New EFI boot manager available: rEFInd

[srs5694]

If you're using Linux on a Mac or a UEFI-capable PC, you may be interested in my latest programming project, which is a fork of the rEFIt boot manager. Unfortunately, rEFIt hasn't been updated for two years, its original author has stopped responding to queries, and the program has a number of bugs and limitations, especially on UEFI PCs. This combination of factors has motivated me to create a significantly modified version, which I've now released as rEFInd:

http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/
https://sourceforge.net/projects/refind/

Both rEFIt and rEFInd are EFI-based boot loaders, so they aren't (yet) of interest to people using BIOS-based PCs. (UEFI is becoming standard, though, so your next computer is likely to be UEFI-based.) These programs are boot managers, not boot loaders; that is, they give you a choice of booting via boot loaders provided by the target OS. Features of rEFInd that set it apart from ELILO, GRUB Legacy, and GRUB 2 on EFI include:

• A graphical, icon-based selection of your boot OS
• Automatic detection of all installed EFI boot loaders at run time, which simplifies boot loader configuration and maintenance
• The ability to launch an EFI shell (which you must obtain separately)
• A bootable CD image that you can use for recovery if a new OS installation or other problem prevents you from using your chosen boot loader

When booting Linux, rEFInd relies on another Linux-capable boot loader, such as ELILO or GRUB; however, developments in the 3.3 kernel series will enable the kernel to boot as an EFI application, which will eliminate this need. You can boot such a kernel directly with rEFInd, without relying on another boot loader. In my tests (on five systems), this combination has been more reliable than any other Linux EFI boot loader, although ELILO and GRUB Legacy both come close.

Anyhow, feel free to check it out and post back or e-mail me with your comments!

[srs5694]

An update: I've released version 0.2.1. This one adds semi-automated detection of Linux kernels with the new EFI stub loader support. The upshot of this is that upgrading a kernel becomes a snap -- you just drop the kernel and its initrd file into the preconfigured directory on the ESP and rEFInd detects it on the next boot. There's no need to mess with configuration files or run scripts to detect them. In practice, of course, Mint's package manager does this dirty work, so this is mainly of interest to those who compile their own kernels or to those who have problems with Mint's kernel-upgrade scripts.

[jlr1701]

If you're using Linux on a Mac or a UEFI-capable PC, you may be interested in my latest programming project, which is a fork of the rEFIt boot manager. Unfortunately, rEFIt hasn't been updated for two years, its original author has stopped responding to queries, and the program has a number of bugs and limitations, especially on UEFI PCs. This combination of factors has motivated me to create a significantly modified version, which I've now released as rEFInd:

http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/
https://sourceforge.net/projects/refind/

Both rEFIt and rEFInd are EFI-based boot loaders, so they aren't (yet) of interest to people using BIOS-based PCs. (UEFI is becoming standard, though, so your next computer is likely to be UEFI-based.) These programs are boot managers, not boot loaders; that is, they give you a choice of booting via boot loaders provided by the target OS. Features of rEFInd that set it apart from ELILO, GRUB Legacy, and GRUB 2 on EFI include:

• A graphical, icon-based selection of your boot OS
• Automatic detection of all installed EFI boot loaders at run time, which simplifies boot loader configuration and maintenance
• The ability to launch an EFI shell (which you must obtain separately)
• A bootable CD image that you can use for recovery if a new OS installation or other problem prevents you from using your chosen boot loader

When booting Linux, rEFInd relies on another Linux-capable boot loader, such as ELILO or GRUB; however, developments in the 3.3 kernel series will enable the kernel to boot as an EFI application, which will eliminate this need. You can boot such a kernel directly with rEFInd, without relying on another boot loader. In my tests (on five systems), this combination has been more reliable than any other Linux EFI boot loader, although ELILO and GRUB Legacy both come close.

Anyhow, feel free to check it out and post back or e-mail me with your comments!

You are a LIFESAVER!

