The release of Medicat 20.05 is rather odd. It is intended that you make a Medicat 64GB or larger USB drive from it and it is not suitable for multibooting.
Note: See also https://rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2022/01/quickly-add-medicat-2112-to-easy2boot.html
The new Medicat only supports 64-bit CPUs. It is based on Ventoy which requires two particular partitions in a specific order and the download is a PassMark .bin file which has a 512-byte header portion and so it cannot be treated as a VHD file or normal disk image file which we can use with a Zalman\IODD virtual drive emulator.
The main Medicat ISO is inside the image and contains the WinPE .wim file.
When Medicat boots, it will look for the USB drive and mount the USB drive as Y:.
It then expects to find program folders under Y:\Programs and the PortableApps programs under the Y:\PortableApps folder.
There are other ISOs within the image and Ventoy is used to boot them. We can extract these other ISO files from the .bin image and simply copy them to our E2B USB drive.
Medicat 20.06 is a .img file. It does not have the 512-byte header and can be renamed to .VHD for use with a Zalman\IODD. However it does not boot correctly as a .vhd using E2B and so must also be converted as below if using it on an E2B USB drive.
Medicat 21.01 is in the form of zip files for use with 7Zip and Ventoy. You are supposed to extract the contents to the first partition of a previously-made Ventoy USB disk. Instead, you can extract the files to an empty folder on your Windows hard disk and then decide which ISOs, etc. you want to copy to your E2B USB drive's first NTFS partition and choose the appropriate menu folder. Alternatively, just copy all the files (except \autorun.inf and \autorun.ico) to the root of your E2B first NTFS partition and only use Ventoy to boot to Medicat. It will add lots of folders to the root however and may overwrite the contents of your \ventoy folder which will affect the Ventoy theme and menu settings.
The new Medicat only supports 64-bit CPUs. It is based on Ventoy which requires two particular partitions in a specific order and the download is a PassMark .bin file which has a 512-byte header portion and so it cannot be treated as a VHD file or normal disk image file which we can use with a Zalman\IODD virtual drive emulator.
The main Medicat ISO is inside the image and contains the WinPE .wim file.
When Medicat boots, it will look for the USB drive and mount the USB drive as Y:.
It then expects to find program folders under Y:\Programs and the PortableApps programs under the Y:\PortableApps folder.
There are other ISOs within the image and Ventoy is used to boot them. We can extract these other ISO files from the .bin image and simply copy them to our E2B USB drive.
Medicat 20.06 is a .img file. It does not have the 512-byte header and can be renamed to .VHD for use with a Zalman\IODD. However it does not boot correctly as a .vhd using E2B and so must also be converted as below if using it on an E2B USB drive.
Medicat 21.01 is in the form of zip files for use with 7Zip and Ventoy. You are supposed to extract the contents to the first partition of a previously-made Ventoy USB disk. Instead, you can extract the files to an empty folder on your Windows hard disk and then decide which ISOs, etc. you want to copy to your E2B USB drive's first NTFS partition and choose the appropriate menu folder. Alternatively, just copy all the files (except \autorun.inf and \autorun.ico) to the root of your E2B first NTFS partition and only use Ventoy to boot to Medicat. It will add lots of folders to the root however and may overwrite the contents of your \ventoy folder which will affect the Ventoy theme and menu settings.
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| Medicat 21.01 zip file contents |
Instructions (v20.06)
Before you start, disable ALL your antivirus programs. Note that you may have to also disable Windows Defender because Windows may default to using it if you disable your 3rd party AV program.
You will have many problems if you do not fully disable your AV!
The files will require approx 10GB of free space on your E2B drive just for Medicat WinPE + applications.
If the Medicat file is a .bin file you will need OSFMount, recent Medicat downloads are .img files and these can be opened using 7Zip.
2. Download and install Passmark OSFMount. (if a .bin file)
3. Run OSFMount and mount the medicat .bin file:
- Mount new - (select the large Medicat .bin file) - Next
- Select All - Next
- Mount
If you have a .img file, you can use 7zip instead of OSFMount.
4. Copy the ISO at "\Boot_an_Operating_System\[EFI]_Mini_Windows_10.iso" to your E2B USB drive (e.g. to \_ISO\WINPE folder). This is the main Medicat WinPE ISO.
All ISOs can be found in the first (large) partition.
Tip: For quicker selection within E2B and agFM, change the file extension to .isodef. This will save a user key press or two in the menu system.
