I installed a new distro, KDENeon, on a triple boot Linux only PC.
The other distros are Manjaro and Kubuntu. Both latest kernels.
ReFind has disappeared from the UEFI list. Now on booting, a grub list appears with Manjaro at the top.
Grub also lists Mint 18.3 - although this partition was removed to make way for KDENeon. Up until that point, reFind worked perfectly.
I wonder if I inadvertently uninstalled reFind when I removed the Mint partition. I cannot remember which distro I installed reFind on.
I'd be very grateful for advice.
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KDENeon is installed on its own partition. It can be booted from reFind after an automatic, lengthy terminal process. It is not listed below. I would like to boot directly into KDENeon without the terminal business.
Linux Mint was deleted and its partition was overwritten by the KDENeon install.
Mint is listed in Manjaro's ReFind grub menu. It does not boot.
Kubuntu is installed and is booted from the Manjaro grub menu.
Keep in mind that rEFInd works by scanning for bootable EFI program image files. This is different from what the EFI's own boot manager does; it stores (in NVRAM) a list of bootable images on the hard disk. The efibootmgr utility in Linux can view and manipulate that NVRAM-based list of boot entries. Normally, rEFInd must exist in that NVRAM-present boot list, but once rEFInd launches, it can discover boot items not present in NVRAM; and it can omit items that are present in NVRAM (because they're in unusual locations, the NVRAM entries are invalid, they're explicitly excluded, etc.).
Most bootable EFI programs exist on "the" EFI System Partition (ESP). I put "the" in quotes because a computer typically has just one ESP, which is shared across OSes; however, it's possible to create multiple ESPs. In either case, rEFInd scans the root (/) and /boot directories, as well as most subdirectories of EFI, on all partitions it can read, which includes all ESPs and possibly other partitions. rEFInd looks for files with extensions of .efi or that begin with certain strings that usually indicate they're Linux kernels (like vmlinuz). All EFIs can read FAT partitions, and ESPs must officially use FAT. Apple's EFIs can also read HFS+ and (for the latest versions) APFS. rEFInd ships with drivers to read several other filesystems, mostly intended to let rEFInd read Linux kernels on Linux partitions; but the driver(s) needed to read your Linux kernel might or might not be installed.
Most Linux distributions are intended to boot via GRUB 2 on the ESP, and so don't need Linux filesystem drivers for EFI; but if you want to boot without GRUB, you will normally need at least one such driver. (DO NOT install them all, though. Installing unnecessary filesystem drivers slows rEFInd's startup and can cause the system to hang if there's a bug or filesystem problem.) If you boot a Linux kernel directly from rEFInd, you may need a /boot/refind_linux.conf file to hold kernel options. This file can be created automatically from a working boot (say, via GRUB) by running the mkrlconf script that comes with rEFInd.
The above information should help you understand and control the Linux boot process through rEFInd. For more details, please consult the rEFInd documentation, and in particular:
First post. Thanks for having me on these boards.
I installed a new distro, KDENeon, on a triple boot Linux only PC.
The other distros are Manjaro and Kubuntu. Both latest kernels.
ReFind has disappeared from the UEFI list. Now on booting, a grub list appears with Manjaro at the top.
Grub also lists Mint 18.3 - although this partition was removed to make way for KDENeon. Up until that point, reFind worked perfectly.
I wonder if I inadvertently uninstalled reFind when I removed the Mint partition. I cannot remember which distro I installed reFind on.
I'd be very grateful for advice.
This sounds like a simple boot coup triggered by the installation of a new OS:
https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/bootcoup.html
Thanks. I reinstalled reFind. Now it is listed in UEFI, but
The program opens with a long list of distro and tool choices. Some of these have reFind in their descriptions, some have grub.
When I run one of the the Manjaro icons, I get a grub menu with Manjaro., Linux (not installed), and Kubuntu.
When I run one of the Penguin/Linux icons, a long process opens in the terminal. Eventually, this ends by opening KDENeon.
I have no idea what is going on. Perhaps you can help? Perhaps I need to start again!
Last edit: John Hubbard 2021-05-20
KDENeon is installed on its own partition. It can be booted from reFind after an automatic, lengthy terminal process. It is not listed below. I would like to boot directly into KDENeon without the terminal business.
Linux Mint was deleted and its partition was overwritten by the KDENeon install.
Mint is listed in Manjaro's ReFind grub menu. It does not boot.
Kubuntu is installed and is booted from the Manjaro grub menu.
[howard@Szamitogep ~]$ sudo efibootmgr -v
[sudo] password for howard:
BootCurrent: 0001
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0001,0000,0006,0007,000D,0011,0005
Boot0000 Manjaro HD(1,GPT,1eeac6fb-2923-bc4f-855e-bb030fce2b6a,0x800,0x12c000)/File(\EFI\MANJARO\GRUBX64.EFI)
Boot0001 rEFInd Boot Manager HD(1,MBR,0xe7111462,0x800,0x100000)/File(\EFI\REFIND\REFIND_X64.EFI)
Boot0005 ubuntu HD(1,MBR,0xe7111462,0x800,0x100000)/File(\EFI\UBUNTU\SHIMX64.EFI)
Boot0006 WDC WD10EZEX-08M2NA0 BBS(HD,,0x0)..BO
Boot0007 Samsung SSD 860 QVO 1TB BBS(HD,,0x0)..BO
Boot000D WDC WD4004FZWX-00GBGB0 BBS(HD,,0x0)..BO
Boot0011* WDC WD2003FZEX-00Z4SA0 BBS(HD,,0x0)..BO
[howard@Szamitogep ~]$
I'd be grateful for advice.
Last edit: John Hubbard 2021-05-22
Keep in mind that rEFInd works by scanning for bootable EFI program image files. This is different from what the EFI's own boot manager does; it stores (in NVRAM) a list of bootable images on the hard disk. The
efibootmgrutility in Linux can view and manipulate that NVRAM-based list of boot entries. Normally, rEFInd must exist in that NVRAM-present boot list, but once rEFInd launches, it can discover boot items not present in NVRAM; and it can omit items that are present in NVRAM (because they're in unusual locations, the NVRAM entries are invalid, they're explicitly excluded, etc.).Most bootable EFI programs exist on "the" EFI System Partition (ESP). I put "the" in quotes because a computer typically has just one ESP, which is shared across OSes; however, it's possible to create multiple ESPs. In either case, rEFInd scans the root (
/) and/bootdirectories, as well as most subdirectories ofEFI, on all partitions it can read, which includes all ESPs and possibly other partitions. rEFInd looks for files with extensions of.efior that begin with certain strings that usually indicate they're Linux kernels (likevmlinuz). All EFIs can read FAT partitions, and ESPs must officially use FAT. Apple's EFIs can also read HFS+ and (for the latest versions) APFS. rEFInd ships with drivers to read several other filesystems, mostly intended to let rEFInd read Linux kernels on Linux partitions; but the driver(s) needed to read your Linux kernel might or might not be installed.Most Linux distributions are intended to boot via GRUB 2 on the ESP, and so don't need Linux filesystem drivers for EFI; but if you want to boot without GRUB, you will normally need at least one such driver. (DO NOT install them all, though. Installing unnecessary filesystem drivers slows rEFInd's startup and can cause the system to hang if there's a bug or filesystem problem.) If you boot a Linux kernel directly from rEFInd, you may need a
/boot/refind_linux.conffile to hold kernel options. This file can be created automatically from a working boot (say, via GRUB) by running themkrlconfscript that comes with rEFInd.The above information should help you understand and control the Linux boot process through rEFInd. For more details, please consult the rEFInd documentation, and in particular: