code.delx.au - refind/blob - NEWS.txt

   1 0.2.8 (?/??/2012):
   2 ------------------
   3
   4 - Added new refind.conf option: scan_all_linux_kernels, which causes Linux
   5   kernels that lack ".efi" extensions to be included in scans for EFI boot
   6   loaders. This may help integration with Linux distributions that don't
   7   give their kernels such names by default. Beware, though: It can detect
   8   unwanted files, such as older non-stub-loader kernels or .icns files used
   9   to give kernels with .efi extensions custom icons.
  10
  11 - Improved EFI boot loader detection on boards with Gigabyte's Hybrid EFI,
  12   and perhaps other EFIs with a buggy StriCmp() function. Files with both
  13   ".efi" and ".EFI" extensions should now be detected as boot loaders.
  14
  15 - Fixed a bug that caused rEFInd to fail to scan for drivers if the
  16   filesystem driver didn't set a volume name (that is, if the relevant
  17   field was set to NULL rather than even an empty string). In such
  18   situations, rEFInd now reports the volume name as "Unknown".
  19
  20 0.2.7 (4/19/2012):
  21 ------------------
  22
  23 - After much trial and tribulation, I've overcome a GNU-EFI limitation and
  24   enabled rEFInd to load EFI drivers. This feature was present in the
  25   original build of rEFIt but was removed in the versions that could
  26   compile under Linux, but now it's back -- and still being compiled under
  27   Linux! To use it, you should place your drivers in a convenient directory
  28   on the ESP (or whatever partition you use to launch rEFInd) and add a
  29   "scan_driver_dirs" entry to refind.conf to tell rEFInd where to look. (As
  30   always, you should specify the driver directory relative to the root of
  31   the filesystem.) Note that you can't launch drivers from another
  32   filesystem; they must be on the same volume that holds rEFInd. Those who
  33   compile from source code should note that implementing this feature
  34   necessitated using a more recent version of the GNU-EFI library. I'm
  35   currently using version 3.0p, and version 3.0i does NOT work. I don't
  36   know where the change occurred, but you may need to upgrade your GNU-EFI
  37   installation.
  38
  39 - Fixed bug that caused rEFInd to show up in its own menu sometimes.
  40
  41 - Added new refind.conf token: also_scan_dirs. When scanning volumes for
  42   EFI boot loaders, rEFInd always scans the root directory and every
  43   subdirectory of the /EFI directory, but it doesn't recurse into these
  44   directories. The also_scan_dirs token adds more directories to the scan
  45   list. It defaults to "elilo,boot", but you can set it to any directory or
  46   directories you like.
  47
  48 0.2.6 (4/14/2012):
  49 ------------------
  50
  51 - Added "volume" keyword to configuration file's stanza options. This
  52   option changes the volume from which subsequent files (specified by
  53   "loader" and "icon") are loaded. You pass "volume" the name/label of the
  54   FILESYSTEM you want to use (not the GPT partition name), or a number
  55   followed by a colon (e.g., "1:"). The former should reliably identify a
  56   filesystem, assuming the name is unique. The latter assigns numbers based
  57   on the order in which they're scanned, which may not be as reliable but
  58   should work when a volume is unnamed.
  59
  60 - Fixed bug in 0.2.5 that caused failure of Linux initial RAM disk
  61   mapping on some (but not all) systems. Affected computers include at
  62   least some Intel motherboards, maybe others.
  63
  64 0.2.5 (4/9/2012):
  65 -----------------
  66
  67 - Fixed bug that caused an inability to associate initial RAM disks with
  68   Linux kernels stored in a volume's root directory.
  69
  70 - Volume badges (that override default badges) are now stored in
  71   .VolumeBadge.icns. Although undocumented, rEFInd formerly loaded custom
  72   volume badges from .VolumeIcon.icns. This carryover from rEFIt was a
  73   confusing name, given the next (new) feature, so I've changed and
  74   documented the name....
  75
  76 - Added ability to set a default icon for a loader stored in the root
  77   directory of a volume: The icon is stored in .VolumeIcon.icns. This icon
  78   is also used for Mac OS X volumes booted from the standard location.
  79
  80 - Fixed bug that caused icons to drop back to generic icons when rEFInd
  81   was launched in certain ways (such as from an EFI shell in rEFInd's
  82   directory) on certain systems.
  83
  84 - Fixed bug that caused "unknown disable flag" to be shown (very briefly)
  85   instead of "unknown hideui flag" when an improper hideui flag was set.
