From 7c898f4a26b66344e4cc8ed5c2e272d5ea0a71dc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: srs5694
Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update: -6/23/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.4
+8/12/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.5I'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!
diff --git a/docs/refind/configfile.html b/docs/refind/configfile.html index 0333034..2c6e161 100644 --- a/docs/refind/configfile.html +++ b/docs/refind/configfile.html @@ -14,8 +14,8 @@by Roderick W. Smith, rodsmith@rodsbooks.com
-Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update: 6/23/2012, -referencing rEFInd 0.4.4
+Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update: +8/12/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.5
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!
diff --git a/docs/refind/drivers.html b/docs/refind/drivers.html index d11729e..996e665 100644 --- a/docs/refind/drivers.html +++ b/docs/refind/drivers.html @@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.comOriginally written: 4/19/2012; last Web page update: -6/23/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.4
+8/12/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.5I'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!
@@ -124,8 +124,13 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.comI've tested several of the drivers described on this page on a handful of systems. The ext2fs driver (from any source) works on both ext2fs and ext3fs, but not on ext4fs—at least, not in my one test. (There may be options you can use when creating an ext4 filesystem that would enable the ext2fs driver to handle it, but if so I don't know what they are.) The ReiserFS driver is obviously useful only on ReiserFS partitions. (Reiser4 is not supported, as far as I know.) Given that these filesystems are getting a bit on in age by Linux standards, you might do well to use them on a separate Linux /boot partition; however, if you're willing to use ext3fs or ReiserFS on your root (/) filesystem, you can use the EFI drivers to read your kernel from it. Note that this assumes you use conventional partitions; to the best of my knowledge, there's no EFI driver for Linux's Logical Volume Manager (LVM) or Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) configurations, so the EFI can't access filesystems stored in these ways.
-The ext2fs and ReiserFS drivers work, but they are a bit sluggish—particularly the ext2fs driver. The extent of the problem depends on the computer. In my tests so far, VirtualBox has fared the worst. On it, loading a Linux kernel with EFI stub loader from a FAT partition takes 2 seconds, from the moment of selecting the OS in rEFInd to the moment the kernel messages begin to appear. The equivalent time using ReiserFS or HFS+ is 20 seconds, and with ext2fs it's 200 seconds (that is, 3 minutes and 20 seconds). On a 32-bit Mac Mini, though, the speed problem is much less pronounced—my kernel loads in just 3 seconds from a ReiserFS partition and in 13 seconds from an ext2 filesystem. Times with ext2fs on a UEFI PC with an Intel motherboard are in the 2–4 second range. Nonetheless, if you try the ext2fs driver and it seems to hang, be patient; it may finally boot up. If so, and if the delay is too great for you to accept, you might consider using ReiserFS instead of ext2fs or ext3fs, at least if a change is practical. (For a /boot partition, it almost certainly is practical; you can back it up quite easily, create a fresh filesystem on it, and restore it. You may need to adjust your /etc/fstab entry for a new UUID value, though.) You can even use HFS+ on a Linux /boot partition, although this makes the most sense on a Mac, which has its own EFI HFS+ driver.
+The ext2fs and ReiserFS drivers work, but they are a bit sluggish—particularly the ext2fs driver. The extent of the problem depends on the computer. In my tests so far, VirtualBox has fared the worst. On it, loading a Linux kernel with EFI stub loader from a FAT partition takes 2 seconds, from the moment of selecting the OS in rEFInd to the moment the kernel messages begin to appear. The equivalent time using ReiserFS or HFS+ is 20 seconds, and with ext2fs it's 200 seconds (that is, 3 minutes and 20 seconds). On a 32-bit Mac Mini, though, the speed problem is much less pronounced—my kernel loads in just 3 seconds from a ReiserFS partition and in 13 seconds from an ext2 filesystem. Speeds were similar with my newest computer, an ASUS P8H77-I board. Times with ext2fs on a UEFI PC with an Intel motherboard are in the 2–4 second range. If you try the ext2fs driver and it seems to hang, be patient; it may finally boot up. If so, and if the delay is too great for you to accept, you might consider using ReiserFS instead of ext2fs or ext3fs, at least if a change is practical. (For a /boot partition, it almost certainly is practical; you can back it up quite easily, create a fresh filesystem on it, and restore it. You may need to adjust your /etc/fstab entry for a new UUID value, though. As noted earlier, be sure to use notail as an option in /etc/fstab for ReiserFS if you want to read it from EFI.) You can even use HFS+ on a Linux /boot partition, although this makes the most sense on a Mac, which has its own EFI HFS+ driver.
-Since the ext2fs and ReiserFS drivers share a common origin, it should come as no surprise that they perform in much the same way no matter which version (rEFIt, Clover, or rEFInd) you use. One exception is that the Clover EFI Tools drivers don't deliver filesystem labels, which makes them less desirable than the rEFIt or rEFInd drivers. The NTFS driver from the Clover Tools package is nice and speedy, though, so if for some reason you need to place a boot loader on an NTFS volume, this driver might be worth tracking down.
+Since the ext2fs and ReiserFS drivers share a common origin, it should come as no surprise that they perform in much the same way no matter which version (rEFIt, Clover, or rEFInd) you use. The NTFS driver from the Clover Tools package is nice and speedy, so if for some reason you need to place a boot loader on an NTFS volume, this driver might be worth tracking down.
