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  12   <h1>The rEFInd Boot Manager:<br />Installing rEFInd</h1>
  13
  14 <p class="subhead">by Roderick W. Smith, <a
  15 href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.com</a></p>
  16
  17 <p>Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update:
  18 12/21/2012, referencing rEFInd 0.6.1</p>
  19
  20
  21 <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>
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  87 <hr />
  88
  89 <p>This page is part of the documentation for the rEFInd boot manager. If a Web search has brought you here, you may want to start at the <a href="index.html">main page.</a></p>
  90
  91 <hr />
  92
  93 <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>
  94
  95 <p>Once you've uncompressed a rEFInd binary zip file, you must install it to your computer's ESP (or conceivably to some other location). The details of how you do this depend on your OS and your computer (UEFI-based PC vs. Macintosh). The upcoming sections provide details. For Linux and Mac OS X, you can use the installation script, <a href="#installsh"><tt>install.sh</tt>,</a> which provides easy one-command installation on most systems. Occasionally this script will fail, though, so I also provide explicit instructions for <a href="#linux">Linux</a> and <a href="#osx">Mac OS X.</a> Installation under <a href="#windows">Windows</a> also must be done manually. You can even install rEFInd using an <a href="#efishell">EFI shell</a> (version 2 only). In some cases, you'll have to deviate from the default naming conventions, as described in <a href="#naming">a section on this topic.</a> If you're upgrading rEFInd, see the <a href="#upgrading">section on upgrading.</a> Finally, I describe how to install some <a href="#addons">additional components</a> you might find useful.</a></p>
  96
  97 <a name="installsh">
  98 <h2>Installing rEFInd Using <tt>install.sh</tt> under Linux or Mac OS X</h2>
  99
 100 <p class="sidebar"><b>Warning:</b> If you're using a Macintosh, you should run <tt>install.sh</tt> from Mac OS X rather than from Linux. If run from Linux, rEFInd is unlikely to be fully installed. Worse, it's conceivable that running <tt>install.sh</tt> from Linux will damage your firmware, requiring that it be re-flashed. The reason is that Apple uses non-standard methods to enable a boot loader, and the Linux functions in <tt>install.sh</tt> assume standard EFI installation methods.</p>
 101
 102 <p>If you're using Linux or Mac OS X, the easiest way to install rEFInd is to use the <tt>install.sh</tt> script. This script automatically copies rEFInd's files to your ESP or other target location and makes changes to your firmware's NVRAM settings so that rEFInd will start the next time you boot. If you've booted to OS X or in non-Secure-Boot EFI mode to Linux on a UEFI-based PC, <tt>install.sh</tt> will probably do the right thing, so you can get by with the quick instructions. If your setup is unusual, if your computer uses Secure Boot, or if you want to create a USB flash drive with rEFInd on it, you should read the <a href="#extra_installsh">extra instructions</a> for this utility.</p>
 103
 104 <h3>Quick <tt>install.sh</tt> Instructions</h3>
 105
 106 <p>Under Linux, the <tt>install.sh</tt> script installs rEFInd to your disk's ESP. Under Mac OS X, the script installs rEFInd to your current OS X boot partition by default; but you can install to your ESP instead by passing the script the <tt>--esp</tt> option. Under either OS, you can install to something other than the currently-running OS by using the <tt>--root <tt class="variable">/mountpoint</tt></tt> option. (See <a href="#table1">Table 1</a> for details.)</p>
 107
 108 <p>Before running this script under Linux, you should ensure that your ESP is mounted at <tt>/boot</tt> or <tt>/boot/efi</tt>, as described in more detail in the <a href="#linux">Installing rEFInd Manually Using Linux</a> section. (If you installed Linux in EFI mode, chances are your ESP is properly mounted.) This precaution isn't necessary under OS X.</p>
 109
 110 <p>A sample run under Linux looks something like this:</p>
 111
 112 <pre class="listing">
 113 # <tt class="userinput">./install.sh</tt>
 114 Installing rEFInd on Linux....
 115 ESP was found at /boot/efi using vfat
 116 Installing driver for ext4 (ext4_x64.efi)
 117 Copied rEFInd binary files
 118
 119 Copying sample configuration file as refind.conf; edit this file to configure
 120 rEFInd.
 121
 122
 123 Installation has completed successfully.</pre>
 124
 125 <p>The output under OS X is a bit different:</p>
 126
 127 <pre class="listing">
 128 $ <tt class="userinput">./install.sh</tt>
 129 Not running as root; attempting to elevate privileges via sudo....
 130 Password:
 131 Installing rEFInd on OS X....
 132 Installing rEFInd to the partition mounted at '/'
 133 Copied rEFInd binary files
 134
 135 Copying sample configuration file as refind.conf; edit this file to configure
 136 rEFInd.
 137
 138
 139 WARNING: If you have an Advanced Format disk, *DO NOT* attempt to check the
 140 bless status with 'bless --info', since this is known to cause disk corruption
 141 on some systems!!
