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>
+1/26/2013, referencing rEFInd 0.6.6</p>
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<p>This page describes rEFInd, my fork of the <a href="http://refit.sourceforge.net">rEFIt</a> boot manager for computers based on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface">Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and Unified EFI (UEFI).</a> Like rEFIt, rEFInd is a <i>boot manager,</i> meaning that it presents a menu of options to the user when the computer first starts up, as shown below. rEFInd is not a <i>boot loader,</i> which is a program that loads an OS kernel and hands off control to it. Many popular boot managers, such as <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/">the Grand Unified Bootloader (GRUB),</a> are also boot loaders, which can blur the distinction in many users' minds. rEFInd, though, relies on a separate boot loader to finish the handoff to an OS; it just presents a pretty menu and gives you options for how to proceed prior to booting an OS. All EFI-capable OSes include boot loaders, so this limitation isn't a problem. If you're using Linux, you should be aware that several EFI boot loaders are available, so choosing between them can be a challenge. See <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/index.html">my Web page on this topic</a> for more information.</p>
- <br /><center><img src="refind.png" align="center" width="905"
- height="389" alt="rEFInd presents a GUI menu for selecting your boot
+ <br /><center><img src="refind.png" align="center" width="712"
+ height="550" alt="rEFInd presents a GUI menu for selecting your boot
OS." border=2> </center><br />
+<div style="float:right; width:55%">
+
<p>In theory, EFI implementations should provide boot managers. Unfortunately, in practice these boot managers are often so poor as to be useless. The worst I've personally encountered is on <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/gb-hybrid-efi/">Gigabyte's Hybrid EFI,</a> which provides you with no boot options whatsoever, beyond choosing the boot device (hard disk vs. optical disc, for instance). I've heard of others that are just as bad. For this reason, a good EFI boot manager—either standalone or as part of a boot loader—is a practical necessity for multi-booting on an EFI computer. That's where rEFIt and rEFInd come into play.</p>
<p>I decided to fork the earlier rEFIt project because, although rEFIt is a useful program, it's got several important limitations, such as poor control over the boot loader detection process and an ability to display at most a handful of boot loader entries on its main screen. I fixed a few of these bugs and released a patched version <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/refit.html">here;</a> however, rEFIt's author, Christoph Pfisterer, didn't respond to my e-mails, and the latest official version of rEFIt, 0.14, was released in March of 2010. Thus, it appears that rEFIt has been abandoned. Forking the project to give rEFIt new features seemed like the thing to do.</p>
-<p>The <a href="http://refit.sourceforge.net">rEFIt Web page</a> has a distinct Mac bias, and the provided binaries work only on Macs because they're 32-/64-bit "fat" binaries, which Macs can handle but UEFI-based PCs can't. rEFIt can be recompiled to work on UEFI-based PCs, but prebuilt binaries for such systems are relatively rare. Although I do own a Mac Mini, my interest lies more on the side of standard PC hardware, and hence with UEFI. My development platform is Linux, and my installation instructions and binaries are much more platform-neutral. I'm aware that many Mac users will consider this a step backward, but I ask their indulgence; I only have so many hours a day to work on this project, and I prefer to devote my efforts to improvements that will benefit all rEFInd users, at least initially.</p>
+<p>The <a href="http://refit.sourceforge.net">rEFIt Web page</a> has a distinct Mac bias, and the provided binaries work only on Macs because they're 32-/64-bit "fat" binaries, which Macs can handle but UEFI-based PCs can't. rEFIt can be recompiled to work on UEFI-based PCs, but prebuilt binaries for such systems are relatively rare. Although I do own a Mac Mini, my interest lies more on the side of standard PC hardware, and hence with UEFI. My development platform is Linux, and my installation instructions and binaries are much more platform-neutral. I'm aware that many Mac users will consider this a step backward, but I ask their indulgence; I only have so many hours a week to work on this project, and I prefer to devote my efforts to improvements that will benefit all rEFInd users, at least initially.</p>
+
+</div>
-<p>As already noted, rEFInd is a boot manager for EFI and UEFI computers. (I use "EFI" to refer to either version unless the distinction is important.) You're likely to benefit from it on computers that boot multiple OSes, such as two or more of Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. You will <i>not</i> find rEFInd useful on older BIOS-based computers. Prior to mid-2011, few computers outside of Intel-based Macs used EFI; but starting in 2011, computer manufacturers began adopting UEFI in droves, so most computers bought since then use EFI. Even so, many modern PCs support both EFI-style booting and BIOS-style booting, the latter via a BIOS compatibility mode that's known as the <i>Compatibility Support Module (CSM).</i> Thus, you may be using BIOS-style booting on an EFI-based computer. If you're unsure which boot method your computer uses, check the first of the below subsections.</p>
+<div class="navbar">
-<p>Subsequent sections of this document are on separate pages:</p>
+<h4 class="tight">Contents</h4>
<ul>
-<li><a href="bootmode.html">What's Your Boot Mode?</a>—Information to help you determine whether you're using EFI or BIOS booting</li>
+<li
