Wednesday, 12 June 2019

New 'superspeed' download site for E2B and RMPrepUSB

FossHub now (today!) are hosting the stable release versions of E2B and RMPrepUSB.

Their servers are superfast too, so I hope to use them as the Primary source for downloads if all goes well.

Please try them out and let me know if you have any issues...

FossHub - Easy2Boot and MPI Tool Pack (superfast download for main releases only)
FossHub - RMPrepUSB (superfast download for main releases only)




Adding UEFI-booting of pfSense 2.4 to E2B

I have updated the blog article here (see end of the article) on how to convert the pfSense 2.4 version so that you can UEFI-boot from it to install it pfSense.

You do however need to MBR-boot to switch in the imgPTN file first (you cannot just use Switch_E2B.exe and then UEFI-boot).



Saturday, 8 June 2019

E2B v1.B2d Beta available

Changes from released version v1.B1 are:
  • Add Slovenian language files and Croat\Slov kbd file added (thanks to Peter K).
  • Add Turkish language and kbd (thanks to Tayfun)
  • Add improved Czech language files (thanks to Pepa) and new Czech kbd files
  • Bugfix for switching to .imgPTN after ptn2/ptn1 switched over using RMPrepUSB-Ctrl-O-2.
  • Improve ISO's VOL and UUID which are displayed below menu area
  • Improve E2B_Editor.exe for MyCSM.cfg editing (will add language and kbd from a .imgPTN USB drive)
  • Improve change kbd and change wallpaper .mnu menu files
  • Change QEMU to use standard VGA graphics ROM instead of cirrus logic graphics ROM
  • Tweaks to \_ISO\e2b\grub\menu.lst
  • Updated Make_E2B.exe

Monday, 3 June 2019

Easy2Boot eBook #1 now only $5!

http://www.easy2boot.com/download/ebook/

The first eBook is now reduced to just $5.
You can get 10% of all eBooks if you buy more than one.

Read eBook #1 for details on how to remove the blue E2B startup banner screen (or contact me for details if you have already made a donation).

Friday, 24 May 2019

E2B v1.B2b Beta available

v1.B2b is available from Alternate Downloads areas - in Beta folder.

Changes from v1.B1 released version are:
  • Improve VOL and UUID display below menu area (now not displayed if no UUID or no volume label)
  • Add improved Czech language files (thanks to Pepa) and new Czech kbd files
  • Add Turkish language files (thanks to Tayfun) and new Turkish kbd file
  • Bugfix for 'root ()' error when switching to .imgPTN file.

Monday, 20 May 2019

E2B v1.B1 released

E2B v1.B1 changes from v1.B0A are:
  • Bugfix for 'nircmd' error in SDI_CHOCO.cmd.
  • Hungarian language added (thanks to Knyght).
  • 'Easy2Boot' banner displayed on boot to advertise eBooks (see new eBook #1 for how to remove this banner).
  • If Windows Install ISO filename contains string 'wimboot' (not case sensitive) then E2B will not use WIMBOOT to boot the ISO (you must use a Removable USB drive or use a WinHelper Flash drive) - e.g. filename can be 'Win10 Home and Pro x64 1809 Oct English International (NoWimboot).iso'.
  • New grub4dos for enhanced keyboard support.
  • Add "(x present)" for number of XP ISOs present.
  • Make_E2B.exe updated for new language\kbd options
  • E2B_Editor now recognises %day% %month% %year% %SIZE_E2B% and %SIZE_HD1% variables in the HEADER and FOOTER. 
  • Latin_USA (Spanish), Vietnamese and Swedish kbd files added.
  • Add Change Keyboard Map .mnu file.
  • Various scripts and .mnu files changed for new language\kbd support
  • Choose_kbd.g4b script added to list available kbds and let user choose one
  • \_ISO\_CheckForUpdate.cmd added to check if later version of E2B is available
This latest version is available now from the Alternate Download Areas.

Read eBook #1 for details on how to remove the blue E2B startup banner screen (or contact me for details if you have already made a donation).

