href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.com</a></p>
<p>Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update:
-5/9/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.3.4</p>
+6/23/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.4</p>
<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>
<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>
-<p>Once you've uncompressed a rEFInd binary zip file, you must install it to your computer's ESP (or conceivably to some other location). The details of how you to this depend on your OS and your computer (UEFI-based PC vs. Macintosh). The upcoming sections provide details. For Linux and Mac OS X, you can use the installation script, <a href="#installsh"><tt>install.sh</tt>,</a> which provides easy one-command installation on most systems. Occasionally this script will fail, though, so I also provide explicit instructions for <a href="#linux">Linux</a> and <a href="#osx">Mac OS X.</a> Installation under <a href="#windows">Windows</a> also must be done manually. In some cases, you'll have to deviate from the default naming conventions, as described in <a href="#naming">a section on this topic.</a> If you're upgrading rEFInd, see the <a href="#upgrading">section on upgrading.</a> Finally, I describe how to install some <a href="#addons">additional components</a> you might find useful.</a></p>
+<p>Once you've uncompressed a rEFInd binary zip file, you must install it to your computer's ESP (or conceivably to some other location). The details of how you do this depend on your OS and your computer (UEFI-based PC vs. Macintosh). The upcoming sections provide details. For Linux and Mac OS X, you can use the installation script, <a href="#installsh"><tt>install.sh</tt>,</a> which provides easy one-command installation on most systems. Occasionally this script will fail, though, so I also provide explicit instructions for <a href="#linux">Linux</a> and <a href="#osx">Mac OS X.</a> Installation under <a href="#windows">Windows</a> also must be done manually. In some cases, you'll have to deviate from the default naming conventions, as described in <a href="#naming">a section on this topic.</a> If you're upgrading rEFInd, see the <a href="#upgrading">section on upgrading.</a> Finally, I describe how to install some <a href="#addons">additional components</a> you might find useful.</a> Note that this page describes installing the main rEFInd program; if you want to use the EFI filesystem drivers included with rEFInd, you should consult the <a href="drivers.html">page on using drivers with rEFInd.</a></p>
<a name="installsh">
<h2>Installing rEFInd Using <tt>install.sh</tt> under Linux or Mac OS X</h2>
bless status with 'bless --info', since this is known to cause disk corruption
on some systems!!
+NOTE: If you want to boot an OS via BIOS emulation (such as Windows or some
+Linux installations), you *MUST* edit the ///EFI/refind/refind.conf
+file's 'scanfor' line to include the 'hdbios' option, and perhaps
+'biosexternal' and 'cd', as well.
+
Installation has completed successfully.</pre>
href="https://sourceforge.net/p/refind/discussion/general/thread/5c7d0195/">this
forum thread</a> for a discussion of the topic.</li>
+<li>If you're replacing rEFIt with rEFInd on a Mac, there's a chance that
+ <tt>install.sh</tt> will warn you about the presence of a file called
+ <tt>/Library/StartupItems/rEFItBlesser</tt> and ask if you want to
+ delete the file. This file is designed to keep rEFIt set as the boot
+ manager by automatically re-blessing it if the default boot manager
+ changes. This is obviously undesirable if you install rEFInd as your
+ primary boot manager, so it's generally best to remove this file. If
+ you prefer to keep your options open, you can answer <tt
+ class="userinput">N</tt> when <tt>install.sh</tt> asks if you want to
+ delete rEFItBlesser, and instead manually copy it elsewhere. If you
+ subsequently decide to go back to using rEFIt as your primary boot
+ manager, you can restore rEFItBlesser to its place.</li>
+
<li>If you're using OS X and an Advanced Format disk, heed the warning that
<tt>install.sh</tt> displays and <i><b>do not</b></i> use <tt>bless
--info</tt> to check your installation status; this combination has
been reported to cause disk corruption on some Macs!</li>
+<li>If you intend to boot BIOS-based OSes, such as most Windows
+ installations and some Linux installations, you <i>must</i> edit the
+ <tt>refind.conf</tt> file, as noted near the end of the installation
+ script's output. (Note that rEFInd can only boot such OSes on Macs at
+ the moment.)</li>
+
</ul>
<p>In any event, you should peruse the script's output to ensure that everything looks OK. <tt>install.sh</tt> displays error messages when it encounters errors, such as if the ESP is mounted read-only or if you run out of disk space. You may need to correct such problems manually and re-run the script. In some cases you may need to fall back on manual installation, which gives you better control over details such as which partition to use for installation.</p>
<ol>
-<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>
+<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. Note that this includes <i>all</i> of rEFInd's drivers.</li>
<li>Type <tt><b>cd /boot/efi/EFI/refind</b></tt> to change into rEFInd's new directory on the ESP.</li>
<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. (Note that you must keep the version that's the correct bit width for your EFI; if you've installed a 32-bit Linux on a 64-bit PC with a 64-bit EFI, you'd keep <tt>refind_x64.efi</tt>.</li>
+<li>Optionally, type <tt class="userinput">rm -r drivers_ia32</tt> to remove the <i>x</i>86 drivers from an <i>x</i>86-64 system, or <tt class="userinput">rm -r drivers_x64</tt> to remove the <i>x</i>86-64 drivers from a 32-bit <i>x</i>86 system. You may also want to remove some or all of the drivers for the architecture you are using; if you don't need them, they'll slow down the start process. See the <a href="drivers.html">page on drivers</a> for more on this topic.</li>
+
<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>
<a name="efibootmgr">
64-bit EFI or <b><tt>sudo rm /efi/refind/refind_x64.efi</tt></b> on a
Mac with a 32-bit EFI.</li>
+<li>Optionally, remove the drivers directory for the architecture you're
+ not using—<tt>/efi/refind/drivers_ia32</tt> or
+ <tt>/efi/refind/drivers_x64</tt>, as appropriate. You may also want to
+ remove some or all of the drivers for the architecture you are using;
+ if you don't need them, they'll slow down the start process. See the <a
+ href="drivers.html">page on drivers</a> for more on this topic. Note
+ that Apple's firmware includes its own HFS+ driver, so the HFS+ driver
+ provided with rEFInd is useless on Macs.</li>
+
<li>If this is your first installation, type <b><tt>sudo mv
/efi/refind/refind.conf-sample /efi/refind/refind.conf</tt></b>
(adjusting the path as necessary) to rename the sample configuration
<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>
+<li>Optionally type <tt class="userinput">rd /s drivers_ia32</tt> to delete the <tt>drivers_ia32</tt> directory and its contents. You may also want to selectively delete some of the drivers in the <tt>drivers_x64</tt> directory, depending on your needs. Unnecessary drivers may slow the rEFInd start process. See the <a href="drivers.html">page on drivers</a> for more on this topic.</li>
+
<li>Type <b><tt>rename refind.conf-sample refind.conf</tt></b> to rename rEFInd's configuration file.</li>
<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>
href="http://refit.sourceforge.net">original rEFIt package.</a></li>
<li><b>Drivers</b>—You can install drivers to extend the capabilities
- of the EFI. Most notably, filesystem drivers for ext2fs and ReiserFS
- are available. These can enable you to boot a Linux kernel with EFI
- stub support from an ext2fs, ext3fs, or ReiserFS partition. See the <a
- href="drivers.html">Using EFI Drivers</a> page for more on this
+ of the EFI. rEFInd ships with filesystem drivers for ext2fs and
+ ReiserFS, which can enable you to boot a Linux kernel with EFI stub
+ support from an ext2fs, ext3fs, or ReiserFS partition. (rEFInd also
+ provides ISO-9660 and HFS+ drivers.) You can find additional drivers
+ from other sources, although they're still on the scarce side. See the
+ <a href="drivers.html">Using EFI Drivers</a> page for more on this
topic.</li>
</ul>