I am having this issue where whenever I boot to rEFInd, it just shows me a white screen with the rEFInd logo, like this:
I just followed the official docs. Initially, I installed rEFInd in Windows, by pasting the files to the EFI directory in a "refind" directory, and setting it as my default boot manager using BCD. The problem occured, so I booted to my Linux and used the provided script to install rEFId. It told me my installation was successful and that rEFInd is the default boot manager, but when I booted to it, the problem still persisted. A white screen with the rEFInd logo. What am I doing wrong here?
Here is my efibootmgr list, in case you're wondering:
Boot0000 Startup Menu
Boot0001 System Information
Boot0002 Bios Setup
Boot0003 3rd Party Option ROM Management
Boot0004 System Diagnostics
Boot0005 System Diagnostics
Boot0006 System Diagnostics
Boot0007 System Diagnostics
Boot0008 Boot Menu
Boot0009 HP Recovery
Boot000A Network Boot:IPV4
Boot000B* rEFInd Boot Manager
Boot000C USB:
Boot000E Network Boot:IPV6
Boot000F Network Boot
I tried clicking the link you provided, but I got a "link has expired" message. You can post the entire ls -R /boot/efi output here, or share it on pastebin.com or someplace similar.
The usual cause of this symptom is a bad filesystem -- either a filesystem that's been damaged or one that's accessible only via a buggy filesystem driver. To resolve the problem, try this:
Remove all unnecessary filesystem drivers from the rEFInd installation (typically in EFI/refind/drivers_x64 on the ESP). The NTFS driver is particularly likely to cause problems, which is why it's no longer built by default in rEFInd 0.11.5; but other drivers can cause problems, too. Remove all of the drivers that you don't need. Normally, you need only one (if that): the driver for the filesystem on which your Linux kernel resides.
If step #1 doesn't help, then remove all the filesystem drivers, at least for testing. If this resolves the problem, then you can focus your attention on partitions that hold the filesystem whose driver is associated with the problem. If not, then the problem may be with a FAT filesystem; or perhaps HFS+ (on Macs) or (rarely) NTFS (with some UEFI-based PCs).
Run a filesystem repair program, such as dosfsck or fsck in Linux or CHKDSK in Windows, on whatever filesystem(s) remain readable from the EFI, or on whatever filesystem(s) are served by the driver you've identified as the problem, if you need that driver to boot Linux. In an extreme case, doing a file-level backup, creating a fresh filesystem, and restoring files can sometimes help. (This is most practical with the ESP or other small filesystems, like a Linux /boot partition.)
If the problem is with a Linux filesystem and you keep having problems, consider switching to another filesystem, at least for holding the kernel. You can often create a small (~1 GiB) /boot partition by shrinking (from the end) an existing partition, then create a filesystem on it that you don't use elsewhere. For instance, if your main installation uses ext4fs, you can create a Btrfs or ReiserFS /boot partition. Copy all the files from /boot (excluding /boot/efi, if that's where you mount the ESP) to the new partition, install the appropriate driver, and test it. If this works, reconfigure /etc/fstab to mount the new partition at /boot and you're done. (You can delete the contents of the original /boot, if you want to save some space and minimize the risk of confusion.) If you already use a separate /boot partition, you can do a file-level backup, create a fresh filesystem on the partition, restore the files, and adjust /etc/fstab appropriately. rEFInd ships with drivers for ext2/3fs, ext4fs, Btrfs, and ReiserFS, just to name the Linux filesystems. HFS+ can also work well, although that's unorthodox; and on Macs, you don't need a separate driver to use HFS+, since the firmware supports it. FAT also works without a driver, but with the caveat that some distributions (including those derived from Debian) use symbolic links or other Unix-style filesystem features not supported by FAT within /boot, so FAT can sometimes cause problems.
Alternatively to step #4, or if you keep having problems, you can try another filesystem driver. Perhaps Pete Batard's drivers would work better than rEFInd's, for instance.
Yet another alternative to step #4 or #5 is to forget about EFI filesystem drivers and instead boot Linux via GRUB 2.
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At the risk of muddying the waters of someone else's problem, I have exactly the same symptom: white/grey screen with the rEFInd logo on an HP laptop (ZBook 15 G3) with (only) Windows 10.
(rEFInd works fine on my HP laptop Linux-only systems.)
But the interesting thing that I'll add, is that version 0.10.9 works! It is 0.11.3 and 0.12.0 that do not. Curious, hey? Rod, does your advice about bad filesystem/drivers still apply in this case?
Thanks, cheers.
PS. Another detail I can add is that the 0.10.9 build uses Tianocore but I'm not sure what the more recent builds use.
Last edit: Jeremy W. Murphy 2020-04-27
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Hello!
I have a set top box PC with Intel N4200. I've encountered the same problem - blank screen with logo in version 0.12.0. I repeat exactly the same installation steps for 0.11.5 and it started to work.
