rEFInd Boot Manager

Sometimes the built in boot facilities in a machine isn't up to the task. Then you need rEFInd.

local links

core1 workstation - FreeBSD, Acer Iconia Tab [W511], Toshiba [Encore 2] (WT8-B), Toshiba Satellite Z30-B-10W,

History

2021-08-15: I re-created this page on my self-hosted web server.

2015-12-20: I booted the updated (refind 0.10.1) usb stick on my Z30-B-10W - it works, but it doesn't detect any os on the internal SSD (still shows up as FS1: in UEFI Shell).

2015-12-20: I updated the refind stick to version 0.10.1 by using my core1 workstation.

2015-12-20: I booted the Toshiba Satellite Z30-B-10W laptop from the refind (0.7.5) usb memory stick. I got two FreeBSD boot menu icons (both are from the usb stick). When I start a shell from refind main menu, it says:

UEFI Interactive Shell v2.0. UEFI v2.31 (TOSHIBA, 0x10000001). Revision 1.02
Mapping table
     FS0: Alias(s):HD6a0b:;BLK1:
     FS1: Alias(s):HD23a0a1:;BLK3:
    BLK0: Alias(s):
    BLK2: Alias(s):
    BLK4: Alias(s):
    BLK5: Alias(s):

'set' shows the variables:

2.0 Shell> set
     path = .\;FS0:\efi\tools\;FS0:\efi\boot\;FS0:\;FS1:\efi\tools\;FS1:\efi\boot\;FS1:\
profiles = ;Driver1;Install;Debug1;network1;
uefishellsupport = 3
uefishellversion = 2.0
uefiversion = 2.31
DebugLasterror = 0x00000000
Lasterror = 0x00000000

ok. Check out volume info for FS0 and FS1:

2.0 Shell> vol fs0:
Volume ElTorito (rw)
488576 bytes total disk space
313344 bytes available disk space
2048 bytes in each allocation unit
2.0 Shell> vol fs1:
Volume  (rw)
784384 bytes total disk space
717824 bytes available on disk
512 bytes in each allocation unit

good. Ok, use 'dir' to check out the contents:

2.0 Shell> dir fs1:\efi\boot
Directory of: fs1:\efi\boot\
04/26/2014  16:23 <DIR>  512  .
04/26/2014  16:23 <DIR>  512  ..
04/26/2014  16:23      65536  BOOTx64.efi
          1 File(s)  65536 bytes
          2 Dir(s)

so FS1 is the EFI boot partition on the internal SSD.

2015-03-28: booting it on the W511 verifies that it still works; it still has rEFInd 0.7.5 on it.

2015-03-28: From my FreeBSD workstation:

tingo@kg-core1$ uname -a
FreeBSD kg-core1.kg4.no 9.3-STABLE FreeBSD 9.3-STABLE #0 r273918: Fri Oct 31 22:52:44 CET 2014     root@kg-core1.kg4.no:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC  amd64

the rEFInd usb stick I created in 2013 looks like this:

root@kg-core1# ll /dev/da0*
crw-r-----  1 root  operator  0xcc Mar 28 22:55 /dev/da0
crw-r-----  1 root  operator  0xcd Mar 28 22:55 /dev/da0p1

partitions:

root@kg-core1# gpart show -p da0
=>     34  7821245    da0  GPT  (3.7G)
       34     2014         - free -  (1M)
     2048    10727  da0p1  efi  (5.2M)
    12775  7808504         - free -  (3.7G)

and disktype info:

root@kg-core1# disktype /dev/da0*

--- /dev/da0
Character device, size 3.729 GiB (4004511744 bytes)
DOS/MBR partition map
Partition 1: 6.253 MiB (6557184 bytes, 12807 sectors from 1)
  Type 0xEE (EFI GPT protective)
GPT partition map, 128 entries
  Disk size 3.729 GiB (4004511744 bytes, 7821312 sectors)
  Disk GUID 900ED079-9993-CA42-BEF7-E496C18F7070
Partition 1: 5.238 MiB (5492224 bytes, 10727 sectors from 2048)
  Type EFI System (FAT) (GUID 28732AC1-1FF8-D211-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B)
  Partition Name ""
  Partition GUID DA0D997C-7C90-6248-B3AC-DF45FC2A8EA2
  FAT12 file system (hints score 5 of 5)
    Volume size 4.225 MiB (4429824 bytes, 2163 clusters of 2 KiB)
    Volume name "ELTORITO"
Partition 2: unused

--- /dev/da0p1
Character device, size 5.238 MiB (5492224 bytes)
FAT12 file system (hints score 5 of 5)
  Volume size 4.225 MiB (4429824 bytes, 2163 clusters of 2 KiB)
  Volume name "ELTORITO"

that's all.

2013-12-01: well, booting from the rEFInd usb stick doesn't automatically find the Ubuntu mem stick. Various info from rEFInd: rEFInd version 0.7.5, running on:

EFI Revision 2.31
Platform: x86 (32 bit)
Firmware: INSYDE Corp 21027.17
Screen Output: Graphics Output (UEFI), 1366x768
When In start the EFI shell, it says
EFI Shell version 2.31 [21027.17]
Current running mode 1.1.2