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7 <title>The rEFInd Boot Manager: Installing rEFInd</title>
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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 5/15/2014, referencing rEFInd 0.8.1</p>
19
20
21 <p>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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125 <hr />
126
127 <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>
128
129 <hr />
130
131 <div style="float:right; width:55%">
132
133 <p><b>Don't be scared by the length of this page!</b> Only portions of this page apply to any given user, and most people can install rEFInd from an RPM or Debian package in a matter of seconds or by using the <tt>install.sh</tt> script in minute or two.</p>
134
135 <p>Once you've obtained a rEFInd binary 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. See the Contents sidebar to the left for links to specific installation procedures. For most Linux users, an RPM or Debian package is the best way to go. If your Linux system doesn't support these formats, though, or if you're running OS X, using the <tt>install.sh</tt> script can be a good way to go. If you're using Windows, you'll have to install manually.</p>
136
137 <p class="sidebar" style="width:95%"><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>
138
139 </div>
140
141 <div class="navbar">
142
143 <h4 class="tight">Contents</h4>
144
145 <ul class="tight">
146
147 <li class="tight"><a href="#packagefile">Installing rEFInd using an RPM or Debian package file</a></li>
148
149 <li class="tight"><a href="#installsh">Installing rEFInd Using <tt>install.sh</tt> under Linux or Mac OS X</a>
150
151 <ul class="tight">
152
153 <li class="tight"><a href="#quickstart">Quick <tt>install.sh</tt> Instructions</a></li>
154
155 <li class="tight"><a href="#extra_installsh">Extra <tt>install.sh</tt> Instructions</a></li>
156
157 </ul></li>
158
159 <li class="tight"><a href="#manual">Installing rEFInd Manually</a>
160
161 <ul>
162
163 <li class="tight"><a href="#linux">Installing rEFInd Manually Using Linux</a></li>
164
165 <li class="tight"><a href="#osx">Installing rEFInd Manually Using Mac OS X</a></li>
166
167 <li class="tight"><a href="#windows">Installing rEFInd Manually Using Windows</a></li>
168
169 <li class="tight"><a href="#efishell">Installing rEFInd Manually Using an EFI Shell</a></ul></li>
170
171 <li class="tight"><a href="#wde">Using OS X Whole-Disk Encryption</a></li>
172
173 <li class="tight"><a href="#naming">Alternative Naming Options</a>
174
175 <ul>
176
177 <li class="tight"><a href="#mvrefind">Using <tt>mvrefind.sh</tt></li>
178
179 <li class="tight"><a href="#manual_renaming">Renaming Files Manually</li>
180
181 </ul></li>
182
183 <li class="tight"><a href="#upgrading">Upgrading rEFInd</a></li>
184
185 <li class="tight"><a href="#addons">Installing Additional Components</a></li>
186
187 <li class="tight"><a href="#sluggish">Fixing a Macintosh Boot</a>
188
189 <ul>
190
191 <li class="tight"><a href="#moving">Moving rEFInd to an HFS+ Volume</a></li>
192
193 <li class="tight"><a href="#fallback">Using the Fallback Filename</a></li>
194
195 <li class="tight"><a href="#clearing">Clearing the NVRAM Entries</a></li>
196
197 </ul></li>
198
199 <li class="tight"><a href="#uninstalling">Uninstalling rEFInd</a></li>
200
201 </ul>
202
203 </div>
204
205 <a name="packagefile">
206 <h2>Installing rEFInd Using an RPM or Debian Package File</h2>
207 </a>
208
209 <p>Beginning with version 0.6.2, I've included RPM and Debian package files for rEFInd. If you have a working RPM-based or Debian-based Linux installation that boots in EFI mode, using one of these files is likely to be the easiest way to install rEFInd: You need only download the file and issue an appropriate installation command. In some cases, double-clicking the package in your file manager will install it. If that doesn't work, a command like the following will install the RPM on an RPM-based system:</p>
210
211 <pre class="listing"># <tt class="userinput">rpm -Uvh refind-0.8.1-1.x86_64.rpm</tt></pre>
212
213 <p>On a Debian-based system, the equivalent command is:</p>
214
215 <pre class="listing"># <tt class="userinput">dpkg -i refind_0.8.1-1_amd64.deb</tt></pre>
216
217 <p>Either command produces output similar to that described for <a href="#installsh">using the <tt>install.sh</tt> script,</a> so you can check it for error messages and other signs of trouble. The package file installs rEFInd and registers it with the EFI to be the default boot loader. The script that runs as part of the installation process tries to determine if you're using Secure Boot, and if so it will try to configure rEFInd to launch using shim; however, this won't work correctly on all systems. Ubuntu 12.10 users who are booting with Secure Boot active should be wary, since the resulting installation will probably try to use Ubuntu's version of shim, which won't work correctly with rEFInd.</p>
218
219 <p>Since version 0.6.3, the installation script makes an attempt to install rEFInd in a bootable way even if you run the script from a BIOS-mode boot, and therefore the RPM and Debian packages do the same. I cannot guarantee that this will work, though, and even if it does, some of the tricks that <tt>install.sh</tt> uses might not last for long. You might therefore want to use <tt><a href="#mvrefind">mvrefind.sh</a></tt> to move your rEFInd installation to another name after you boot Linux for the first time from rEFInd.</p>
220
221 <p>Since version 0.6.2-2, my package files have installed the rEFInd binaries to <tt>/usr/share/refind-<tt class="variable">version</tt></tt>, the documentation to <tt>/usr/share/doc/refind-<tt class="variable">version</tt></tt>, and a few miscellaneous files elsewhere. Upon installation, the package runs the <tt>install.sh</tt> script to copy the files to the ESP. This enables you to re-install rEFInd after the fact by running <tt>install.sh</tt>, should some other tool or OS wipe the ESP or should the installation go awry. In such cases you can <a href="#installsh">use <tt>install.sh</tt></a> or <a href="#manual">install manually.</a></p>
222
223 <a name="installsh">
224 <h2>Installing rEFInd Using <tt>install.sh</tt> under Linux or Mac OS X</h2>
225
226 <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>
227
