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# rEFInd

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From ArchWiki

Related articles

- Arch boot process
- Boot loader
- Unified Extensible Firmware Interface
- EFI boot stub
- booster

rEFInd is a UEFI boot manager capable of launching kernels as EFI boot stubs. It is a fork of the no-longer-maintained rEFIt and fixes many issues with respect to non-Mac UEFI booting. It is designed to be platform-neutral and to simplify booting multiple operating systems.

Note: In the entire article `esp` denotes the mountpoint of the EFI system partition.

## Supported file systems

rEFInd inherits the support for the file systems from the firmware (i.e. at least FAT12, FAT16 and FAT32). Additionally it loads any UEFI drivers placed in the `drivers` and `drivers_x64` subdirectories of its own installation directory on the ESP. E.g. `esp/EFI/refind/drivers_x64/`.

rEFInd also ships with a small collection of read-only EFI file system drivers, notably ext4 and Btrfs.

## Installation

Install the refind package.

## Installing the rEFInd Boot Manager

rEFInd ships with UEFI drivers that implement read-only support for ReiserFS (deprecated), Ext2, Ext4, Btrfs, ISO-9660 and HFS+. Additionally rEFInd can access any file system that UEFI itself can, that includes FAT (as mandated by the UEFI specification), HFS+ on Macs and ISO-9660 on some systems.

To find additional drivers see The rEFInd Boot Manager: Using EFI Drivers: Finding Additional EFI Drivers.

To use the rEFInd, you must install it to the EFI system partition either using the refind-install script or by copying the files and setting up the boot entry manually.

Warning: Your kernel and initramfs must reside on a file system that rEFInd can read.

### Installation with refind-install script

The rEFInd package includes the refind-install script to simplify the process of setting rEFInd as your default EFI boot entry. The script has several options for handling differing setups and UEFI implementations. See refind-install(8) or read the comments in the install script for explanations of the various installation options.

For many systems it should be sufficient to simply run:

    # refind-install

This will attempt to find and mount your ESP, copy rEFInd files to `esp/EFI/refind/`, and use efibootmgr to make rEFInd the default EFI boot application.

Alternatively you can install rEFInd to the default/fallback boot path `esp/EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi`. This is helpful for bootable USB flash drives or on systems that have issues with the NVRAM changes made by efibootmgr:

    # refind-install --usedefault /dev/sdXY

Where `/dev/sdXY` is your EFI system partition (the block device, not its mountpoint).

Tip: By default `refind-install` installs only the driver for the file system on which kernel resides. Additional file systems need to be installed manually by copying them from `/usr/share/refind/drivers_x64/` to `esp/EFI/refind/drivers_x64/`, or you can install all drivers with the `--alldrivers` option. This is useful for bootable USB flash drives.

After installing rEFInd's files to the ESP, verify that rEFInd has created `refind_linux.conf` containing kernel parameters in the same directory as your kernel. This configuration file will not be created if you used the `--usedefault` option, run `mkrlconf` as root to create it.

Warning: When `refind-install` is run in chroot (e.g. in live system when installing Arch Linux) `/boot/refind_linux.conf` is populated with kernel options from the live system not the one on which it is installed. Edit `/boot/refind_linux.conf` and make sure the kernel parameters in it are correct for your system, otherwise you could get a kernel panic on your next boot. See #refind_linux.conf for an example file.

By default, rEFInd will scan all of your drives (that it has drivers for) and add a boot entry for each EFI boot loader it finds, which should include your kernel (since Arch enables EFI boot stubs by default). So you may have a bootable system at this point.

#### Secure Boot

See Managing Secure Boot for Secure Boot support in rEFInd.

##### Using PreLoader

See Secure Boot#Set up PreLoader to acquire signed `PreLoader.efi` and `HashTool.efi` binaries.

Execute `refind-install` with the option `--preloader /path/to/preloader`

    # refind-install --preloader /usr/share/preloader-signed/PreLoader.efi

Next time you boot with Secure Boot enabled, HashTool will launch and you will need to enroll the hash of rEFInd (`loader.efi`), rEFInd's drivers (e.g. `ext4_x64.efi`) and kernel (e.g. `vmlinuz-linux`).

See refind-install(8) for more information.

