<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: 3/23/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.2.2</p>
+ <p>Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update: 4/24/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.3.0</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>
<hr />
-<div class="sidebar">
+<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><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>
-
-</div>
-
-<p>Once you've uncompressed a rEFInd binary zip file, you can copy the entire <tt>refind</tt> directory into your EFI System Partition's (ESP's) <tt>EFI</tt> directory on UEFI-based PCs, so that rEFInd resides in <tt>EFI/refind</tt>. If you've tried rEFInd using a CD-R image file, you can copy the files from the <tt>EFI/refind</tt> directory on the CD to create an equivalent directory on the ESP. To avoid confusion, though, you should delete the rEFInd binary file for the CPU type your computer does <i>not</i> use. To the best of my knowledge, all UEFI-based PCs use 64-bit CPUs, so you should keep the <tt>refind_x64.efi</tt> binary and delete the <tt>refind_ia32.efi</tt> binary. Most Intel-based Macs also have 64-bit EFI implementations, so you should do the same thing; but very early Intel-based Macs have 32-bit EFIs (and sometimes 32-bit CPUs), which require the <tt>refind_ia32.efi</tt> file. You can determine whether your Mac needs the x86-64 or IA32 build by typing the following command in a Mac Terminal window:</p>
+<p>Once you've uncompressed a rEFInd binary zip file, you can copy the entire <tt>refind</tt> directory into your EFI System Partition's (ESP's) <tt>EFI</tt> directory on UEFI-based PCs, so that rEFInd resides in <tt>EFI/refind</tt>. If you've tried rEFInd using a CD-R image file, you can copy the files from the <tt>EFI/refind</tt> directory on the CD to create an equivalent directory on the ESP. To avoid confusion, though, you should delete the rEFInd binary file for the CPU type your computer does <i>not</i> use. To the best of my knowledge, all UEFI-based PCs use 64-bit CPUs, so you should keep the <tt>refind_x64.efi</tt> binary and delete the <tt>refind_ia32.efi</tt> binary. Most Intel-based Macs also have 64-bit EFI implementations, so you should do the same thing; but very early Intel-based Macs have 32-bit EFIs (and sometimes 32-bit CPUs), which require the <tt>refind_ia32.efi</tt> file. You can determine whether your Mac needs the <i>x</i>86-64 or IA32 build by typing the following command in a Mac Terminal window:</p>
<pre class="listing">
$ <b>ioreg -l -p IODeviceTree | grep firmware-abi</b>
/dev/sda1 191284 16604 174681 9% /boot/efi
</pre>
+<p class="sidebar"><b>Warning:</b> If you're running Linux on a Mac, I recommend you install rEFInd under OS X. The Mac's boot process deviates a bit from EFI standards, so you'll probably have to use a tool called <tt>bless</tt> under MacOS to do the job. 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. There are also reports that the <tt>efibootmgr</tt> tool used under Linux can corrupt some Macs' firmware. Although I've seen some vague suggestions that this problem has been fixed under 3.<i>x</i> kernels, I haven't tested this claim.</p>
+
<p>This example shows that <tt>/dev/sda1</tt> is mounted at <tt>/boot/efi</tt>, which is a typical configuration. (The ESP can be on another disk or partition, but <tt>/dev/sda1</tt> is the most common place for an ESP.) If your output shows <tt>/boot</tt> or <tt>/</tt> under the <tt>Mounted on</tt> column, then your ESP isn't mounted. If you get a <tt>df: `/boot/efi': No such file or directory</tt> error message, then the <tt>/boot/efi</tt> directory doesn't even exist. In such cases, you may need to jump through some extra hoops, as described on my <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/installation.html">EFI Boot Loader Installation</a> page.</p>
<p>Assuming the ESP is mounted at <tt>/boot/efi</tt>, you can install the rEFInd files as follows (you must be <tt>root</tt> to issue these commands, or precede each of them with <tt><b>sudo</b></tt>):</p>
<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 x86-64 (64-bit) system; or type <tt><b>rm refind_x64.efi</b></tt> to remove the x86-64 binary if you're using an x86 (32-bit) system. You can optionally rename the binary you keep as <tt>refind.efi</tt>, but this isn't required.</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.</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>
-<div class="sidebar">
-
-<p><b>Warning:</b> I've seen reports that Linux's <tt>efibootmgr</tt> utility can damage some Macs' firmware, necessitating re-flashing it. Therefore, I recommend using <tt>bless</tt> from OS X to do this job on Apple hardware.</p>
-
-</div>
-
<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>
</a>
<h2>Installing rEFInd Using Mac OS X</h2>
</a>
-<div class="sidebar">
-
-<p>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>
-
-</div>
+<p class="sidebar"><b>Warning:</b> 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. <a href="https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=3218104&group_id=161917&atid=821764">This</a> report on the problem, and particularly the post by mic-marchen, suggests that the problem is related to a bug in OS X's <tt>bless</tt> utility, and particularly its <tt>--info</tt> option, that causes it to corrupt data on disks with 4 KiB sectors. These <i>Advanced Format</i> disks are becoming increasingly common, particularly at larger disk sizes. Therefore, I <i>strongly</i> recommend that you <i>not</i> type <tt class="userinput">sudo bless --info</tt> to check the status of your installation if you have such a disk, or even if you suspect you might have such a disk. (I've seen Advanced Format disks as small as 320 GB.)</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 OS X's system partition 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>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>Copy the files in the <tt>refind</tt> subdirectory of the rEFInd binary package to the like-named directory you've just created. You can do this in the Finder or by typing <b><tt>sudo cp -r refind/* /efi/refind/</tt></b> in your Terminal window after changing into the rEFInd package's main directory.</li>
