Bootloader: Limine

Overview

The reference system uses Limine 10.8.2 as the primary bootloader. Limine is installed to the EFI System Partition at /boot/EFI/limine/, and its entry is registered with the system firmware.

EFI boot order (efibootmgr output)
BootCurrent: 0001
BootOrder: 0001,0080,0000
Boot0001* Limine
Boot0080* Mac OS X
Boot0000* Zorin OS

limine-snapper-sync

limine-snapper-sync hooks into BTRFS snapshots via snapper and updates the Limine menu automatically. Every time snapper creates a snapshot, a corresponding boot entry appears in Limine. This means you can boot any previous snapshot directly from the boot menu without any manual steps.

Install:

paru -S limine-snapper-sync
sudo systemctl enable --now limine-snapper-sync.timer

Managing Boot Entries

# View current boot order
sudo efibootmgr

# Set a specific entry as default (use 4-digit hex number from efibootmgr output)
sudo efibootmgr --bootorder 0001,0080

# Boot macOS on next boot only (without changing default)
sudo efibootmgr -n 0080

# Run the full bootloader management script
sudo bash scripts/04-bootloader.sh

Optional: rEFInd for Dual Boot

If you prefer a graphical boot picker that auto-detects all OS entries, 04-bootloader.sh can install rEFInd alongside Limine:

sudo bash scripts/04-bootloader.sh --install-refind

rEFInd will scan EFI entries and provide a graphical menu with icons. Limine remains as a fallback.

Recovering from a Failed Boot

If a kernel update breaks boot:

1. Hold Space at the Limine splash — this shows the snapshot menu
2. Select the last known good snapshot
3. Boot into it and then run:

# Revert the bad kernel from the running good snapshot
sudo snapper rollback <snapshot-number>
sudo reboot