 142
 143
 144 Installation has completed successfully.</pre>
 145
 146 <p>In either case, the details of the output differ depending on your existing configuration and how you ran the program. Unless you see an obvious warning or error, you shouldn't be concerned about minor deviations from these examples. If you run into such a situation, or if you want to install in an unusual way, read on....</p>
 147
 148 <a name="extra_installsh">
 149 <h3>Extra <tt>install.sh</tt> Instructions</h3>
 150 </a>
 151
 152 <p>Some details that can affect how the script runs include the following:</p>
 153
 154 <ul>
 155
 156 <li>If you run the script as an ordinary user, it attempts to acquire
 157     <tt>root</tt> privileges by using the <tt>sudo</tt> command. This works
 158     on Mac OS X and some Linux installations (such as under Ubuntu or if
 159     you've added yourself to the <tt>sudo</tt> users list), but on some
 160     Linux installations this will fail. On such systems, you should run
 161     <tt>install.sh</tt> as <tt>root</tt>.</li>
 162
 163 <li>Under OS X, you can run the script with a mouse by opening a Terminal
 164     session and then dragging-and-dropping the <tt>install.sh</tt> file to
 165     the Terminal window. You'll need to press the Return or Enter key to
 166     run the script.</li>
 167
 168 <li>If you're using OS X 10.7's Whole Disk Encryption (WDE) feature, you
 169     <i>must</i> install rEFInd to the ESP, so the <tt>--esp</tt> option to
 170     <tt>install.sh</tt> is required. I'm still a little bit foggy about
 171     what's required to boot the system once this is done; see <a
 172     href="https://sourceforge.net/p/refind/discussion/general/thread/5c7d0195/">this
 173     forum thread</a> for a discussion of the topic.</li>
 174
 175 <li>If you're replacing rEFIt with rEFInd on a Mac, there's a chance that
 176     <tt>install.sh</tt> will warn you about the presence of a program
 177     called <tt>/Library/StartupItems/rEFItBlesser</tt> and ask if you want
 178     to delete it. This program is designed to keep rEFIt set as the boot
 179     manager by automatically re-blessing it if the default boot manager
 180     changes. This is obviously undesirable if you install rEFInd as your
 181     primary boot manager, so it's generally best to remove this program. If
 182     you prefer to keep your options open, you can answer <tt
 183     class="userinput">N</tt> when <tt>install.sh</tt> asks if you want to
 184     delete rEFItBlesser, and instead manually copy it elsewhere. If you
 185     subsequently decide to go back to using rEFIt as your primary boot
 186     manager, you can restore rEFItBlesser to its place.</li>
 187
 188 <li>If you're using OS X and an Advanced Format disk, heed the warning that
 189     <tt>install.sh</tt> displays and <i><b>do not</b></i> use <tt>bless
 190     --info</tt> to check your installation status; this combination has
 191     been reported to cause disk corruption on some Macs!</li>
 192
 193 <li>If you intend to boot BIOS-based OSes on a UEFI-based PC, you
 194     <i>must</i> edit the <tt>refind.conf</tt> file's <tt>scanfor</tt> line
 195     to enable the relevant searches. This is <i>not</i> necessary on Macs,
 196     though; because of the popularity of dual boots with Windows on Macs,
 197     the BIOS/legacy scans are enabled by default on Macs.</li>
 198
 199 <li>On Linux, <tt>install.sh</tt> checks the filesystem type of the
 200     <tt>/boot</tt> directory and, if a matching filesystem driver is
 201     available, installs it. Note that the "<tt>/boot</tt> directory" may be
 202     on a separate partition or it may be part of your root (<tt>/</tt>)
 203     filesystem, in which case the driver for your root filesystem is
 204     installed. If <tt>install.sh</tt> detects that the filesystem in
 205     question is ext2fs or ext3fs, it installs the ext4fs driver, which can
 206     handle all three of these filesystem types. This feature is unlikely to
 207     work properly from an emergency system, although it might if you have a
 208     separate <tt>/boot</tt> partition and if you mount that partition at
 209     <tt>/boot</tt> in your emergency system, and the ESP at
 210     <tt>/boot/efi</tt>.</li>
 211
 212 <li>If you run <tt>install.sh</tt> on Linux and if
 213     <tt>/boot/refind_linux.conf</tt> doesn't already exist,
 214     <tt>install.sh</tt> creates this file and populates it with a few
 215     sample entries. If <tt>/boot</tt> is on a FAT partition (or HFS+ on a
 216     Mac), or if it's on an ext2fs, ext3fs, ext4fs, ReiserFS, or HFS+
 217     partition and you install an appropriate driver, the
 218     result is that rEFInd will detect your kernel and will probably boot it
 219     correctly. Some systems will require manual tweaking to
 220     <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt>, though&mdash;for instance, to add
 221     <tt>dolvm</tt> to the boot options on Gentoo systems that use LVM.</li>
 222
 223 </ul>
 224
 225 <p>In addition to these quirks, you should be aware of some options that <tt>install.sh</tt> supports to enable you to customize your installation in various ways. The syntax for <tt>install.sh</tt> is as follows:</p>
 226
 227 <pre class="listing">
 228 install.sh [--esp | --usedefault <tt class="variable">device-file</tt> | --root <tt class="variable">mount-point</tt> ] \
 229            [--nodrivers | --alldrivers] [--shim <tt class="variable">shim-filename</tt>] [--localkeys]
 230 </pre>
 231
 232 <p>The details of the options are summarized in <a href="#table1">Table 1.</a> Broadly speaking, they come in three classes: installation location options (<tt>--esp</tt>, <tt>--usedefault</tt>, and <tt>--root</tt>), driver options (<tt>--nodrivers</tt> and <tt>--alldrivers</tt>), and Secure Boot options (<tt>--shim</tt> and <tt>--localkeys</tt>). Using some of these options in unusual conditions can generate warnings and prompts to confirm your actions. In particular, using <tt>--shim</tt> or <tt>--localkeys</tt> when you're <i>not</i> booted in Secure Boot mode, or failing to use <tt>--shim</tt> when you <i>are</i> booted in Secure Boot mode, will generate a query and a request to confirm your installation. Consult the <a href="secureboot.html">Managing Secure Boot</a> page for more on this topic.</p>
