I previously used rEFIt in 10.6.8 to boot a Linux MInt partition, and recently added 10.8.5 which I understood would not work with rEFIt. So I downloaded the rEFInd CD .iso and burned it to a CD to test it out. However, it seems to be resisting me . . . restarting while holding C key gets me to a black window with a flashing prompt . . . and a little "L" shaped image . . . . I 2x clicked on the CD and read through the read me.txt file, but nothing about how to get the CD to boot. I did read how to install by dragging "install.sh" file tot a Terminal window . . . and in all probability the system will work OK, buttttttt, since you provided the option of being able to test it on a CD . . . I'd like to do that. Any thoughts on how to get it to boot from the CD?
e.e.p.
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Yes, the question remains . . . and it is; usually any file burned to CD is to be booted up, in OSX holding the c key selects the CD to boot from . . . so far that is not working. So, is refind CD meant to be booted, or is it just to "launch" the program?? Instructions don't seem to provide answers to those questions.
e.e.p.
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The saga continues . . . tried to re-burn the file in my 10.6.8 partition to see if there was an option for "slower burn speed" which in the past has been suggested for boot problems with linux. And, tried to boot the CD again. I read the "CD doesn't boot if 'safe boot'(sic-something like that) has been selected" . . . but I personally haven't done anything to the boot params, just whatever OSX sets up. And, again, got to a black screen with a flashing prompt . . . . But, new problem developed after that where the MBPro would not wake from sleep . . . requiring to hit the power button to shut down the computer . . . but it didn't actually shut the computer down, because when it booted, it booted into the OS it was in before. Spent the night trying to figure out why that was happening, and finally traced it back to the failed attempts to boot the rEFInd CD . . . so I booted a LM DVD and ran it for a few minutes . . . set it to "suspend" . . . which it did, and it revived OK . . . and then when I restarted into OSX the "sleep" capacity was back. My conclusion . . . seems to be an issue with the CD file and not getting it to boot seems to make some "modification" to OSX . . . prior to installation . . . . Is that a "serious" problem? Hard to say . . . but, in terms of being able to "check rEFInd prior to installation" . . . so far isn't happening in OSX.
e.e.p.
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Unfortunately, Apple's EFI implementations are weird in several important ways. Worse, note my use of the plural form -- Apple has changed its EFI implementation several times. This makes it next to impossible to develop software that's fully compatible with all versions of Apple's firmware. One of the problems I've heard of is that some versions of Apple's firmware don't boot correctly from CD-Rs in the standard EFI way; instead, they need an Apple-specific system, which my rEFInd CD image doesn't currently support. I've been meaning to look into this, but it's pretty low on my agenda at the moment. (If somebody with knowledge cares to help out, I'm quite willing to accept patches. This isn't a rEFInd issue per se, though; it would be handled by adjusting the mkcdimage script that I use to generate the CD image file. Note that I do this from Linux.)
As a practical matter, you could try the USB flash drive version of rEFInd. Apple's firmware sometimes works with them even when it fails with a CD-R.
As to your problems with sleeping, my hunch is that something in your testing has caused changes to the NVRAM/PRAM. You can reset the NVRAM/PRAM, as described here, to fix such problems. I can say that rEFInd should not touch the NVRAM/PRAM, so if an attempt to run rEFInd caused the problem, it probably wasn't rEFInd per se that was the cause, but rather it was something else weird going on. Maybe the firmware tried to update the NVRAM/PRAM with a new entry for the CD-R, for instance, and this caused problems.
I'm sorry to not have better or more definitive answers on this. Unfortunately, because Apple has such variable firmware implementations, it's impossible for me to keep up with all the versions. (I've just got one Intel-based Mac, and it's a pretty ancient one.)
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OK, thanks for the reply . . . I'm sure it's difficult to get something to work on all machines . . . . In the past I'd just install something for the experience of it, but, now I'm a bit more cautious . . . . I'll try to look at the USB approach . . . and, perhaps I'll just try to install if I build up the gumption. Don't have much in terms of computer education, but I can install stuff . . . by command line, but knowing how to fix stuff is not something I know how to do . . . . But for my '10MBPro I can say that something isn't working with the CD, because it messed with something. Fortunately it was an easy fix . . . .
e.e.p.