Although both ext2fs and ReiserFS are case-sensitive, these drivers treat them in a case-insensitive way. Symbolic links work, which opens up possibilities for configuration, such as using a single kernel binary for multiple Linux distributions, with a link in one subdirectory pointing to a file in another directory. (If you try this, though, be sure to use relative links, as in ../otherdist/bzImage.efi, at least if the partition is not Linux's root filesystem.)
diff --git a/docs/refind/features.html b/docs/refind/features.html index effe504..cb0d8ac 100644 --- a/docs/refind/features.html +++ b/docs/refind/features.html @@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.comOriginally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update: -6/23/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.4
+8/12/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.5I'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!
diff --git a/docs/refind/getting.html b/docs/refind/getting.html index 788d087..216bbae 100644 --- a/docs/refind/getting.html +++ b/docs/refind/getting.html @@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.comOriginally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update: -6/23/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.4
+8/12/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.5I'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!
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.comOriginally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update: -6/23/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.4
+8/12/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.5I'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!
@@ -98,11 +98,11 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.comI 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 here; 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.
-The rEFIt Web page 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.
+The rEFIt Web page 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.
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 not 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 Compatibility Support Module (CSM). 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.
-Subsequent sections of this document are on separate pages:
+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:
Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update: -6/23/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.4
+8/12/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.5I'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!
diff --git a/docs/refind/linux.html b/docs/refind/linux.html index 0b56019..f80c41f 100644 --- a/docs/refind/linux.html +++ b/docs/refind/linux.html @@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.comOriginally written: 3/19/2012; last Web page update: -6/23/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.4
+8/12/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.5I'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!
diff --git a/docs/refind/revisions.html b/docs/refind/revisions.html index 186deab..24722f3 100644 --- a/docs/refind/revisions.html +++ b/docs/refind/revisions.html @@ -14,7 +14,7 @@by Roderick W. Smith, rodsmith@rodsbooks.com
-Last Web page update: 6/23/2012
+Last Web page update: 8/12/2012
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!
@@ -93,6 +93,8 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.comOriginally written: 4/19/2012; last Web page update: -6/23/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.4
+8/12/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.5I'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!
@@ -120,12 +120,14 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.comI used icons from the Oxygen Icons project, both from the Oxygen Refit package and from Gentoo's oxygen-icons package. These icons supplemented or replaced icons that rEFIt used; however, many OS icons (such as those for Windows and Mac OS) are carried over from rEFIt. I've also used a handful of icons for individual Linux distributions from other sources—usually documentation associated with the distribution in question.
-In addition to this default icon set, I've received word of one other rEFInd theme:
+In addition to this default icon set, I've received word of two other rEFInd themes:
If you've created or discovered another rEFInd theme, please tell me about it so that I can provide a link to it from this page.
diff --git a/docs/refind/todo.html b/docs/refind/todo.html index f3290a6..993af2d 100644 --- a/docs/refind/todo.html +++ b/docs/refind/todo.html @@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.comOriginally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update: -6/23/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.4
+8/12/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.5I'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!
diff --git a/docs/refind/using.html b/docs/refind/using.html index ce6846d..a9de41d 100644 --- a/docs/refind/using.html +++ b/docs/refind/using.html @@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.comOriginally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update: -6/23/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.4
+8/12/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.4.5I'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!
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh index 9d612a8..d77b8b0 100644 --- a/install.sh +++ b/install.sh @@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ # # Revision history: # +# 0.4.5 -- Fixed check for rEFItBlesser in OS X # 0.4.2 -- Added notice about BIOS-based OSes & made NVRAM changes in Linux smarter # 0.4.1 -- Added check for rEFItBlesser in OS X # 0.3.3.1 -- Fixed OS X 10.7 bug; also works as make target @@ -162,15 +163,15 @@ InstallOnOSX() { if [[ $? != 0 ]] ; then Problems=1 fi - if [[ -f /Library/StartupItems/rEFItBlesser ]] ; then + if [[ -f /Library/StartupItems/rEFItBlesser || -d /Library/StartupItems/rEFItBlesser ]] ; then echo - echo "/Library/StartupItems/rEFItBlesser file found!" + echo "/Library/StartupItems/rEFItBlesser found!" echo "This program is part of rEFIt, and will cause rEFInd to fail to work after" echo -n "its first boot. Do you want to remove rEFItBlesser (Y/N)? " read YesNo if [[ $YesNo == "Y" || $YesNo == "y" ]] ; then echo "Deleting /Library/StartupItems/rEFItBlesser..." - rm /Library/StartupItems/rEFItBlesser + rm -r /Library/StartupItems/rEFItBlesser else echo "Not deleting rEFItBlesser." fi diff --git a/refind/main.c b/refind/main.c index 36fb5ce..8f4cf39 100644 --- a/refind/main.c +++ b/refind/main.c @@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ static VOID AboutrEFInd(VOID) if (AboutMenu.EntryCount == 0) { AboutMenu.TitleImage = BuiltinIcon(BUILTIN_ICON_FUNC_ABOUT); - AddMenuInfoLine(&AboutMenu, L"rEFInd Version 0.4.4.1"); + AddMenuInfoLine(&AboutMenu, L"rEFInd Version 0.4.5"); AddMenuInfoLine(&AboutMenu, L""); AddMenuInfoLine(&AboutMenu, L"Copyright (c) 2006-2010 Christoph Pfisterer"); AddMenuInfoLine(&AboutMenu, L"Copyright (c) 2012 Roderick W. Smith"); -- 2.39.2