There is no secure boot enabled in my PC, I have Windows 10 and no filesystem drivers are used as system partition is FAT32.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Thank you for heads up. I'm using version 0.11.5 and it works for me.
I have no time to reinstall and play with it at the moment, but will
try your approach later.
Hi,
I am having this issue where whenever I boot to rEFInd, it just shows me a white screen with the rEFInd logo, like this:
I just followed the official docs. Initially, I installed rEFInd in Windows, by pasting the files to the EFI directory in a "refind" directory, and setting it as my default boot manager using BCD. The problem occured, so I booted to my Linux and used the provided script to install rEFId. It told me my installation was successful and that rEFInd is the default boot manager, but when I booted to it, the problem still persisted. A white screen with the rEFInd logo. What am I doing wrong here?
Here is my efibootmgr list, in case you're wondering:
Here is a copy of my entire EFI partition for reference: https://send.firefox.com/download/e8355bf29789696c/#I60buAOdPhUSMnLDaU2Akw.
My computer is an HP EliteBook x360 1030 G2. I would appreciate any help to fix my issue.
Thank you.
Last edit: Anonymous 2020-02-26
I tried clicking the link you provided, but I got a "link has expired" message. You can post the entire
ls -R /boot/efioutput here, or share it on pastebin.com or someplace similar.The usual cause of this symptom is a bad filesystem -- either a filesystem that's been damaged or one that's accessible only via a buggy filesystem driver. To resolve the problem, try this:
EFI/refind/drivers_x64on the ESP). The NTFS driver is particularly likely to cause problems, which is why it's no longer built by default in rEFInd 0.11.5; but other drivers can cause problems, too. Remove all of the drivers that you don't need. Normally, you need only one (if that): the driver for the filesystem on which your Linux kernel resides.dosfsckorfsckin Linux orCHKDSKin Windows, on whatever filesystem(s) remain readable from the EFI, or on whatever filesystem(s) are served by the driver you've identified as the problem, if you need that driver to boot Linux. In an extreme case, doing a file-level backup, creating a fresh filesystem, and restoring files can sometimes help. (This is most practical with the ESP or other small filesystems, like a Linux/bootpartition.)/bootpartition by shrinking (from the end) an existing partition, then create a filesystem on it that you don't use elsewhere. For instance, if your main installation uses ext4fs, you can create a Btrfs or ReiserFS/bootpartition. Copy all the files from/boot(excluding/boot/efi, if that's where you mount the ESP) to the new partition, install the appropriate driver, and test it. If this works, reconfigure/etc/fstabto mount the new partition at/bootand you're done. (You can delete the contents of the original/boot, if you want to save some space and minimize the risk of confusion.) If you already use a separate/bootpartition, you can do a file-level backup, create a fresh filesystem on the partition, restore the files, and adjust/etc/fstabappropriately. rEFInd ships with drivers for ext2/3fs, ext4fs, Btrfs, and ReiserFS, just to name the Linux filesystems. HFS+ can also work well, although that's unorthodox; and on Macs, you don't need a separate driver to use HFS+, since the firmware supports it. FAT also works without a driver, but with the caveat that some distributions (including those derived from Debian) use symbolic links or other Unix-style filesystem features not supported by FAT within/boot, so FAT can sometimes cause problems.https://easyupload.io/m5na7u
I apologize. The link expired faster than it should have. Here is the new one.
At the risk of muddying the waters of someone else's problem, I have exactly the same symptom: white/grey screen with the rEFInd logo on an HP laptop (ZBook 15 G3) with (only) Windows 10.
(rEFInd works fine on my HP laptop Linux-only systems.)
But the interesting thing that I'll add, is that version 0.10.9 works! It is 0.11.3 and 0.12.0 that do not. Curious, hey? Rod, does your advice about bad filesystem/drivers still apply in this case?
Thanks, cheers.
PS. Another detail I can add is that the 0.10.9 build uses Tianocore but I'm not sure what the more recent builds use.
Last edit: Jeremy W. Murphy 2020-04-27
Hello!
I have a set top box PC with Intel N4200. I've encountered the same problem - blank screen with logo in version 0.12.0. I repeat exactly the same installation steps for 0.11.5 and it started to work.
There is no secure boot enabled in my PC, I have Windows 10 and no filesystem drivers are used as system partition is FAT32.
I had a similar issue and managed to solve it, linking it in case it's related https://sourceforge.net/p/refind/discussion/general/thread/4dfcdfdd16/
Thank you for heads up. I'm using version 0.11.5 and it works for me.
I have no time to reinstall and play with it at the moment, but will
try your approach later.
On 11/29/20, ignapk ignapk@users.sourceforge.net wrote:
--
С уважением,
Евгений Зыков.