agFM 1.70b Beta and E2B v2.08a Beta available (BUGFIX for Blank screen on UEFI booting)

It has been reported that some notebooks such as the Lenovo IdeaPad S145 and ZYREX SKY 232 do not like the UEFI64 Kaspersky .EFI boot shim which agFM uses by default.

The Kasperksy .EFI boot file is signed by Microsoft and allows us to boot to agFM which then temporarily disables Secure Boot, thus allowing us to run agFM grub2 and boot from both signed and unsigned (insecure) ISOs and other boot files.

However, some systems will not UEFI64 boot to the Kaspersky+agFM boot files (even if Secure Boot is disabled in the BIOS). The reason for this is unknown.

Another problem with the Kaspersky shim is that it may be blacklisted by a Linux or Windows update which can add an entry into the BIOS's DBx blacklist EEPROM firmware list. This means that if Secure Boot is enabled in your BIOS on your system, it will not allow the Kaspersky EFI boot file to load and you may see some sort of 'Security Violation' error from the BIOS on boot. You can check your BIOS DBx list to see if has any entries (and clear the list).

The solution to both these issues is to remove the Kaspersky shim and this process is documented on this page in the Troubleshooting sections and in the FAQ page.

In these latest Beta versions, I have modified the E2B and agFM menu system so that you can enable or disable the Kaspersky shim by using a menu entry. If you remove the Kaspersky Secure Boot EFI file, you will not have the ability to secure boot to the agFM menu.

Update Instructions

agFM v1.70aBeta available

The latest agFM v1.70aBeta version now understands files with the new .binacpi file extension.

If you have a binary acpi file which you want to patch your BIOS with (for instance to try to get ACPI support working under XP using a DSDT.bin file), you can change the extension of your file from .bin to .binacpi.

It will then by listed in the agFM menu system and agFM will present you with this menu when the .binacpi file is selected:

E2B v2.07 is now released

 The latest version 2.07 is now live.

1. \E2B Launcher.exe application added

2. Add .ventoyignore dummy files to \_ISO\docs and \_ISO\e2b folders for faster Ventoy startup

Why not treat yourself?

Having problems booting UEFI payloads with E2B, Rufus, Ventoy, etc.?

Maybe you didn't get the present you really wanted at Xmas or you are just feeling depressed at having to stay indoors during Covid Lockdown? Then why not treat yourself to an IODD Mini SSD  CD\DVD emulator (#ad).

This small device fits easily into any pocket and being SSD-based it is robust, light and fast.

In case you didn't get the memo - the Mini can not only load any ISO as a virtual DVD drive, but it can load up to FOUR different VHDs at the same time! That means you can have any four USB disks you like. Each disk can contain multiple partitions, so you can have four different complete OS's on those disks and boot to any of them (not counting the SSD disk itself). You can also set each Virtual disk to be a Removable USB device and thus emulate a USB Flash drive instead of a USB HDD (or up to four USB flash drives).

If you copy on an empty file with a .VHD extension (or any file) and select it - you now have a blank 'disk' which you can install anything you like onto (after partitioning it and formatting it like any other blank disk).

Do you have many small bootable USB drives, each with a different payload? Then why not just convert each one to a .VHD file (e.g. using RMPrepUSB - Disk to File) and store them on the IODD?

Note: VHD files are  just disk images. The file needs to be contiguous.

Of course, it can't do fancy stuff like auto-install Windows, apps, drivers and updates using user XML files like E2B can with SDI_CHOCO, it can't attach a persistence file to an ISO and boot the live ISO with persistence, it can't Secure-boot boot non-secure ISOs, it can't run ISOs that were actually designed to be extracted onto a flash drive rather than boot as a liveCD, it doesn't contain PassPass or UtilMan XML files to bypass Windows account logins and all the other good stuff that E2B+agFM+Ventoy can do - BUT the good news is you can simply add E2B+agFM+Ventoy onto it!

Prices are around $130 for the 256GB version. You know you deserve it :-)

agFM v1.69 and 'Ventoy for Easy2Boot' v1.0.32 released

 agFM v1.69 and 'Ventoy for Easy2Boot' v1.0.32 are now released and will be automatically downloaded when you make a new E2B USB drive or run the appropriate \e2b\Update agFM cmd files to update agFM and Ventoy.

eBook #4 for agFM has been revised and updated for the new F1 and F5 menu structure in agFM. Updates are free - just use the link in the original email receipt from Payhip.

E2B v2.07 will be released soon - the only changes to E2B are the new E2B Launcher utility and the addition of some .ignoreVentoy dummy files to speed up booting to the Ventoy menu.

Please donate!

If you use E2B+agFM+Ventoy, please donate something to a1ive and LongPanda who are the developers of grubfm and Ventoy. They deserve at least a cup of coffee for all their excellent hard work which they provide for free! Think where we would be if we didn't have these utilities to use on modern UEFI systems!

'Ventoy for Easy2Boot' v1.0.32 with UEFI32 support now available

 Ventoy now supports UEFI32 (experimental) as well as UEFI64.

I have compiled a version for Easy2Boot from the v1.0.32 Ventoy sources.

To update your E2B USB drive...

'Ventoy for Easy2Boot' v1.0.31 is now available

 Download ZIP file and drag-and-drop onto \e2b\Update agFM\Add_Ventoy.cmd to update.

The download is in the latest Betas folder on Alternate Downloads site.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqlrQcdsFA-K7S2G6_UPKR7HCecH?e=dhknNv

I will release in a few days unless someone reports a problem.

This is NOT the official version of Ventoy - it is modified - so do not report any problems to the Ventoy author!

Ventoy UEFI32 is not supported.

