Who knew Easy2Boot was so scary?

New Spanish video on E2B has just appeared - really scary! Don't watch it if you are of a nervous disposition!

Which country downloads E2B the most?

Here (FYI) are the stats for E2B downloads from the FossHUB E2B page over the last five months of 2019.

P.S. FossHUB provides safe and extermely high-speed downloads for many other apps and software and is always worth trying first if you want to download a popular package, so it's worth Bookmarking!

Downloads of E2B from FossHUB in last 5 months

As you can see, the USA are first, but surprisingly France is second.

The next 10 look like this:

Easy2Boot v1.B8 is now available

This has latest version of grub4dos which has some improvements in the setmenu --string command (can now centre text within a menu and have a background colour for the text).

Difference from v1.B7 are:

• Latest grub4dos 2019-12-30.
• Improve E2B scripts to allow user to define a greater number of grub4dos environment variables (grub4dos max is 60).
• New default background. 
• Add .vhdx file extension (was removed in last few versions).
• Update Memtest86 UEFI free version to v8.3.
• Add Tails_generic_for_USB_HDD.mnu for generic menu for booting Tails ISOs from USB HDD. 

v 1.B8

New 2020 eBook on grub4dos is now available

New eBook on grub4dos is now available. Over 170 pages.

Includes all latest commands and features. The price is only $5 but you can pay more if you like ;-).

Exercises to show you how to construct a menu system with wallpaper, unifont, keyboard scancode translation, password, boxed text, animated graphics and tunes, etc.

Based on the latest features of the 2019-12-30 version of grub4dos 0.4.6a.

Each eBook can be downloaded up to 5 times, so you can download a later edition if there is one available in the future.

E2B v1.B8d now available + grub4dos eBook

I hope to release this version as v1.B8 before XMas.

Difference from v1.B7 are:

• Latest grub4dos 2019-12-20.
• Improve E2B scripts to allow user to define a greater number of grub4dos environmental variables (grub4dos max is 60).
• New default background. 
• Add .vhdx file extension (was removed in last few versions).
• Update Memtest86 UEFI free version to v8.3.
• Add Tails_generic_for_USB_HDD.mnu for generic menu for booting Tails ISOs from USB HDD. 

It is in the Alternate Download Area - Latest Beta folder as usual.

New grub4dos eBook

NEW! eBook 'Getting started with grub4dos' - complete guide with exercises and full command reference.

The IODD Mini is now available

The crowd-funded IODD Mini (<Amazon link - please use this if ordering from USA or UK) seems to have arrived at last, after 2 years of waiting.

IODD on Amazon Germany here.

IODD Mini 256GB version is approx $135

Apparently it contains a KingSpec 2242mm M.2 SSD NGFF Internal Solid State Drive SATA III and so you could swap it out for a different one.

Evaluation of the UNI-T UTP1306S 32V 6A 'linear' power supply

Due to some recent instability issues with my switched-mode bench PSU when subjected to a high sudden current demand spike, I decided to get a linear bench power supply. Also, by adding it to my existing bench PSU, I could get a +ve/-ve supply or I could get over 60V if I connect them in series (not quite sure how the CC would work though?).

In particular, I wanted a bench PSU with an Output Enable\Disable switch because I find it useful to be able to set a Voltage and Constant Current setting whilst my test circuit is already connected to the PSU terminals. Why all bench PSUs don't have this is totally beyond me!

One of the few suitable small (cheap) linear bench power supplies was the UNI-T UTP1306S (approx. $100 or £60). I looked at the review on YouTube (see below) before deciding to buy one. I figured that even if it failed on me, at least I would have a nice-looking project case for a future home-made bench PSU!

Note: Another popular PSU is the KA3005D (Bangood affiliate link) (or KA3005P programmable) which actually seems to be better as it has internal relays to control on/off voltage spikes and can be calibrated. It seems to have very low output ripple too.

The first thing I did was to take it apart and inspect it carefully, check soldering, earth connections, tightness of fixings, loose components, etc. The transformer seems remarkably small for a 192W linear PSU...

Some notes:

Another issue with the D3806 power module!

If you read my previous blog, you will see that I found that the D3806 power module produced large over-voltage spikes on its output terminals when you switch on the DC supply to it (even if it's output was programmed to be off on power-up). This could send a surge of up to 10V for approx 10 mS into your nice little 3.3V arduino and blow it up! It also sent spikes when you switched it off too!

I had planned to use this device together with an old ATX power supply to make a nice variable, current-limited bench power supply.

So I decided to try to work around this issue and I designed a delay circuit. The idea is that I would connect the +ve output of the D3806 through the contacts of a Normall-Open 10A-rated relay.

When you switch on the ATX power supply (or any power supply) the relay contacts would remain open for approx. 1 second and then (after the D3806 nasty over-voltage spike had finished) it would close the relay contacts and connect the D3806 ouput to the output terminals.

The delay circuit worked great. I also designed it so that it would open the relay contacts on power-off/decay BEFORE the D3806 over-voltage spike ocurred on it's output too.

Have you noticed that Google Chrome Translate has been broken for at least month now?

Have you noticed that you can't just right-click on a page and choose the Translate option any more in Chrome?

Being able to translate web pages is one of the main reasons I use Chrome rather than any other browser, but something is broken!

right-click on the text or page...

Computer says 'No'!

and the fix is...