Tip: The signed HashTool is only capable of accessing the partition it was launched from. This means if your kernel is not on the ESP, you will not be able to enroll its hash from HashTool. You can workaround this by using #KeyTool, since it is capable of enrolling a hash in MokList and is not limited to one partition. Remember to enroll KeyTool's hash before using it.

##### Using shim

Install shim-signedAUR. Read Secure Boot#shim, but skip all file copying.

###### Using hashes

To use only hashes with shim, execute `refind-install` with the option `--shim /path/to/shim`

    # refind-install --shim /usr/share/shim-signed/shimx64.efi

Next time you boot with Secure Boot enabled, MokManager will launch and you will need to enroll the hash of rEFInd (`grubx64.efi`), rEFInd's drivers (e.g. `ext4_x64.efi`) and kernel (e.g. `vmlinuz-linux`).

###### Using Machine Owner Key

To sign rEFInd with a Machine Owner Key (MOK), install sbsigntools.

Tip: If you already have created a MOK, place the files in the directory `/etc/refind.d/keys` with the names `refind_local.key` (PEM format private key), `refind_local.crt` (PEM format certificate) and `refind_local.cer` (DER format certificate).

Execute `refind-install` with the options `--shim /path/to/shim` and `--localkeys`:

    # refind-install --shim /usr/share/shim-signed/shimx64.efi --localkeys

refind-install will create the keys for you and sign itself and its drivers. You will need to sign the kernel with the same key, e.g.:

    # sbsign --key /etc/refind.d/keys/refind_local.key --cert /etc/refind.d/keys/refind_local.crt --output /boot/vmlinuz-linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux

Tip: The kernel signing can be automated with a mkinitcpio post hook, see Secure Boot#Signing the kernel with a mkinitcpio post hook.

Once in MokManager add `refind_local.cer` to MoKList. `refind_local.cer` can be found inside a directory called `keys` in the rEFInd's installation directory, e.g. `esp/EFI/refind/keys/refind_local.cer`.

See refind-install(8) for more information.

##### Using your own keys

Follow Secure Boot#Using your own keys to create keys.

Create directory `/etc/refind.d/keys` and place Signature Database (db) key and certificates in it. Name the files: `refind_local.key` (PEM format private key), `refind_local.crt` (PEM format certificate) and `refind_local.cer` (DER format certificate).

When running install script add option `--localkeys`, e.g.:

    # refind-install --localkeys

rEFInd EFI binaries will be signed with the supplied key and certificate.

### Manual installation

Tip: rEFInd can boot Linux in many ways. See The rEFInd Boot Manager: Methods of Booting Linux for coverage of the various approaches.

If the `refind-install` script does not work for you, rEFInd can be set up manually.

First, copy the executable to the ESP:

    # mkdir -p esp/EFI/refind
    # cp /usr/share/refind/refind_x64.efi esp/EFI/refind/

If you want to install rEFInd to the default/fallback boot path replace `esp/EFI/refind/` with `esp/EFI/BOOT/` in the following instructions and copy rEFInd EFI executable to `esp/EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi`:

    # mkdir -p esp/EFI/BOOT
    # cp /usr/share/refind/refind_x64.efi esp/EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi

Then use efibootmgr to create a boot entry in the UEFI NVRAM, where `/dev/sdX` and `Y` are the device and partition number of your EFI system partition. If you are installing rEFInd to the default/fallback boot path `esp/EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi`, you can skip this step.

    # efibootmgr --create --disk /dev/sdX --part Y --loader /EFI/refind/refind_x64.efi --label "rEFInd Boot Manager" --unicode

At this point, you should be able to reboot into rEFInd, but it may not be able to boot your kernel. If your kernel does not reside on your ESP, rEFInd may need to mount your partitions to find it. If the relevant file systems are not of the types supported by UEFI, additional driver files may be necessary. rEFInd automatically loads all drivers from the subdirectories `drivers` and `drivers_arch` (e.g. `drivers_x64`) in its install directory.

    # mkdir esp/EFI/refind/drivers_x64
    # cp /usr/share/refind/drivers_x64/drivername_x64.efi esp/EFI/refind/drivers_x64/

Now rEFInd should have a boot entry for your kernel, but it will not pass the correct kernel parameters. Set up #Passing kernel parameters. You should now be able to boot your kernel using rEFInd. If you are still unable to boot or if you want to tweak rEFInd's settings, many options can be changed with a configuration file:

    # cp /usr/share/refind/refind.conf-sample esp/EFI/refind/refind.conf

The sample configuration file is well commented and self-explanatory.

