-From rEFIt to rEFInd
-====================
-
-rEFInd is derived from rEFIt (http://refit.sourceforge.net), but the two
-programs support different build environments. rEFIt was created with
-Intel's EFI Application Toolkit
-(http://www.intel.com/technology/efi/toolkit_overview.htm) or TianoCore's
-EFI Toolkit (https://efi-toolkit.tianocore.org), along with Microsoft's
-Visual C compiler.
-
-Compiling the source code provided on the rEFIt site under Linux never
-worked for me, although the documentation claimed it would. Apparently
-other Linux developers have run into the same problem; Debian provides a
-rEFIt package (http://packages.debian.org/sid/refit) that includes
-extensive patches to enable the program to compile under Linux using the
-GNU-EFI package (http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnu-efi/). Although
-GNU-EFI is less sophisticated than recent versions of TianoCore's toolkit,
-GNU-EFI is my preferred environment because it's provided with many Linux
-distributions and it was easy to get started with rEFInd development by
-using GNU-EFI and the Debian rEFIt package as a starting point.
-
-Over time, though, I've found that the recent TianoCore EDK2 toolkit has
-its advantages. Two features, in particular, require the TianoCore EDK2
-toolkit:
-
-- The EFI filesystem drivers, added with rEFInd 0.4.0. This requirement is
- a consequence of the derivation of the drivers, which is via VirtualBox
- and the Clover boot loader, both of which are based on EDK2.
-
-- The legacy BIOS boot feature for UEFI-based PCs. EDK2 is needed in this
- case because of features unique to that environment. Note that the legacy
- BIOS boot feature for Macs works when rEFInd is built via either GNU-EFI
- or the TianoCore EDK2.
-
-For these reasons, effective with rEFInd 0.4.6, I've switched the primary
-build environment from GNU-EFI to TianoCore EDK2. The rEFInd binary itself
-still builds via GNU-EFI, but you must pass the "gnuefi" build target to
-make in order to build in this way, and the resulting binary can't boot
-BIOS-based OSes on UEFI PCs.
-
-I've dropped ancillary programs, such as the gptsync program, from rEFInd.
-You can still use these tools with rEFInd, but you'll need to install them
-separately.
-
-
Requirements
============
* The GNU-EFI package (http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnu-efi/). You can
install this from a package called "gnu-efi"; however, rEFInd relies on
features that were added in (I think) 3.0l to provide driver-loading
- capabilities. The versions I've used and that work are 3.0p and 3.0q.
- As of 5/2012, most Linux distributions seem to deliver rather elderly
- versions of GNU-EFI, so you may need to download the latest source
- code, compile it, and install it locally. Since rEFInd version 0.2.7,
- the Makefiles assume this (see below). The legacy BIOS boot support on
- UEFI-based PCs doesn't work when GNU-EFI is compiled under GNU-EFI, so
+ capabilities. The versions I've used and that work are 3.0p, 3.0q,
+ 3.0r, and 3.0s, with the caveat that 3.0s works when I installed it via
+ a Gentoo package, but not when I installed it by compiling the source
+ code locally. Through mid-to-late 2012, most Linux distributions
+ delivered rather elderly versions of GNU-EFI, but many are catching up
+ by late 2012. You should check your GNU-EFI version number; you may
+ need to download the latest source code, compile it, and install it
+ locally. Between rEFInd version 0.2.7 and 0.6.1, the Makefiles assumed
+ a locally-compiled GNU-EFI package, but older and more recent versions
+ assume GNU-EFI installation in typical locations for
+ distribution-provided packages. The legacy BIOS boot support on
+ UEFI-based PCs doesn't work when rEFInd is compiled under GNU-EFI, so
as of rEFInd 0.4.6, GNU-EFI is no longer the primary build environment,
although it's easier to set up on a Linux system.
+Of the two toolkits, I prefer to use TianoCore because it produces binaries
+that can boot BIOS/legacy-mode OSes and because the TianoCore-produced
+binaries are about 20-30KiB smaller than those made by GNU-EFI. Also, I've
+had problems on a 32-bit Mac Mini with the drivers produced by GNU-EFI
+hanging the system if I try to load more than one of them. (I haven't
+encountered this problem on UEFI-based PCs.) That said, the TianoCore EDK2
+package is much harder to install, so if you don't need the ability to boot
+BIOS/legacy OSes from rEFInd, GNU-EFI can work as well.