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Mr Smith:
I previously used rEFIt in 10.6.8 to boot a Linux MInt partition, and recently added 10.8.5 which I understood would not work with rEFIt. So I downloaded the rEFInd CD .iso and burned it to a CD to test it out. However, it seems to be resisting me . . . restarting while holding C key gets me to a black window with a flashing prompt . . . and a little "L" shaped image . . . . I 2x clicked on the CD and read through the read me.txt file, but nothing about how to get the CD to boot. I did read how to install by dragging "install.sh" file tot a Terminal window . . . and in all probability the system will work OK, buttttttt, since you provided the option of being able to test it on a CD . . . I'd like to do that. Any thoughts on how to get it to boot from the CD?
e.e.p.
Yes, the question remains . . . and it is; usually any file burned to CD is to be booted up, in OSX holding the c key selects the CD to boot from . . . so far that is not working. So, is refind CD meant to be booted, or is it just to "launch" the program?? Instructions don't seem to provide answers to those questions.
e.e.p.
The saga continues . . . tried to re-burn the file in my 10.6.8 partition to see if there was an option for "slower burn speed" which in the past has been suggested for boot problems with linux. And, tried to boot the CD again. I read the "CD doesn't boot if 'safe boot'(sic-something like that) has been selected" . . . but I personally haven't done anything to the boot params, just whatever OSX sets up. And, again, got to a black screen with a flashing prompt . . . . But, new problem developed after that where the MBPro would not wake from sleep . . . requiring to hit the power button to shut down the computer . . . but it didn't actually shut the computer down, because when it booted, it booted into the OS it was in before. Spent the night trying to figure out why that was happening, and finally traced it back to the failed attempts to boot the rEFInd CD . . . so I booted a LM DVD and ran it for a few minutes . . . set it to "suspend" . . . which it did, and it revived OK . . . and then when I restarted into OSX the "sleep" capacity was back. My conclusion . . . seems to be an issue with the CD file and not getting it to boot seems to make some "modification" to OSX . . . prior to installation . . . . Is that a "serious" problem? Hard to say . . . but, in terms of being able to "check rEFInd prior to installation" . . . so far isn't happening in OSX.
e.e.p.
Unfortunately, Apple's EFI implementations are weird in several important ways. Worse, note my use of the plural form -- Apple has changed its EFI implementation several times. This makes it next to impossible to develop software that's fully compatible with all versions of Apple's firmware. One of the problems I've heard of is that some versions of Apple's firmware don't boot correctly from CD-Rs in the standard EFI way; instead, they need an Apple-specific system, which my rEFInd CD image doesn't currently support. I've been meaning to look into this, but it's pretty low on my agenda at the moment. (If somebody with knowledge cares to help out, I'm quite willing to accept patches. This isn't a rEFInd issue per se, though; it would be handled by adjusting the
mkcdimagescript that I use to generate the CD image file. Note that I do this from Linux.)As a practical matter, you could try the USB flash drive version of rEFInd. Apple's firmware sometimes works with them even when it fails with a CD-R.
As to your problems with sleeping, my hunch is that something in your testing has caused changes to the NVRAM/PRAM. You can reset the NVRAM/PRAM, as described here, to fix such problems. I can say that rEFInd should not touch the NVRAM/PRAM, so if an attempt to run rEFInd caused the problem, it probably wasn't rEFInd per se that was the cause, but rather it was something else weird going on. Maybe the firmware tried to update the NVRAM/PRAM with a new entry for the CD-R, for instance, and this caused problems.
I'm sorry to not have better or more definitive answers on this. Unfortunately, because Apple has such variable firmware implementations, it's impossible for me to keep up with all the versions. (I've just got one Intel-based Mac, and it's a pretty ancient one.)
Mr Smith:
OK, thanks for the reply . . . I'm sure it's difficult to get something to work on all machines . . . . In the past I'd just install something for the experience of it, but, now I'm a bit more cautious . . . . I'll try to look at the USB approach . . . and, perhaps I'll just try to install if I build up the gumption. Don't have much in terms of computer education, but I can install stuff . . . by command line, but knowing how to fix stuff is not something I know how to do . . . . But for my '10MBPro I can say that something isn't working with the CD, because it messed with something. Fortunately it was an easy fix . . . .
e.e.p.