Easy2Boot v1.54 released

Improvements over 1.53 are:

1. Bugfix for forcing file extension using qrun.g4b and .isowb files
2. memtest86 32-bit UEFI boot file added - if you UEFI-boot a 32-bit or 64-bit system from a FAT32 E2B USB drive it will now run memtest86 
3. Make_E2B_USB_Drive.cmd now checks for Admin rights and also removes EFI folder to save space if you formatted it as NTFS (as you cannot directly UEFI-boot from an NTFS partition). 
4. New .imgPTNAUTO file extension supported (no user prompt to switch partitions). 
5. AUTOCSM variable in MyE2B.cfg will now cause all .imgPTN files to auto-run, just as if they all had the .imgPTNAUTO file extension.
6. Added a 'Measure USB Performance' menu entry into Utilities menu to allow testing of BIOSes with slow USB access
7. Bugfix for ISOs with long filenames ending in .isoWB. 
8. Sample WinBuilder .mnu changed for same fix as above. 
9. New grub4dos 0.4.5c grldr version. 
10. File enumeration speed improvements - should make for faster booting on systems with slow BIOSes. 
11. linux script fmt.sh added to format a USB drive as an E2B drive under linux.

Slow to load the Main Menu?

Several people have reported in the E2B forum that E2B takes several minutes to get to the Main menu even when using a fast USB 3.0 flash drive. This is due to the particular system BIOS having very poor quality USB 'drivers' which makes USB communication very slow. Because E2B needs to access all files in the \_ISO\MAINMENU folders and \_ISO\WINDOWS folders several times during start-up, this can result in a long wait on systems with these slow BIOSes. The speed does not depend on how fast the CPU is or how fast the USB drive is (though that can affect timings), it depends on how well written the USB driver code is in the BIOS (good code will use interrupts and DMA, bad quality code will use polling which can cause long delays as each USB bus 'message' is sent or received). Because BIOS vendors tend to use the same code modules for different systems, you may find that the same 'family' always have poor USB performance (e.g. AWARD V6.00PG BIOS). Of course, once you boot to an Operating System  such as linux or Windows, the OS uses it's own USB drivers and we will get decent USB communication speeds.

You can now run a 'Measure USB Performance' test from the Utilities menu (which is really measuring the BIOS USB driver performance as well as USB speed!) to see how long 100 file accesses takes (and also 1000 file accesses). You should see that most systems take between 2-5 seconds for 100 accesses, but slow BIOSes can take 60 seconds!

Note that this test does not measure data transfer performance, just directory access speeds. Also, grub4dos produces faster results on FAT32 USB drives than on NTFS drives, so if comparing times between different USB drives, always use the same formatting for E2B.

Virtual Box + E2B on a USB HDD (100lp=0.8 seconds)

An indication of a BIOS problem, is that booting to E2B using the RMPrepUSB - QEMU button (which is normally much slower than a real system) is faster than when booting on the real 'bad' system using the system's BIOS USB code.

QEMU is normally slower than a real system.

QEMU + E2B on a slow USB Flash drive - 100 loops=16 seconds

On an EeePC (an average BIOS), the same USB drive - 100 loops=3 seconds.

To check for a bad BIOS, boot to E2B on the 'bad' system, and then switch to grub4dos 0.4.6a (it is listed in the Main menu) and then load the grub4dos 0.4.6a USB 2.0 chipset driver (which is listed in the Main menu after loading 0.4.6a). If the USB driver loads successfully and detects your USB drive, you can repeat the  'Measure USB Performance' test to see if file access speeds have improved. Typically, 100 accesses will take less than 2 seconds when the grub4dos USB driver is loaded (if it has recognised the USB 2.0 chipset in the system)! You can use a USB 3.0 drive, but it must be connected to a USB 2.0 port. Unfortunately, the grub4dos USB driver does not recognise all USB 2.0 chipsets/adapters and so it is pot luck whether it works or not on each system.

