RefindPlus is a variant of the rEFInd Boot Manager incorporating various fixes and additional features.
The current development focus is on the following units:
- MacPro3,1: Early 2008 Mac Pro
- MacPro4,1: Early 2009 Mac Pro
- MacPro5,1: Mid 2010 and Mid 2012 Mac Pros
- XServe3,1: Early 2009 XServe
However, the fixes and enhancements that RefindPlus adds to rEFInd are not limited in scope to those units and may be of interest to anyone requiring a capable and flexible boot manager, particularly if running Mac OS.
NB: This ReadMe reflects the current unreleased code base. CLICK HERE for that related to the current release.
- Maintains feature and configuration parity with the base rEFInd version.
- Protects against damage to Mac NVRAM when booting UEFI Windows.
- Provides Pre-Boot Configuration Screen on units running GPUs without Native EFI on Macs.
- Provides UGADraw on modern GOP based GPUs to permit booting legacy EFIBoot operating systems.
- Adds a debug version that provides extensive logging.
- The release version is kept as an optimised version for day to day use.
- Fixes inability of rEFInd to print to screen on Macs
- This prevented receiving program messages as well as leveraging advanced features such as EFI Shell.
- Provides APFS filesystem capability via a built in APFS JumpStart driver if required.
- Removes the need to add APFS drivers to run recent Mac OS releases on units without APFS support.
- Additionally, this ensures that matching APFS drivers for specific Mac OS releases are used.
- Basically allows working as if APFS is natively supported by the firmware
- Supports Apple's APFS filesystem requirements
- This allows booting Mac OS v11.0 (Big Sur) from named volumes on the main screen, as opposed to generic 'PreBoot' volumes, without requiring SIP to be disabled (potentially compromising system integrity).
- This also allows booting FileVault encrypted volumes from named volumes on the main screen, as opposed to generic 'PreBoot' volumes.
MyBootMgr, an automated preconfigured implementation of a RefindPlus/OpenCore chain-loading arrangement is recommended for implementation on MacPro3,1 to MacPro5,1 as well as on XServe3,1. However, the RefindPlus efi file can work as a drop-in replacement for the rEFInd efi file. Hence, you can get the rEFInd package and install this first. Once rEFInd is installed, replace the rEFInd efi file with the RefindPlus efi file. (Ensure that you rename the RefindPlus efi file to match the rEFInd efi file name). This permits implementing RefindPlus on other Mac types as well as on other operating systems supported by rEFInd.
While RefindPlus will function with the rEFInd configuration file, refind.conf, this should be replaced with the RefindPlus configuration file, config.conf, to configure the additonal options provided by RefindPlus. A sample RefindPlus configuration file is available here: config.conf-sample.
Note that if you run RefindPlus without activating the additonal options, as will be the case if using an unmodified rEFInd configuration file, a RefindPlus run will be equivalent to running the rEFInd version it is based on, currently v0.13.2. That is, the additonal options provided in RefindPlus must be actively enabled if they are required.
RefindPlus-specific funtionality can be activated by adding the tokens below to a rEFInd configuration file.
| Token | Functionality |
|---|---|
| active_csr | Actively enables or disables the CSR Policy on Macs. |
| continue_on_warning | Proceeds as if a key is pressed after screen warnings (for remote login). |
| direct_gop_renderer | Provides a potentially improved GOP instance for certain GPUs. |
| disable_amfi | Disables AMFI Checks on Mac OS if required. |
| disable_compat_check | Disables Mac version compatibility checks if required. |
| force_trim | Forces TRIM with non-Apple SSDs on Macs if required. |
| ignore_previous_boot | Disables saving the last booted loader if not required. |
| protect_nvram | Prevents UEFI Windows from saving certificates to Apple NVRAM. |
| provide_console_gop | Fixes issues with GOP on some legacy units. |
| reinstall_gop | Install UEFI 2.x GOP drivers on EFI 1.x units (modern GPUs on legacy units). |
| scale_ui | Provides control of UI element scaling. |
| scan_other_esp | Allows other ESPs other than the RefindPlus ESP to be scanned for loaders. |
| set_boot_args | Allows arbitrary Mac OS boot argument strings. |
| supply_apfs | Provides APFS file system capability if required (built in APFS driver). |
| suppress_verbose_apfs | Supresses verbose APFS text on boot (if required with supply_apfs). |
| sync_apfs | Boot APFS volumes, such as Big Sur and FileVault, directly (without PreBoot). |
| text_renderer | Provides a text renderer that allows text mode when not otherwise available. |
| uga_pass_through | Provides UGA instance on GOP to permit EFIBoot with modern GPUs. |
In addition to the new functions above, the following upsteam functions have been extended:
use_graphics_for: OpenCore and Clover added to loaders that can be set to boot in graphics mode.showtools: Additional tools added:clean_nvram: Allows resetting nvram directly from RefindPlus.show_bootscreen: Allows compatible GPUs to load the Apple Pre Boot Configuration screen.
Implementation differences between rEFInd and RefindPlus as at rEFInd v0.13.2 are:
timeout: The default is no timeout unless explicitly set.screensaver: The RefindPlus screensaver cycles through a set of colours as opposed to a single grey colour.use_nvram: RefindPlus variables are written to the file system and not the motherboard's NVRAM unless explicitly set to do so by activating this configuration token.log_level: Controls the native log format and an implementation of the upstream format.- Only active on DEBUG builds. RELEASE builds remain optimised for day to day use.
- Level 0 does not switch logging off but activates the native format
- Levels 1 to 4 output logs equivalent to the upstream format
- rEFInd now scans other ESPs for loaders in addition to the ESP containing the rEFInd loader. The earlier behaviour, where other ESPs were treated as duplicates and ignored, has been considered an error and changed. This earlier behaviour is preferred and maintained in RefindPlus. Users are however provided an option to override this behaviour, in favour of the new rEFInd behaviour, by activating the RefindPlus-specific
scan_other_espconfiguration token.
Refer to BUILDING.md for build instructions (x64 Only).