I just upgraded my system to a UEFI-based Asus Sabertooth X79 board with an i7-3820 chip. I have no experience with UEFI and was thinking it was really gonna suck to have to go into the bios and change the boot settings every time I wanted to switch between Windows and Linux. Now I don't have to!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Woohoo!!

[srs5694]

I'm glad you've found it useful!

[powerhouse]

Yeah, rEFInd really is nice. I installed it and it automatically detects UEFI boot systems. Unfortunately my attempts at installing Linux and grub2 have failed so far, possibly because of hardware problems.

By the way, since you have an Asus Sabertooth X79 board (the same I have), how did you manage to install Linux Mint? I'm having problems with this hardware and like to eliminate hardware-related problems. Does your board work Ok with LM13 or LMDE?

See my signature for the hardware.

[jlr1701]

Hmm... well, Grub had an update that I installed and now rEFInd is gone!

I tried reinstalling it, but couldn't get it back. Here's the message I get:

Installing rEFInd on Linux....
ESP was found at /boot/efi using vfat
Copied rEFInd binary file refind_x64.efi

Notice: Backed up existing icons directory as icons-backup.
Copying sample configuration file as refind.conf; edit this file to configure
rEFInd.

An existing EFI boot manager entry for rEFInd seems to exist:

Boot0005* rEFInd HD(1,22,5f5e2,590d6523-3d37-4443-8c00-090ef894b254)File(\EFI\refind\refind_x64.efi)

This entry is NOT being modified, and no new entry is being created.

Installation has completed successfully.

I deleted refind.conf and refind_x64.efi from the /boot/efi/EFI directory and tried again, but got the same result.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

[jlr1701]

Yeah, rEFInd really is nice. I installed it and it automatically detects UEFI boot systems. Unfortunately my attempts at installing Linux and grub2 have failed so far, possibly because of hardware problems.

By the way, since you have an Asus Sabertooth X79 board (the same I have), how did you manage to install Linux Mint? I'm having problems with this hardware and like to eliminate hardware-related problems. Does your board work Ok with LM13 or LMDE?

See my signature for the hardware.

I installed from a USB key and it went without a hitch. The system locked up trying to boot a Live DVD. Don't know if I had a bad burn or what, but the live system booted and installed great from the USB key. I put my hardware in my signature as well so you can compare. What video card are you using? Sorry if I missed it. I'm really tired right now!

I have not tried LMDE recently. I prefer Ubuntu.

[powerhouse]

Hmm... well, Grub had an update that I installed and now rEFInd is gone!

I tried reinstalling it, but couldn't get it back. Here's the message I get:

Installing rEFInd on Linux....
ESP was found at /boot/efi using vfat
Copied rEFInd binary file refind_x64.efi

Notice: Backed up existing icons directory as icons-backup.
Copying sample configuration file as refind.conf; edit this file to configure
rEFInd.

An existing EFI boot manager entry for rEFInd seems to exist:

Boot0005* rEFInd HD(1,22,5f5e2,590d6523-3d37-4443-8c00-090ef894b254)File(\EFI\refind\refind_x64.efi)

This entry is NOT being modified, and no new entry is being created.

Installation has completed successfully.

I deleted refind.conf and refind_x64.efi from the /boot/efi/EFI directory and tried again, but got the same result.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

What a PITA !!! My experiences with grub2 have also been everything but good. My opinion is that it shouldn't have been packaged as standard with Linux (most distributions, not only LM).

You may try the following:

Boot your live USB stick.

Mount ALL your /, /boot, and /boot/efi partitions, for example (change where needed):

Code: Select all

mkdir /mnt/boot /mnt/boot/efi /mnt/home
mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/boot
mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/efi
mount /dev/sda4 /mnt/home

The above example assumes you have 4 partitions on sda: sda1 for /boot/efi formatted as vfat, sda2 formatted as ext2/3/4 for /boot, sda3 holds /, and sda4 for /home.