If the grub4dos USB driver does work, you can enable it on each E2B start-up by setting a variable in the \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file (set GRUB_USB=Y).

If the grub4dos USB driver does not recognise your chipset or for tips on getting E2B to load faster, see the FAQ page.

If you already have an earlier version of E2B, just download the smaller 1.54 (non-DPMS) version and overwrite the files on your E2B USB drive.

Download page is here as usual

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grub4dos secrets!

As you may know, E2B and most of the Tutorials on www.rmprepusb.com use grub4dos. I have got to know grub4dos pretty well and I love it's flexibility. It has been improved quite a bit in the last few years (thanks chenall and tinybit!) and there have been some changes which have not been reflected in previous documentation or guides.

So, I just thought I would point out a few articles on the www.rmprepusb.com website which you might find useful:

Tutorial 21 is a grub4dos tutorial - useful for beginners and the more advanced user.

Tutorial 71 is about some of the programs which you can run under the grub4dos environment, such as wenv, hotkey, chkpci, fat and bios. It also describes how to run grub4dos batch files.

Tutorial 57 is about configuring grub4dos menus, hiding startup messages, making a silent splash screen, configuring 'secret' keys, etc.

Finally, Here you will find a page about the special hidden, secret and undocumented features of modern grub4dos, also what memory areas grub4dos uses, what internal variables are available, new commands and operators, the undocumented Fn. functions calls and lots of other goodies!

If you want to get a feel for grub4dos batch files, have a look at any of the Easy2Boot grub4dos batch files (they usually have a file extension of .g4b) - an advanced coding example can be found in the dpms2.g4b batch file if you are feeling really geeky!

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Linux script to install Easy2Boot to a USB drive

The latest version now includes a fmt.sh bash shell script which can be run from a linux OS and it will format a partition as FAT32 on the specified drive, copy over the E2B files and then run bootlace to install grub4dos. There is also a fmt_ntfs.sh script to create an NTFS E2B drive (v1.83+).

I have tested it in a VM (VBox)  using Linux Mint Debian Edition (64-bit) and Ubuntu 14.04.
Of course, there are lots of linux distros and it may not work on all of them.
As it formats a partition, you need to be careful when using it - you have been warned (but it has been independently tested here)!

The E2B download is on this page (linux users will probably not need to use the much larger DPMS version which you will only want if you are intending to install XP from E2B).

Once you have made your E2B FAT32 USB drive, just add all your ISO files to any one of the menu folders - e.g. \_ISO\MAINMENU or \_ISO\LINUX.

Alternatively, you can add your payload files into the downloaded files first, before you run the fmt.sh script. This is useful if you want to make a fresh, contiguous E2B drive and it is often quicker to make a fresh drive, rather than running defragfs to make any added/changed files contiguous.

Here is a screenshot of the script in action. You need to run chmod first before you can run the script.
The script can be found in the \_ISO\docs\linux_utils folder after extracting the files from the download (the folder also contains defragfs which you can use to make your ISO files contiguous - only works on FAT32 volumes).

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E2B v1.83+ includes a fmt_ntfs.sh script to format a drive as NTFS, plus the udefrag utility to defragment an NTFS drive. Read the ReadMe file for details.

.imgPTNAUTO file extension is supported in E2B v1.54

E2B v1.54 will support the new .imgPTNAUTO file extension.

This differs from the .imgPTN file extension in that the user does not see the prompt to press a key to switch to the new partition; instead as soon as you select the menu entry, the partition is switched and you are immediately presented with the CSM menu.

For the other variations of .imgPTN files, you can make a special .mnu file, e.g. both of these will go straight to the CSM menu:

title Clonezilla AutoCSM
/%grub%/qrun.g4b    FORCE.imgPTNAUTO     $HOME$/clonezilla-live-2.2.2-37-i686-pae.imgPTN
boot

title Clonezilla AutoCSM
set AUTOCSM=1
/%grub%/qrun.g4b    $HOME$/clonezilla-live-2.2.2-37-i686-pae.imgPTNLBAa23
boot

You can also use  set AUTOCSM=1  in a \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file to make all types of  .imgPTNxxxx files auto-run to the CSM menu.