228 <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>
229
230 <a name="quickstart">
231 <h3>Quick <tt>install.sh</tt> Instructions</h3>
232 </quickstart>
233
234 <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, or to a non-boot HFS+ partition by using the <tt>--ownhfs <tt class="variable">devicefile</tt></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>
235
236 <p>Under Linux, <tt>install.sh</tt> will be most reliable if your ESP is already 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.) If your ESP is not so mounted, <tt>install.sh</tt> will attempt to locate and mount an ESP, but this action is not guaranteed to work correctly. If you run <tt>install.sh</tt> from a BIOS/legacy-mode boot, particularly on a computer that also runs Windows, you should be aware that the tricks the script uses to install itself from BIOS mode are rather delicate. You can convert to a more conventional configuration using the <a href="#mvrefind"><tt>mvrefind.sh</tt> script.</a></p>
237
238 <p>Under OS X, <tt>install.sh</tt> attempts to install rEFInd to the OS X root partition by default. You can pass the script the <tt>--esp</tt> or <tt>--ownhfs <tt class="variable">device-file</tt></tt> option, as noted in <a href="#table1">Table 1,</a> to modify the installation location. This is helpful, and even necessary, in some cases, such as when your computer uses whole-disk encryption or if you use suspend-to-disk features.</p>
239
240 <p>A sample run under Linux looks something like this:</p>
241
242 <pre class="listing">
243 # <tt class="userinput">./install.sh</tt>
244 Installing rEFInd on Linux....
245 ESP was found at /boot/efi using vfat
246 Installing driver for ext4 (ext4_x64.efi)
247 Copied rEFInd binary files
248
249 Copying sample configuration file as refind.conf; edit this file to configure
250 rEFInd.
251
252
253 Installation has completed successfully.</pre>
254
255 <p>The output under OS X is a bit different:</p>
256
257 <pre class="listing">
258 $ <tt class="userinput">./install.sh</tt>
259 Not running as root; attempting to elevate privileges via sudo....
260 Password:
261 Installing rEFInd on OS X....
262 Installing rEFInd to the partition mounted at '/'
263 Copied rEFInd binary files
264
265 Copying sample configuration file as refind.conf; edit this file to configure
266 rEFInd.
267
268
269 WARNING: If you have an Advanced Format disk, *DO NOT* attempt to check the
270 bless status with 'bless --info', since this is known to cause disk corruption
271 on some systems!!
272
273
274 Installation has completed successfully.</pre>
275
276 <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>
277
278 <a name="extra_installsh">
279 <h3>Extra <tt>install.sh</tt> Instructions</h3>
280 </a>
281
282 <p>Some details that can affect how the script runs include the following:</p>
283
284 <ul>
285
286 <li>If you run the script as an ordinary user, it attempts to acquire
287 <tt>root</tt> privileges by using the <tt>sudo</tt> command. This works
288 on Mac OS X and some Linux installations (such as under Ubuntu or if
289 you've added yourself to the <tt>sudo</tt> users list), but on some
290 Linux installations this will fail. On such systems, you should run
291 <tt>install.sh</tt> as <tt>root</tt>.</li>
292
293 <li>Under OS X, you can run the script with a mouse by opening a Terminal
294 session and then dragging-and-dropping the <tt>install.sh</tt> file to
295 the Terminal window. You'll need to press the Return or Enter key to
296 run the script.</li>
297
298 <li>If you're using OS X 10.7's Whole Disk Encryption (WDE) feature, you
299 <i>must</i> install rEFInd to the ESP, so the <tt>--esp</tt> or
300 <tt>--ownhfs <tt class="variable">device-file</tt></tt> option to
301 <tt>install.sh</tt> is required. I'm still a little bit foggy about
302 what's required to boot the system once this is done; see <a
303 href="https://sourceforge.net/p/refind/discussion/general/thread/5c7d0195/">this
304 forum thread</a> for a discussion of the topic.</li>
305
306 <li>If you're replacing rEFIt with rEFInd on a Mac, there's a chance that
307 <tt>install.sh</tt> will warn you about the presence of a program
308 called <tt>/Library/StartupItems/rEFItBlesser</tt> and ask if you want
309 to delete it. This program is designed to keep rEFIt set as the boot
310 manager by automatically re-blessing it if the default boot manager
311 changes. This is obviously undesirable if you install rEFInd as your
312 primary boot manager, so it's generally best to remove this program. If
313 you prefer to keep your options open, you can answer <tt
314 class="userinput">N</tt> when <tt>install.sh</tt> asks if you want to
315 delete rEFItBlesser, and instead manually copy it elsewhere. If you
316 subsequently decide to go back to using rEFIt as your primary boot
317 manager, you can restore rEFItBlesser to its place.</li>
318
319 <li>If you're using OS X and an Advanced Format disk, heed the warning that
320 <tt>install.sh</tt> displays and <i><b>do not</b></i> use <tt>bless
321 --info</tt> to check your installation status; this combination has
322 been reported to cause disk corruption on some Macs!</li>
323
324 <li>If you intend to boot BIOS-based OSes on a UEFI-based PC, you
325 <i>must</i> edit the <tt>refind.conf</tt> file's <tt>scanfor</tt> line
326 to enable the relevant searches. This is <i>not</i> necessary on Macs,
327 though; because of the popularity of dual boots with Windows on Macs,
328 the BIOS/legacy scans are enabled by default on Macs.</li>
329
330 <li>On Linux, <tt>install.sh</tt> checks the filesystem type of the
331 <tt>/boot</tt> directory and, if a matching filesystem driver is
332 available, installs it. Note that the "<tt>/boot</tt> directory" may be
333 on a separate partition or it may be part of your root (<tt>/</tt>)
334 filesystem, in which case the driver for your root filesystem is
335 installed. This feature is unlikely to work properly from an emergency
336 system, although it might if you have a separate <tt>/boot</tt>
337 partition and if you mount that partition at <tt>/boot</tt> in your
338 emergency system, and the ESP at <tt>/boot/efi</tt>.</li>
339
340 <li>If you run <tt>install.sh</tt> on Linux and if
341 <tt>/boot/refind_linux.conf</tt> doesn't already exist,
342 <tt>install.sh</tt> creates this file and populates it with a few
343 sample entries. If <tt>/boot</tt> is on a FAT partition (or HFS+ on a
