Your best bet is to locate a PDF version of your computer's or motherboard's manual and search it for the string EFI.

Almost everything sold new since about 2014 is based on a decent EFI implementation.įor everything else, it can be harder to tell. Most x86 and x86-64 computers released after late 2011 support EFI, although there are some laggards, particularly among server-class machines. If your computer shipped new with Windows 8 or later, it almost certainly supports EFI Microsoft requires that desktop and laptop computers that bear a Windows 8 (or later) logo support EFI, and boot in EFI mode. If you want to use rEFInd on one of these new ARM-based Macs, you'll definitely be playing on the 'bleeding edge.' See this blog post for information on an early attempt (which does not seem to use rEFInd). I don't yet own one of the new ARM-based Macs, but my understanding is that they are also EFI-based however, I don't know if the current ARM build of rEFInd will run on them, and it's still early days for multi-booting such computers. The latest Macs (introduced late in 2020) use ARM CPUs - but as of early 2021, many Macs are still based on Intel CPUs. Earlier Macs with PowerPC CPUs use OpenFirmware, not EFI, and rEFInd can't be used with them. Let's get the easy case out of the way: If you have a Macintosh with an Intel CPU, it's got EFI capabilities, and you'll be able to use rEFInd. I then describe ways to identify your current boot mode in both Linux and Windows. I first present general information on identifying your hardware's capabilities. Unfortunately, determining which mode you're using can be tricky the clues are subtle or hidden in ways that require specialized knowledge to extract. In addition to this page, you may want to check out my page on the CSM, which describes why the CSM exists, how to control it, and how it can create problems.

Thus, it's possible that you're currently booting a modern EFI-capable computer in BIOS mode.

Some EFI implementations are in fact built atop a conventional BIOS, and retain BIOS's boot abilities via this underlying code. In fact, most EFI-based x86-64 computers provide a Compatibility Support Module (CSM), which is essentially a BIOS emulation mode. rEFInd is useful only on EFI-based computers, not older BIOS-based computers. Identifying Your Hardware's Capabilitiesīefore you invest time in downloading and trying to install rEFInd, you may want to verify that you can actually use the program at all.

The refind boot manager getting refind