The new QRUN.g4b file that supports this is available for download in the easy2boot Alternative download areas (see V1.54Beta.zip file).

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UEFI-boot FatDog (Puppy) linux from your Easy2Boot USB drive

FatDog (a 64-bit version of Puppy) now supports 64-bit UEFI booting. Here is how to add it to Easy2Boot and enable UEFI booting.

1. Download FatDog64-631.iso from here
2. Extract the contents of the ISO to a new empty folder on your Windows hard drive - e.g. C:\temp\fatdog631
3. Extract all the files from the efiboot.img file to the C:\temp\fatdog631 folder - you should now have a C:\temp\fatdog631\efi folder (amongst others)...

4. (optional) delete the [BOOT] folder if there is one and the efiboot.img file
5. Drag-and-drop the C:\temp\fatdog631 folder onto the Windows Desktop MPI_FAT32 shortcut to make a .imgPTN file (see www.easy2boot.com - MakePartImage for details). if you want the persistence feature (Save file), increase the size of the FAT32 partition (e.g. add 500MB).

Note that if there is not enough space and Puppy creates a very small Save file, it will not boot until you delete the Save file!

6. Copy the .imgPTN file to your E2B USB drive's \_ISO\MAINMENU folder (or other menu folder)

You can now boot to E2B in the normal way and select the new .imgPTN file. Once you have switched partitions you can UEFI-boot from it (64-bit systems only) or use Clover to UEFI-boot directly or use the CSM menu to boot in MBR mode.

This is the first reFind UEFI boot screen

This is the next menu after pressing [ENTER]

Note: If you wish you can skip the reFind UEFI boot menu and also save some file space as follows (do this after step 4 above or in the partition image itself):

1. Delete all files and folders under the C:\temp\fatdog632\EFI\boot folder
2. Move the \EFI\grub2\grub2.efi file to the \EFI\boot folder
3. Rename the \EFI\boot\grub2.efi file to bootx64.efi

You should now have a single file under the \EFI folder called \EFI\boot\bootx64.efi. When you UEFI-boot, you will see the black menu screen shown above.

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64-bit and 32-bit UEFI for Puppy ISOs

You can drag-and-drop the ISO onto the MPI_FAT32 shortcut to convert it to a .imgPTN file (choose 37 for linux option). I used tahr-6.0.6-uefi.iso. Don't forget to increase the default size suggested if you want to use the Save feature and have persistence.

Switch to the .imgPTN file and the FAT32 partition.

Now extract the contents of the \efi.img file to the root of the E2B drive (i.e. the new FAT32 partition should now contain \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI).

Now it will be UEFI-64-bit bootable.

To add the 32-bit grub boot file, download http://distro.ibibli...2.00-i686-1.txz

Extract the \grub2-efi32-2.00-i686-1.txz\grub2-efi32-2.00-i686-1.tar\usr\share\grub2-efi\grubia32.efi file using 7Zip

Copy it to the \EFI\BOOT folder and rename it to bootia32.EFI, so you have now...

• \EFI\BOOT\bootia32.efi
• \EFI\BOOT\bootx64.efi
• \grub.cfg (should already be present)

Now you should be able to UEFI 32-bit/64-bit and MBR boot.

Have you tried PXE booting yet?

Nearly all modern computers support Network Booting (aka PXE booting).
You may have seen the option to boot from the network listed in the BIOS boot options of a BIOS Setup menu.

Tutorial #76 on my RMPrepUSB site describes how to set up SERVA which is an incredible Windows utility which can set up any Windows system to function as a PXE server (as well as a normal PC).

