Saturday 1 February 2020

a1ive grub2 File Manager v1.4 now available (with .imgPTN support)

The grub2 developer a1ive has done some fantastic work and has added more features to grub2 which means we can update partitions even under UEFI.

The 'E2B UEFI File Manager v1.4.zip' latest version is now available from here.

This version allows you to 'switch-in' any .imgPTN file or restore the E2B partitions from within a1ive's grub2 File Manager (agFM).

By switching in a Windows 10 .imgPTN23 file, we can Secure UEFI64-boot and install Windows 10 on a Secure system.

To update, just copy extract the files to overwrite the current files on your FAT32 partition.

Note: This is in Beta development and you could possibly lose all your data on the E2B drive! I haven't lost any data yet however.

It assumes that your first two partitions are:
Ptn1: NTFS Primary (type 07)
Ptn2: FAT32 Primary (type 0C)



Usage

1. The sample .cfg file is in the Menu Files to copy to payload volume folder and is called agFM_imgPTN_v1.4.cfg

2. Copy this file to the NTFS E2B Partition 1 (any folder can be used, but I suggest you make a \agFM folder and keep all your .cfg files in that folder).

3. Edit the .cfg file to point to your .imgPTN23 file which should be on your E2B drive.
You can rename the file if you wish.

The file extension should contain '23' so that partitions 2 and 3 are not deleted.

4. Now you can boot to agFM and select the .cfg file, answer Y and the partitions will be updated.

The system will not reboot (which can take a long time on a server) - instead, use agFM to select the new \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI file to directly boot to the Windows payload - or press F6 to reboot if you wish.



5. Once you have switched in a .imgPTN file, you can restore the original E2B partitions by booting to the agFM and running the RESTORE_E2B.cfg file which is in the agFM FAT32 second partition.

Select the .cfg file, select 'Open as grub2 Menu' and answer Y.




Please let me know if this works for you (or not!).


2 comments:

  1. Hi im using the 1.5 version a1ive grub2 File Manager, and my imgptn files are mainley windowspe images however when this image is switched in it does not boot and goes back to the main menu. I then have to reset and tell it to reboot to the new image on the e2b drive. Is this normal or should it be booting to the new switched in image as soon as its selected????

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I am afraid it is expected - The UEFI File System driver is not aware that the partitions have been changed - thus UEFI-booting fails until you reboot. If the reboot takes you to the agFM again - use the F3 menu to boot to (hd0,msdos1) = partition 1.

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