href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.com</a></p>
<p>Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update:
-5/25/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.1</p>
+11/6/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.7</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>
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>
--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>
unless you're certain you do <i>not</i> have an Advanced Format hard
disk.</li>
+<li>If you don't want to reboot immediately after installing rEFInd, you
+ may optionally unmount the ESP by typing <tt class="userinput">sudo
+ umount /dev/disk0s1</tt> or <tt class="userinput">sudo umount
+ /Volumes/esp</tt>. This step isn't strictly required, but if you want
+ to keep the ESP out of your directory tree, it can be useful.</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 or if you upgrade rEFInd to a newer version.</p>
<ul>
-<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>—This
+<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>—This
file, placed in the ESP's <tt>efi/tools</tt> directory, adds the
ability to launch a text-mode EFI shell from rEFInd. Note that the
download link is to a 64-bit binary that must be renamed before rEFInd
- will recognize it.</li>
+ will recognize it. Additional shell download links appear on the <a
+ href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface#UEFI_Shell_download_links">Arch
+ Linux wiki,</a> and on other sites; try a Web search if the shell you
+ find doesn't work to your satisfaction.</li>
<li><b>gptsync.efi</b>—This program creates a <a
href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/hybrid.html">hybrid MBR</a> from
<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>
+<a name="sluggish">
+<h2>Fixing a Sluggish Macintosh Boot</h2>
+</a>
+
+<p>I've received a few reports of a sluggish boot process (a delay of about 30 seconds before starting rEFInd) on some Macs after installing rEFInd. I've been unable to replicate this problem myself, and its true cause remains mysterious to me. I have found <a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=12256273&postcount=200">a Web forum post</a> describing a possible fix. Be aware, though, that this procedure involves using the <tt>efibootmgr</tt> utility on Macs, which has been known to damage the firmware on some Macs. Other reports indicate that this problem has been fixed with 3.3.0 and later kernels. Thus, I present this information cautiously and with a strong "use at your own risk" warning. If you care to proceed, I recommend you update your Linux kernel to the latest possible version and then proceed as follows:</p>
+
+<ol>
+
+<li>Boot into Linux.</li>
+
+<li>Type <tt class="userinput">efibootmgr</tt> as <tt>root</tt> to obtain a list of your boot loader entries. Each entry includes a boot number, as in <tt>Boot0003</tt> or <tt>Boot0027</tt>.</li>
+
+<li>Remove all of the boot loader entries <i>except</i> rEFInd's by using <tt>efibootmgr</tt>'s <tt>-b <tt class="variable">bootnum</tt></tt> option to specify the boot entry and <tt>-B</tt> to delete it. For instance, typing <tt class="userinput">efibootmgr -b 0027 -B</tt> as <tt>root</tt> deletes boot entry <tt>Boot0027</tt>. Issue a separate <tt>efibootmgr</tt> command for each boot entry.</li>
+
+<li>Re-install rEFInd using the install script. It's unclear from the original post if this meant installing from Linux or from OS X.</li>
+
+</ol>
+
<hr />
<p>copyright © 2012 by Roderick W. Smith</p>