How to add new menu folders to Easy2Boot (e.g. BIOS Flash tools)

If you are a Tech, you may want to keep many BIOS Flash utilities on your E2B USB drive for each of the different models that you encounter.

So you may wish to have a menu structure like this:

Main Menu -> BIOS Flash Menu -> [Manufacturer] -> [Series]


For instance for Lenovo T-series systems, the menu structure would be:

Main Menu - BIOS Flash Menu - Lenovo - T Series - T560_v1.25.imgPTN

E2B v1.A1a Beta available

1.A1a Beta

• Add 'WARNING: Some types of AV software can cause ChocBox.cmd to run extremely slowly' to chockbox.cmd. 
• Improve Adjust_E2B_Menu.mnu sample menu file so the user can change menu colours from within the menu. 
• Add \_ISO\docs\Multiple Backgrounds folder - read the ReadMe.txt file and use the ready-made files included. 
• Menu wallpaper files can now have .jpg file extension as well as .bmp, e.g. \_ISO\WIN10.jpg.

I found that my Comodo AntiVirus software was causing Chocolatey (and thus ChocBox.cmd) to run extremely slowly. Just disabling it was not enough to fix the problem as the task was still running in the background - I had to either kill the Comodo AV task or uninstall it!

The Adjust_E2B_Menu.mnu sample .mnu file now lets you change the menu text colours as well as other menu settings.

I have added a new \_ISO\docs\Multiple Backgrounds folder with instructions to help you set up your E2B USB drive to load a different background wallpaper for each menu. The most difficult thing now is actually making the 18 different 800x600 wallpaper jpg files required! You can add your own menu heading to each wallpaper graphics file and remove the E2B text heading from the menu if you wish.

1. Use the "\_ISO\docs\Templates\CenteredMenu\MyE2B.cfg" for your \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file.

2. Follow the instructions in the \_ISO\docs\Multiple Backgrounds\ReadMe.txt file.

3. Tweak the \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file to remove the menu heading (and footer help text and menu entry help text) if you wish.

More info at http://www.easy2boot.com/configuring-e2b/multiple-backgrounds/

Amazon Prime day!

If you are an Amazon Prime member (hint: you can sign up for a 30-day trial for free!) then there are lots of bargains to be had today and tomorrow only.

Unsurprisingly, the best deals are available on Amazon kit, but there are also good reductions on some high-priced goods as well of over 50%!

Here are a few bargains for US and UK clients (affiliated links):

Amazon.co.uk

£100 off Echo Show - Black (Best bargain!)
£39 off SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD 1TB up to 560MB/s Read/up to 530MB/s Write
£22 off SanDisk Extreme Pro 64 GB 160 MB/s CompactFlash Memory Card - Black/Gold/Red
£35 off SanDisk SSD PLUS 960 GB Sata III 2.5 Inch Internal SSD, Up to 535 MB/s
£15 off SanDisk Ultra Fit 128 GB USB Flash Drive USB 3.0 up to 150 MB/s
£15 off Fire TV stick
Canon EOS and Sony camera bargains

Click here for more Amazon UK deals.

Free Amazon Prime 30-day trial.


Amazon.com

Note: Some deals don't start till later today.

$100 off Echo Show
$30 off Echo 2nd generation
$20 off Fire TV stick

$110 off Toshiba 50-inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV with HDR - Fire TV Edition

Click here for more deals.

Free Amazon Prime 30-day trial

Easy2Boot v1.A0 is now released

Change from v1.99 are:

• New grub4dos \grldr (2018-07-01) supporting centering of menu entries and menu help text (new grub4dos setmenu --middle-align command).
• Three new Themes added to demonstrate centred text menu entries.
• New \_ISO\docs\Sample mnu files\E2B Menus\Adjust_E2B_Menu.mnu menu.
• TimeDiskAccess.mnu added - allows user to test raw sector read speed under BIOS of all drives in system. Useful for comparing USB+BIOS driver performance.
• New SHORT_HL variable can be used to set the highlighted menu entry to only highlight the menu text and not the whole menu line. 
• UPDATE_E2B_DRIVE.cmd now checks in case the user has renamed some of the standard E2B .mnu files (e.g. ZZSubmenuAll.mnu) and asks user if they want to delete them or keep them.
• New version of E2B_Editor.exe now uses 24-bit colour values for the heading and footer colours.
• STRINGS.txt files changed - no need to pad out menu headings.
• Small bug fix to remove extra space after menu entries in sample .mnu files.
• KBD_QWERTY_USA keyboard file added so can pick using E2B_Editor.
• Bugfixes to internal handling of menu positioning, etc.
• Bugfix for v1.99 - MAKE_CONTIG.cmd script is now copied across when making an E2B drive (running Update did copy it across but Make_E2B_USB_Drive.cmd did not copy it across).
• Small fixes to centre menu heading when UTF-8 characters used (e.g. Arabic, Chinese, etc.).
• If the FONT variable's path contains ".f24" then 24-high fonts will automatically be used. 
• Small changes to Check_for_Update.cmd and UPDATE_E2B_DRIVE.cmd to display E2B version numbers.
• Some of the .cmd files are now modified to use %WINDIR%\System32\find.exe in case users Windows Path environment variable points to a different version of find.exe.

The new downloads are available on the Alternate Download Areas (see side bar of this blog).

The www.easy2boot.com site download links will be updated in a few days.

MPI Tool Kit v0.083 now available

The new version is available from the Alternate Download Sites (e.g. OneDrive)

MakePartImage.cmd has now been modified to estimate the size of the .imgPTN file needed by using 7z.exe. It is now much more accurate (but takes a bit longer) and the 'Suggested size' seems to always work now (at least on the 100 files I have tested so far...). It also has better error handling.

Note that you should only run one instance of MakePartImage at a time and it does not seem to work if the target folder is a Microsoft Storage Pool volume (ImDisk issue?).

The script Convert_all_ISOs_to_imgPTN_Files (run as Admin).cmd which is in the Utils folder of the MPI Tool Kit folder has also been improved. This batch file allows you to convert all the isos in a folder (and subfolders) without needing to answer the usual questions from MakePartImage or press ENTER. Just go and get a cup of coffee and the .imgPTN files should all be there when you come back.

(You still need to answer the delete/make EI.cfg question though for Windows Install ISOs).

You can now specify a partial file spec (e.g.  fed*.iso) and ask it to re-make all .imgPTN files again or only the missing ones. It also does not have to be an iso (e.g. you can use *.ima or dlc*.zip).

If you select AUTORUN, it will also use the 'best guess' for the Syslinux version rather than prompt you for which version to use.

0.083 is not yet released on the official www.easy2boot.com website as it is considered a 'Release Candidate' at the moment.

Please let me know how you get on if you try it.

P.S. 0.083 is now available on the www.easy2boot.com website - it is a slightly different version from the RC candidate. The new version is dated 2018-07-10.

E2B v1.A0b Beta now available

Download from Alternate Download Areas as ZIP file.

Changes are:

• New grldr (2018-07-01)
• New \_ISO\docs\Sample mnu files\E2B Menus\Adjust_E2B_Menu.mnu menu
• Bugfixes to internal menu positioning, etc.
• Bugfix for Make_E2B_USB_DRIVE.cmd v1.99 - MAKE_CONTIG.cmd script is now copied across when making an E2B drive (running UPDATE_E2B_DRIVE.cmd did copy it across but Make_E2B did not).
• UPDATE_E2B_DRIVE.CMD now displays latest stable and Beta versions that are available (using web access).

Copy Adjust_E2B_Menu.mnu to your MAINMENU folder and you can tinker with moving the menu about instantly...