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<h1>The rEFInd Boot Manager</h1>
href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.com</a></p>
<p>Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update:
-4/20/2014, referencing rEFInd 0.7.9</p>
+3/4/2017, referencing rEFInd 0.10.5</p>
<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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<p>This page describes rEFInd, my fork of the <a href="http://refit.sourceforge.net">rEFIt</a> boot manager for computers based on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface">Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and Unified EFI (UEFI).</a> Like rEFIt, rEFInd is a <i>boot manager,</i> meaning that it presents a menu of options to the user when the computer first starts up, as shown below. rEFInd is not a <i>boot loader,</i> which is a program that loads an OS kernel and hands off control to it. (Since version 3.3.0, the Linux kernel has included a built-in boot loader, though, so this distinction is rather artificial these days, at least for Linux.) Many popular boot managers, such as <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/">the Grand Unified Bootloader (GRUB),</a> are also boot loaders, which can blur the distinction in many users' minds. All EFI-capable OSes include boot loaders, so this limitation isn't a problem. If you're using Linux, you should be aware that several EFI boot loaders are available, so choosing between them can be a challenge. In fact, the Linux kernel can function as an EFI boot loader for itself, which gives rEFInd characteristics similar to a boot loader for Linux. See <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/index.html">my Web page on this topic</a> for more information.</p>
- <br /><center><img src="refind.png" align="center" width="734"
- height="552" alt="rEFInd presents a GUI menu for selecting your boot
- OS." border=2> </center><br />
+ <br /><center><img src="refind.png" align="center" width="750"
+ height="558" alt="rEFInd presents a graphical menu for selecting your
+ boot OS." border=2> </center><br />
<div style="float:right; width:55%">
<p>I decided to fork the earlier rEFIt project because, although rEFIt is a useful program, it's got several important limitations, such as poor control over the boot loader detection process and an ability to display at most a handful of boot loader entries on its main screen. Christoph Pfisterer, rEFIt's author, stopped updating rEFIt with version 0.14, which was released in March of 2010. Since I forked rEFIt to rEFInd, Christoph has begun pointing rEFIt users to rEFInd as a successor project.</p>
-<p>The <a href="http://refit.sourceforge.net">rEFIt Web page</a> has a distinct Mac bias, and the provided binaries work only on Macs because they're 32-/64-bit "fat" binaries, which Macs can handle but UEFI-based PCs can't. rEFIt can be recompiled to work on UEFI-based PCs, but prebuilt binaries for such systems are relatively rare. Although I do own a Mac Mini, my interest lies more on the side of standard PC hardware, and hence with UEFI. My development platform is Linux, and my installation instructions and binaries are much more platform-neutral. I'm aware that many Mac users will consider this a step backward, but I ask their indulgence; I only have so many hours a week to work on this project, and I prefer to devote my efforts to improvements that will benefit all rEFInd users, at least initially.</p>
+<p>As already noted, rEFInd is a boot manager for EFI and UEFI computers. (I use "EFI" to refer to either version unless the distinction is important.) You're likely to benefit from it on computers that boot multiple OSes, such as two or more of Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. You will <i>not</i> find rEFInd useful on older BIOS-based computers or on systems with other types of firmware, such as older PowerPC-based Macs. Prior to mid-2011, few computers outside of Intel-based Macs used EFI; but starting in 2011, computer manufacturers began adopting UEFI in droves, so most computers bought since then use EFI. Even so, many modern PCs support both EFI-style booting and BIOS-style booting, the latter via a BIOS compatibility mode that's known as the <i>Compatibility Support Module (CSM).</i> Thus, you may be using BIOS-style booting on an EFI-based computer. If you're unsure which boot method your computer uses, check the first of the subsections, <a href="bootmode.html">What's Your Boot Mode</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Subsequent sections of this document are on separate pages. Be aware that you probably don't need to read them all; just skip to the sections that interest you:</p>
+
+<p><b>Note:</b> I consider rEFInd to be <i>beta-quality software!</i> That said, rEFInd is a usable program in its current form on many systems. If you have problems, feel free to drop me a line.</p>
</div>