Now bind /dev to /mnt/dev, chroot to /mnt (your / partition on your hard drive), and mount the sysfs, etc. filesystems:

Code: Select all

mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
chroot /mnt
mount -t sysfs none /sys
mount -t proc none /proc
mount -t devpts none /dev/pts

After your chroot to /mnt the / will refer to your root partition on the hard drive.

Now update or reinstall grub:

Code: Select all

apt-get update
apt-get install grub-efi #to install it in case it wasn't installed
update-grub
grub-install /dev/sda # I think you may not even need the /dev/sda

Look at the /boot/efi and /boot folders and see if they were updated.

You may have to run (I never did that, and it should work without):

Code: Select all

update-initramfs -u # to create a new initramfs, just in case

Now lets unmount and sync the file systems to write the changes to disk:

Code: Select all

umount /dev/pts
umount /proc
umount /sys
exit

umount /mnt/dev
umount /mnt/boot/efi
umount /mnt/boot
umount /mnt/home
umount /mnt
sync

At this point you can reboot and cross your fingers. When the PC boots press F8 repeatedly to enter the Asus boot manager. There should be an entry "UEFI: ...." referring to your boot drive (SSD...). Select it and boot.

Let me know if this works. If not, you may have to try again with the live USB and install grub-efi in the live system. After installation you can check in synaptic and look under properties for the grub-efi package to see which files and scripts are installed. I'm not sure if grub-efi replaces the update-grub and grub-install scripts and you may have to see if there is a conflict with grub2. As far as I can recall, the efi boot loader should have been installed with it.

[powerhouse]

Yeah, rEFInd really is nice. I installed it and it automatically detects UEFI boot systems. Unfortunately my attempts at installing Linux and grub2 have failed so far, possibly because of hardware problems.

By the way, since you have an Asus Sabertooth X79 board (the same I have), how did you manage to install Linux Mint? I'm having problems with this hardware and like to eliminate hardware-related problems. Does your board work Ok with LM13 or LMDE?

See my signature for the hardware.

I installed from a USB key and it went without a hitch. The system locked up trying to boot a Live DVD. Don't know if I had a bad burn or what, but the live system booted and installed great from the USB key. I put my hardware in my signature as well so you can compare. What video card are you using? Sorry if I missed it. I'm really tired right now!

I have not tried LMDE recently. I prefer Ubuntu.

Thanks for the reply. My video card is a PNY Quadro 600 (NVidia chipset).

I just noticed you use Ubuntu, though my above instructions should work for Ubuntu too. I did manage to install Ubuntu 12.04, but ended up getting the same segfault problems after running synaptic to install other packages. I'm also not really a fan of the Ubuntu desktop where I can't find anything - perhaps it's a matter of learning how to work with it.

[srs5694]

Hmm... well, Grub had an update that I installed and now rEFInd is gone!

I tried reinstalling it, but couldn't get it back. Here's the message I get:

Installing rEFInd on Linux....
ESP was found at /boot/efi using vfat
Copied rEFInd binary file refind_x64.efi

Notice: Backed up existing icons directory as icons-backup.
Copying sample configuration file as refind.conf; edit this file to configure
rEFInd.

An existing EFI boot manager entry for rEFInd seems to exist:

Boot0005* rEFInd HD(1,22,5f5e2,590d6523-3d37-4443-8c00-090ef894b254)File(\EFI\refind\refind_x64.efi)

This entry is NOT being modified, and no new entry is being created.

Installation has completed successfully.

I deleted refind.conf and refind_x64.efi from the /boot/efi/EFI directory and tried again, but got the same result.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

EFI stores a list of boot programs in NVRAM, including both a list of boot programs and the order in which they should be tried in a default boot. If you install both rEFInd and GRUB, chances are both of those programs will appear in this list. When you installed rEFInd, it added itself to this list and made itself the default entry, so rEFInd launched before GRUB, and so GRUB wouldn't normally launch at all except from rEFInd. Chances are when you updated GRUB, it bumped itself back up to the top of the list (which is rather rude for an update operation, in my view).