+
It's possible to use a non-Linux platform to compile rEFInd. To the best of
my knowledge, the rEFInd code doesn't rely on anything Linux-specific in
its build requirements, and GNU-EFI's Sourceforge page indicates that it
Preparing Your Development Kit
==============================
-If you want to build the rEFInd binary but not the drivers, if you don't
-care about booting BIOS-based OSes on UEFI PCs, and if you're using Linux,
-GNU-EFI is the easiest way to do the job. I don't describe its setup here
-because it's likely to be fairly easy. If your distribution provides a
-recent enough version, you should be able to install a package called
-gnu-efi and be done with it. If not, you'll need to download the source
-code tarball, build it, and install it. This process is fairly typical of
-Linux packages. Read the GNU-EFI documentation if you need help. If you're
-using GNU-EFI, you can skip the rest of this section.
-
-To build the EFI drivers, or if you want support for booting BIOS-based
-OSes on UEFI PCs, the TianoCore toolkit is required. You might also want to
-use it if you have problems with GNU-EFI or if you want to build rEFInd on
-a non-Linux platform. Unfortunately, the TianoCore toolkit is weird by
-Linux programming standards. It's also quite large -- it's intended as a
-means to develop a complete EFI firmware implementation, so it contains
-much more code than is needed to develop standalone EFI applications. I
-don't know of any Linux distribution packages for it in RPM, Debian package
-file, or other formats; you MUST install the kit from source code using its
-own unusual compilation procedure. The installation documentation also
-omits at least one step and is a bit unclear about others. Here's how I
-installed the toolkit:
+If you don't care about booting BIOS-based OSes on UEFI PCs and if you're
+using Linux, GNU-EFI is the easiest way to compile rEFInd. I don't describe
+GNU-EFI's setup here because it's likely to be fairly easy. If your
+distribution provides a recent enough version, you should be able to
+install a package called gnu-efi and be done with it. If not, you'll need
+to download the source code tarball, build it, and install it. This process
+is fairly typical of Linux packages. Read the GNU-EFI documentation if you
+need help. If you're using GNU-EFI, you can skip the rest of this section.
+
+If you need support for booting BIOS-based OSes on UEFI PCs, the TianoCore
+toolkit is required. You might also want to use it if you have problems
+with GNU-EFI or if you want to build rEFInd on a non-Linux platform.
+Unfortunately, the TianoCore toolkit is weird by Linux programming
+standards. It's also quite large -- it's intended as a means to develop a
+complete EFI firmware implementation, so it contains much more code than is
+needed to develop standalone EFI applications. I don't know of any Linux
+distribution packages for it in RPM, Debian package file, or other formats;
+you MUST install the kit from source code using its own unusual compilation
+procedure. The installation documentation also omits at least one step and
+is a bit unclear about others. Here's how I installed the toolkit:
1) Download UDK2010.SR1.UP1 from
https://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/tianocore/index.php?title=UDK2010.
2) Type "mkdir /usr/local/UDK2010". You can use another directory, but the
Makefile for rEFInd's EFI drivers assumes this location. You'll need to
- edit the EDK2BASE line in the Make.common file if you install somewhere
+ edit the EDK2BASE line in the Make.tiano file if you install somewhere
else.
3) Type "cd /usr/local/UDK2010".
3) Change into the archive's main directory. You should see several files
including this BUILDING.txt file and several subdirectories such as
- "refind", "libeg", and "include".
+ "refind", "libeg", "mok", "filesystems", and "include".
4) Type "make gnuefi" to build with GNU-EFI, or either "make" alone or
"make tiano" to build with TianoCore EDK2. With any luck, rEFInd will
compile without error, leaving the "refind_ia32.efi" or "refind_x64.efi"
- file, depending on your platform, in the "refind" subdirectory. If you
- want to build IA32 binaries on an x86-64 (X64) system, type "ARCH=ia32
- make". This works only if you're using the TianoCore build kit, and only
- if you set TARGET_ARCH to either "IA32" or "IA32 X64" in target.txt when
- you set up the TianoCore. If you plan to build both architectures, be
- sure to copy the .efi file for the first build out of the refind
- subdirectory before building the second architecture.