Unless you have set `textonly` in the configuration file, you should copy rEFInd's icons to get rid of the ugly placeholders:

    # cp -r /usr/share/refind/icons esp/EFI/refind/

You can try out different fonts by copying them and changing the `font` setting in `refind.conf`:

    # cp -r /usr/share/refind/fonts esp/EFI/refind/

Tip: Pressing `F10` in rEFInd will save a screenshot to the top level directory of the ESP.

### Upgrading

Pacman updates the rEFInd files in `/usr/share/refind/` and will not copy new files to the ESP for you. If `refind-install` worked for your original installation of rEFInd, you can rerun it to copy the updated files. The new configuration file will be copied as `refind.conf-sample` so that you can integrate changes into your existing configuration file using a diff tool. If your rEFInd required #Manual installation, you will need to figure out which files to copy yourself.

#### Pacman hook

You can automate the update process using a pacman hook:

    /etc/pacman.d/hooks/refind.hook

    [Trigger]
    Operation=Upgrade
    Type=Package
    Target=refind

    [Action]
    Description = Updating rEFInd on ESP
    When=PostTransaction
    Exec=/usr/bin/refind-install

Where the `Exec=` may need to be changed to the correct update command for your setup. If you did #Manual installation, you could create your own update script to call with the hook.

Note:

- If you setup rEFInd with Secure Boot, in addition to adding `--localkeys`, also add the `--yes` option to the `refind-install` command. It will prevent the command from failing if shim is not used or if the system was booted with Secure Boot disabled. See refind-install(8) for more information.
- If the ESP is not mounted to `/boot` and you rely on automounting to mount it, make sure to preload the `vfat` module as instructed in EFI system partition#Alternative mount points. Otherwise, if refind is upgraded together with the kernel, the ESP will become inaccessible.

## Configuration

The rEFInd configuration `refind.conf` is located in the same directory as the rEFInd EFI application (usually `esp/EFI/refind` or `esp/EFI/BOOT`). The default configuration file contains extensive comments explaining all its options, see Configuring the Boot Manager for more detailed explanations.

rEFInd detects bootable EFI binaries (Linux kernels, other operating system boot loaders, UEFI boot entries and etc.) at runtime. This means that in most simple situations, rEFInd works without any configuration. In particular, it is likely possible to boot Windows by default.

This does not mean there is no need to configure; for Linux, probably a user wants to set kernel parameters and initramfs. This can be done in another configuration file, `refind_linux.conf`. See below for details.

### Passing kernel parameters

There are two methods for setting the kernel parameters that rEFInd will pass to the kernel.

#### For kernels automatically detected by rEFInd

rEFInd has two (or more) configuration files. `refind.conf`, which lies in the ESP, configures rEFInd itself. On the other hand `refind_linux.conf` lies in `/boot`, i.e. the directory that kernel images lie, and it configures how the kernels are booted.

For automatically detected kernels you can either specify the kernel parameters explicitly in `/boot/refind_linux.conf` or rely on rEFInd's ability to identify the root partition and kernel parameters. See Methods of Booting Linux: For Those With Foresight or Luck: The Easiest Method for more information.

Tip:

- rEFInd will automatically choose the Arch Linux icon (`os_arch.png`) for the boot entry when `/etc/os-release` is on the same partition as the kernel. If your `/boot` is a separate partition see Configuring the Boot Manager: Setting OS Icons.
- rEFInd does not support detecting the distribution of unified kernel images. To have a icon for a unified kernel image, copy `/usr/share/refind/icons/os_arch.png` to `esp/EFI/Linux/` and make sure the file names match. E.g., if you have `esp/EFI/Linux/arch-linux.efi`, then name the icon—`esp/EFI/Linux/arch-linux.png`.

For rEFInd to support the naming scheme of Arch Linux kernels and thus allow matching them with their respective initramfs images, you must uncomment and edit `extra_kernel_version_strings` option in `refind.conf`. E.g.:

    esp/EFI/refind/refind.conf

    ...
    extra_kernel_version_strings "linux-hardened,linux-rt-lts,linux-zen,linux-lts,linux-rt,linux"
    ...