If you want rEFInd to be the default boot manager again, you can use the "efibootmgr" utility to do the job. Type "man efibootmgr" to learn about it. Chances are you'll do something like this:

Code: Select all

$ sudo efibootmgr
Timeout: 10 seconds
BootOrder: 0007,0000,0008
Boot0000* rEFInd
Boot0006* Hard Drive
Boot0007* GRUB
Boot0008* INTERNAL EFI SHELL: ST32000542AS
$ sudo efibootmgr -o 0000,0007


The "BootOrder" variable (revealed by the first efibootmgr call) stores the boot order, and in this example, GRUB is set before rEFInd. Using the "-o" option to efibootmgr enables you to change the boot order, as shown in the second efibootmgr call.

[quicksilver]

I need to use a USB drive as an installation media for my Mint and Ubuntu. For that I have unetbootin to make the usb bootable.

But my PC only supports EFI boot (while adding the boot device, I need to provide an .efi file path etc).

My question is how can I make my Linux distribution by copying some files (.efi file)?

I have heard of a boot loader called elilo, but don't know how to use. And I tried rEFInd, rEFIt etc., they are booting from usb, but I don't know how to configure it to boot the Linux distribution in my usb drive.

[srs5694]

I need to use a USB drive as an installation media for my Mint and Ubuntu. For that I have unetbootin to make the usb bootable.

The last I checked, unetbootin created BIOS-bootable media. It's pretty useless for helping with EFI-bootable devices. That said, if you've already used it, you may be able to use the USB drive it created as a starting point....

But my PC only supports EFI boot (while adding the boot device, I need to provide an .efi file path etc).

Most UEFI-based PCs do include a BIOS compatibility mode, so you may be able to use that. The trouble is that the user interfaces and rules to determine when to use each mode vary so much from one firmware implementation to another that it's impossible to say how to activate this feature in a generic way. Also, if you do this, you'll end up installing in BIOS mode. If you want to boot in EFI mode (say, because Windows is already installed that way), you'll have to switch modes after installing Mint. This isn't very hard, but it's an extra hoop to jump through, and you might as well do that now rather than later.

My question is how can I make my Linux distribution by copying some files (.efi file)?

I have heard of a boot loader called elilo, but don't know how to use. And I tried rEFInd, rEFIt etc., they are booting from usb, but I don't know how to configure it to boot the Linux distribution in my usb drive.

Check my EFI boot loaders Web page. It describes the major Linux EFI boot loaders, as well as boot loader installation in general. In short, you'll need to install a boot loader (ELILO will probably work well), either on the USB flash drive or on your hard disk's ESP, and configure it to launch a kernel and your installer's initial RAM disk. I don't know offhand precisely what files unetbootin copies or where they go, but if the directory layout on your USB flash drive is like what's on the original DVD, something like the following should work as an elilo.conf file:

Code: Select all

prompt
timeout=50
default=linux
#chooser=textmenu

image=/casper/vmlinuz
        label=linux
        initrd=/casper/initrd.lz
        read-only
        append="boot=live config live-media-path=/casper quiet splash --"


Note that I've not tested this; I've just pieced it together from a known-working ELILO configuration and the contents of an Ubuntu DVD. If I've made a mistake, it won't work. There's a good chance that it will work, though.

[AlbertP]

Most UEFI-based PCs do include a BIOS compatibility mode, so you may be able to use that. The trouble is that the user interfaces and rules to determine when to use each mode vary so much from one firmware implementation to another that it's impossible to say how to activate this feature in a generic way. Also, if you do this, you'll end up installing in BIOS mode. If you want to boot in EFI mode (say, because Windows is already installed that way), you'll have to switch modes after installing Mint. This isn't very hard, but it's an extra hoop to jump through, and you might as well do that now rather than later.