 233
 234 <table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="2" summary="Table 1: Options to <tt>install.sh</tt>"><a name="table1"><caption><b>Table 1: Options to <tt>install.sh</tt></b></caption></a>
 235 <tr>
 236    <th>Option</th>
 237    <th>Explanation</th>
 238 </tr>
 239 <tr>
 240    <td><tt>--esp</tt></td>
 241    <td>This option tells <tt>install.sh</tt> to install rEFInd to the ESP of your computer. This option is only useful on OS X; on Linux, installing to the ESP is a practical necessity, so <tt>--esp</tt> is implicit on Linux. Be aware that some users have reported sluggish boots when installing rEFInd to the ESP on Macs. Installing rEFInd anywhere but the ESP makes little sense on UEFI-based PCs, except for the partial exception of removable boot media, which you can prepare with <tt>--usedefault</tt>.</td>
 242 </tr>
 243 <tr>
 244    <td><tt>--usedefault <tt class="variable">device-file</tt></tt></td>
 245    <td>You can install rEFInd to a disk using the default/fallback filename of <tt>EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi</tt> (and <tt>EFI/BOOT/bootia32.efi</tt>, if the 32-bit build is available) using this option. The <tt class="variable">device-file</tt> should be an <i>unmounted</i> ESP, or at least a FAT partition, as in <tt>--usedefault /dev/sdc1</tt>. Your computer's NVRAM entries will <i>not</i> be modified when installing in this way. The intent is that you can create a bootable USB flash drive or install rEFInd on a computer that tends to "forget" its NVRAM settings with this option. This option is mutually exclusive with <tt>--esp</tt> and <tt>--root</tt> (except for implicit use of <tt>--esp</tt> on Linux).</td>
 246 </tr>
 247 <tr>
 248    <td><tt>--root <tt class="variable">/mount-point</tt></tt></td>
 249    <td>This option is intended to help install rEFInd from a "live CD" or other emergency system. To use it, you should mount your regular installation at <tt class="variable">/mount-point</tt>, including your <tt>/boot</tt> directory (if it's separate) at <tt class="variable">/mount-point</tt><tt>/boot</tt> and (on Linux) your ESP at that location or at <tt class="variable">/mount-point</tt><tt>/boot/efi</tt>. The <tt>install.sh</tt> script then installs rEFInd to the appropriate location&mdash;on Linux, <tt class="variable">/mount-point</tt><tt>/boot/EFI/refind</tt> or <tt class="variable">/mount-point</tt><tt>/boot/efi/EFI/refind</tt>, depending on where you've mounted your ESP; or on OS X, to <tt class="variable">/mount-point</tt><tt>/EFI/refind</tt>. The script also adds an entry to your NVRAM for rEFInd at this location. You cannot use this option with either <tt>--esp</tt> or <tt>--usedefault</tt>, except for implicit use of <tt>--esp</tt> on Linux. Note that this option is <i>not</i> needed when doing a dual-boot Linux/OS X installation; just install normally in OS X.</td>
 250 </tr>
 251 <tr>
 252    <td><tt>--nodrivers</tt></td>
 253    <td>Ordinarily <tt>install.sh</tt> attempts to install the driver required to read <tt>/boot</tt> on Linux. This attempt works only if you're using ext2fs, ext3fs, ext4fs, or ReiserFS on the relevant partition. If you want to forego this driver installation, pass the <tt>--nodrivers</tt> option. This option is the default on OS X or when you use <tt>--usedefault</tt>.</td>
 254 </tr>
 255 <tr>
 256    <td><tt>--alldrivers</tt></td>
 257    <td>When you specify this option, <tt>install.sh</tt> copies <i>all</i> the driver files for your architecture. You may want to remove unused driver files after you use this option, especially if your computer uses Secure Boot.</td>
 258 </tr>
 259 <tr>
 260    <td><tt>--shim <tt class="variable">shim-filename</tt></tt></td>
 261    <td>If you pass this option to <tt>install.sh</tt>, the script will copy the specified shim program file to the target directory, copy the <tt>MokManager.efi</tt> file from the shim program file's directory to the target directory, copy the 64-bit version of rEFInd as <tt>grubx64.efi</tt>, and register shim with the firmware. (If you also specify <tt>--usedefault</tt>, the NVRAM registration is skipped.) The intent is to simplify rEFInd installation on a computer that uses Secure Boot; when so set up, rEFInd will boot in Secure Boot mode, with one caveat: The first time you boot, MokManager will launch, and you must use it to locate and install a public key. This key file will be located in the rEFInd directory's <tt>keys</tt> subdirectory under the name <tt>refind.cer</tt>. Note that I'm not providing a shim binary myself, but you can download one from <a href="http://www.codon.org.uk/~mjg59/shim-signed/">here.</a> In the not-too-distant future, most distributions will provide their own shim programs, so you'll be able to point to them&mdash;for instance, in <tt>/boot/efi/EFI/fedora/shim.efi</tt>.</td>
 262 </tr>
 263 <tr>
 264    <td><tt>--localkeys</tt></td>
 265    <td>This option tells <tt>install.sh</tt> to generate a new Machine Owner Key (MOK), store it in <tt>/etc/refind.d/keys</tt> as <tt>refind_local.*</tt>, and re-sign all the 64-bit rEFInd binaries with this key before installing them. This is the preferable way to install rEFInd in Secure Boot mode, since it means your binaries will be signed locally rather than with my own key, which is used to sign many other users' binaries; however, this method requires that both the <tt>openssl</tt> and <tt>sbsign</tt> binaries be installed. The former is readily available in most distributions' repositories, but the latter is not, so this option is not the default.</td>
 266 </tr>
 267 </table>
 268
 269 <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>
 270
 271 <a name="linux">
 272 <h2>Installing rEFInd Manually Using Linux</h2>
 273 </a>
 274
 275 <p>On a UEFI-based PC, you'll normally install rEFInd to the ESP, which is usually mounted at <tt>/boot/efi</tt>. You can verify that this is the case by using the <tt>df</tt> command:</p>
 276
 277 <pre class="listing">
 278 $ <b>df /boot/efi</b>