Warning: Without `extra_kernel_version_strings` set, rEFInd will incorrectly pass the first initramfs it finds as the `initrd=` kernel parameter, instead of using the correct initramfs for the kernel. This will result in a failure to boot since the matching loadable kernel modules will not be available.
Note:

- rEFInd only supports detecting one initramfs image per kernel, meaning it will not detect fallback initramfs nor external microcode initramfs images. If used, they must be specified manually.
- Without the above `extra_kernel_version_strings` line, the `%v` variable in `refind_linux.conf` will not work for Arch Linux kernels.

##### refind_linux.conf

If rEFInd automatically detects your kernel, you can place a `refind_linux.conf` file containing the kernel parameters in the same directory as your kernel. You can use `/usr/share/refind/refind_linux.conf-sample` as a starting point. The first uncommented line of `refind_linux.conf` will be the default parameters for the kernel. Subsequent lines will create entries in a submenu accessible using `Insert`, `F2`, `Tab`, or `+`.

Alternatively, try running `mkrlconf` as root. It will attempt to find your kernel in `/boot` and automatically generate `refind_linux.conf`. The script will only set up the most basic kernel parameters, so be sure to check the file it created for correctness.

If you do not specify an `initrd=` parameter, rEFInd will automatically add it by searching for common RAM disk filenames in the same directory as the kernel. If you need either multiple or non-default `initrd=` parameters, you must specify them manually in `refind_linux.conf`. For example:

    /boot/refind_linux.conf

    "Boot using default options"     "root=PARTUUID=XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX rw add_efi_memmap"
    "Boot using fallback initramfs"  "root=PARTUUID=XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX rw add_efi_memmap initrd=boot\initramfs-%v-fallback.img"
    "Boot to terminal"               "root=PARTUUID=XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX rw add_efi_memmap systemd.unit=multi-user.target"

Warning:

- For rEFInd to support Arch Linux kernels, the `extra_kernel_version_strings` in `esp/EFI/refind/refind.conf` must be edited as instructed in #For kernels automatically detected by rEFInd.
- `initrd` path is relative to the root of the file system on which the kernel resides. This could be `initrd=\boot\initramfs-%v-fallback.img` or, if `/boot` is a separate partition (e.g. the ESP), `initrd=initramfs-%v-fallback.img`.
- Use backslashes (`\`) as path separators in the `initrd` parameter, otherwise the kernel may fail to find the initramfs image(s): `EFI stub: ERROR: Failed to open file: /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img`.
- If using Booster generated initramfs images, replace `initramfs` with `booster` in the initramfs files name and make sure to specify external microcode initramfs images before the main initramfs image. E.g. `initrd=boot\amd-ucode.img initrd=\boot\booster-%v.img`.

Note:

- Quotes are escaped by repetition (i.e. `""` is the escaped version of `"`). For example, to pass the option `acpi_osi="Windows 2015"` to the first boot entry of the above `refind_linux.conf`:

      "Boot using default options"     "... acpi_osi=""Windows 2015"" "

- rEFInd replaces `%v` in `refind_linux.conf` with the kernel's version (by extracting it from the file name).

##### Without configuration

If you merely install rEFInd onto the ESP and launch it without any further ado (say via UEFI shell or KeyTool, or directly from firmware) you still get a menu to boot from via autodetection, with no configuration required whatsoever.

This works because rEFInd has a fallback mechanism that can:

- Identify the root partition (for `root=` parameter ) via the Discoverable Partitions Specification or `/etc/fstab`.
- Detect kernel options (`ro` or `rw`) from GPT partition attributes (using attribute `60` "read-only") or `/etc/fstab`.

Note: rEFInd does not support escape codes (e.g. for spaces) in `/etc/fstab`.

#### For manual boot stanzas

If your kernel is not autodetected, or if you simply want more control over the options for a menu entry, you can manually create boot entries using stanzas in `refind.conf`. Ensure that `scanfor` includes `manual` or these entries will not appear in rEFInd's menu. Kernel parameters are set with the `options` keyword. rEFInd will append the `initrd=` parameter using the file specified by the `initrd` keyword in the stanza.

Tip: If you need additional initrds, e.g. when using external microcode initramfs images, you can specify them in `options` (and the one specified by the `initrd` keyword will be added to the end).