344 Mac), or if it's on an ext2fs, ext3fs, ext4fs, ReiserFS, or HFS+
345 partition and you install an appropriate driver, the
346 result is that rEFInd will detect your kernel and will probably boot it
347 correctly. Some systems will require manual tweaking to
348 <tt>refind_linux.conf</tt>, though&mdash;for instance, to add
349 <tt>dolvm</tt> to the boot options on Gentoo systems that use LVM.</li>
350
351 </ul>
352
353 <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>
354
355 <pre class="listing">
356 install.sh [--esp | --usedefault <tt class="variable">device-file</tt> | --root <tt class="variable">mount-point</tt> | \
357 --ownhfs <tt class="variable">device-file</tt> ] \
358 [--nodrivers | --alldrivers] [--shim <tt class="variable">shim-filename</tt>] [--localkeys] [--yes]
359 </pre>
360
361 <p>The details of the options are summarized in <a href="#table1">Table 1.</a> Broadly speaking, they come in four classes: installation location options (<tt>--esp</tt>, <tt>--usedefault</tt>, and <tt>--root</tt>), driver options (<tt>--nodrivers</tt> and <tt>--alldrivers</tt>), Secure Boot options (<tt>--shim</tt> and <tt>--localkeys</tt>), and a user input option (<tt>--yes</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>
362
363 <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>
364 <tr>
365 <th>Option</th>
366 <th>Explanation</th>
367 </tr>
368 <tr>
369 <td><tt>--esp</tt></td>
370 <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>
371 </tr>
372 <tr>
373 <td><tt>--usedefault <tt class="variable">device-file</tt></tt></td>
374 <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>
375 </tr>
376 <tr>
377 <td><tt>--ownhfs <tt class="variable">device-file</tt></tt></td>
378 <td>This option should be used <i>only</i> under OS X. It's used to install rEFInd to an HFS+ volume <i>other than</i> a standard Mac boot volume. The result should be that rEFInd will show up in the Mac's own boot manager. More importantly, suspend-to-RAM operations may work correctly. Note that this option requires an HFS+ volume that is <i>not</i> currently an OS X boot volume. This can be a data volume or a dedicated rEFInd partition. The ESP might also work, if it's converted to use HFS+.</td>
379 </tr>
380 <tr>
381 <td><tt>--root <tt class="variable">/mount-point</tt></tt></td>
382 <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>
383 </tr>
384 <tr>
385 <td><tt>--nodrivers</tt></td>
386 <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>
387 </tr>
388 <tr>
389 <td><tt>--alldrivers</tt></td>
390 <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>
391 </tr>
392 <tr>
393 <td><tt>--shim <tt class="variable">shim-filename</tt></tt> or <tt>--preloader <tt class="variable">preloader-filename</tt></tt></td>
394 <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.) When the target file is identified as PreLoader, much the same thing happens, but <tt>install.sh</tt> copies <tt>HashTool.efi</tt> instead of <tt>MokManager.efi</tt> and copies rEFInd as <tt>loader.efi</tt> rather than as <tt>grubx64.efi</tt>. 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/HashTool will launch, and you must use it to locate and install a public key or register rEFInd as a trusted application. The rEFInd public 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> Some distributions also provide their own shim programs, so can point to them&mdash;for instance, in <tt>/boot/efi/EFI/fedora/shim.efi</tt>.</td>
395 </tr>
396 <tr>
397 <td><tt>--localkeys</tt></td>
398 <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>
399 </tr>
400 <tr>
401 <td><tt>--yes</tt></td>
402 <td>This option causes the script to assume a <tt>Y</tt> input to every yes/no prompt that can be generated under certain conditions, such as if you specify <tt>--shim</tt> but <tt>install.sh</tt> detects no evidence of a Secure Boot installation. This option is intended mainly for use by scripts such as those that might be used as part of an installation via an RPM or Debian package.</td>
403 </tr>
404 </table>
405
406 <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>
407
408 <a name="manual">
409 <h2>Installing rEFInd Manually</h2>
410 </a>
411
412 <p>Sometimes the <tt>install.sh</tt> script just won't do the job, or you may need to install using an OS that it doesn't support, such as Windows. In these cases, you'll have to install rEFInd the old-fashioned way, using file-copying commands and utilities to add the program to your EFI's boot loader list. I describe how to do this with <a href="#linux">Linux</a>, <a href="#osx">OS X</a>, <a href="#windows">Windows</a>, and <a href="#efishell">the EFI shell.</a></p>
413
414 <a name="linux">
415 <h3>Installing rEFInd Manually Using Linux</h3>
416 </a>
417
418 <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>
419
420 <pre class="listing">
421 $ <b>df /boot/efi</b>
422 Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
423 /dev/sda1 191284 16604 174681 9% /boot/efi
424 </pre>
425
426 <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>
427
428 <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>
429
430 <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>
431
432 <ol>
433
434 <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>
435
436 <li>Type <tt><b>cd /boot/efi/EFI/refind</b></tt> to change into rEFInd's new directory on the ESP.</li>
437
438 <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. (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>
439
440 <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>
441
442 <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>
443
444 <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, and by late 2013, at least some Lenovos were mercifully free of this bug.</p>
445
446 <a name="efibootmgr">
447 <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>
448 </a>
449
450 <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>
451
452 </ol>
453
454 <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>
455
456 <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>
457
458 <a name="osx">
459 <h3>Installing rEFInd Manually Using Mac OS X</h3>
460 </a>
461
462 <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>
463
464 <pre class="listing">
465 $ <b>ioreg -l -p IODeviceTree | grep firmware-abi</b>
466 </pre>
467
468 <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>
469
470 <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>
471
472 <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>
473
474 <ol>
475
476 <li>Open a Terminal window in which you'll type the following
477 commands.</li>
478
479 <li>If you want to install rEFInd on your ESP, you must first mount it. You
480 can do this by typing <b><tt>mkdir /Volumes/esp</tt></b> followed by
481 <b><tt>sudo mount -t msdos /dev/disk0s1 /Volumes/esp</tt></b>. Note
482 that this step is usually optional, and it makes the procedure a bit
483 more complex, so you might want to forego it. On the other hand,
484 installing to the ESP is required if you're using the whole-disk
485 encryption feature of OS X 10.7. Note that you may need to change
486 <tt>/dev/disk0s1</tt> to something else if your ESP is at an unusual
487 location. Use a tool such as my <a
488 href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/">GPT fdisk (<tt>gdisk</tt>)</a>
489 to examine your partition table to find your ESP if necessary.</li>
490
491 <li>Type <b><tt>sudo mkdir -p /efi/refind</tt></b> to create a suitable
492 directory for rEFInd. If you want to place rEFInd on the ESP or some
493 other partition, you should adjust the pathname appropriately, as in
494 <tt>/Volumes/esp/efi/refind</tt>. Alternatively, you can use the Finder
495 to create the directory.</li>
496
497 <li>Copy the files in the <tt>refind</tt> subdirectory of the rEFInd binary
498 package to the like-named directory you've just created. You can do
499 this in the Finder or by typing <b><tt>sudo cp -r refind/*
500 /efi/refind/</tt></b> in your Terminal window after changing into the
501 rEFInd package's main directory.</li>
502
503 <li>Remove the file for the version of rEFInd you're not using, as in
504 <b><tt>sudo rm /efi/refind/refind_ia32.efi</tt></b> on a Mac with a
505 64-bit EFI or <b><tt>sudo rm /efi/refind/refind_x64.efi</tt></b> on a
506 Mac with a 32-bit EFI.</li>
507
508 <li>Optionally, remove the drivers directory for the architecture you're
509 not using&mdash;<tt>/efi/refind/drivers_ia32</tt> or
510 <tt>/efi/refind/drivers_x64</tt>, as appropriate. You may also want to
511 remove some or all of the drivers for the architecture you are using;
512 if you don't need them, they'll slow down the start process. See the <a
513 href="drivers.html">page on drivers</a> for more on this topic. Note
514 that Apple's firmware includes its own HFS+ driver, so the HFS+ driver
515 provided with rEFInd is useless on Macs.</li>
516
517 <li>If this is your first installation, type <b><tt>sudo mv
518 /efi/refind/refind.conf-sample /efi/refind/refind.conf</tt></b>
519 (adjusting the path as necessary) to rename the sample configuration
520 file so that it will serve as a real configuration file. (Again, you
521 can do this with the Finder, if you prefer.)</li>
522
523 <li>"Bless" rEFInd by typing one of the following two commands:
524 <ul>
525 <li>If you're installing rEFInd to an ordinary HFS+ volume, type <tt
526 class="userinput">sudo bless --setBoot --folder /efi/refind --file
527 /efi/refind/refind_x64.efi</tt>. (Adjust the path and filename as
528 necessary if you're placing rEFInd somewhere else or using the
529 32-bit version.)</li>
530 <li>If you're installing rEFInd on the ESP, type <tt
531 class="userinput">sudo bless --mount /Volumes/esp --setBoot --file
532 /Volumes/esp/efi/refind/refind_x64.efi</tt>, adjusting the mount
533 point and exact path to the file as appropriate for your
534 installation.</li>
535 </ul>
536 As per the Warning earlier, <i>do not</i> use <tt>bless</tt>'s
537 <tt>--info</tt> option to try to confirm the change to the boot status
538 unless you're certain you do <i>not</i> have an Advanced Format hard
539 disk.</li>
540
541 <li>If you don't want to reboot immediately after installing rEFInd, you
542 may optionally unmount the ESP by typing <tt class="userinput">sudo
543 umount /dev/disk0s1</tt> or <tt class="userinput">sudo umount
544 /Volumes/esp</tt>. This step isn't strictly required, but if you want
545 to keep the ESP out of your directory tree, it can be useful.</li>
546
547 </ol>
548
549 <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>
550
551 <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>
552
553 <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>
554
555 <a name="windows">
556 <h3>Installing rEFInd Manually Using Windows</h3>
557 </a>
558
559 <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>
560
561 <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>
562
563 <ol>
564
565 <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>
566
567 <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>
568
569 <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>
570
571 <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>
572
573 <li>Type <b><tt>S:</tt></b> to change to the ESP.</li>
574
575 <li>Type <b><tt>cd EFI\refind</tt></b> to change into the <tt>refind</tt> subdirectory</li>
576
577 <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>
578
579 <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>
580
581 <li>Type <b><tt>rename refind.conf-sample refind.conf</tt></b> to rename rEFInd's configuration file.</li>
582
583 <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>
584
585 <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>
586
587 </ol>
588
589 <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>
590
591 <ul>
592
593 <li>You can rename files on the ESP. as described in the next section, <a href="#naming">Alternative Naming Options.</a></li>
594
595 <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>
596
597 <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>
598
599 </ul>
600
601 <a name="efishell">
602 <h3>Installing rEFInd Manually Using an EFI Shell</h3>
603 </a>
604
605 <p class="sidebar"><b>Warning:</b> Do not attempt to use the procedure described in this section on a Macintosh. Macs have a strange EFI implementation that does not use the EFI variables that this procedure manipulates. Therefore, chances are this procedure simply won't work. It's conceivable that this procedure will actually cause problems, but I'm not curious enough to try it and risk damaging my Mac!</p>
606
607 <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>
608
609 <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>
610
611 <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>
612
613 <ul>
614
615 <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>
616
617 <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>
618
619 <li><a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17629062/Shell2.zip">Alternate <i>x</i>86-64 (64-bit) shell 2 for older EFIs</a></li>
620
621 </ul>
622
623 <p>Note that the IA32 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. The <i>x</i>86-64 shell on the CD-R is the alternate shell, which should work on any <i>x</i>86-64 computer. Once you've booted the shell, you can proceed as follows:</p>
624
625 <ol>
626
627 <li>If you haven't installed rEFInd previously, unpack its zip file to a
628 FAT partition. This can be the ESP itself or another partition, such as
629 a USB flash drive. If you're simply repairing a lost NVRAM entry, you
630 needn't move your existing rEFInd files.</li>
631
632 <li>Identify your filesystems, which are labelled with the form <tt>fs<tt
633 style="variable">n</tt>:</tt>, as in <tt>fs0:</tt> for the first
634 filesystem, <tt>fs1:</tt> for the second, and so on. Type the
635 filesystem number followed by the Enter key to begin using it. You can
636 then type <tt class="userinput">ls</tt> or <tt
637 class="userinput">dir</tt> to see the contents of the filesystem.
638 Chances are your ESP will be <tt>fs0:</tt>, but it could be something
639 else. (The following steps assume your ESP is <tt>fs0:</tt>; you'll
640 need to adjust them if it's not.) If rEFInd's source files are on
641 another device, you must identify it, too.</li>
642
643 <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>
644
645 <li>If necessary, create a directory for rEFInd by typing <tt
646 class="userinput">mkdir fs0:\EFI\refind</tt>. (If the <tt>fs0:\EFI</tt>
647 directory doesn't already exist, you must create it first,
648 though.)</li>
649
650 <li>Change to the directory in which rEFInd's files exist.</li>
651
652 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">cp refind_x64.efi fs0:\EFI\refind</tt> to
653 copy the rEFInd binary file. (Adjust the name if you're using a 32-bit
654 computer.)</li>
655
656 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">cp refind.conf-sample
657 fs0:\EFI\refind\refind.conf</tt> to copy and rename the sample rEFInd
658 configuration file.</li>
659
660 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">cp -r icons fs0:\EFI\refind\</tt> to copy
661 rEFInd's icons.</li>
662
663 <li>Optionally, type <tt class="userinput">cp -r drivers_x64
664 fs0:\EFI\refind\</tt> to copy rEFInd's 64-bit drivers. (You could
665 instead copy the 32-bit drivers or limit yourself to just the drivers
666 you need, of course.)</li>
667
668 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">fs0:</tt>, if necessary, to change to the
669 ESP.</li>
670
671 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">cd \EFI\refind</tt> to change to rEFInd's
672 installation directory.</li>
673
674 <li>If you want to edit rEFInd's options, type <tt class="userinput">edit
675 refind.conf</tt> and use the shell's built-in text editor to do so.
676 Press F2 followed by the Enter key to save your changes and F3 to
677 exit.</li>
678
679 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">bcfg boot dump -b</tt> to see a list of
680 existing NVRAM entries. Pay attention to their numbers (labelled
681 <tt>Option:</tt> and <tt>Variable:</tt>, with the latter number
682 preceded by the string <tt>Boot</tt>, as in <tt>Boot0007</tt>). You'll
683 want to create a boot entry for rEFInd using a number that's not in
684 use.</li>
685
686 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">bcfg boot add 3
687 fs0:\EFI\refind\refind_x64.efi "rEFInd"</tt>, adjusting the number
688 (<tt>3</tt> in this example), filesystem (<tt>fs0:</tt>), and filename
689 (<tt>\EFI\refind\refind_x64.efi</tt>) as necessary for your system. If
690 you're used to Linux, be sure to use backslashes (<tt>\</tt>), not
691 Linux-style forward slashes (<tt>/</tt>) as directory separators. Note
692 that some shells may ignore the number you entered and use another one,
693 so watch for this possibility.</li>
694
695 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">bcfg boot mv <i>3</i> 0</tt>, substituting
696 the option number for the entry you created for <tt
697 class="variable">3</tt>. This moves rEFInd to the top of the boot
698 order.</li>
699
700 <li>Type <tt class="userinput">reset</tt> to reboot the computer.</li>
701
702 </ol>
703
704 <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>
705
706 <a name="wde">
707 <h2>Using OS X Whole-Disk Encryption</h2>
708 </a>
709
710 <p>If you're using OS X's Whole-Disk Encryption (WDE) feature, you must do two extra things:</p>
711
712 <ul>
713
714 <li>You must install rEFInd to the ESP. Unfortunately, as described earlier, this can result in a delay (usually of 30 seconds) as the firmware launches rEFInd. See the upcoming <a href="#sluggish">section on fixing sluggish Mac boots</a> if you run into this problem.</li>
715
716 <li>You must uncomment the <tt>dont_scan_volumes</tt> line in <tt>refind.conf</tt> and ensure that <tt>"Recovery HD"</tt> is <i>not</i> among its options. (You can use a blank line or provide a dummy value if you want to scan all your volumes.) Alternatively, you can create a manual boot stanza to boot OS X.</li>
717
718 </ul>
719
720 <a name="naming">
721 <h2>Alternative Naming Options</h2>
722 </a>
723
724 <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. Broadly speaking, there are two alternative names that are most useful:</p>
725
726 <ul>
727
728 <li><tt class="userinput">EFI/BOOT/boot<i>arch</i>.efi</tt>&mdash;This name
729 is the official EFI fallback filename. It's most commonly used on
730 bootable removable disks, but it can be used on hard disks. It's
731 typically used only if no NVRAM entry points to a valid boot
732 loader.</li>
733
734 <li><tt class="userinput">EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi</tt>&mdash;This
735 filename has no official special standing in the EFI specification, but
736 as a practical matter, many EFI implementations use it as a fallback
737 boot loader in addition to or instead of
738 <tt>EFI/BOOT/boot<i>arch</i>.efi</tt>. In fact, some give it such a
739 high precedence that you can't boot anything that's not given this
740 name!