Normally, you would need to have access to the network DHCP server (the one that dishes out IP addresses to all the computers on the network) in order to configure PXE booting. The unique thing about SERVA is that you don't need to fiddle with the network DHCP server at all. This is a real boon for home users who usually use their router as the DHCP server. It is also a boon for companies who have a multi-server network and don't allow or want their employees to fiddle with the servers.

The home site for SERVA is here and it has lots of documentation on how to boot loads of different OS's - see here for a list of non-Windows payloads that you can network boot (includes Fedora, Ubuntu, Kali linux, Debian, android x86, GParted and even FreeDos for performing a BIOS upgrade).
To install Windows across the network, it is necessary to ensure that the OS you are booting to has the necessary network drivers included, because once it boots to the Windows PE environment, it will need to pull the install files across the network from the SERVA PC to copy onto the systems hard disk.

SERVA was featured in PC WELT recently (Issue 5 - pg.55)

The free 'Non-Supporter' home-trial version of SERVA can be used to install Windows across the network. The 'Supporter' version is 29.99 and has more features and is used by many companies - see here for a list.

Something to try during the Summer holidays perhaps?

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Add a Cold Boot Attack to Easy2Boot

Jamil recently contacted me and asked how to get the Cold Boot Attack (video) (skip to the 3 minutes point to save time) code 'scraper.bin' to work on an Easy2Boot USB drive. This allows you to capture the contents of a computer's memory onto a USB drive (even if it has been switched off for several seconds!). The idea is that the computers memory may still contain un-encoded AES encryption codes, passwords, etc. which can be deciphered later, once the memory's data has been safely captured.

Note that scraper.bin also displays the last key presses from the keyboard buffer too!

The idea that we came up with for getting this to work with Easy2Boot is now available for all to use, so check out Tutorial 124!

The following scenario of retrieving data from a system that is switched off seems rather far fetched however and may be something that you would only see Tom Cruise doing in Mission Impossible!:

1. User shuts down PC and walks away
2. Tom approaches system from the ceiling and takes it apart
3. Tom uses freezer spray on the internal DIMMs
4. Tom removes the DIMMs and keeps them cold on top of a frozen cold pack or a small flask of liquid Nitrogen which he has in his utility belt
5. Tom replaced the DIMMs with identical ones which he happens to have with him and leaves the building
6. Tom takes the DIMMs to another system in his lab which takes the same sort of memory
7. Tom quickly fits the DIMMs to his PC and his E2B+'scraper' USB drive and switches on the system - all data from the DIMMs are saved to the USB drive
8. Tom analyses the data, gets all the encryption keys and saves the world!

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How to add Floppy Disk Images to Easy2Boot

Floppy disk images usually have the .ima or .img file extension.

You can just add these to your E2B USB drive in the usual way by drag-and-drop to any suitable menu folder (e.g. \_ISO\MAINMENU or \_ISO\DOS or \_ISO\UTILITIES or even \_ISO\LINUX, etc.).

Most people will want to boot to DOS (either FreeDos or MS-DOS) in order to run a DOS utility such as a BIOS update utility or a DOS utility such as HWInfo.

The RMPrepUSB Tutorial 33 includes details on how to make such Floppy Disk Images.

When Easy2Boot boots from a .ima or .img image, the USB drive will be mapped as a floppy disk device (i.e. A:). Any hard disks that are present in the system will appear as C:, D:, etc. but of course, the files on them will only be accessible to DOS if they are FAT16 or FAT32, unless you also have a DOS NTFS driver loaded. The whole floppy disk image is loaded into memory so that you cannot change the files in the image file accidentally (note: if you wish to boot directly so that you can change the contents, use a .IMArw file extension as in v1.54 and later versions).

For instance, you can download the DOS version of HWInfo from here and add it to a floppy disk image as follows:

1. Download the latest DOS version of HWInfo and unpack it fully.
2. Download the FREEDOS_288.zip file from Tutorial 33 and unpack it to obtain the FREEDOS_288.ima file.
3. Mount the .ima file using WinImage or ImDisk.
4. Copy the two HWInfo files (.exe and .dat) to the floppy disk image.
5. Quit WinImage/ImDisk and save the changes.
6. Copy the .ima file to your E2B USB drive and give it a suitable name - e.g. \_ISO\MAINMENU\HWInfo.ima

When you boot from the image, type HWINFO at the A: DOS prompt to run the program.

