Call for help with agFM translation - it's easy!

As you may have noticed, the a1ive grub2 File Manager supports different languages, however many words and phrases have not yet been translated. This is where you can help...

You can easily add or revise a translation using the crowdin app. This is a web-based app which allows you to simply type in the translation for each word or phrase used by the agFM menu system.

To translate

1. First create a new crowdin account. You can sign-in in a number of different ways. Don't forget to confirm your email address when the request is emailed to you (check you Spam folder if it does not appear).

Crowdin

2. Click the language you would like to translate. e.g. French

3. Click "fm.pot" and start translation. (e.g. https://crowdin.com/translate/grub2-filemanager/8/en-fr)

4. Select each word or phrase from the left-hand side and type in the translated word or phrase (1) and save it (2). Do this for each entry (there may be more than one page).

5. Once translated, the crowdin bot will create a pr automatically (https://github.com/a1ive/grub2-filemanager/pull/126)"

I will then compile a new version of agFM after a few days.

E2B eBook #4 updated

I hope you are well and have not suffered seriously from Corona.

One of my neighbours, a lovely old lady called Irene, sadly died yesterday, so please make sure you look after your vulnerable family members and friends during these difficult times.

eBook #4 on agFM and UEFI-booting

I have just updated eBook #4 to v1.2. So please use the URL you were sent to get the latest version.

You could also check that you have the latest versions of the other eBooks too.

Since you may be self-isolating now due to Corona, it might be a good time to actually read the eBooks and maybe get your multiboot USB fully working with all your payload files?

E2B eBooks

P.S. eBook #4 is still at the reduced price of $7 (RRP $10) and you can get 10% off ALL the eBooks when you purchase more than one.

E2B v2 YouTube video is up

agFM v1.34 now released

This version has a few small bugfixes...

• F1 now shows true Secure Boot status
• En-us language added to F4 Language menu
• Fix clover UEFI32 bug in \e2b\alive grub2 filemanager.mnu

To UEFI32 boot to Clover, you will need to update the alive grub2 filemanager.mnu file in your E2B \_ISO\MAINMENU folder. The previous version sometimes boots to UEFI64 instead of UEFI32!

To update. you can click on "\e2b\Update agFM\Download and update agFM.cmd" to download the latest release version and then extract it to the root of the FAT32 agFM partition #2.

Look at the date of the README.md file to see what version you have.

P.S. eBook #4 on agFM has been updated to v1.1.


P.S. This latest Bangood Special Offer made me smile...

False alarm! grubfm does not corrupt UEFI firmware.

A user reported that after UEFI64-booting grubfm, his UEFI firmware (Lenovo B40 30 laptop) was corrupted  and he could no longer get into the BIOS Setup menu system.

Since he blamed A1ive's grubfm and the UEFI Kaspersky Shim for this, I added a warning to the agFM web page on the E2B site.

However, now he has confirmed that the firmware corruption was due to booting to Ubuntu and was not by agFM itself.

It was an issue with the linux kernel. If you remember during release of Ubuntu 17.10 there was an issue of bios corruption ? it was a similar issue. Though it happened with the latest linux kernel 5.3.0.40

Detailed in a bug report on Canonical's Launchpad platform, the issue is serious: Installing Ubuntu 17.10 on selected Lenovo, Acer, and Toshiba laptops can cause corruption in the UEFI firmware which presents itself as an inability to make any changes post-corruption. In serious news for systems without a built-in optical drive, the corruption also disables the ability to boot from a USB storage device.

Tracked down to the Intel Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) kernel module, prevention is straightforward: Disabling the intel-spi-* kernel driver family prevents the corruption without any other apparent impact on the system. For those who have already had their UEFI firmwares corrupted, however, there appears to be no easy fix yet available.

So I have now removed the warning but you may need to watch out for this serious Ubuntu bug!

First YouTube video of E2B v2.00 (but in Portuguese!)

Well, it seems it took less than 24 hours after release, for someone to post a You Tube video on E2B+agFM!

Only problem is - it's in Portuguese!

I do plan to make my own YT video soon (if you want to hear about it from the horses mouth).

Meanwhile, feel free to get eBook #4 which is all about agFM and comes complete with instructions on how to add MBR+UEFI bootable AV ISOs, Linux ISOs+persistence, popular WinPE ISOs and Windows Install ISOs + unattended installs.

Easy2Boot v2.00 released

V2.00 is now released.

https://www.fosshub.com/Easy2Boot.html

The main change is that when you make a new drive, it will now download the agFM files and copy them to the second FAT32 partition (if present). This allows UEFI-booting to the agFM grub2 File Manager system. All thanks to 'a1ive' for developing his grub2 branch and agFM.