Manual boot stanzas are explained in Creating Manual Boot Stanzas.

    esp/EFI/refind/refind.conf

    ...

    menuentry "Arch Linux" {
    	icon     /EFI/refind/icons/os_arch.png
    	volume   "Arch Linux"
    	loader   /boot/vmlinuz-linux
    	initrd   /boot/initramfs-linux.img
    	options  "root=PARTUUID=XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX rw add_efi_memmap"
    	submenuentry "Boot using fallback initramfs" {
    		initrd /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img
    	}
    	submenuentry "Boot to terminal" {
    		add_options "systemd.unit=multi-user.target"
    	}
    }

It is likely that you will need to change `volume` to match either a filesystem's LABEL, a PARTLABEL, or a PARTUUID of the partition where the kernel image resides. See Persistent block device naming#by-label for examples of assigning a volume label. If `volume` is not specified it defaults to volume from which rEFInd was launched (typically EFI system partition).

Warning:

- `loader` and `initrd` paths are relative to the root of `volume`. If `/boot` is a separate partition (e.g. the ESP), the loader and initrd paths would be `/vmlinuz-linux` and `/initramfs-linux.img`, respectively.
- Use backslashes (`\`) as path separators in all quoted `initrd` parameters, otherwise the kernel may fail to find the initramfs image(s): `EFI stub: ERROR: Failed to open file: /boot/initramfs-linux.img`.
- If using Booster generated initramfs images, replace `initramfs` with `booster` in the initramfs files name. E.g. `initrd /boot/booster-linux.img`.
- rEFInd 0.14.2 incorrectly populates LABEL with PARTLABEL on some devices, which may cause matching failure for `volume` and result in falling back to the default boot volume. A workaround is to load any driver or press `Esc` after entering main menu to re-scan the volumes. See [1].

Note: Quotes are escaped by repetition (i.e. `""` is the escaped version of `"`). For example, to pass the option `acpi_osi="Windows 2015"` to the above boot entry `"Arch Linux"`:

    options  "... acpi_osi=""Windows 2015"" "

## Installation alongside an existing UEFI Windows installation

Note: The usual caveats of Dual boot with Windows apply.

rEFInd is compatible with the EFI system partition created by a UEFI Windows installation, so there is no need to create or format another FAT32 partition when installing Arch alongside Windows. Simply mount the existing ESP and install rEFInd as usual. By default, rEFInd's autodetection feature should recognize any existing Windows or recovery boot loaders.

Note: In some cases, Windows behaves differently (low resolution boot screen, OEM logo replaced by Windows logo, black screen after boot screen, artifacting). If you face such issues, try setting `use_graphics_for +,windows` in `esp/EFI/refind/refind.conf` or adding `graphics on` to the Windows boot stanza.

## Tools

This article or section is a candidate for merging with Unified Extensible Firmware Interface.

Notes: Although rEFInd has a special interface for these common tools, they are not a feature of rEFInd. (Discuss in Talk:REFInd#template:move at refind#tools: to uefi)

rEFInd supports running various 3rd-party tools. Tools need to be installed separately. Edit `showtools` in `refind.conf` to choose which ones to show.

    esp/EFI/refind/refind.conf

    ...
    showtools shell, memtest, mok_tool, gdisk, fwupdate ...
    ...

### UEFI shell

See Unified Extensible Firmware Interface#UEFI Shell.

Copy `shellx64.efi` to the root of the EFI system partition.

### Memtest86+

Install memtest86+-efi and copy it to `esp/EFI/tools/`.

    # cp /boot/memtest86+/memtest.efi esp/EFI/tools/memtest86.efi

### Key management tools

rEFInd can detect Secure Boot key management tools if they are placed in rEFInd's directory on ESP, `esp/` or `esp/EFI/tools/`.

#### HashTool

Follow #Using PreLoader and `HashTool.efi` will be placed in rEFInd's directory.

#### MokManager

Follow #Using shim and MokManager will be placed in rEFInd's directory.

#### KeyTool

Install efitools.

Place KeyTool EFI binary in `esp/` or `esp/EFI/tools/` with the name `KeyTool.efi` or `KeyTool-signed.efi`.

See Secure Boot#Using KeyTool for instructions on signing `KeyTool.efi`.

### GPT fdisk (gdisk)

Download the gdisk EFI application and copy `gdisk_x64.efi` to `esp/EFI/tools/`.

### fwupd

Install fwupd-efi and setup fwupd.