+ file, depending on your platform, in the "refind" subdirectory. This same
+ step builds the "gptsync_x64.efi" or "gptsync_ia32.efi" program file, in
+ the "gptsync" subdirectory. If you want to build IA32 binaries on an
+ x86-64 (X64) system, type "ARCH=ia32 make". This works only if you're
+ using the TianoCore build kit, and only if you set TARGET_ARCH to either
+ "IA32" or "IA32 X64" in target.txt when you set up the TianoCore toolkit.
+ If you plan to build both architectures, be sure to copy the .efi file
+ for the first build out of the refind subdirectory before building the
+ second architecture.
5) The default build process does NOT build the filesystem drivers. If you
want to build them, you must type "make fs" in the main rEFInd source
- directory. (Typing "ARCH=ia32 make fs" builds IA32 filesystem drivers on
- an x86-64 system, provided TianoCore is properly configured, as
+ directory to build with the TianoCore EDK2, or "make fs_gnuefi" to build
+ with GNU-EFI. (Typing "ARCH=ia32 make fs" builds IA32 filesystem drivers
+ on an x86-64 system, provided TianoCore is properly configured, as
described earlier.) The result is filesystem drivers in the filesystems
subdirectory, and also copies placed in the drivers_{arch} subdirectory.
- You must install the TianoCore EDK2 to build the drivers.
If rEFInd doesn't compile correctly, you'll need to track down the source
of the problem. Double-check that you've got all the necessary development
file for your system. (The main Makefile controls the process for both
toolkits, while Make.common holds GNU-EFI options and Make.tiano holds
TianoCore options.) The most likely thing you'll need to change is the path
-to the various GNU-EFI include files and libraries. Since rEFInd 0.2.7, the
+to the various GNU-EFI include files and libraries. Since rEFInd 0.6.2, the
default Make.common file includes the following definitions:
-EFIINC = /usr/local/include/efi
-GNUEFILIB = /usr/local/lib
-EFILIB = /usr/local/lib
-EFICRT0 = /usr/local/lib
+EFIINC = /usr/include/efi
+GNUEFILIB = /usr/lib64
+EFILIB = /usr/lib64
+EFICRT0 = /usr/lib64
-If you've installed GNU-EFI from a distribution's package, you may need to
-remove "local" from those paths, and perhaps change references to "lib" to
-"lib64". As noted earlier, though, as of 5/2012, most distributions provide
-out-of-date GNU-EFI implementations that will not work with rEFInd 0.2.7
-and later.
+If you've installed GNU-EFI from source code, you may need to add "local"
+to those paths, as in "/usr/local/include/efi". You might need to change
+references to "lib64" to "lib32" or "lib" on some systems. Recall that you
+need at least GNU-EFI version 3.0l to build rEFInd, and until very
+recently, most distributions provided out-of-date versions of this package.
If you're using TianoCore's EDK2, as noted earlier, you may need to adjust
the EDK2BASE variable in Make.tiano and filesystems/Make.tiano.
Compiling the EFI Filesystem Drivers
====================================
-To build all the drivers, you can type "make fs" from the main directory,
-which builds the drivers and places copies in both the filesystems and
-drivers_{arch} subdirectories. If you want to build just one driver, you
-can change into the "filesystems" directory and type "make {fsname}", where
-{fsname} is a filesystem name -- "ext2", "reiserfs", "iso9660", or "hfs".
+To build all the drivers, you can type "make fs" or "make fs_gnuefi" from
+the main directory, which builds the drivers and places copies in both the
+filesystems and drivers_{arch} subdirectories. If you want to build just
+one driver, you can change into the "filesystems" directory and type "make
+{fsname}" or "make {fsname}_gnuefi", where {fsname} is a filesystem name --
+"ext2", "ext4", "reiserfs", "iso9660", or "hfs". In all cases, the build
+target that appends "_gnuefi" builds with GNU-EFI and the one that doesn't
+builds with TianoCore.
To install drivers, you can type "make install" in the "filesystems"
directory. This copies all the drivers to the