 279 Filesystem     1K-blocks  Used Available Use% Mounted on
 280 /dev/sda1         191284 16604    174681   9% /boot/efi
 281 </pre>
 282
 283 <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 Mac OS 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>
 284
 285 <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. (An exception is if you're mounting the ESP at <tt>/boot</tt>. This is an unusual configuration. If you're using it, you can proceed, making suitable adjustments to subsequent commands.) 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>
 286
 287 <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>
 288
 289 <ol>
 290
 291 <li>Type <tt><b>cp -r refind /boot/efi/EFI/</b></tt> from the <tt>refind-<i>version</i></tt> directory in which the <tt>refind</tt> directory exists. This copies all the files that rEFInd needs to work. Note that this includes <i>all</i> of rEFInd's drivers. This command also copies the rEFInd binaries as signed by me; if you prefer to re-sign the binaries yourself, you'll have to do so before or during the copy operation, as described on the <a href="secureboot.html">Managing Secure Boot</a> page.</li>
 292
 293 <li>Type <tt><b>cd /boot/efi/EFI/refind</b></tt> to change into rEFInd's new directory on the ESP.</li>
 294
 295 <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. (Note that you must keep the version that's the correct bit width for your EFI; if you've installed a 32-bit Linux on a 64-bit PC with a 64-bit EFI, you'd keep <tt>refind_x64.efi</tt>.</li>
 296
 297 <li>Optionally, type <tt class="userinput">rm -r drivers_ia32</tt> to remove the <i>x</i>86 drivers from an <i>x</i>86-64 system, or <tt class="userinput">rm -r drivers_x64</tt> to remove the <i>x</i>86-64 drivers from a 32-bit <i>x</i>86 system. You may also want to remove some or all of the drivers for the architecture you are using. If you don't need them, they'll slow down the start process, and worse, if you're using Secure Boot, rEFInd can load just one shim/MOK-signed driver. See the <a href="drivers.html">page on drivers</a> for more on this topic.</li>
 298
 299 <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>
 300
 301 <p class="sidebar"><b>Weird:</b> A <a href="http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/20187.html">bug exists</a> in some Lenovo computers (and perhaps in some others, too) that causes the firmware's boot manager to refuse to boot any boot loader that doesn't have the name <tt>Windows Boot Manager</tt> or <tt>Red Hat Enterprise Linux</tt>. If you have such a system, you must pass one of those names (in quotes) rather than <tt>rEFInd</tt> to <tt>efibootmgr</tt> via its <tt>-L</tt> option. This bug was reported to Lenovo in mid-November 2012, so with any luck updated firmware without this bug will be available later this year or early in 2013. I can make no promises about this, though.</p>
 302
 303 <a name="efibootmgr">
 304 <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 also need to include additional options if your ESP isn't on <tt>/dev/sda1</tt> or if your configuration is otherwise unusual; consult the <tt>efibootmgr</tt> man page for details. You may need to install this program on some systems; it's a standard part of most distributions' repositories. Also, if you're installing in Secure Boot mode, you must normally register <tt>shim.efi</tt> rather than the rEFInd binary, and rename <tt>refind_x64.efi</tt> to <tt>grubx64.efi</tt>.</li>
 305 </a>
 306
 307 <li>If other boot loaders are already installed, you can use <tt>efibootmgr</tt> to adjust their boot order. For instance, <b><tt>efibootmgr -o 3,7,2</tt></b> sets the firmware to try boot loader #3 first, followed by #7, followed by #2. (The program should have displayed a list of boot loaders when you added yours in the preceding step.) Place rEFInd's number first to set it as the default boot program.</li>
 308
 309 </ol>
 310
 311 <p>Note the use of doubled-up backslashes (<tt>\\</tt>) rather than forward slashes (<tt>/</tt>) in the directory separators when using <tt>efibootmgr</tt>. This command will work on most systems that are already booted into EFI mode; however, it won't work if you're booted in BIOS mode. You may also need to add options if your ESP is in some unusual location or if your system is unusual in some way. Consult the <tt>efibootmgr</tt> man page if you need help.</p>
 312
 313 <p>On some systems, <tt>efibootmgr</tt> won't do what you expect. On such systems, you may have better luck renaming the rEFInd files, as described in the <a href="#naming">Alternative Naming Options</a> section.</p>
 314
 315 <a name="osx">
 316 <h2>Installing rEFInd Manually Using Mac OS X</h2>
 317 </a>
 318
 319 <p>Before installing rEFInd on a Mac, you must determine whether it uses a 32-bit or 64-bit EFI implementation. Most Intel-based Macs have 64-bit EFIs, so you should use the <tt>refind_x64.efi</tt> file with them; 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>
 320
 321 <pre class="listing">
 322 $ <b>ioreg -l -p IODeviceTree | grep firmware-abi</b>
 323 </pre>
 324
 325 <p>The result should include either <tt>EFI32</tt> or <tt>EFI64</tt>, indicating that you should use the <tt>refind_ia32.efi</tt> or <tt>refind_x64.efi</tt> binary, respectively.</p>
 326
 327 <p class="sidebar"><b>Warning:</b> Numerous rEFIt bug reports indicate disk corruption problems on disks over about 500 GiB. <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>
 328
 329 <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>
 330
 331 <ol>
 332
 333 <li>Open a Terminal window in which you'll type the following
 334     commands.</li>
 335
 336 <li>If you want to install rEFInd on your ESP, you must first mount it. You
 337     can do this by typing <b><tt>mkdir /Volumes/esp</tt></b> followed by
 338     <b><tt>sudo mount -t msdos /dev/disk0s1 /Volumes/esp</tt></b>. Note
 339     that this step is usually optional, and it makes the procedure a bit
 340     more complex, so you might want to forego it. On the other hand,
 341     installing to the ESP is required if you're using the whole-disk
 342     encryption feature of OS X 10.7. Note that you may need to change
