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Win 10 Update broke rEFInd with DualBoot Setup on Mac Mini

Sara
2017-05-21
2017-05-21
  • Sara

    Sara - 2017-05-21

    Hi,

    I had a working dual boot setup with Mac OS and Win 10 booting from two different GPT disks.
    After a recent Windows update, rEFInd no longer shows up. On booting, the system is stuck in a white screen.

    output of diskutil:

    /dev/disk0
       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *250.1 GB   disk0
       1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1
       2:       Microsoft Basic Data Windows.SSD             124.0 GB   disk0s2
       3:       Microsoft Basic Data Programs.SSD            125.8 GB   disk0s3
    /dev/disk1  
       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *320.1 GB   disk1
       1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk1s1
       2:                  Apple_HFS OSXHDD                  128.8 GB   disk1s2
       3:       Microsoft Basic Data Windows.HDD             190.9 GB   disk1s3
    

    rEFInd is installed on disk1s1
    The actual Windows installation is on disk0s2
    The mac installation is on disk1s2
    disk1s3 is a regular non-system partitition, though the name indicates Windows
    Both disks are setup with a hybrid MBR

    I tried re-blessing the refind_x64.efi file again, but to no avail.
    If I press the 'ALT' key on booting, to use the built-in boot loader, both Mac and Windows partitions show up, and I am able to successfully boot into either of them.
    Just to narrow down the issue, I tried to rename the refind folder in disk1s1 to something else. This leads to the MacOS automatically booting and the system is no longer stuck on boot.

    Any steps to figure out why rEFInd is failing to load - a log file may be? or is there a verbose/debug mode? Or any known configurations that could throw off rEFInd?

    Any pointers to further troubleshoot the issue, would be greatly helpful.

    TIA

     
  • Roderick W. Smith

    This sounds like a variant on what I call a "boot coup":

    http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/bootcoup.html

    The easiest solution is likely to be to delete or rename rEFInd on the ESP, as you've done, and re-install it.

    rEFInd does not create log files, and I'm skeptical that rEFInd was causing the problem. My suspicion is that the Windows update caused a new Windows boot loader to be installed and set as the default, but that this configuration was causing problems. (Windows' EFI support was designed primarily for UEFI-based PCs, and Macs are just a little bit different, so incompatibilities can crop up.)

     

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