741
742 </ul>
743
744 <p>If you need to use one of these names, or something more exotic, you can do so in either of two ways: You can <a href="#mvrefind">use the <tt>mvrefind.sh</tt> script</a> to move your installation in one step, or you can <a href="#manual_renaming">move and rename your files manually.</a></p>
745
746 <a name="mvrefind">
747 <h3>Using <tt>mvrefind.sh</tt></h3>
748 </a>
749
750 <p>The easiest way to move a rEFInd installation, at least in Linux, is to use the <tt>mvrefind.sh</tt> script. If you installed from one of my RPM or Debian packages, this script should be installed in <tt>/usr/sbin</tt>, so you can use it like a regular Linux command; otherwise you'll need to install it to your path yourself or type its complete path. Either way, it works much like the Linux <tt>mv</tt> command, but you pass it the directory in which a rEFInd installation appears and a target location:</p>
751
752 <pre class="listing">
753 # <tt class="userinput">mvrefind.sh /boot/efi/EFI/BOOT /boot/efi/EFI/refind</tt>
754 </pre>
755
756 <p>This example moves rEFInd from <tt>/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT</tt> to <tt>/boot/efi/EFI/refind</tt>. It differs from <tt>mv</tt> in several ways:
757
758 <ul>
759
760 <li>The script renames rEFInd in a way that's sensitive to its source and
761 destination directories&mdash;for instance, <tt>mvrefind.sh</tt> knows
762 that rEFInd (or shim, for Secure Boot installations) must be called
763 <tt>bootx64.efi</tt> on a 64-bit installation in
764 <tt>/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT</tt>, so it looks for rEFInd under that name
765 when copying from this directory, or it renames rEFInd to that name
766 when copying to it.</li>
767
768 <li>The script creates a new NVRAM entry for rEFInd when it copies to any
769 location but <tt>EFI/BOOT</tt> or <tt>EFI/Microsoft/Boot</tt>. It
770 refuses to copy to such locations if it's not run from an EFI-mode
771 boot.</li>
772
773 <li>The script knows enough to back up existing boot loaders stored in
774 <tt>EFI/BOOT</tt> or <tt>EFI/Microsoft/Boot</tt> when copying to these
775 locations. For the former location, the script backs up
776 <tt>EFI/BOOT</tt> as <tt>EFI/BOOT-rEFIndBackup</tt>; for the latter, it
777 moves <tt>EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi</tt> to
778 <tt>EFI/Microsoft/bootmgfw.efi</tt>.</li>
779
780 </ul>
781
782 <p>The <tt>mvrefind.sh</tt> script is likely to be useful in resolving boot problems&mdash;if your system won't boot, you can try copying the installation to <tt>/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT</tt>, <tt>/boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot</tt>, and <tt>/boot/efi/EFI/refind</tt> in turn, testing the boot process after each attempt. (These filenames all assume your ESP is mounted at <tt>/boot/efi</tt>.) You could also copy a BIOS-mode install from <tt>/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT</tt> or <tt>/boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot</tt> to <tt>/boot/efi/EFI/refind</tt> to make it more robust against Windows repairs (assuming your firmware isn't broken).</p>
783
784 <a name="manual_renaming">
785 <h3>Renaming Files Manually</h3>
786 </a>
787
788 <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>
789
790 <ol>
791
792 <li>Access your ESP and install rEFInd to it, as described in earlier sections.</li>
793
794 <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>
795
796 <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>
797
798 <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>
799
800 <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>
801
802 </ol>
803
804 <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>
805
806 <a name="upgrading">
807 <h2>Upgrading rEFInd</h2>
808 </a>
809
810 <p>If you've installed an earlier version of rEFInd, you can upgrade a bit more easily than you can install directly:</p>
811
812 <ul>
813
814 <li>On a UEFI-based PC, under any OS, you should be able to replace your
815 old rEFInd file with the new one. Make sure that the new rEFInd has the
816 same name as the old one, and that it's for the correct CPU type. Since
817 UEFI launches boot programs by filename, a simple file replacement will
818 suffice to launch the new version. If the new version includes new
819 icons, you may want to copy some or all of them.</li>
820
821 <li>On a Mac, you can copy over the old rEFInd binary file <i>from
822 Linux</i> and it will usually work, provided you copy <i>directly</i>
823 over the old file (rather than rename or delete the old file and then
824 copy the new one in its place). The same caveats about icons as apply
825 to UEFI-based PCs apply in this case. This method requires an extra
826 step in Mac OS X, though....</li>
827
828 <li>In OS X, if you copy over the original file with the new one, you'll
829 probably have to re-bless it to make it work.</li>
830
831 <li>Under Linux or OS X, you can re-run the <tt>install.sh</tt> script. In
832 most cases this works fine, but you'll end up with a duplicate of the
833 icons directory (<tt>icons-backup</tt>, which holds the original icons,
834 whereas <tt>icons</tt> holds the icons from the new package). Normally
835 this just wastes some disk space; but if you've customized your icons,
836 you'll need to copy your altered icons back. Since version 0.6.2,
837 <tt>install.sh</tt> has searched for rEFInd in several locations on the
838 ESP, and will upgrade whatever it finds.</li>
839
840 <li>Under an RPM- or Debian-based Linux distribution, you can use your
841 package system to install a newer version of the RPM or Debian package