 343     <tt>/dev/disk0s1</tt> to something else if your ESP is at an unusual
 344     location. Use a tool such as my <a
 345     href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/">GPT fdisk (<tt>gdisk</tt>)</a>
 346     to examine your partition table to find your ESP if necessary.</li>
 347
 348 <li>Type <b><tt>sudo mkdir -p /efi/refind</tt></b> to create a suitable
 349     directory for rEFInd. If you want to place rEFInd on the ESP or some
 350     other partition, you should adjust the pathname appropriately, as in
 351     <tt>/Volumes/esp/efi/refind</tt>. Alternatively, you can use the Finder
 352     to create the directory.</li>
 353
 354 <li>Copy the files in the <tt>refind</tt> subdirectory of the rEFInd binary
 355     package to the like-named directory you've just created. You can do
 356     this in the Finder or by typing <b><tt>sudo cp -r refind/*
 357     /efi/refind/</tt></b> in your Terminal window after changing into the
 358     rEFInd package's main directory.</li>
 359
 360 <li>Remove the file for the version of rEFInd you're not using, as in
 361     <b><tt>sudo rm /efi/refind/refind_ia32.efi</tt></b> on a Mac with a
 362     64-bit EFI or <b><tt>sudo rm /efi/refind/refind_x64.efi</tt></b> on a
 363     Mac with a 32-bit EFI.</li>
 364
 365 <li>Optionally, remove the drivers directory for the architecture you're
 366     not using&mdash;<tt>/efi/refind/drivers_ia32</tt> or
 367     <tt>/efi/refind/drivers_x64</tt>, as appropriate. You may also want to
 368     remove some or all of the drivers for the architecture you are using;
 369     if you don't need them, they'll slow down the start process. See the <a
 370     href="drivers.html">page on drivers</a> for more on this topic. Note
 371     that Apple's firmware includes its own HFS+ driver, so the HFS+ driver
 372     provided with rEFInd is useless on Macs.</li>
 373
 374 <li>If this is your first installation, type <b><tt>sudo mv
 375     /efi/refind/refind.conf-sample /efi/refind/refind.conf</tt></b>
 376     (adjusting the path as necessary) to rename the sample configuration
 377     file so that it will serve as a real configuration file. (Again, you
 378     can do this with the Finder, if you prefer.)</li>
 379
 380 <li>"Bless" rEFInd by typing one of the following two commands:
 381     <ul>
 382     <li>If you're installing rEFInd to an ordinary HFS+ volume, type <tt
 383         class="userinput">sudo bless --setBoot --folder /efi/refind --file
 384         /efi/refind/refind_x64.efi</tt>. (Adjust the path and filename as
 385         necessary if you're placing rEFInd somewhere else or using the
 386         32-bit version.)</li>
 387     <li>If you're installing rEFInd on the ESP, type <tt
 388         class="userinput">sudo bless --mount /Volumes/esp --setBoot --file
 389         /Volumes/esp/efi/refind/refind_x64.efi</tt>, adjusting the mount
 390         point and exact path to the file as appropriate for your
 391         installation.</li>
 392     </ul>
 393     As per the Warning earlier, <i>do not</i> use <tt>bless</tt>'s
 394     <tt>--info</tt> option to try to confirm the change to the boot status
 395     unless you're certain you do <i>not</i> have an Advanced Format hard
 396     disk.</li>
 397
 398 <li>If you don't want to reboot immediately after installing rEFInd, you
 399     may optionally unmount the ESP by typing <tt class="userinput">sudo
 400     umount /dev/disk0s1</tt> or <tt class="userinput">sudo umount
 401     /Volumes/esp</tt>. This step isn't strictly required, but if you want
 402     to keep the ESP out of your directory tree, it can be useful.</li>
 403
 404 </ol>
 405
 406 <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>
 407
 408 <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>
 409
 410 <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>
 411
 412 <a name="windows">
 413 <h2>Installing rEFInd Manually Using Windows</h2>
 414 </a>
 415
 416 <p class="sidebar"><b>Warning:</b> Windows 8 implements a fast shutdown feature that helps speed up shutdown and startup operations on a single-boot computer. Unfortunately, this feature can cause filesystem corruption if it's used on a multi-boot computer. You can disable the feature by launching an Administrator Command Prompt window and typing <tt class="userinput">powercfg /h off</tt> in it.</p>
 417
 418 <p>To install rEFInd under Windows, you must first find a way to access the ESP, which Windows normally hides from view. One way to accomplish this goal, and to proceed forward once the ESP is accessible, is as follows:</p>
 419
 420 <ol>
 421
 422 <li>Locate Command Prompt in the Start menu, right-click it, and select Run as Administrator. This action opens a Command Prompt window with administrative privileges.</li>
 423
 424 <li>Type <b><tt>mountvol S: /S</tt></b> in the Administrator Command Prompt window. This makes the ESP accessible as drive <tt>S:</tt> from that window. (You can use a drive identifier other than <tt>S:</tt> if you like.)</li>
 425
 426 <li>Change into the main rEFInd package directory, so that the <tt>refind</tt> subdirectory is visible when you type <b><tt>dir</tt></b>.</li>
 427
 428 <li>Type <b><tt>xcopy /E refind S:\EFI\refind\</tt></b> to copy the <tt>refind</tt> directory tree to the ESP's <tt>EFI</tt> directory. If you omit the trailing backslash from this command, <tt>xcopy</tt> will ask if you want to create the <tt>refind</tt> directory. Tell it to do so.</li>
 429
 430 <li>Type <b><tt>cd S:</tt></b> to change to the ESP.</li>
 431
 432 <li>Type <b><tt>cd EFI\refind</tt></b> to change into the <tt>refind</tt> subdirectory</li>
 433
 434 <li>Type <b><tt>del refind_ia32.efi</tt></b> to delete the unused 32-bit version of rEFInd. (Windows only supports EFI boots on 64-bit EFI implementations and in 64-bit versions of Windows.)</li>
 435
 436 <li>Optionally type <tt class="userinput">rd /s drivers_ia32</tt> to delete the <tt>drivers_ia32</tt> directory and its contents. You may also want to selectively delete some of the drivers in the <tt>drivers_x64</tt> directory, depending on your needs. Unnecessary drivers may slow the rEFInd start process. See the <a href="drivers.html">page on drivers</a> for more on this topic.</li>