<li class="tight"><a href="installing.html">Installing rEFInd</a>—Instructions for installing rEFInd, using Linux, OS X, and Windows</li>
+<li class="tight"><a href="bootcoup.html">Keeping rEFInd Booting</a>—Instructions for keeping rEFInd in charge of the boot process or recovering when another OS takes control</li>
+
+<li class="tight"><a href="yosemite.html">rEFInd and OS X 10.10 (Yosemite)</a>—Apple's latest OS X makes some changes that require your attention (this subpage is rendered obsolete by rEFInd 0.8.4 and later</li>
+
+<li class="tight"><a href="sip.html">rEFInd and System Integrity Protection</a>—How to install rEFInd on Macs running OS X 10.11 (El Capitan)</a>
+
<li class="tight"><a href="using.html">Using rEFInd</a>—Basic usage instructions for the boot loader</li>
<li class="tight"><a href="configfile.html">Configuring the Boot Manager</a>—For advanced users, information on customizing a rEFInd installation</li>
<li class="tight"><a href="todo.html">The Future of rEFInd</a>—Current bugs that need squashing and features that I hope to one day add</a></li>
-</ul>
+<hr />
-</div>
+<li class="tight">Manual (man) pages for rEFInd support scripts:
-<p>As already noted, rEFInd is a boot manager for EFI and UEFI computers. (I use "EFI" to refer to either version unless the distinction is important.) You're likely to benefit from it on computers that boot multiple OSes, such as two or more of Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. You will <i>not</i> find rEFInd useful on older BIOS-based computers. Prior to mid-2011, few computers outside of Intel-based Macs used EFI; but starting in 2011, computer manufacturers began adopting UEFI in droves, so most computers bought since then use EFI. Even so, many modern PCs support both EFI-style booting and BIOS-style booting, the latter via a BIOS compatibility mode that's known as the <i>Compatibility Support Module (CSM).</i> Thus, you may be using BIOS-style booting on an EFI-based computer. If you're unsure which boot method your computer uses, check the first of the subsections, <a href="bootmode.html">What's Your Boot Mode</a>.</p>
+ <ul>
-<p>Subsequent sections of this document are on separate pages. Be aware that you probably don't need to read them all; just skip to the sections that interest you:</p>
+ <li><a href="mkrlconf.html"><tt>mkrlconf</tt></a>—This Linux-only tool creates a <tt>/boot/refind_linux.conf</tt> file to hold Linux kernel options.</li>
-<p><b>Note:</b> I consider rEFInd to be <i>beta-quality software!</i> I'm discovering bugs (old and new) and fixing them every few days. That said, rEFInd is a usable program in its current form on many systems. If you have problems, feel free to drop me a line.</p>
+ <li><a href="mvrefind.html"><tt>mvrefind</tt></a>—This Linux-only script moves a rEFInd installation from one location to another on the EFI System Partition (ESP).</li>
+
+ <li><a href="refind-install.html"><tt>refind-install</tt></a>—This Linux and OS X script installs rEFInd with minimal fuss.</li>
+
+ <li><a href="refind-mkdefault.html"><tt>refind-mkdefault</tt></a>—This Linux script makes rEFInd the default boot program with minimal fuss.</li>
+
+</ul></li>
+
+</ul>
+
+</div>
<a name="references">
<h2>References and Additional Information</h2>
<li>James Jesudason has a tutorial on installing Ubuntu 13.04 beta on a Macbook Retina Pro on <a href="http://randomtutor.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html">this blog page.</a> I'd recommend using a Linux filesystem driver to read the kernel directly from a Linux filesystem rather than copy the kernel to the OS X partition as in the tutorial, but either method will work.</li>
+<li><a href="http://sdnalloh.com/converting-win7-from-mbr-to-gpt/">This blog post</a> describes how to convert Windows from BIOS-mode to EFI-mode booting. This task is rarely necessary, but when you need it, you <i>really</i> need it.</li>
+
<li>If you're interested in developing EFI software yourself, my <a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-programming/">Programming for EFI</a> can help you get started.</li>
</ul></li> <!-- Informational Web pages -->
<li>The <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/cloverefiboot/">Clover</a> boot loader is a Hackintosh boot loader that incorporates, among other things, its own unique forks of rEFIt and of DUET (a <a href="http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/tianocore/index.php?title=Welcome">TianoCore</a> tool to boot UEFI on BIOS-based computers).</li>
+<li>Pete Batard's <a href="https://github.com/pbatard/efifs">efifs</a> project aims to port GRUB's filesystem drivers to function as standalone EFI filesystem drivers. It's currently a work in progress but shows great promise, and several drivers are usable for limited purposes today.</li>
+
</ul></li> <!-- Additional programs -->
<li><b>Communications</b>
<hr />
-<p>copyright © 2012–2014 by Roderick W. Smith</p>
+<p>copyright © 2012–2016 by Roderick W. Smith</p>
<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>