You can also just install both Windows and Linux when in BIOS mode. Even Windows 8 does not have any problem dual-booting with Mint 13 when using BIOS instead of EFI (I am dual-booting them fine on a computer with traditional BIOS). EFI is only necessary if you have huge harddisks (over 3TB) or you or the manufacturer installed Windows in EFI mode before and you don't want to reinstall. Or if you want to use rEFInd as your bootloader because of its easy icons - then you of course need EFI mode.

[powerhouse]

I'm now running into new problems installing LM13 with UEFI. When I boot my install I get this message after POST:

Code: Select all

Reboot and Select proper Boot device ...

Today I installed rEFInd and still the same result - it wouldn't recognize my SSD as an UEFI device. I can boot my LM life USB into UEFI and the F8 BIOS boot menu gives me an UEFI: ... Entry for my USB.

My SSD is GPT formatted and has the /dev/sda1 EFI system partition marked bootable or the correct EFI code. Everything is in place, incl /boot, /,and /home partitions with all the files. I can boot the life USB, chroot to the SSD / mounted on /mnt and all other partitions mounted and perform various installation or grub-update - all works but the system still doesn't recognize the EFI partition. I installed LM twice with no improvement, though I totally wiped my disk and created a new partition table (GPT of course).

I don't know what to try else, except either install Win 7 via DVD which should produce an UEFI / GPT disk or use MBR which I don't want.

I write this here since I also tried it with rEFInd. I also opened a separate thread here with more details:

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=107620

[zolar1]

Is there a way to just replace the windows uefi totally and install a linux uefi that will permit dual booting without all the problems?

Personally I do not want a boot manager. I prefer to elect which drive at boot up (F12 then select).

That worked perfectly with my old xp box. I could upgrade a linux distro easily without having booting issues with windows. I just unplugged the xp drive and did what I wanted to the linux drive with total impunity. I could boot any way I desired without windows giving me grief.

And yes, I still need windows due to the huge amount of money I spent on software over the years and want every penny's worth out of it. (Example - wife spent $600 on Adobe right before switching to Linux as my main OS).

Do you need to fool with the boot manager/loader when booting off a flash drive?

Is there a way to install (FULL) linux on a flash drive and not affect the uefi? I tried unetbootin but that just makes the flash drive a live version (updatable in some cases).
That way I can just plug in any fully installed distro and not have uefi vomit problems when trying to use windows. I am using a toy computer (AKA Laptop) and using a flash drive for my needs works out wonderfully since I can't add a 2nd hard drive.

What ever happened to the old adage: K.I.S.S. ?

[srs5694]

Is there a way to just replace the windows uefi totally and install a linux uefi that will permit dual booting without all the problems?

There's no such thing as "Windows UEFI" or "Linux UEFI"; UEFI is firmware, meaning that it's pre-boot software. As such, it's independent of either Windows or Linux. (At least, that's the theory. In practice, Microsoft is getting its fingers in the firmware pie with its vendor requirements to get a Windows 8 logo. This issue is driven by business decisions, though, not technical ones. Furthermore, even with Microsoft's requirements, EFI/UEFI remains pre-boot software.)

Personally I do not want a boot manager. I prefer to elect which drive at boot up (F12 then select).

When you hit F12 (or whatever it is; it varies from one computer to another), you're launching a boot manager. In the case of BIOS, the boot manager is extraordinarily primitive, but it is a boot manager.

Do you need to fool with the boot manager/loader when booting off a flash drive?

Note that boot managers and boot loaders are very different:

• Boot managers give users the option of which OS to launch; they're basically just user interfaces that chainload to another program. A computer can boot without a boot manager (the earliest PCs running a single OS were like this), but once you install two OSes, you either need a boot manager or you've got to physically juggle hard disk cables to select a boot device.
• Boot loaders load an OS kernel into memory, along with any associated files (like a Linux initial RAM disk image) and transfer control to the kernel. A boot loader is required to boot any computer.

GRUB and LILO include both types of functionality, which has lead to a lot of sloppiness in Linux users' use of terminology. (I even erred in titling this thread! Old habits die hard....)

