Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update:
-3/1/2015, referencing rEFInd 0.8.7
+4/24/2016, referencing rEFInd 0.10.3
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The ability to auto-detect Linux initial RAM disk files and to read Linux kernel options from a refind_linux.conf file. These features support (nearly) automatic handling of Linux kernels with embedded EFI stub loader support (a new feature with Linux 3.3.0).
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The ability to "fold" multiple Linux kernels into a single entry in the main menu. Additional kernels appear as options in the submenu. This feature is enabled by default, but can be disabled by setting fold_linux_kernels false in refind.conf.
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In the absence of a refind_linux.conf file, the ability to pass minimal Linux boot options to a kernel based on the contents of /etc/fstab. This is limited to cases in which the kernel resides on the Linux root (/) filesystem, though, and it won't work if the installation requires any unusual options.
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As of rEFInd 0.9.0, if a Linux root (/) filesystem is identified by the type code specified by the Discoverable Partitions Specification (DPS) and the root filesystem cannot be identified via refind_linux.conf or /etc/fstab, rEFInd passes a kernel root= identifier based on the identified DPS root (/) type code.
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Fixes to display problems on many UEFI-based PCs.
Beginning with version 0.6.10, a screen saver feature, activated by the screensaver seconds token in refind.conf: Set seconds to the number of seconds before the screen will blank to prevent burn-in.
@@ -240,6 +238,12 @@ such as those with Gigabyte's Hybrid EFI, lack a usable CSM.
The ability to set the VMX bit on certain Intel CPUs. This feature is necessary for certain virtualization tools, such as Hyper-V, and not all EFIs enable users to set it.
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Beginning with version 0.10.0, the ability to spoof the booting of OS X when booting non-Apple OSes. This changes the way a Mac's EFI initializes hardware, which can get secondary video chipsets working on some Macs. This feature is controlled via the spoof_osx_version token in refind.conf.
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Beginning with version 0.10.0, the ability to adjust Apple System Integrity Protection (SIP; aka "rootless" or "CSR") settings. These settings control what features are off-limits even to root in OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) and later. To use this feature, you must set specific CSR values on refind.conf's csr_values line and add csr_rotate to the showtools line.
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Beginning with version 0.10.1, support for ARM64 (aka AARCH64 or AA64) CPUs. Such systems that boot using UEFI are quite rare, at least in December of 2015.
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On the flip side, at least for Mac users, rEFInd comes with less sophisticated Mac installation tools than does rEFIt, in favor of more OS-agnostic packaging.
@@ -248,7 +252,7 @@ such as those with Gigabyte's Hybrid EFI, lack a usable CSM.
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@@ -57,8 +56,7 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.com
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