If you prefer, add HWINFO to the bottom of the \fdauto.bat file to make it run automatically.

A ready-made payload file HWINFO.IMA.GZ is available in the Alternate Download - Other Files areas. There is also a CPUINFO.IMA.GZ too.

You can add BIOS utilities in the same way.

If you use the .ima file extension, the USB drive will be accessible from DOS as the first hard disk in the system. Any internal hard disks will be the 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc. Of course, FreeDOS will normally only be able to access them if they are FAT16 or FAT32.

Larger 'floppy' images

If you need a larger image, use ImDisk to create a Dos.img file of whatever size you want as a virtual drive. 

Copy your files onto the virtual drive and then 'Remove' the virtual drive. 

Then copy the Dos.img file to \_ISO\MAINMENU. 

If you like, you can use the contents of RMPrepUSB's FREEDOS_USB_BOOT folder as a source for your bootable FreeDos files (press F3 in RMPrepUSB to see the folder).

Use E2B's FreeDOS floppy image

Here is an easy way to run most DOS-compatible software just by copying the files onto your USB drive.

1. Download HWINFO for DOS and extract the files to a new folder on your E2B USB drive.

Keep the folder name within 8 characters (I used \HWINFO).
You can use the first NTFS partition of the E2B USB drive, but if you have a FAT32 partition on your USB drive, this you will not need to load the NTFS driver (which is a bit flakey!).

2. Now Legacy boot to the E2B DOS menu and run the FreeDOS floppy image.

3. Choose the NTFS option if your files are on the first partition.

4. Now run the program (this assumes the C: drive is the volume with the \HWINFO folder)

C:

cd \HWINFO

HWINFO

Re-install linux onto your Asus EeePC using a USB drive

I have added Tutorial 123 to the RMPrepUSB site for anyone wanting to re-install linux onto their Asus EeePC 701 from a USB drive using the 900MB EeePC 701 ISO download.

The larger EeePC downloads (e.g. v1.7  1.9GB) include images for many more EeePC models which can be run Live or can be installed. These larger ISOs can simply be added to your E2B USB drive as .ISO files. See  Tutorial 123 for more details.

Add 64-bit android for x86 Intel Architecture to your E2B USB drive

You can download various versions of 64-bit android for different Intel platforms from here.

Note that these are Betas and so I would recommend you do not try to install it onto your working Windows system! Luckily, most images contain a Live boot option so we can test it out without installing it.

The downloads are in the form of .zip files and contain a disk image which can only boot via UEFI.

To add these to your E2B drive you need to:

1. Use 7zip or WinRar, etc. to find the live.img payload file which will be inside the .zip download file, e.g. android-4.4.2_r1-ia1-haswell_generic-userdebug.zip has a live.img file under \out\target\product\haswell_generic. I picked this one for my Z87 Haswell system.
2. Extract  the live.img file from the .zip file file to a temporary folder (e.g. C:\temp\live.img).
3. Drag-and-Drop the C:\temp\live.img file onto your MPI_FAT32 Desktop shortcut to automatically create a .imgPTN file
4. Copy the new live.imgPTN file to your E2B USB drive (e.g. to the \_ISO\MAINMENU folder or \_ISO\LINUX folder) and rename it to something more meaningful (e.g. android_x64_442r1.imgPTN)

Now you can boot in MBR mode (or use QEMU or VBOX) and select the new .imgPTN file to swap over the E2B drive to the new partition image and then go and UEFI-boot it from the correct Intel Platform (e.g. a Haswell-based system in my case). 

Note that UEFI booting from VBox will probably fail as it will refuse to boot from an incorrect CPU\chipset platform.