842 that I provide. This will upgrade the files in your Linux filesystem
843 and re-run the <tt>install.sh</tt> script, so as with the previous
844 options, you'll waste a little disk space on duplicated icons, but the
845 process should otherwise work quite well.</li>
846
847 </ul>
848
849 <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>
850
851 <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>
852
853 <a name="addons">
854 <h2>Installing Additional Components</h2>
855 </a>
856
857 <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 most of these other programs, you must download and install them separately from rEFInd:</p>
858
859 <ul>
860
861 <li><b><a
862 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
863 file, placed in the ESP's <tt>EFI/tools</tt> directory, adds the
864 ability to launch a text-mode EFI shell from rEFInd. Note that the
865 download link is to a 64-bit binary that must be renamed before rEFInd
866 will recognize it. Additional shell download links appear on the <a
867 href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface#UEFI_Shell_download_links">Arch
868 Linux wiki,</a> and on other sites; try a Web search if the shell you
869 find doesn't work to your satisfaction.</li>
870
871 <li><b><a
872 href="http://www.memtest86.com/download.htm">Memtest86</a></b>&mdash;This
873 is a popular tool for performing basic hardware tests, and especially
874 memory tests. rEFInd recognizes this program when it is stored in the
875 <tt>EFI/tools</tt>, <tt>EFI/tools/memtest</tt>,
876 <tt>EFI/tools/memtest86</tt>, <tt>EFI/memtest</tt>, or
877 <tt>EFI/memtest86</tt> directory, with a program filename of
878 <tt>memtest86.efi</tt>, <tt>memtest86_x64.efi</tt>,
879 <tt>memtest86x64.efi</tt>, or <tt>bootx64.efi</tt>. (Change
880 <tt>x64</tt> to <tt>ia32</tt> on IA-32 systems.) Be sure to download
881 the EFI version of the program. If you get the USB flash drive version,
882 you should mount the flash drive's ESP (partition 2) and copy the
883 <tt>EFI/BOOT</tt> directory to your own ESP's
884 <tt>EFI/tools/memtest</tt> or other Memtest86 directory name, as just
885 specified. rEFInd should then recognize it, provided the
886 <tt>showtools</tt> line includes the <tt>memtest</tt> or
887 <tt>memtest86</tt> token.</li>
888
889 <li><b><tt>gptsync.efi</tt> or <tt>gptsync_<tt
890 class="variable">arch</tt>.efi</tt></b>&mdash;This program creates a <a
891 href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/hybrid.html">hybrid MBR</a> from
892 your regular GPT disk. A hybrid MBR is a dangerous hack that enables
893 Windows and OS X to coexist on a Macintosh disk. If you're using a
894 UEFI-based PC, a hybrid MBR is likely to be useless at best, so you
895 shouldn't create one, and it's safest to not install
896 <tt>gptsync.efi</tt>. If you're using a hybrid MBR to enable
897 dual-booting Windows and OS X on a Mac, though, placing this program
898 file in the ESP's or Mac boot partition's <tt>EFI/tools</tt> directory
899 will enable you to regenerate your hybrid MBR should some other tool
900 convert the MBR to a standard protective MBR. You can obtain the file
901 from the <a href="http://refit.sourceforge.net">original rEFIt
902 package,</a> or beginning with rEFInd 0.6.9, an updated version is
903 included in the rEFInd package. The rEFInd version of <tt>gptsync_<tt
904 class="variable">arch</tt>.efi</tt> uses a more sophisticated algorithm
905 for determining what GPT partitions to duplicate in the MBR and it
906 includes additional safeguards to minimize the risk of damage should
907 you run the program on a disk that might have been damaged. The
908 original rEFIt version of the program usually goes by the filename
909 <tt>gptsync.efi</tt>, whereas the updated rEFInd version ships with an
910 architecture code, as in <tt>gptsync_x64.efi</tt> or
911 <tt>gptsync_ia32.efi</tt>. The rEFInd <tt>install.sh</tt> script
912 installs <tt>gptsync_<tt class="variable">arch</tt>.efi</tt> when run
913 under OS X, but not when run on Linux. In addition to installing the
914 program, you must edit <tt>refind.conf</tt>, uncomment the
915 <tt>showtools</tt> line, and add <tt>gptsync</tt> to its list of
916 options.</li>
917
918 <li><b>Drivers</b>&mdash;You can install drivers to extend the capabilities
919 of the EFI. rEFInd ships with filesystem drivers for ext2fs, ext4fs, and
920 ReiserFS, which can enable you to boot a Linux kernel with EFI stub
921 support from an ext2fs, ext3fs, ext4fs, or ReiserFS partition. (rEFInd also
922 provides ISO-9660 and HFS+ drivers.) You can find additional drivers
923 from other sources, although they're still on the scarce side. See the
924 <a href="drivers.html">Using EFI Drivers</a> page for more on this
925 topic.</li>
926
927 <li><b>Secure Boot files</b>&mdash;If you're running on a system that
928 supports Secure Boot, chances are you'll need extra support files, such
929 as <tt>shim.efi</tt> and <tt>MokManager.efi</tt>. I describe these in
930 detail on the <a href="secureboot.html">Managing Secure Boot</a>
931 page.</li>
932
933 </ul>
934
935 <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>
936
937 <a name="sluggish">
938 <h2>Fixing a Sluggish Macintosh Boot</h2>
939 </a>
940
941 <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 three possible solutions, though: <a href="#moving">moving rEFInd to an HFS+ volume,</a> <a href="#fallback">using the fallback filename,</a> and <a href="#clearing">clearing NVRAM entries.</a></p>
942
943 <a name="moving">
944 <h3>Moving rEFInd to an HFS+ Volume</h3>
945 </a>
946