  86
  87 0.2.4 (4/5/2012):
  88 -----------------
  89
  90 - Created new refind.conf entry: "showtools". This entry takes options of
  91   "shell", "gptsync", "about", "exit", "reboot", and "shutdown". This
  92   option is in some respects an affirmative version of portions of the old
  93   "disable" and "hideui" options; however, it enables users to specify the
  94   order in which these options appear on the screen. Also, the "exit"
  95   option is new; it terminates the program. The effect is usually to return
  96   to whatever tool launched it or to launch a default OS; however, this is
  97   somewhat unpredictable. The default therefore omits the "exit" option, as
  98   well as "gptsync", which has always been dangerous (but necessary on most
  99   MacOS/Windows dual-boot setups on Macs). As part of this reconfiguration,
 100   I've eliminated the "rescue Linux" option, which always seemed pointless
 101   to me.
 102
 103 - Folded "disable" and "hideui" refind.conf entries into one ("disable"),
 104   and reduced the number of options to six: "banner", "label",
 105   "singleuser", "hwtest", "arrows", and "all". ("arrows" is new and
 106   disables the scroll arrows when a system has too many tags to display
 107   simultaneously.)
 108
 109 - Added max_tags option to the refind.conf file, enabling users to reduce
 110   the maximum number of OS loader tags that can be displayed at once.
 111
 112 - Updated rEFIt icon, based on the 128x128 volume label from the rEFIt CD
 113   image.
 114
 115 - Added x86 and x86-64 EFI shells to the CD image version of the binary,
 116   but NOT to the binary zip file. The logic is that the CD image is more
 117   likely to be used directly as an emergency disc and so may need this
 118   feature, even though the source isn't part of the rEFInd project. (The
 119   source is readily available from the TianoCore project.)
 120
 121 - EFI shells may now be stored at /shellx64.efi for x86-64 systems or at
 122   /shellia32.efi for x86 systems. The /EFI/tools/shell.efi name is also
 123   recognized; however, if both files are present, two EFI shell icons will
 124   appear on the main menu. The /efi/{refind-path/apps/shell.efi filename,
 125   which was never officially documented but worked as a carryover from
 126   rEFIt, is no longer valid.
 127
 128 0.2.3 (3/26/2012):
 129 ------------------
 130
 131 - Fixed (maybe) a bug that caused hangs when launching a second program
 132   after returning from a first. There are some weird system-to-system
 133   differences, though, and this fix causes (apparently harmless) error
 134   messages about "(re)opening our installation volume" on at least one
 135   system (a 32-bit Mac Mini). I'm committing this change because, imperfect
 136   though it is, it's preferable to the earlier version, at least on my
 137   small sample of computers.
 138
 139 - Because of news that the Linux kernel developers are planning to use the
 140   filename linux.conf to hold Linux kernel configuration data for EFI
 141   booting, I'm transitioning rEFInd away from that name and to
 142   refind_linux.conf to avoid a conflict. This version can use either name,
 143   with refind_linux.conf taking precedence if both are present.
 144
 145 - Added logo for Arch Linux.
 146
 147 0.2.2 (3/23/2012):
 148 ------------------
 149
 150 - Fixed bug that caused program failure when Linux kernels with EFI stub
 151   support were detected with no associated version numbers. rEFInd now
 152   permits automatic linking of *ONE* versionless kernel to *ONE*
 153   versionless initrd file.
 154
 155 - Fixed bug that caused program hangs when a boot loader filename or label
 156   was too long. Such names are now properly truncated and program execution
 157   continues.
 158
 159 - Fixed bug that caused no text to appear in submenus on UEFI systems with
 160   small screens (800x600). NOTE: Problem still occurs on screens smaller
 161   than this, but such systems are very rare.
 162
 163 0.2.1 (3/19/2012):
 164 ------------------
 165
 166 - Added ability to set a "default_selection" that's a title or a substring
 167   of one -- the name given to a stanza in a "menuentry" or the boot
 168   loader's filename, in most cases, although "Mac OS X", "Windows XP
 169   (XoM)", and "Microsoft EFI boot" are also titles.
 170
 171 - Added support for semi-automatic scans of Linux kernels with EFI stub
 172   loader support. The program auto-detects matching initial RAM disk files
 173   and loads additional options from the "linux.conf" file in the same
 174   directory as the kernel.
 175
 176 - Added support for "submenuentry" keyword and associated sub-stanza
 177   entries in refind.conf file.
 178
 179 - Renamed icons/os_mint.icns to icons/os_linuxmint.icns to match the
 180   filename Linux Mint ACTUALLY uses for its ESP boot loader directory.
 181
 182
 183 0.2.0 (3/14/2012):
 184 ------------------
 185
 186 - Initial public release