Is there a way to install (FULL) linux on a flash drive and not affect the uefi?

Yes. Broadly speaking, you just need to transfer the files to the USB flash drive and ensure that it's bootable (either BIOS-style or EFI-style). Booting the disk will require the use of a boot manager to direct the boot process. Any firmware (BIOS or EFI) produced in the past few years should include this functionality.

Speaking practically, creating an EFI-bootable USB flash drive can be tricky because most installers aren't set up to do this. If you want this functionality, you should say so to the Ubuntu developers. Note that I'm not one of them, and they may or may not even read this thread or this forum. Thus, you should contact them directly with your request.

What ever happened to the old adage: K.I.S.S. ?

The EFI designers tossed that out the window. The UEFI 2.3.1 specification is 2,210 pages long. The EFI source code is comparable in size to the Linux kernel stripped of its drivers.

[rottger1911]

is THIS tool, customizable, eG as on my on THEMEING ideas and needs?

the PlOP boot manager, has a c3wl space loader background - why not making a boot loader, eG with Clock and with some system rescue tools, like its needed, to get a real cool boot loader - or just make it compatible with grub configuration?!

with this looking - on grey background - i dont like it very much - a firmwarepatch application would be also a nice gift for aepple users!

so

+custom
+theming
+clock
+tools (eG firmware patcher, eG howto)

make a boat-loader - more like an sailors heavan, that sailors, really get what they deserve...

at this stage, its just not very usable - i would say grub is more transparent and themeable.

mfG

ruediger

meesdorf.de

[srs5694]

is THIS tool, customizable, eG as on my on THEMEING ideas and needs?

the PlOP boot manager, has a c3wl space loader background - why not making a boot loader, eG with Clock and with some system rescue tools, like its needed, to get a real cool boot loader - or just make it compatible with grub configuration?!

with this looking - on grey background - i dont like it very much - a firmwarepatch application would be also a nice gift for aepple users!

Please see the rEFInd documentation on theming. It's trivially easy.

at this stage, its just not very usable - i would say grub is more transparent and themeable.

Placing "GRUB" and "transparent" in the same sentence is pretty strange, IMHO -- at least if you're talking about GRUB 2, which IMHO is the single most difficult-to-configure boot loader for Linux. It's only easy when distribution scripts do all the work and do it correctly. That's pretty rare in the EFI world.

[rottger1911]

so - ok. the configuration of themeing is possible (in some way), as stood in the text.

whats with a good choice of presets?


//

2 distribution-boatloader-scripting:

its the challenge of a computer scientist, to get things with more efford - to broken down thinks, with less efforts.

as u could say everday hello and good morning, some people refer to hi.

its ur choice to get something easy.

eG its not easy to have not a documentation at eG normal development spaces likes sourceforge or whereever ready.

its not about standing in line, but beeing there when it comes to install.

as if i dont know the software, but got a mbpro9212 i had to:

realize that this software with a name NOT called (EFI (aepple) bootloader) is fitting to aepple.

at second - i had to KNOW that a package refit is there in repository.

but then its called refind that is to be installed.

HOWTO?

WHERE?

Is it prebuild, eG for x64-architectures?


and this and that and that...!


in reality people who are able to differ between free software and shareware - really to Excpect - eG a TRAC-Webspace, where the programmer gives his hints and cheets on!

i really cant stand walking whole day through some forums - ONLY to get SOME information done....


If u want a user, like me.

do me a favour and please

REFERENCE ME to a point, where all your knowledge is distilled, meaning potenced in some view, also 1 possible, pages of documentary, with steps and handbooks, howtos and download references.


then you do not had too answer it once or twice, only because someone, who is interested in this KIND OF software, have some more ambitious ideas, of how it could get real USED free software.

mfG

ruediger

[srs5694]

rottger1911, I'm afraid I understood very little of what you wrote. For documentation, see the rEFInd Web site.