class="tight"><a href="bootmode.html">What's Your Boot Mode?</a>—Information to help you determine whether you're using EFI or BIOS booting</li>
-<li><a href="features.html">rEFInd Features</a>—An overview of rEFInd's features</li>
+<li
class="tight"><a href="features.html">rEFInd Features</a>—An overview of rEFInd's features</li>
-<li><a href="getting.html">Getting rEFInd</a>—Links to obtain rEFInd</li>
+<li
class="tight"><a href="getting.html">Getting rEFInd</a>—Links to obtain rEFInd</li>
-<li><a href="installing.html">Installing rEFInd</a>—Instructions for installing rEFInd, using Linux, OS X, and Windows</li>
+<li
class="tight"><a href="installing.html">Installing rEFInd</a>—Instructions for installing rEFInd, using Linux, OS X, and Windows</li>
-<li><a href="using.html">Using rEFInd</a>—Basic usage instructions for the boot loader</li>
+<li
class="tight"><a href="using.html">Using rEFInd</a>—Basic usage instructions for the boot loader</li>
-<li><a href="configfile.html">Configuring the Boot Manager</a>—For advanced users, information on customizing a rEFInd installation</li>
+<li
class="tight"><a href="configfile.html">Configuring the Boot Manager</a>—For advanced users, information on customizing a rEFInd installation</li>
-<li><a href="drivers.html">Using EFI Drivers</a>—Why and how to have rEFInd launch EFI drivers</li>
+<li
class="tight"><a href="drivers.html">Using EFI Drivers</a>—Why and how to have rEFInd launch EFI drivers</li>
-<li><a href="themes.html">Theming rEFind</a>—Information on third-party themes for rEFInd</li>
+<li
class="tight"><a href="themes.html">Theming rEFind</a>—Information on third-party themes for rEFInd</li>
-<li><a href="linux.html">Options for Booting Linux</a>—Methods of booting Linux, particularly with the EFI stub loader (distribution maintainers should read this!)</li>
+<li
class="tight"><a href="linux.html">Options for Booting Linux</a>—Methods of booting Linux, particularly with the EFI stub loader (distribution maintainers should read this!)</li>
-<li><a href="revisions.html">Revisions</a>—Information on the history of rEFInd releases</li>
+<li class="tight"><a href="secureboot.html">Managing Secure Boot</a>—Some pointers on using rEFInd on a computer with Secure Boot active</li>
-<li><a href="todo.html">The Future of rEFInd</a>—Current bugs that need squashing and features that I hope to one day add</a></li>
+<li class="tight"><a href="revisions.html">Revisions</a>—Information on the history of rEFInd releases</li>
+
+<li class="tight"><a href="todo.html">The Future of rEFInd</a>—Current bugs that need squashing and features that I hope to one day add</a></li>
</ul>
+</div>
+
+<p>As already noted, rEFInd is a boot manager for EFI and UEFI computers. (I use "EFI" to refer to either version unless the distinction is important.) You're likely to benefit from it on computers that boot multiple OSes, such as two or more of Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. You will <i>not</i> find rEFInd useful on older BIOS-based computers. Prior to mid-2011, few computers outside of Intel-based Macs used EFI; but starting in 2011, computer manufacturers began adopting UEFI in droves, so most computers bought since then use EFI. Even so, many modern PCs support both EFI-style booting and BIOS-style booting, the latter via a BIOS compatibility mode that's known as the <i>Compatibility Support Module (CSM).</i> Thus, you may be using BIOS-style booting on an EFI-based computer. If you're unsure which boot method your computer uses, check the first of the subsections, <a href="bootmode.html">What's Your Boot Mode</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Subsequent sections of this document are on separate pages. Be aware that you probably don't need to read them all; just skip to the sections that interest you:</p>
+
<p><b>Note:</b> I consider rEFInd to be <i>beta-quality software!</i> I'm discovering bugs (old and new) and fixing them every few days. That said, rEFInd is a usable program in its current form on many systems. If you have problems, feel free to drop me a line.</p>
<a name="references">
<li><a href="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jonathan.deboynepollard/FGA/efi-boot-process.html">The EFI Boot Process</a> describes, in broad strokes, how EFI systems boot.</li>
-<li><a href="https://lkml.org/lkml/2011/10/17/81">A Linux kernel mailing list thread</a> describing the new EFI stub loader that's appearing in the Linux 3.3 kernel series.</li>
+<li><a href="https://lkml.org/lkml/2011/10/17/81">A Linux kernel mailing list thread</a> describing the new EFI stub loader that was introduced in the Linux 3.3 kernel series.</li>
<li>The <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface">Arch Linux UEFI wiki page</a> has a great deal of information on UEFI and Linux.</li>
<li>Phoenix Technologies maintains a <a href="http://wiki.phoenix.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page">wiki on EFI topics,</a> including <a href="http://wiki.phoenix.com/wiki/index.php/Category:UEFI_2.0">information on many EFI system calls</a> useful to programmers.</li>
+<li>Matthew J. Garrett, the developer of the shim boot loader to manage Secure Boot, maintains <a href="http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/">a blog</a> that often describes EFI issues.</li>
+
</ul></li> <!-- Informational Web pages -->
<li><b>Additional programs</b>
<li><a href="http://refit.sourceforge.net">The official rEFIt Web page</a></li>
+<li><a href="http://freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/gummiboot">The official gummiboot Web page</a></li>
+
<li><a href="http://elilo.sourceforge.net/">The official ELILO Web page</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/">The official GRUB Web page</a></li>
<hr />
-<p>copyright © 2012 by Roderick W. Smith</p>
+<p>copyright © 2012–2013 by Roderick W. Smith</p>
<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>