-
-<li>Remove the file for the version of rEFInd you're not using, as in <b><tt>sudo rm /efi/refind/refind_ia32.efi</tt></b> on a Mac with a 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>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>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 -t msdos /dev/disk0s1 /Volumes/esp</tt></b>. Note
+ that this step is usually optional, and it makes the procedure a bit
+ more complex, so you might want to forego it. On the other hand,
+ installing to the ESP is required if you're using the whole-disk
+ encryption feature of OS X 10.7. Note that 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 the ESP or some
+ other partition, you should adjust the pathname appropriately, as in
+ <tt>/Volumes/esp/efi/refind</tt>. Alternatively, you can use the Finder
+ to create the directory.</li>
+
+<li>Copy the files in the <tt>refind</tt> subdirectory of the rEFInd binary
+ package to the like-named directory you've just created. You can do
+ this in the Finder or by typing <b><tt>sudo cp -r refind/*
+ /efi/refind/</tt></b> in your Terminal window after changing into the
+ rEFInd package's main directory.</li>
+
+<li>Remove the file for the version of rEFInd you're not using, as in
+ <b><tt>sudo rm /efi/refind/refind_ia32.efi</tt></b> on a Mac with a
+ 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>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>"Bless" rEFInd by typing one of the following two commands:
+ <ul>
+ <li>If you're installing rEFInd to an ordinary HFS+ volume, type <tt
+ class="userinput">sudo bless --setBoot --folder /efi/refind --file
+ /efi/refind/refind_x64.efi</tt>. (Adjust the path and filename as
+ necessary if you're placing rEFInd somewhere else or using the
+ 32-bit version.)</li>
+ <li>If you're installing rEFInd on the ESP, type <tt
+ class="userinput">sudo bless --mount /Volumes/esp --setBoot --file
+ /Volumes/esp/efi/refind/refind_x64.efi</tt>, adjusting the mount
+ point and exact path to the file as appropriate for your
+ installation.</li>
+ </ul>
+ As per the Warning earlier, <i>do not</i> use <tt>bless</tt>'s
+ <tt>--info</tt> option to try to confirm the change to the boot status
+ unless you're certain you do <i>not</i> have an Advanced Format hard
+ disk.</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>
+<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. One final caveat: It's conceivable that rEFItBlesser is what's causing filesystem corruption for some users, so if you've been having this problem with rEFIt, it might be worth disabling this program and not using it with rEFInd.</p>
<p>If you want to remove rEFInd from your system, you can delete its files. The Mac will revert to booting using whatever standard boot loader it can find. Alternatively, you can use <tt>bless</tt> to bless another EFI boot loader. The GUI Startup Disk utility in System Preferences provides a simplified interface that enables you to select which OS X installation to boot, but it doesn't look for non-Apple boot loaders, so you can't use it to enable rEFInd.</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>
<li>Look for an existing directory called <tt>EFI/BOOT</tt> or <tt>EFI/Microsoft/BOOT</tt>. If neither of these directories exist, skip the next step. (Note that FAT is case-insensitive, so the name may vary in case.)</li>
-<li>Rename the existing directory to something else. For <tt>EFI/BOOT</tt>, try renaming it to <tt>EFI/Oldboot</tt>. For <tt>EFI/Microsoft/BOOT</tt>, rename the <tt>Microsoft</tt> directory—say, to <tt>MS</tt>. Thus, you'll have <tt>EFI/MS</tt> and its contents, including <tt>EFI/MS/BOOT</tt>.</li>
+<li>Rename the existing directory or boot loader file to something else. For <tt>EFI/BOOT</tt>, try renaming it to <tt>EFI/Oldboot</tt>. For <tt>EFI/Microsoft/BOOT</tt>, move or rename the <tt>bootmgfw.efi</tt> file it contains. For instance, you can move it to <tt>EFI/Microsoft</tt>. This will keep the boot loader accessible to rEFInd's menu, while preventing the firmware from launching it automatically.</li>
-<li>Rename/move your <tt>EFI/refind</tt> directory to <tt>EFI/BOOT</tt> (or <tt>EFI/Microsoft/BOOT</tt>, if that directory existed and you've renamed it—but you'll first need to create a new <tt>EFI/Microsoft</tt> directory).</li>
+<li>Rename/move your <tt>EFI/refind</tt> directory to <tt>EFI/BOOT</tt>. If you're working from <tt>EFI/Microsoft/BOOT</tt>, you should move the contents of your rEFInd directory to <tt>EFI/Microsoft/BOOT</tt>.</li>
<li>Rename <tt>EFI/BOOT/refind_x64.efi</tt> to the name of the boot loader it's replacing—it should become <tt>EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi</tt> or <tt>EFI/Microsoft/BOOT/bootmgfw.efi</tt>.</li>
protective MBR. You can obtain the file from the <a
href="http://refit.sourceforge.net">original rEFIt package.</a></li>
-<li><b>diskpart.efi</b>—This is a disk partitioning utility that's
- similar to one of the same name in Microsoft Windows. You can obtain it
- from <a
- href="http://www.intel.com/technology/efi/agree_diskutil.htm">Intel's
- site</a> as part of a package with a few other tools. Place it in the
- <tt>efi/tools</tt> subdirectory of the ESP and rEFInd will detect it
- and give you the option to use it.</li>
-
-<li><b>Rescue Linux</b>—If the file <tt>efi/rescue/elilo.efi</tt>
- exists, it will be given a special entry in the boot list. The intent
- seems to be to launch Linux in a rescue mode, but I've not gotten it to
- work.</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
+ topic.</li>
</ul>