Tuesday, 14 May 2019

E2B v1.B1d Beta and MPI Tool Kit 0.095 now available

E2B v1.Bd Beta is now available in .zip format from the Alternate Download Areas.

Changes from v1.B1c are:
  • New version of E2B_Editor now recognises the variables %day%, %month%, %year%, %SIZE_E2B% and %SIZE_HD1% if placed in the HEADER or FOOTER.
  • A new 'Easy2Boot' banner is now displayed on startup.
  • Hungarian language tweaks.
  • Latest version of grub4dos.
Also MPI v0.095 is now released and has additional tweaks for the new DLC2019 release and includes syslinux 6.05 pre-release.

How to remove the new E2B Banner

Sunday, 12 May 2019

Make your PC scream when you unplug a USB device!

A recent Hack 5 video detailed a USB Rubber Ducky prank which is rather amusing.

The Rubber Ducky code downloads a scream.wav file and sets the sound file as the 'USB unplug' sound in your registry instead of the usual Windows default sound.

This means that whenever you unplug a USB device (of any type even if its a Bluetooth dongle and even if you first safely remove it or eject it) you will hear your PC scream!

Here is a Windows script which will allow you to set this up without a Rubber Ducky. You can also undo the Registry change too.


The script downloads the scream.wav file from the Hak5 site and it uses the built-in Windows utility 'bitsadmin.exe' to download the file. I was not aware of this Windows utility before. It looks quite useful, however it is much slower than a utility such as wget.exe.

P.S. If you want a different sound, find the file scream.wav on your hard drive (usually at C:\Users\(yourname)) and replace it with a different wave file of the same name (e.g. Woman Screaming).

If you are having problems downloading the file, just place any wave file named scream.wav in your user folder and then run scream.cmd.

Saturday, 11 May 2019

grub4dos and non-USA keyboards

Together with Knyght, we have been working on supporting the Hungarian language and Hungarian keyboard for E2B.

E2B v1.B1c Beta includes the latest grub4dos version which adds even more Alt+ key support.

E2B uses grub4dos which, in turn, uses the BIOS to receive key codes from the keyboard. Unlike grub2, it does not have it's own keyboard interrupt handler.

A Hungarian 102-key keyboard produces the same keyboard scan codes as a USA 102-key keyboard or any other 102-key keyboard, the only difference is the engraved letters on the key tops.

This means that grub4dos must 'convert' the keyboard code it receives to generate the same character that is engraved on the key tops. For instance, when the key labelled " on a UK keyboard is pressed (shift+2), it should produce the " character and not the @ character that you would see if the keys had USA keyboard key tops.

grub4dos allows us to 'map' key codes using the setkey command. For instance, E2B uses a batch file to run a series of setkey commands to convert USA key codes to UK key codes:

Wednesday, 8 May 2019

E2B v1.B1b Beta available


This new Beta version v1.B1b Beta includes the latest version of grub4dos which has enhanced keyboard support for non-QWERTY keyboards.

Changes in v1.B1b are:
  • Add menu text "(x present)" for number of XP ISOs present in Windows Install menu.
  • New grub4dos setkey command now supports oem102 and Alt+ key chord scancodes.
  • Small changes to Hungarian language files.
v1.B1a had these changes:
  • Add Hungarian language and keyboard support (thanks to Knyght).
  • If the Windows Install ISO filename contains the string 'WimBoot' (not case sensitive) then E2B will not use WIMBOOT to boot the ISO (you must use a Removable USB drive or use a WinHelper Flash drive) - e.g. Win10 Home and Pro x64 1809 Oct English International (NoWimboot).iso

Hungarian keyboard AltGr codes

On the Hungarian keyboard, some of the standard English ASCII characters are produced by using the AltGr key plus a letter or number key (the AltGr key generates a Alt+Ctrl key code).

For instance, the Hungarian keyboard is engraved so that the user expects AltGr+v to generate the @ symbol.