X-Git-Url: https://code.delx.au/refind/blobdiff_plain/3de252726460bd9affa70c91dac72af0347620c6..6460d1d0d50d82ce40da54a421c7b785ea944809:/docs/refind/installing.html diff --git a/docs/refind/installing.html b/docs/refind/installing.html index 65e5b7d..20d4890 100644 --- a/docs/refind/installing.html +++ b/docs/refind/installing.html @@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.com
Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update: -1/8/2013, referencing rEFInd 0.6.4
+11/10/2013, referencing rEFInd 0.7.5I'm a technical writer and consultant specializing in Linux technologies. This Web page is provided free of charge and with no annoying outside ads; however, I did take time to prepare it, and Web hosting does cost money. If you find this Web page useful, please consider making a small donation to help keep this site up and running. Thanks!
@@ -26,49 +26,87 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.comDon't be scared by the length of this page! 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 install.sh script in minute or two.
+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 install.sh script can be a good way to go. If you're using Windows, you'll have to install manually.
@@ -128,6 +168,8 @@ href="mailto:rodsmith@rodsbooks.com">rodsmith@rodsbooks.comBeginning with version 0.6.2, I've included an RPM package file for rEFInd, and I quickly updated this (in 0.6.2-2) to be more sophisticated and to include a Debian package file, as well. 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:
+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:
-# rpm -Uvh refind-0.6.2-2.x86_64.rpm+
# rpm -Uvh refind-0.7.5-1.x86_64.rpm
On a Debian-based system, the equivalent command is:
-# dpkg -i refind_0.6.2-2_amd64.deb+
# dpkg -i refind_0.7.5-1_amd64.deb
Either command produces output similar to that described for using the install.sh script, 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.
@@ -340,8 +382,8 @@ install.sh [--esp | --usedefault device-file | --rootNote that the shell included in rEFInd's CD-R image version is a version 1 shell, so you can't use it for this purpose. You can, however, copy rEFInd's files from the CD-R. You can even launch the version 1 shell included with rEFInd and then use that to launch a version 2 shell. Once you've booted the shell, you can proceed as follows:
+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 x86-64 shell on the CD-R is the alternate shell, which should work on any x86-64 computer. Once you've booted the shell, you can proceed as follows:
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 bcfg boot dump -b 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 fallback filename that your firmware will recognize.
+ +If you're using OS X's Whole-Disk Encryption (WDE) feature, you must do two extra things:
+ +rEFInd includes the ability to launch any EFI program; however, rEFInd detects only certain programs. These include boot loaders in traditional locations and a handful of other programs. To launch these other programs, you must download and install them separately from rEFInd:
+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:
The biggest drawback to this approach 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 force option to mount; however, this procedure is noted as being risky in the Linux HFS+ documentation, so I don't recommend doing this on a regular basis. As a compromise, you might try creating a small non-journaled HFS+ volume that's dedicated to holding rEFInd. You could even mount it as the Linux /boot partition, in which case it would also hold the Linux kernel and related files. You'll need to install rEFInd manually if you try this.
+A variant of this solution is suggested in this blog post, 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.)
+I've received one report that installing rEFInd to the ESP using the fallback filename (EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi on most systems, or EFI/BOOT/bootia32.efi on very old Macs) can work around the problem.
+I've received a few reports that installing rEFInd to the ESP using the fallback filename (EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi on most systems, or EFI/BOOT/bootia32.efi on very old Macs) can work around the problem.