 437
 438 <li>Type <b><tt>rename refind.conf-sample refind.conf</tt></b> to rename rEFInd's configuration file.</li>
 439
 440 <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>
 441
 442 <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>
 443
 444 </ol>
 445
 446 <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>
 447
 448 <ul>
 449
 450 <li>You can rename files on the ESP. as described in the next section, <a href="#naming">Alternative Naming Options.</a></li>
 451
 452 <li>You can boot from an optical disc into an emergency OS to do the job. Ubuntu, for instance, provides an EFI-bootable installer with a "try before installation" mode. You'll need to type <b><tt>sudo apt-get install efibootmgr</tt></b> to install <tt>efibootmgr</tt>, but you can then use that program as described <a href="#efibootmgr">earlier</a>. (If you're using Ubuntu, you'll need to precede the command with <b><tt>sudo</tt></b>.</li>
 453
 454 <li>You may be able to use rEFInd's bootable CD image to use rEFInd to boot an OS that's been installed but rendered inoperable because of changes to your boot order. You can then use <tt>efibootmgr</tt>, <tt>bless</tt>, or some other tool to restore rEFInd as the default boot loader.</li>
 455
 456 </ul>
 457
 458 <a name="efishell">
 459 <h2>Installing rEFInd Manually Using Windows</h2>
 460 </a>
 461
 462 <p>If you can't currently boot any OS (say, because a firmware update has wiped your NVRAM entries), you may find it convenient to install rEFInd using an EFI version 2 shell. Unfortunately, the <tt>bcfg</tt> command described here is not available in the EFI version 1 shell, and the version 2 shell is unusable on many firmware implementations prior to 2.3.1. Thus, this procedure won't work for all systems.</p>
 463
 464 <p>In addition to emergency situations, using <tt>bcfg</tt> can be desirable if <tt>efibootmgr</tt> or other OS-hosted tools don't do the job. This happens under VirtualBox, for instance. An alternative in such cases can be to use <a href="#naming">alternative names for rEFInd.</a></p>
 465
 466 <p>To begin, you must have a way to launch your shell. Unfortunately, this can pose a dilemma, since without rEFInd or some other boot manager, many EFI implementations lack the means to launch a shell. Some will do so, though, if the shell is stored as <tt>shellx64.efi</tt> (for <i>x</i>86-64) or <tt>shellia32.efi</tt> (for <i>x</i>86) in the root directory of the ESP. Thus, you can try copying your shell file there. You can obtain EFI 2 shells here:</p>
 467
 468 <ul>
 469
 470 <li><a href="https://edk2.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/edk2/trunk/edk2/ShellBinPkg/UefiShell/X64/Shell.efi"><i>x</i>86-64 (64-bit) shell 2</a></li>
 471
 472 <li><a href="https://edk2.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/edk2/trunk/edk2/ShellBinPkg/UefiShell/Ia32/Shell.efi"><i>x</i>86 (32-bit) shell 2</a></li>
 473
 474 </ul>
 475
 476 <p>Note that the shell included in rEFInd's CD-R image version is a version 1 shell, so you can't use it for this purpose. You can, however, copy rEFInd's files from the CD-R. You can even launch the version 1 shell included with rEFInd and then use that to launch a version 2 shell. Once you've booted the shell, you can proceed as follows:</p>
 477
 478 <ol>
 479
 480 <li>If you haven't installed rEFInd previously, unpack its zip file to a
 481     FAT partition. This can be the ESP itself or another partition, such as
 482     a USB flash drive. If you're simply repairing a lost NVRAM entry, you
 483     needn't move your existing rEFInd files.</li>
 484
 485 <li>Identify your filesystems, which are labelled with the form <tt>fs<tt
 486     style="variable">n</tt>:</tt>, as in <tt>fs0:</tt> for the first
 487     filesystem, <tt>fs1:</tt> for the second, and so on. Type the
 488     filesystem number followed by the Enter key to begin using it. You can
 489     then type <tt class="userinput">ls</tt> or <tt
 490     class="userinput">dir</tt> to see the contents of the filesystem.
 491     Chances are your ESP will be <tt>fs0:</tt>, but it could be something
 492     else. (The following steps assume your ESP is <tt>fs0:</tt>; you'll
 493     need to adjust them if it's not.) If rEFInd's source files are on
 494     another device, you must identify it, too.</li>
 495
 496 <p class="sidebar"><b>Note:</b> Skip ahead to step #9 if you're merely re-activating an already-installed rEFInd binary. If an entry exists but it's no longer the primary one, you can skip ahead to step #14.</p>
 497
 498 <li>If necessary, create a directory for rEFInd by typing <tt
 499     class="userinput">mkdir fs0:\EFI\refind</tt>. (If the <tt>fs0:\EFI</tt>
 500     directory doesn't already exist, you must create it first,
 501     though.)</li>
 502
 503 <li>Change to the directory in which rEFInd's files exist.</li>
 504
 505 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">cp refind_x64.efi fs0:\EFI\refind</tt> to
 506     copy the rEFInd binary file. (Adjust the name if you're using a 32-bit
 507     computer.)</li>
 508
 509 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">cp refind.conf-sample
 510     fs0:\EFI\refind\refind.conf</tt> to copy and rename the sample rEFInd
 511     configuration file.</li>
 512
 513 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">cp -r icons fs0:\EFI\refind\</tt> to copy
 514     rEFInd's icons.</li>
 515
 516 <li>Optionally, type <tt class="userinput">cp -r drivers_x64
 517     fs0:\EFI\refind\</tt> to copy rEFInd's 64-bit drivers. (You could
 518     instead copy the 32-bit drivers or limit yourself to just the drivers
 519     you need, of course.)</li>
 520
 521 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">fs0:</tt>, if necessary, to change to the
 522     ESP.</li>
 523
 524 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">cd \EFI\refind</tt> to change to rEFInd's
 525     installation directory.</li>
 526
 527 <li>If you want to edit rEFInd's options, type <tt class="userinput">edit
 528     refind.conf</tt> and use the shell's built-in text editor to do so.