5. Run \Make_this_drive_contiguous.cmd to make the files contiguous.
6. Now copy the \Programs and \PortableApps folders to the root of your E2B first partition. These are large folders and your AV will complain loudly and often if it has not been disabled!
7. Copy these files to the root of your E2B first partition:
\CdUsb.Y
\pecmdExt.ini
\Start.exe (the PortableApps executable)
8. (Optional) copy any additional .ISO files over to the E2B USB drives first partition. Note that files beginning with 'BIOS' are not UEFI-bootable. Copy them to any suitable menu folder under \_ISO on the E2B USB drive as usual.
9. If OSFMount is open, you can now use 'Dismount all and Exit'.
You can now boot to the E2B grub4dos menu or the agFM UEFI menu and select one of the ISOs.
Tip: For quicker selection within E2B and agFM, change the file extension to .isodef. This will save a user key press or two in the menu system.
5. Run \Make_this_drive_contiguous.cmd to make the files contiguous.
6. Now copy the \Programs and \PortableApps folders to the root of your E2B first partition. These are large folders and your AV will complain loudly and often if it has not been disabled!
7. Copy these files to the root of your E2B first partition:
\CdUsb.Y
\pecmdExt.ini
\Start.exe (the PortableApps executable)
8. (Optional) copy any additional .ISO files over to the E2B USB drives first partition. Note that files beginning with 'BIOS' are not UEFI-bootable. Copy them to any suitable menu folder under \_ISO on the E2B USB drive as usual.
You can now boot to the E2B grub4dos menu or the agFM UEFI menu and select one of the ISOs.
If you accidentally corrupt any of the Medicat programs (e.g. MalwareBytes), you will need to re-copy the appropriate \Programs\xxxx folder onto the E2B drive after mounting the .bin file in OSFMount again if necessary.
Hi, good evening. Can i copy the rest of the images in (for ex) Boot_an_Operating_System and Backup_and_Restore folders?
ReplyDeleteYou can just extract the other ISOs and .wim files if you wish and boot them directlt from E2B. There just won't be a Medicat menu for them (only an E2B menu).
DeleteThanks ♥
DeleteOr, can i convert the entire mounted image (with OSFMount) to a raw img (or iso) file and mount it with e2b?
ReplyDeleteRead Step 8 in the article!
DeleteHi Steve !
ReplyDeletethanks for the huge work you do.
Alas, your INSTRUCTIONS are invalid for the latest 20.09 MediCat.2009.img version. This image contains only two payloads :
1- 0.ntfs (± 26.7G)
2- 1.img (± 33.5M)
Content:
1- https://www.cjoint.com/doc/20_09/JIxvro2iP4h_0.ntfs.gif
2- https://www.cjoint.com/doc/20_09/JIxvsfNXDjh_1.img.gif
The MediCat download comes with a USB mounting tool that makes a USB bootable device with MediCat alone.
The problem is how to integrate it in a E2B USB bootable device !?
Best regards
iBenny
I don't see any problem?
DeleteJust follow the instructions starting at 4. in the instructions.
So, in summary, we don't need the #2 1.img in MediCat.20.09.img.
DeleteAlso, we rename ALL .iso to .isodef regardless if they are Legacy or UEFI.
I suggest that you rearrange your E2B folder organization in one of these manners:
Under _ISO you create two folders ISO\Legacy + _ISO\UEFI and put all the same categories under each so we know where to put and search for the right iso.
OR
In each categories under _ISO, you put two sub-folders CATEGORY\LEGACY + CATEGORY\UEFI for the same purpose stated above.
Food for your thought...
Where can we add/replace a keyboard layout with another one not listed ? I believe the keyboard file ought to be a keybxxx.sys driver.
DeleteLast question : Legacy .isos can't be invoked in UEFI. Can the opposite be done ? UEFI isos in Legacy mode ?
DeleteHi
DeleteE2B (MBR menu) requires MBR-bootable files to be placed in the pre-defined menu folders. You can create additional menu folders by using the .cmd script provided.
For agFM, you can create any folder anywhere - so for instance, you could create a \_ISO\LINUX\UEFI folder and place the UEFI-bootable ISOs in there if you wish.
re. keyboard layout - do you mean you want to change the keyboard layout for E2B menu, agFM menu or some OS? Please give details - I cannot read your mind!
Most ISOs are either Legacy or Legacy+UEFI64.