Copy the `fwupdx64.efi` binary and firmware file to `esp/EFI/tools/`:

    # cp /usr/lib/fwupd/efi/fwupdx64.efi esp/EFI/tools/

### Poweroff or reboot

rEFInd reportedly have poweroff and reboot menu entries built in. Since this list of tools is the most extensive of its kind in this wiki, users of UEFI shell, or other UEFI boot managers, such as systemd-boot, might be interested in powerofforreboot.efiAUR.

## Customization

rEFInd supports extensive customization, allowing you to modify icons, backgrounds, and fonts on the boot screen.

### Manual customization

To customize rEFInd, you need to edit the `refind.conf` configuration file, found in `esp/EFI/refind`. In the following example, all assets will be stored in `esp/EFI/refind/assets`.

To set a custom background image (banner), use the `wallpaper` directive in `refind.conf`:

    banner assets/banner.png

To set a custom set of icons, use the `icons_dir` directive in `refind.conf` and point it to the folder containing your icons:

    icons_dir assets/icons

The refind package provides a set of icons for most distributions, including Arch Linux. These icons can be found in `esp/EFI/refind/icons`.

### Installing external themes

Installing external themes is straightforward. First, create a `themes` folder in your rEFInd directory:

    # mkdir esp/EFI/refind/themes

Clone the theme (if it is hosted on GitHub, for example):

    # git clone url-to-theme esp/EFI/refind/themes/theme-name

Or, copy the theme manually:

    # cp -r path-to-theme esp/EFI/refind/themes/theme-name

In `refind.conf`, include the theme's configuration file:

    include themes/theme-name/theme-name.conf

Note: Ensure that your theme is compatible with rEFInd, and check the theme's documentation for any specific setup instructions.

## Tips and tricks

### Using drivers in UEFI shell

This article or section is a candidate for merging with Unified Extensible Firmware Interface#UEFI drivers.

Notes: rEFInd's drivers are not the only ones that can be loaded. Move all generic information about UEFI drivers to one article. (Discuss in Talk:REFInd)

To use rEFInd's drivers in UEFI shell load them using command `load` and refresh mapped drives with `map -r`.

    Shell> load FS0:\EFI\refind\drivers\ext4_x64.efi
    Shell> map -r

Now you can access your file system from UEFI shell.

### Setting efifb resolution

This article or section needs expansion.

Reason: It should be possible to simply rely on `resolution max`. (Discuss in Talk:REFInd)

If the resolution in `refind.conf` is set to an incorrect value, on all systems except Apple Macs rEFInd will display a list of supported resolutions. For Apple Macs it will silently use the default resolution.

To determine framebuffer resolutions supported by efifb, copy `/usr/lib/gnuefi/apps/modelist.efi` from gnu-efi to the root of ESP. Enter the UEFI shell and run `modelist.efi`.

    Shell> FS0:\modelist.efi

    GOP reports MaxMode 3
     0: 640x480 BGRR pitch 640
    *1: 800x600 BGRR pitch 800
     2: 1024x768 BGRR pitch 1024

Set one in `refind.conf`. Reboot and check if settings has been applied by running `dmesg | grep efifb` as root.

### Btrfs subvolume support

Tip: make sure `btrfs_x64.efi` driver is installed, it can be installed manually by copying from `/usr/share/refind/drivers_x64/btrfs_x64.efi` to `esp/EFI/refind/drivers_x64/btrfs_x64.efi`, or you can install all drivers with the `refind-install /dev/sdx --alldrivers` option.
Warning: `btrfs_x64.efi` does not support `raid1c3/4`.

#### Auto detection

To allow kernel auto detection on a Btrfs subvolume uncomment and edit `also_scan_dirs` in `refind.conf`.

    esp/EFI/refind/refind.conf

    ...
    also_scan_dirs +,subvolume/boot
    ...

Next add `subvol=subvolume` to `rootflags` in `refind_linux.conf` and then prepend `subvolume` to the initrd path.

