Automatic Booting with only 1 Option

[JP-Ellis]

Is it possible to setup rEFInd such that if there is only a single boot option detected, it does not bother asking and automatically boots into it?

In my case, I only have a single operating system on my computer, but I frequently boot from external drives, so I would have the choices when I want (i.e. external drive plugged in), but otherwise I can boot faster into my computer.

[Roderick W. Smith]

It's not possible to do precisely that, but you might look into three rEFInd options (in refind.conf):

• timeout -- This value defaults to 20, but by setting it lower, you'll reduce the delay before rEFInd boots the default option. Note that setting this option to -1 causes an immediate boot unless rEFInd detects a keypress waiting when it boots, similar to what Macs do unless you hold down an Option key when booting; but rEFInd will pause when it detects any keypress.
• screensaver -- rEFInd doesn't use a screen saver by default, but you can set this option to the number of seconds before one kicks in. Setting it to -1 causes the screen saver to be active when rEFInd launches. Used in conjunction with a low timeout value, that might be similar enough to what you want to be acceptable.
• default_selection -- You set the default boot option with this one. It may be unnecessary in your case, since when you boot with no other media present, rEFInd should default to your one OS. (If you've got external tools like an EFI shell or gptsync, though, they can become set as the default.) The default behavior is to use the previously-booted OS as the default, if it's available.

Setting a low, or possibly a negative, timeout will probably be close enough to what you want. Setting screensaver -1 might help, too. Explicitly setting default_selection might be desirable if you've got external tools that can be set as the default or if you want to avoid accidentally booting an external medium if you forget to remove it.