 529     Press F2 followed by the Enter key to save your changes and F3 to
 530     exit.</li>
 531
 532 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">bcfg boot dump -b</tt> to see a list of
 533     existing NVRAM entries. Pay attention to their numbers (labelled
 534     <tt>Option:</tt> and <tt>Variable:</tt>, with the latter number
 535     preceded by the string <tt>Boot</tt>, as in <tt>Boot0007</tt>). You'll
 536     want to create a boot entry for rEFInd using a number that's not in
 537     use.</li>
 538
 539 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">bcfg boot add 3
 540     fs0:\EFI\refind\refind_x64.efi "rEFInd"</tt>, adjusting the number
 541     (<tt>3</tt> in this example), filesystem (<tt>fs0:</tt>), and filename
 542     (<tt>\EFI\refind\refind_x64.efi</tt>) as necessary for your system. If
 543     you're used to Linux, be sure to use backslashes (<tt>\</tt>), not
 544     Linux-style forward slashes (<tt>/</tt>) as directory separators. Note
 545     that some shells may ignore the number you entered and use another one,
 546     so watch for this possibility.</li>
 547
 548 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">bcfg boot mv <i>3</i> 0</tt>, substituting
 549     the option number for the entry you created for <tt
 550     class="variable">3</tt>. This moves rEFInd to the top of the boot
 551     order.</li>
 552
 553 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">reset</tt> to reboot the computer.</li>
 554
 555 </ol>
 556
 557 <p>With any luck, rEFInd will start up at this point. If not, you can check your settings using a shell or an emergency system for your OS of choice. In an EFI shell, you might type <tt class="userinput">bcfg boot dump -b</tt> to view your boot loader entries and verify that rEFInd appears at the top of the list. Be sure to check the pathname for typos. If you continue to have problems, you might look into giving rEFInd a <a href="#naming">fallback filename</a> that your firmware will recognize.</p>
 558
 559 <a name="naming">
 560 <h2>Alternative Naming Options</h2>
 561 </a>
 562
 563 <p>Some EFI implementations do a poor job of honoring the boot options set via Linux's <tt>efibootmgr</tt> or other tools. You may also lack access to such utilities, such as if you must install rEFInd in Windows. In such cases, you may need to change the boot loader's name so that the EFI will see it as the default boot loader. rEFInd should then boot when your NVRAM lacks information on specific boot loaders to use. To do this, follow these steps:</p>
 564
 565 <ol>
 566
 567 <li>Access your ESP and install rEFInd to it, as described in earlier sections.</li>
 568
 569 <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>
 570
 571 <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>
 572
 573 <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>
 574
 575 <li>Rename <tt>EFI/BOOT/refind_x64.efi</tt> to the name of the boot loader it's replacing&mdash;it should become <tt>EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi</tt> or <tt>EFI/Microsoft/BOOT/bootmgfw.efi</tt>.</li>
 576
 577 </ol>
 578
 579 <p>When you reboot, rEFInd should come up. With any luck, it will detect your old boot loader as an option, if one was installed before.</p>
 580
 581 <a name="upgrading">
 582 <h2>Upgrading rEFInd</h2>
 583 </a>
 584
 585 <p>If you've installed an earlier version of rEFInd, you can upgrade a bit more easily than you can install directly:</p>
 586
 587 <ul>
 588
 589 <li>On a UEFI-based PC, under any OS, you should be able to replace your
 590     old rEFInd file with the new one. Make sure that the new rEFInd has the
 591     same name as the old one, and that it's for the correct CPU type. Since
 592     UEFI launches boot programs by filename, a simple file replacement will
 593     suffice to launch the new version. If the new version includes new
 594     icons, you may want to copy some or all of them.</li>
 595
 596 <li>On a Mac, you can copy over the old rEFInd binary file <i>from
 597     Linux</i> and it will usually work, provided you copy <i>directly</i>
 598     over the old file (rather than rename or delete the old file and then
 599     copy the new one in its place). The same caveats about icons as apply
 600     to UEFI-based PCs apply in this case. This method requires an extra
 601     step in Mac OS X, though....</li>
 602
 603 <li>In OS X, if you copy over the original file with the new one, you'll
 604     probably have to re-bless it to make it work.</li>
 605
 606 <li>Under Linux or OS X, you can re-run the <tt>install.sh</tt> script. In
 607     most cases this works fine, but you'll end up with a duplicate of the
 608     icons directory (<tt>icons-backup</tt>, which holds the original icons,
 609     whereas <tt>icons</tt> holds the icons from the new package). Normally
 610     this just wastes some disk space; but if you've customized your icons,
 611     you'll need to copy your altered icons back.</li>
 612
 613 </ul>
 614
 615 <p>In all cases, if the new version includes new or altered configuration file options, you may need to manually update your configuration file. Alternatively, if you've used the default configuration file, you can replace your working <tt>refind.conf</tt> with <tt>refind.conf-sample</tt> from the rEFInd zip file. (When using <tt>install.sh</tt>, this file will be copied to rEFInd's installation directory under its original name, so you can rename it within that directory to replace the old file.</p>
 616
 617 <p>If you're upgrading to rEFInd from rEFIt, you can simply run the <tt>install.sh</tt> script as described earlier or perform a manual installation. Once installed, rEFInd will take over boot manager duties. You'll still be able to launch rEFIt from rEFInd; a rEFIt icon will appear in rEFInd's menu. You can eliminate this option by removing the rEFIt files, which normally reside in <tt>/EFI/refit</tt>.</p>
 618
 619 <a name="addons">
 620 <h2>Installing Additional Components</h2>
 621 </a>
 622
 623 <p>rEFInd includes the ability to launch any EFI program; however, rEFInd detects only certain programs. These include boot loaders in traditional locations and a handful of other programs. To launch these other programs, you must download and install them separately from rEFInd:</p>
 624
 625 <ul>
 626
 627 <li><b><a
 628     href="http://tianocore.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=tianocore/edk2;a=blob_plain;f=EdkShellBinPkg/FullShell/X64/Shell_Full.efi;hb=HEAD"><tt>shell.efi</tt></a></b>&mdash;This
 629     file, placed in the ESP's <tt>efi/tools</tt> directory, adds the
 630     ability to launch a text-mode EFI shell from rEFInd. Note that the
 631     download link is to a 64-bit binary that must be renamed before rEFInd
 632     will recognize it. Additional shell download links appear on the <a
 633     href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface#UEFI_Shell_download_links">Arch
 634     Linux wiki,</a> and on other sites; try a Web search if the shell you
 635     find doesn't work to your satisfaction.</li>
 636
 637 <li><b><tt>gptsync.efi</tt></b>&mdash;This program creates a <a
 638     href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/hybrid.html">hybrid MBR</a> from
