sermuns/ratatuefi - Repository

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FR-AI / ANALYSIS

Why it is worth attention

It bridges Ratatui (a popular Rust TUI library) with the UEFI environment, allowing developers to build interactive, keyboard-driven interfaces for bootloaders, recovery tools, and other pre-OS use cases using a familiar Rust ecosystem.

Who it is for

Rust developers exploring UEFI programming
Developers of bootloaders or EFI applications
System programmers needing pre-OS user interfaces
TUI enthusiasts interested in no-OS environments

Use cases

Building a custom boot manager like efimux
Creating diagnostic or recovery menus that run before the OS loads
Developing firmware configuration utilities with a text-based interface
Prototyping simple UEFI applications with a familiar TUI paradigm

Strengths

Leverages the mature Ratatui framework for widget layout and styling
Built on the well-maintained uefi crate for reliable UEFI access
Supports both QEMU emulation and real physical hardware
Described as 'zero-bloat', implying minimal overhead for UEFI apps

Considerations

Requires disabling Secure Boot on the target machine
Only runs in UEFI environments (no BIOS or legacy boot)
Setup involves manual USB or QEMU configuration steps
Limited to the input/output capabilities provided by UEFI firmware

README quick start

Zero-bloat Ratatui in UEFI, no OS

What is it?

This library provides a (no_std) UEFI backend for Ratatui that is based on the uefi crate.

Together with uefi, you can create rich TUI's that run as EFI applications.

Examples

efimux is an EFI application for booting other EFI applications, built on ratatuefi.

Also check examples/.

Running in QEMU

Install packages:
```
pacman -S qemu-system-x86_64 edk2-ovmf
```
(optionally, install some graphics backend (recommend sdl+opengl), but you can also VNC into the VM)
```
pacman -S qemu-ui-sdl qemu-ui-opengl
```
Create virtual EFI layout
```
just create-virtual-uefi-layout
```
then build and symlink the .efi in:
(`` is something like ./target/x86_64-unknown-uefi/debug/.efi)
```
ln -sf  esp/efi/boot/bootx64.efi
```
Start QEMU
```
just qemu
```

Running on a physical machine

from

Connect a USB drive. Follow steps below.

# Create the GPT, create a 9MB partition starting at 1MB, and set the
# partition type to EFI System.
sgdisk \
    --clear \
    --new=1:1M:10M \
    --typecode=1:C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B \
    /path/to/disk

# Format the partition as FAT.
mkfs.fat /path/to/disk_partition

# Mount the partition.
mount --mkdir /path/to/disk_partition /mnt/ratatuefi

# Copy in the boot executable.
cp -rL esp/efi /mnt/ratatuefi/

# Eject the USB drive
eject /path/to/disk

[!IMPORTANT] disable secure boot on machine before trying to boot

Now try booting the USB drive!

Description

Zero-bloat Ratatui in UEFI, no OS

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