From 7b3fb3caef9495cdfcc1c8ec39907defb65ce860 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: kitkat1424 Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2026 01:11:08 +0530 Subject: [PATCH] loader.efi(8): clarify UEFI boot path and boot1.efi usage Reorganise and clarify the legacy role of boot1.efi in DESCRIPTION to improve clarity. Add a minor missing word in the BUGS section ["...caution is required*..."]. See also - PR: 290794 Signed-off-by: Aaditya Singh Reviewed by: imp Pull Request: https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-src/pull/1939 --- stand/man/loader.efi.8 | 45 +++++++++++++++++++++--------------------- 1 file changed, 22 insertions(+), 23 deletions(-) diff --git a/stand/man/loader.efi.8 b/stand/man/loader.efi.8 index d9a5c827ba7..80d16d45670 100644 --- a/stand/man/loader.efi.8 +++ b/stand/man/loader.efi.8 @@ -41,20 +41,28 @@ On UEFI systems, .Nm loads the kernel. .Pp -.Xr boot1.efi 8 -is used to load .Nm -when it is placed within a UFS or ZFS file system. -Alternatively, -.Nm -is used directly when configured with -.Xr efibootmgr 8 , -or when placed directly as the default boot program as described in -.Xr uefi 8 . -When a system is built using +is invoked directly from the EFI System Partition (ESP) +on systems installed using .Xr bsdinstall 8 , -.Nm -will be used directly. +when installed as the default EFI boot program as described in +.Xr uefi 8 +or when configured as an EFI boot entry with +.Xr efibootmgr 8 . +.Pp +On systems upgraded from FreeBSD 10 or earlier, the EFI System Partition (ESP) +can be too small to accommodate +.Nm . +In such cases, +.Xr boot1.efi 8 +may be retained as the firmware boot program. It +will chain-load the current +.Pa /boot/loader.efi , +which is updated during the +.Cm installworld +process. +.Xr boot1.efi 8 +is deprecated for new installations. .Ss Console Considerations The EFI BIOS provides a generic console. In @@ -485,15 +493,6 @@ Typically in these embedded situations, there is only one .efi file (loader.efi or a copy of loader.efi). The path to this file is typically the default removable path above. .Pp -Managing booting multiple OSes on UEFI varies greatly, so extra caution when -updating the UEFI default loader. +Managing booting multiple OSes on UEFI varies greatly, so extra caution is required +when updating the UEFI default loader. .Pp -The old, now obsolete, boot1.efi was installed as bootx64.efi in -.Fx 10 -and earlier. -Since it was quite limited in functionality, we created very small -ESPs by default. -A modern loader.efi will not fit. -However, if the old boot1.efi still works, there's no need to update -it since it will chain boot /boot/loader.efi from a copy that -make installworld updates.