If you wish to improve your knowledge, may I suggest you use the SITE MAP on the E2B website where you will find a lot of information. There are also eBooks available which you may find useful. Thanks for your interest.
Good morning GB (I guess)! or Scotland, or Ireland?
ReplyDeleteI want to add a keyboard menu item, or better replace a keyboard driver in the choice we have (fr-fr to fr-ca). Per instance, there is no fr-ca keyboard to chose from so, if I can find the keyboard(fr-ca).sys in my pc, where do I put it in the E2B key so it can be chosen ? Either I add a choice menu, or I replace the fr-fr keyboard with the fr-ca by renaming the fr-ca to fr-fr one.
Clearer now ?
In fact, there are two Canadian keyboards : the Canadian multilingual standard keyboard (kbdcan.dll) and the french Canadian keyboard (kbdca.dll). Both should be able to be chosen... If interested, I can provide both to you if you want to add it in your choices. On my part, I will tweak it according to your instructions.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what you are talking about! Give me a clue. E2B grub4dos menu? agFM grub2 menu? Ventoy grub2 menu? Medicat WinPE (if so it is nothing to do with me). Windows 10? XP?
DeleteWhen we make an E2B USB device with your program, it asks for witch keyboard we want to use isn't it ? That's what I'"m talking about ! Clearer ?
DeleteBut the E2B menu system just requires the use of the up, down keys. I don't understand what problem you are having. Why do you need to use all the keys on a keyboard in the E2B menu system?
DeleteIndeed : Up/Down key to chose between a dozen of keyboard layout. BUT... the French Canadian and the Canadian Multilingual keyboards are NOT in the list ! Do you understand ?
Deletehttp://kbdlayout.info/KBDCA/
http://kbdlayout.info/kbdcan
No sorry, I don't understand. What is it that you cannot do? What problem do you have? Why do you need need extra keyboard layouts for the E2B menu? What specific key press does not work on your keyboard in the E2B menu? There is a choice of French (USA kbd) or French (french kbd) - so you would choose the French (french kbd) item. So if you do choose that - what problem does this cause you?
DeleteSorry for the too rapid reply: Yes I could get along with the English keyboard. Could you get along with an AZERTY keyboard ? Why not ? it works... but not comfortable isn't it ! Why all those country keyboard if all you need is the up/down key, the Enter and Esc key ? Everybody should get along with the English keyboard ! On my account, I would like to access the keys as they are provided in my country keyboard : the accents are specifically placed and NOT available in the English keyboard. The \|/ and {}[] are specifically placed in my keyboard so the reason of my request. But if .g4b keyboard drivers are impossible (almost) to find/convert, this is another matter. Thank you for your comprehension...
DeleteAnother point: when getting into HBCD in Mini XP, do you get a loaded desktop or this :
https://www.cjoint.com/doc/20_09/JICdd588BGh_HBCD-proteus.gif ?
Finally, when loading a HBCD of mine, I get when loading the Mini XP at the end an error message stating that there is a missing or corrupted windows\system32\winload.exe. Where can I locate this file in the E2B key?
Best regards
iBenny
The various .g4d keyboard files are for E2B only. e.g. If E2B asks the user - 'Press Y to continue' then it will not work on a QWERTZ German keyboard because the Y key will produce Z - so a German QWERTZ keyboard is required to be selected.
DeleteThese .g4b files are not 'drivers' - they merely change around a few key characters and, of course, they only work in grub4dos. They have absolutely no affect once an Operating System such as XP, Mini XP, Linux, Win10, etc. is loaded. Operating systems have there own keyboard drivers - so using a grub4dos .g4b keyboard file is pointless in that case.
To run HBCD or any other ISO, I suggest you read carefully the text that E2B displays on the screen after you select the ISO - or press the F1 key in E2B for help on how to use E2B - or you could try the www.easy2boot.com website and consult the 'List of tested payloads' page where all ISOs and payloads are listed together with any special instructions for special payloads (such as HBCD 15.2).
Thank you for the answer.
Delete.
I found out that these .g4b files opens like txt files in notepad and noticed what you said. They only reassign keyboard keys on the basis of (on top of) our current keyboard layout. This helps the understanding.
.
About the winload.exe problem, I concluded that it is not in the iso nor in your E2B key but in our pc OS. I said it failed at the wrong place. It failed at the end of the files loading progression bar process. Will try to look at your documentation as you suggested. E2B learning is a loooong course :(
.
I greatly appreciate your explanations.
Many thanks and best regards
iBenny