947 <p>Most of the reports of sluggish Macintosh boots I've seen note that the user installed rEFInd to the ESP rather than to the OS X root partition. Some users have reported that re-installing rEFInd to the OS X root partition clears up the problem. This is obviously a straightforward solution to the problem, if it works. Note that rEFInd can launch boot loaders that are stored on any partition that the EFI can read no matter where it's installed; therefore, you'll still be able to launch boot loaders stored on the ESP (or elsewhere) if you install it in this way.</p>
948
949 <p>A variant of this solution is to create a small (~100MiB) HFS+ volume to be used exclusively by rEFInd. You can then install rEFInd to that volume with the <tt>--ownhfs</tt> option to <tt>install.sh</tt>, as in <tt class="userinput">./install.sh --ownhfs /dev/disk0s6</tt> if the volume is <tt>/dev/disk0s6</tt>. This approach has the advantage that it can be managed via OS X's own Startup Disk tool in System Preferences.</p>
950
951 <p>The biggest drawback to storing rEFInd on an HFS+ volume is that you won't be able to edit the rEFInd configuration file or move rEFInd-related binaries from an EFI shell if you install it in this way, since Apple's HFS+ driver for EFI is read-only. (The same is true of rEFInd's HFS+ driver, so it won't help you overcome this limitation.) You may also be limited in making changes to your rEFInd configuration from Linux or other OSes, too, since Linux's HFS+ drivers disable write support by default on volumes with an active journal. You can force write access by using the <tt>force</tt> option to <tt>mount</tt>; however, this procedure is noted as being risky in the Linux HFS+ documentation, so I don't recommend doing this on a regular basis on the OS X boot volume. This isn't as risky if you use a dedicated HFS+ rEFInd partition, though. You could even mount it as the Linux <tt>/boot</tt> partition, in which case it would also hold the Linux kernel and related files. If you use disk encryption, you can't store rEFInd on the OS X root (<tt>/</tt>) partition, but you could still use an (unencrypted) separate HFS+ partition.</p>
952
953 <p>A variant of this solution is suggested in <a href="http://www.sparxeng.com/blog/software/fixing-slow-boot-on-a-triple-boot-mountain-lion-mac">this blog post,</a> which recommends placing rEFInd on an HFS+ volume on the first SATA channel. (In the blogger's case, that channel used to hold an optical drive, but that drive was replaced by a hard disk.)</p>
954
955 <a name="fallback">
956 <h3>Using the Fallback Filename</h3>
957 </a>
958
959 <p>I've received a few reports that installing rEFInd to the ESP using the fallback filename (<tt>EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi</tt> on most systems, or <tt>EFI/BOOT/bootia32.efi</tt> on very old Macs) can work around the problem.</p>
960
961 <a name="clearing">
962 <h3>Clearing the NVRAM Entries</h3>
963 </a>
964
965 <p>The first is <a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=12256273&postcount=200">a Web forum post</a> that describes 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>
966
967 <ol>
968
969 <li>Boot into Linux.</li>
970
971 <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>
972
973 <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>
974
975 <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>
976
977 </ol>
978
979 <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>
980
981 <a name="uninstalling">
982 <h2>Uninstalling rEFInd</h2>
983 </a>
984
985 <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>
986
987 <pre class="listing">
988 # <tt class="userinput">rm -r /boot/efi/EFI/refind</tt>
989 </pre>
990
991 <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>
992
993 <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>
994
995 <pre class="listing">
996 $ <tt class="userinput">sudo rm -r /EFI/refind</tt>
997 </pre>
998
999 <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>
1000
1001 <p>If you installed via an RPM or Debian package in Linux, using your package manager will remove the package files, but not the files that the installer places on your ESP. Thus, you must uninstall those files manually, as just described. To complete the job, you'll also have to remove <tt>/boot/refind_linux.conf</tt>, and perhaps the <tt>/etc/refind.d</tt> directory.</p>
1002
1003 <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>
1004
1005 <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>
1006
1007 <pre class="listing">
1008 # <tt class="userinput">efibootmgr --verbose</tt>
1009 Timeout: 10 seconds
1010 BootOrder: 0000,0007
1011 Boot0000* rEFInd HD(2,1b8,64000,f1b7598e-baa8-16ea-4ef6-3ff3b606ac1e)File(\EFI\refind\refind_x64.efi)
1012 Boot0007* CD/DVD Drive BIOS(3,0,00)PATA: HP DVD Writer 1040r .
1013 # <tt class="userinput">efibootmgr --delete-bootnum --bootnum 0000</tt>
1014 Timeout: 10 seconds
1015 BootOrder: 0007
1016 Boot0007* CD/DVD Drive</pre>
1017
1018 <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>
1019
1020 <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>
1021
1022 <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>
1023
1024 <hr />
1025
1026 <p>copyright &copy; 2012&ndash;2014 by Roderick W. Smith</p>
1027
1028 <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>
1029
1030 <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>
1031
1032 <p><a href="index.html">Go to the main rEFInd page</a></p>
1033
1034 <p><a href="using.html">Learn how to use rEFInd</a></p>
1035
1036 <p><a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/">Return</a> to my main Web page.</p>
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