 639     your regular GPT disk. A hybrid MBR is a dangerous hack that enables
 640     Windows and OS X to coexist on a Macintosh disk. If you're using a
 641     UEFI-based PC, a hybrid MBR will be useless at best, so you shouldn't
 642     create one, and it's safest to not install <tt>gptsync.efi</tt>. If
 643     you're using a hybrid MBR to enable dual-booting Windows and OS X on a
 644     Mac, though, placing this program file in the ESP's or Mac boot
 645     partition's <tt>efi/tools</tt> directory will enable you to regenerate
 646     your hybrid MBR should some other tool convert the MBR to a standard
 647     protective MBR. You can obtain the file from the <a
 648     href="http://refit.sourceforge.net">original rEFIt package.</a></li>
 649
 650 <li><b>Drivers</b>&mdash;You can install drivers to extend the capabilities
 651     of the EFI. rEFInd ships with filesystem drivers for ext2fs and
 652     ReiserFS, which can enable you to boot a Linux kernel with EFI stub
 653     support from an ext2fs, ext3fs, ext4fs, or ReiserFS partition. (rEFInd also
 654     provides ISO-9660 and HFS+ drivers.) You can find additional drivers
 655     from other sources, although they're still on the scarce side. See the
 656     <a href="drivers.html">Using EFI Drivers</a> page for more on this
 657     topic.</li>
 658
 659 <li><b>Secure Boot files</b>&mdash;If you're running on a system that
 660     supports Secure Boot, chances are you'll need extra support files, such
 661     as <tt>shim.efi</tt> and <tt>MokManager.efi</tt>. I describe these in
 662     detail on the <a href="secureboot.html">Managing Secure Boot</a>
 663     page.</li>
 664
 665 </ul>
 666
 667 <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>
 668
 669 <a name="sluggish">
 670 <h2>Fixing a Sluggish Macintosh Boot</h2>
 671 </a>
 672
 673 <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>
 674
 675 <ol>
 676
 677 <li>Boot into Linux.</li>
 678
 679 <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>
 680
 681 <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>
 682
 683 <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>
 684
 685 </ol>
 686
 687 <p>Some sources suggest that delayed launches of rEFInd on Macs are more common when installing rEFInd to the ESP, so if you've done this, you could try re-installing it to your OS X boot partition.</p>
 688
 689 <a name="uninstalling">
 690 <h2>Uninstalling rEFInd</h2>
 691 </a>
 692
 693 <p>If you decide you don't want to keep rEFInd, you can uninstall it. Doing so is a matter of removing the rEFInd files from your ESP (or from your OS X boot partition, if you installed the program there). In Linux, a command like the following, typed as <tt>root</tt>, should do the trick:</p>
 694
 695 <pre class="listing">
 696 # <tt class="userinput">rm -r /boot/efi/EFI/refind</tt>
 697 </pre>
 698
 699 <p>This example assumes that your ESP is mounted at <tt>/boot/efi</tt> and that rEFInd is installed in <tt>EFI/refind</tt> on that partition. If you've mounted your ESP elsewhere, or installed rEFInd elsewhere, you should adjust the command appropriately.</p>
 700
 701 <p>The same procedure works in OS X, with the caveat that the ESP isn't normally mounted in OS X and rEFInd is installed to the OS X boot partition by default. You'll also need to use <tt>sudo</tt> to acquire <tt>root</tt> privileges. Thus, you'd probably use a command like the following in OS X:</p>
 702
 703 <pre class="listing">
 704 $ <tt class="userinput">sudo rm -r /EFI/refind</tt>
 705 </pre>
 706
 707 <p>Many variants of both of these commands are possible on both OS X and Linux. For instance, you'd probably use <tt>sudo</tt> on Ubuntu; and if you installed rEFInd to your ESP on a Mac, you'd need to first mount the ESP and include its path in the <tt>rm</tt> command.</p>
 708
 709 <p>From Windows, you must reverse the directions for <a href="#windows">installing in Windows</a>&mdash;type <tt class="userinput">mountvol S: /S</tt> to mount your ESP as <tt>S:</tt>, then navigate to the <tt>S:\EFI</tt> directory and delete the <tt>refind</tt> subdirectory.</p>
 710
 711 <p>In any of these cases, when the computer boots and cannot find the rEFInd files, it should move on to the next boot loader in its list. In my experience, some EFI firmware implementations remove boot loaders they can't find from their NVRAM lists, so nothing else will be required, provided you have another working boot loader in your firmware's list. If your firmware doesn't automatically clean up its NVRAM entries, rEFInd's entry will do little harm; however, you can delete it with the <tt>efibootmgr</tt> utility in Linux:</p>
 712
 713 <pre class="listing">
 714 # <tt class="userinput">efibootmgr --verbose</tt>
 715 Timeout: 10 seconds
 716 BootOrder: 0000,0007
 717 Boot0000* rEFInd        HD(2,1b8,64000,f1b7598e-baa8-16ea-4ef6-3ff3b606ac1e)File(\EFI\refind\refind.efi)
 718 Boot0007* CD/DVD Drive  BIOS(3,0,00)PATA: HP DVD Writer 1040r     .
 719 # <tt class="userinput">efibootmgr --delete-bootnum --bootnum 0000</tt>
 720 Timeout: 10 seconds
 721 BootOrder: 0007
 722 Boot0007* CD/DVD Drive</pre>
 723
 724 <p class="sidebar"><b>Warning:</b> As noted earlier, <tt>efibootmgr</tt> has been linked to firmware corruption on some Macs, at least with pre-3.0 Linux kernels. Therefore, I don't recommend using <tt>efibootmgr</tt> on Macs.</p>
 725
 726 <p>This example shows use of <tt>efibootmgr</tt>'s <tt>--verbose</tt> (<tt>-v</tt>) option to display boot loaders so as to identify which one is rEFInd, followed by <tt>--delete-bootnum</tt> (<tt>-B</tt>) to delete a boot program and <tt>--bootnum</tt> (<tt>-b</tt>) to identify which one to delete. Of course, in this example there's not much else left, so you'd presumably want to install another boot loader at this point! If you already have another one installed, you may want to check the <tt>BootOrder</tt> line to determine which one will take precedence when you reboot. If you don't like what it shows, you can adjust it with the <tt>--bootorder</tt> (<tt>-o</tt>) option; consult <tt>efibootmgr</tt>'s <tt>man</tt> page for details.</p>
 727
 728 <p>If you're not using Linux, you may be able to find a utility that serves a similar function. The OS X <tt>bless</tt> utility (or its GUI equivalent, the Startup Disk item in System Preferences) should do the trick; but Macs pick up standard OS X boot loaders when they boot and find that a configured non-standard boot loader is missing, so this shouldn't be necessary on Macs. Under Windows, the <tt>bcdedit</tt> command, described in the <a href="#windows">section on installing rEFInd under Windows,</a> may work, although I've not attempted this.</p>
 729
 730 <hr />
 731
 732 <p>copyright &copy; 2012 by Roderick W. Smith</p>
 733
 734 <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>
 735
 736 <p>If you have problems with or comments about this Web page, please e-mail me at <a href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.com.</a> Thanks.</p>
 737
 738 <p><a href="index.html">Go to the main rEFInd page</a></p>
 739
 740 <p><a href="using.html">Learn how to use rEFInd</a></p>
 741
 742   <p><a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/">Return</a> to my main Web page.</p>
 743 </body>
 744 </html>