    /boot/refind_linux.conf

    "Boot using standard options"  "root=PARTUUID=XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX rw rootflags=subvol=subvolume initrd=subvolume\boot\initramfs-%v.img"

#### Manual boot stanza

If booting a btrfs subvolume as root, prepend the path to the subvolume to the loader and initrd paths, and amend the `options` line with `rootflags=subvol=root_subvolume`. In the example below, root has been mounted as a btrfs subvolume called 'ROOT' (e.g. `mount -o subvol=ROOT /dev/sdxY /mnt`):

    esp/EFI/refind/refind.conf

    ...
    menuentry "Arch Linux" {
            icon     /EFI/refind/icons/os_arch.png
            volume   "[bootdevice]"
            loader   /ROOT/boot/vmlinuz-linux
            initrd   /ROOT/boot/initramfs-linux.img
            options  "root=PARTUUID=XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX rw rootflags=subvol=ROOT"
    ...
    }

A failure to do so will otherwise result in the following error message: `ERROR: Root device mounted successfully, but /sbin/init does not exist.`

### LoaderDevicePartUUID

Since version 0.13.1, rEFInd supports setting the UEFI variable LoaderDevicePartUUID. Enabling this allows systemd-gpt-auto-generator(8) to automount the EFI system partition without needing to specify it in `/etc/fstab`. See systemd#GPT partition automounting.

For rEFInd to set `LoaderDevicePartUUID`, edit `refind.conf` and uncomment `write_systemd_vars true`:

    esp/EFI/refind/refind.conf

    ...
    write_systemd_vars true
    ...

You can verify if it is set by checking its value with `cat /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/LoaderDevicePartUUID-4a67b082-0a4c-41cf-b6c7-440b29bb8c4f` or by looking at the state of "Boot loader sets ESP information" in `bootctl` output.

### ISO images

rEFInd does not support booting ISO files since it lacks a loopback driver, but it can boot a ISO image that has been directly written to a partition. This requires the `iso9660_x64.efi` driver.

## Troubleshooting

### Apple Macs

Use bless from within macOS to set rEFInd as the default boot entry:

    # bless --setBoot --folder esp/EFI/refind --file esp/EFI/refind/refind_x64.efi

### Blank rEFInd menu screen

If your `drivers_x64` folder contains multiple file system drivers (see #Installing the rEFInd Boot Manager for clarification), this can lead to an improper functioning of rEFInd through a file system driver bug, whereby only a blank screen and with the rEFInd logo is shown (for custom themes, this would be the set background image). To fix this, simply remove all drivers except the one for the file system on which the kernel resides.

Another potential blank screen cause occurs when dual booting with Windows, where rEFInd is unsuccessful in auto-scanning the EFI system partitions on other disks. To remedy this, use blkid to identify Windows partitions, and add the PARTUUID of each Windows partition as a comma-separated entry to the variable `dont_scan_volumes` in `refind.conf`. For example:

    # blkid

    /dev/nvme0n1p1: LABEL="SYSTEM" UUID="4CE7-C215" BLOCK_SIZE="512" TYPE="vfat" PARTLABEL="EFI system partition" PARTUUID="13aa9955-1234-5678-9098-006c334b5088"
    /dev/nvme0n1p5: LABEL="Windows RE Tools" BLOCK_SIZE="512" UUID="08C4E6C5C4E6B45A" TYPE="ntfs" PARTLABEL="Basic data partition" PARTUUID="4eced110-0987-6543-2123-b0ab8576869b"

    esp/EFI/refind/refind.conf

    ...
    dont_scan_volumes 13aa9955-1234-5678-9098-006c334b5088,4eced110-0987-6543-2123-b0ab8576869b
    ...

### Not using the distribution logo

If you see Tux instead of the Arch Logo, then you might be affected by this issue (your root partition is of type Linux x86-64 root (/) instead of Linux filesystem).

You can fix this using fdisk#Change partition type.

Additionally, if your root partition's label is simply "Linux" or if it contains the word "linux," Tux may be displayed. To specify the name of your distribution, consider renaming the partition label to reflect your distribution's name.

You can fix this using a file system label.

Another way to get the Arch Logo instead of Tux, is to copy the Arch Logo image file next to your kernel (e.g. `vmlinuz-linux`) and give the image file the same name as your kernel.

    # cp /usr/share/refind/icons/os_arch.png /boot/vmlinuz-linux.png

### Error: Not Found while loading vmlinuz-linux

If you add a menuentry and set the volume token correctly but still received the "Error: Not Found while loading vmlinuz-linux" message, you may need to check if driver for the file system on which kernel resides is correctly installed. Remember unsupported filesystem will not be detected, even if they are in the configuration file.

## See also

- The rEFInd Boot Manager by Roderick W. Smith.
- Wikipedia:rEFInd
- `/usr/share/refind/docs/README.txt`
- rEFInd discussion forum on Sourceforge

Category:

- Boot loaders

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