• Make_E2B.exe and Make_E2B_USB_drive.cmd - downloads agFM if 2nd FAT32 partition is made. If drive is <128Gib then 2nd FAT32 partition of approx 500MB is automatically made. Allow user to define sizes in GB of ptns1, 2 and 3 if Gear Wheel button used. If drive >128GB it always prompts user for partition 1, 2 and 3 sizes and type even if AUTO selected.
• New default wallpaper.
• .isoPE extension now updates the WinBuilder .ini files (e.g. for Gandalf ISOs) - use .isoPE extension if you get a yellow warning triangle on desktop.
• \_ISO\docs\Wincontig folder can now be copied to any volume\folder - e.g. copy to partition 3 so it will make all files on that partition contiguous.
• Update SDI_CHOCO scripts and add chocolatey.nupkg for offline install of chocolatey.
• Add support for windows ISOs on ptn3 in qrun.g4b so can have Windows Install ISOs on ptn3 or ptn2 or ptn1 and use a .mnu file, add $$Install_Win10_from_Ptn2or3.mnu sample mnu file
• Switch_E2B.exe now looks for auxiliary *. files on other volumes at \(path), then \_ISO, then \ - e.g. ptn1:\_ISO\WINDOWS\WIN10\Win10.imgptn23 and ptn3:\_ISO\WINDOWS\WIN10\Win10.
• Bugfix - Latest grldr with bugfix for non-contiguous files
• Bugfix - Fix EXTOFF variable not working in MyE2B.cfg (file extension always displayed in the menu).

Read more: https://www.easy2boot.com/download/e2b-version-history/

E2B eBook #4 on agFM is now available

The first revision v1.00 is now available here for the introductory price of $7 (RRP will be $10).

I hope to release E2B v2.00 in a few days. Please test the Beta versions of E2B v2 and agFM v.1.32 and inform me of any issues ASAP!

Please feedback any comments on the eBook and use the eBook download link that you will be emailed when you complete the purchase, to download any later revisions for free.

agFM v1.32 and Easy2Boot v2.00 Beta now available

agFM v1.32 now includes Clover boot files, so you can now UEFI-boot from the E2B Legacy menu.

Clover does have problems on some systems though, so it is of limited use!

Use the new copy of /e2b/a1ive grub2 filemanager.mnu and copy it to the \_ISO\MAINMENU folder.

The latest agFM version can be found here.

E2B is now v2.00a Beta. 

Changes (Version History) can be found under the Downloads tab on the E2B website.

https://www.easy2boot.com/download/e2b-version-history/
https://www.easy2boot.com/download/agfm-history/

P.S. The new eBook #4 on agFM is almost finished!

agFM v1.31 Beta now available

This version has some bug fixes and I have tidied up the folder structure (now has an \e2b folder).
I have found the AT keyboard scan code maps to cause issues - if you have a non-responsive keyboard then remove the terminal_input at_keyboard and keymap lines in your startup_menu.txt file!

You may need to modify your startup_menu.cfg file for the new folder structure.

I have included a sample submenu for the use Startup menu to show you how you can add more submenus to the first Startup menu.

I have also included a new example .cfg file for installing 64-bit Windows 10 ISO.

WIN10_64_INSTALL_Choose_UNAME_PCNAME_PRODUCTKEY_XML_AgFM.cfg

The sample file should be copied to any folder on the E2B drive (same partition as the ISO) and can be renamed. When run, it will ask you to choose a product key (Edition), an XML file, a user name and a PC name.

It will modify a copy of the chosen XML file  (in memory) for you.

Many thanks to Phong for reporting an issue and providing a sample .cfg file which I based this version on.

If you want the username and PC name and Product Key substitution to work, all the XML files that you include in your menu choices will need to include UNAME, PCNAME and ASKME-ASKME-ASKME-ASKME-ASKME in the relevant fields.

This could be used with Win10_Pro_US_UNAME_PCNAME_SDI_CHOCO_ASKME.xml for instance. Using this with a modified .cfg file, you will choose the Edition (Home/pro, etc), Computer Name and User Name. You will then create and format the install partitions manually on the target system using the standard Setup dialogue. The installation will then proceed unattended and if you have set up your SDI_CHOCO config and SNAPPY driver folders correctly, it will install all missing drivers and install your desired apps automatically (internet Ethernet connection required if using online app choco installs). You can use the same process for MBR\Legacy or UEFI installs.

If you use an XML which also wipes and creates partitions, the process can be fully automated but you will need one XML for UEFI GPT partitions and a different XML for MBR\Legacy partitions.

More details on XML files can be found in eBook #3.