Arch Linux

bbaserdem

Member

Registered: 2017-07-27

Posts: 43

Can't use rEFInd.

Hello. I will begin with saying that I have GRUB installed and I can boot with that. However I want to migrate to rEFInd because I find it much more simpler to use and configure, and the theming options are much clearer.

I have a UEFI system, with the following partitions;
- sda1 : 500 MB ESP (fat32, mounted at /boot)
- sda2 : 16 MB windows reserved
- sda3 : 100 GB NTFS for WIndows 10
- sda4 : 800 GB LVM with LUKS Arch (has a 30 Gb swap and 800 Gb btrfs partition)
- sda5 : 10 GB shared fat32 partition

I have set it up on this computer before and it worked flawlessly. (I was on ubuntu-based distros, so I used apt to get it from the ppa before I switched to arch) I also set it up manually on a mac before. I tried all the following methods; but every time I am greeted with a black screen. I try hitting F10 to get a screenshot for the blank screen, but I don't find the screenshot in the refind directory or my /boot

-Installing binary from official repos, and using installation script.
-Installing binary from official repos, and manually installing.
-Installing latest version from AUR, and using installation script.
-Installing latest version from AUR, and manually installing.
-Installing directly from zip provided from http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/ and manually installing.

The last method worked for 3 boots, and then stopped working again when I tried adding refind_linux.conf along with the kernel to boot properly into Arch. Even when I remove the refind_linux.conf from the parent directory, it doesn't help. I am at an impasse, I have no idea what is not working as there is no log file or nothing provided. Did anyone had success troubleshooting this before?

Also, I tried all the following methods with all possible permutations
-Add refind using efibootmgr, using the provided snipped in arch wiki (efibootmgr --create --disk /dev/sda --part 1 --loader /EFI/refind/refind_x64.efi --label “rEFInd Boot Manager")
-Add refind using efibootmgr, using the provided in rEFInd webpage (efibootmgr -c -l \\EFI\\refind\\refind_x64.efi -L rEFInd)
-Used my BIOS menu to navigate my ESP and create an entry by specifying the refind_x64.efi

My computer is Asus N550JK, and I had refind working flawlessly on this computer before.

EDIT: I forgot I already had an account, the post below is me. ANyway putting any config file, even an empty one, seems to screw refind. Is there anything I can do to fix?

Last edited by bbaserdem (2017-07-28 14:45:50)

silverbluep

Guest

Re: Can't use rEFInd.

I have been playing around. It seems if there is a config file, rEFInd becomes a black screen. I tried copying the default one, making a complete empty one with touch and black screen both times. Remove the config file and it boots just fine. How can I fix this issue?

mrunion

Member

From: Jonesborough, TN

Registered: 2007-01-26

Posts: 1,938

Website

Re: Can't use rEFInd.

Show us the config file you are trying to make work for starters.

---

Matt

"It is very difficult to educate the educated."

bbaserdem

Member

Registered: 2017-07-27

Posts: 43

Re: Can't use rEFInd.

I tried with this;

timeout 0
screensaver 300
enable_touch
scanfor external,optical,manual

menuentry "Arch Linux" {
    icon     /EFI/refind/icons/os_arch.png
    volume   "Arch Linux"
    loader   /vmlinuz-linux
    initrd   /initramfs-linux.img
    options  "root=/dev/mapper/Arch-OS rw rootflags=subvol=@root cryptdevice=UUID=7f6d7720-b2a3-4375-a430-b8cdf59e7508:cryptolvm resume=/dev/mapper/Arch-swap acpi_osi="
    submenuentry "Boot using fallback initramfs" {
        initrd /initramfs-linux-fallback.img
    }
}

menuentry "Windows" {
    loader \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi
}

menuentry "GRUB" {
    icon    /EFI/refind/icons/os_unknown.png
    loader  /EFI/GRUB/grubx64.efi
}

and I tried with this; (literally did sudo touch /boot/EFI/refind/refind.conf)

*cricket noises*

Both times, rEFInd doesn't work. The only time it does is if there is no refind.conf in the refind directory.

Last edited by bbaserdem (2017-07-28 16:39:03)