<p class="subhead">by Roderick W. Smith, <a
href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.com</a></p>
- <p>Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update: 4/9/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.2.5</p>
+ <p>Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update: 4/17/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.2.6</p>
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<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>
-<p class="sidebar"><b>Warning:</b> I've seen reports that Linux's <tt>efibootmgr</tt> utility can damage some Macs' firmware, necessitating re-flashing it. I've also seen some vague suggestions that this problem has been fixed with the 3.0 kernels, but I haven't been able to substantiate this suggestion. Therefore, I recommend using <tt>bless</tt> from OS X to do this job on Apple hardware.</p>
+<p class="sidebar"><b>Warning:</b> I've seen reports that Linux's <tt>efibootmgr</tt> utility can damage some Macs' firmware, necessitating re-flashing it. I've also seen some vague suggestions that this problem has been fixed with the 3.0 kernels, but I haven't been able to substantiate this suggestion. In either event, <tt>efibootmgr</tt> by itself can't completely change the EFI boot loader on Macs. Therefore, I recommend using <tt>bless</tt> from OS X to do this job on Apple hardware. 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.</p>
<a name="efibootmgr">
<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>
<p class="sidebar">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. I don't have such a disk on my Mac, so I can't test solutions. Rather than risk other peoples' hard disks, I thought it best to revert to a manual installation proceudure that will, I hope, be less likely to cause problems.</p>
-<p>The procedure for installing rEFInd on a Mac is similar to that for installing it under Linux, except that you can install it to the OS X's system directory 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>
+<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 the OS X's system directory 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>
<ol>
<li>Open a Terminal window in which you'll type the following commands.</li>
-<li>If you want to install rEFInd on your ESP, you must first mount it. You can do this by typing <b><tt>mkdir /Volumes/esp</tt></b> followed by <b><tt>sudo mount_msdos /dev/disk0s1 /Volumes/esp</tt></b>. Note that this step is optional. Also, you may need to change <tt>/dev/disk0s1</tt> to something else if your ESP is at an unusual location. Use a tool such as my <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/">GPT fdisk (<tt>gdisk</tt>)</a> to examine your partition table to find your ESP if necessary.</li>
+<li>If you want to install rEFInd on your ESP, you must first mount it. You can do this by typing <b><tt>mkdir /Volumes/esp</tt></b> followed by <b><tt>sudo mount_msdos /dev/disk0s1 /Volumes/esp</tt></b>. Note that this step is optional
, and in fact I've had problems blessing a boot loader on the ESP, so I don't recommend doing this. Also, you may need to change <tt>/dev/disk0s1</tt> to something else if your ESP is at an unusual location. Use a tool such as my <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/">GPT fdisk (<tt>gdisk</tt>)</a> to examine your partition table to find your ESP if necessary.</li>
<li>Type <b><tt>sudo mkdir -p /efi/refind</tt></b> to create a suitable directory for rEFInd. If you want to place rEFInd on your ESP, you should adjust the pathname appropriately, as in <tt>/Volumes/esp/efi/refind</tt> if you mounted your ESP as described in the previous step. Alternatively, you can use the Finder to create the directory.</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 file so that it will serve as a real configuration file. (Again, you can do this with the Finder, if you prefer.)</li>
-<li>Type <b><tt>sudo bless --setBoot --folder /efi/refind --file /efi/refind/refind_x64.efi</tt></b> to tell the computer to use rEFInd as the primary boot program. (Adjust the path and filename as necessary if you're placing rEFInd somewhere else or using the 32-bit version.) If you're installing rEFInd to an ESP (or to any partition other than the OS X system partition), you may need to add <b><tt>--mount <i>/Volumes/mounpoint</i></tt></b> to the command, where <tt><i>/Volumes/mounpoint</i></tt> is the location where you've mounted the partition.</li>
+<li>Type <b><tt>sudo bless --setBoot --folder /efi/refind --file /efi/refind/refind_x64.efi</tt></b> to tell the computer to use rEFInd as the primary boot program. (Adjust the path and filename as necessary if you're placing rEFInd somewhere else or using the 32-bit version.) In theory, you can bless a boot file on an ESP by adding <b><tt>--mount <i>/Volumes/mounpoint</i></tt></b> to the command, where <tt><i>/Volumes/mounpoint</i></tt> is the location where you've mounted the partition. In practice, though, I've never gotten this to work. (If you know the trick to blessing a boot program on an ESP, please <a href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">drop me a line</a>.)</li>
</ol>
-<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.</p>
+<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>
<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.</p>
<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>
+
+<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>
+
</ol>
-<p>Unfortunately, I know of no Windows tool that's equivalent to <tt>efibootmgr</tt> under Linux or <tt>bless</tt> under OS X. (Such a tool <i>must</i> exist, but I don't know what it is. If you do, please <a href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">e-mail</a> me a pointer!) This can make adding rEFInd to your system a bit tricky, particularly if your firmware provides few boot options. In the best of all possible worlds, you'll be able to use your firmware's user interface to add rEFInd to your firmware's own boot manager; however, far too many EFI implementations lack even this modest capability. If you're stuck in this boat, you have several options, such as:</p>
+<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>
<ul>