.
  92
  93 - Updated rEFIt icon, based on the 128x128 volume label from the rEFIt CD
  94   image.
  95
  96 - Added x86 and x86-64 EFI shells to the CD image version of the binary,
  97   but NOT to the binary zip file. The logic is that the CD image is more
  98   likely to be used directly as an emergency disc and so may need this
  99   feature, even though the source isn't part of the rEFInd project. (The
 100   source is readily available from the TianoCore project.)
 101
 102 - EFI shells may now be stored at /shellx64.efi for x86-64 systems or at
 103   /shellia32.efi for x86 systems. The /EFI/tools/shell.efi name is also
 104   recognized; however, if both files are present, two EFI shell icons will
 105   appear on the main menu. The /efi/{refind-path/apps/shell.efi filename,
 106   which was never officially documented but worked as a carryover from
 107   rEFIt, is no longer valid.
 108
 109 0.2.3 (3/26/2012):
 110 ------------------
 111
 112 - Fixed (maybe) a bug that caused hangs when launching a second program
 113   after returning from a first. There are some weird system-to-system
 114   differences, though, and this fix causes (apparently harmless) error
 115   messages about "(re)opening our installation volume" on at least one
 116   system (a 32-bit Mac Mini). I'm committing this change because, imperfect
 117   though it is, it's preferable to the earlier version, at least on my
 118   small sample of computers.
 119
 120 - Because of news that the Linux kernel developers are planning to use the
 121   filename linux.conf to hold Linux kernel configuration data for EFI
 122   booting, I'm transitioning rEFInd away from that name and to
 123   refind_linux.conf to avoid a conflict. This version can use either name,
 124   with refind_linux.conf taking precedence if both are present.
 125
 126 - Added logo for Arch Linux.
 127
 128 0.2.2 (3/23/2012):
 129 ------------------
 130
 131 - Fixed bug that caused program failure when Linux kernels with EFI stub
 132   support were detected with no associated version numbers. rEFInd now
 133   permits automatic linking of *ONE* versionless kernel to *ONE*
 134   versionless initrd file.
 135
 136 - Fixed bug that caused program hangs when a boot loader filename or label
 137   was too long. Such names are now properly truncated and program execution
 138   continues.
 139
 140 - Fixed bug that caused no text to appear in submenus on UEFI systems with
 141   small screens (800x600). NOTE: Problem still occurs on screens smaller
 142   than this, but such systems are very rare.
 143
 144 0.2.1 (3/19/2012):
 145 ------------------
 146
 147 - Added ability to set a "default_selection" that's a title or a substring
 148   of one -- the name given to a stanza in a "menuentry" or the boot
 149   loader's filename, in most cases, although "Mac OS X", "Windows XP
 150   (XoM)", and "Microsoft EFI boot" are also titles.
 151
 152 - Added support for semi-automatic scans of Linux kernels with EFI stub
 153   loader support. The program auto-detects matching initial RAM disk files
 154   and loads additional options from the "linux.conf" file in the same
 155   directory as the kernel.
 156
 157 - Added support for "submenuentry" keyword and associated sub-stanza
 158   entries in refind.conf file.
 159
 160 - Renamed icons/os_mint.icns to icons/os_linuxmint.icns to match the
 161   filename Linux Mint ACTUALLY uses for its ESP boot loader directory.
 162
 163
 164 0.2.0 (3/14/2012):
 165 ------------------
 166
 167 - Initial public release