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a1ive grub2 code to check for an expiry date

 If you have added your own \boot\grubfm\startup_menu.txt file, you can check for an expiry date. This would force the user to update their USB drive. Here is an example of how to test dates.

Check expiry date

You can add the lines below to check that an expiry date has not been met or exceeded. Change the value of LOWERDATE  and UPPERDATE as required to set a valid range.

The code gets the current date in YYYYMMDD format into sdate. The regexp command is used to get the first 8 characters only.

It then compares that dates and reboots the system if the expiry date has been met or if the date is before or equal to the LOWERDATE. The LOWERDATE test helps to prevent the user from cheating by setting the RTC (Real Time Clock) to an earlier date.

This may be of use if you want to force the user to update the USB boot drive after a specific date (.e.g. example = expires Feb 01 - valid for any day in January).

# check date - reset if UPPERDATE (YYYYMMDD) is equal to or smaller than current date
set LOWERDATE=20201231
set UPPERDATE=20210201
unset now;date -s now;regexp -s sdate '(........)' "$now"
# display RTC date and time in human form (optional)
date -m
if [ "${sdate}" -le "${LOWERDATE}" ]; then echo "ERROR: INCORRECT RTC DATE - rebooting..."; sleep 5; reset -w; fi
if [ "${sdate}" -ge "${UPPERDATE}" ]; then echo "ERROR: THIS SOFTWARE HAS EXPIRED ($sdate >= $UPPERDATE) - rebooting..."; sleep 5; reset -w; fi 

unset now;unset UPPERDATE;unset sdate;unset LOWERDATE

Taken from E2B eBook #4 - UEFI-multiboot using the a1ive grub2 File Manager

agFM v1.69b Beta and E2B v2.07g available

E2B has a slightly revised version of the new Launcher Windows app.

agFM uses the latest version of grubfm (last one for this year). I have now added the F1-F6, F10 and Ctrl+F menu icons into the default grubfm menu theme too.

Has anyone tried the new Launcher app? Please provide feedback...

Happy New Year to all - and let's hope 2021 is better than 2020!

Download from the Alternate Downloads areas as usual (see side panel for links).

agFM v1.69a Beta available

 a1ive has improved the menu system and the F1 button can now display hardware information under grub2.

You can also boot to Ventoy and AIOBoot and PXE boot if you have them present on the USB drive.

Unfortunately, if you have added a your own grub2 theme to the agFM partition, you will have to modify it so that it works correctly with the new grubfm\agFM version. Details of how to modify an existing theme are included in the latest version of eBook #4 v1.19Beta which has been updated for agFM v1.69. You can get the updated version for free by using the link that was emailed to you when you first purchased it.

The E2B eBook 4 covers how to add different themes and configure your own startup menu (updated specifically for agFM v1.69 and later only).

I have also updated five different agFM themes which should work with the new agFM v1.69 - see here.

The new agFM v1.69a Beta can be found here.

Note that 'Ventoy for Easy2Boot' has not been updated and is still v1.0.29. I do not intend to update this version for a while.

A few of the modified themes are shown below:

seven22 theme (22 menu entries per screen)

Tela theme

You can modify the theme.txt and fm.txt files to adjust the menu as required.

Does Windows 10 20H2 chkdsk now cause BSODs?

 Just a heads up...

Under some (as yet unknown) conditions, running chkdsk c: /f may damage your Windows filesytem and cause BSODs! See here for a report for Windows 10 20H2 update KB4592438.

The 'bug' is unconfirmed by Microsoft.

Easy2Boot v2.07b Beta available

This version has a new  version of  the  'E2B Launcher.exe' 32-bit Windows application which you can find in the \_ISO\docs\E2B Utilities\Launcher folder.

I have also added a 'Desktop E2B Launcher.cmd' file into the folder. You can copy this file to your Windows Desktop so that you can quickly run E2B Launcher from any E2B USB drive that is connected to your system. Each E2B USB drive must contain the new Launcher folder or else it won't be detected.

2.07c adds an extra link in the 'Tools' tab which copies the 'Desktop E2B Launcher.cmd' file to the Desktop for you.

Easy2Boot v2.07a Beta available

 This version has a new  Beta version of  an 'E2B Launcher.exe' 32-bit Windows application which you can find in the \_ISO\docs\E2B Utilities\Launcher folder.

Download from the Latest Betas folder here.

agFM v1.68 released (Legacy boot of Linux ISOs bugfix)

 Version 1.66 and 1.67 had a bug when booting Legacy Linux and other non-windows ISOs using the .isodef, isomap and .isomem options in agFM. This was due to a1ive changing his code and removing the MAP file from his file structure!  

Use the \e2b\Update agFM batch file to update to the new version.

agFM grub2 code to protect your E2B drive from being cloned

 I was asked today for a grub2 menu which would protect the E2B USB drive from being cloned onto another drive.

The lines below can be added into your startup_menu.txt file.

It checks the total drive capacity of your E2B USB drive - if it is not as expected, then it displays a graphics file (candle in this case) and then prompts you to enter a password (3 chances). If the user does not know the password, then it loads a 'guest' menu, but it could just as easily  shutdown or reboot the PC.

You can display any graphics file you like (.png, .jpg, .bpm) and you can change the messages, etc. as you wish.

eBook #4 v1.17 now available (and agFM v1.67 released)

I have just updated eBook #4. You can get the update for free by using the link in your original Payhip email that you received when you first purchased the eBook.

I also found an old bug in the .isopersist code in agFM, so I have now updated agFM to v1.67 today. The problem was that the *-rw persistence file would only work if it was in the root of the USB drive. Now it can be in either the root or the same folder as the Linux ISO.

Use Ventoy to boot WinPE ISOs such as c't Emergency Windows 2021 ISO (aka 'ctNotWin', 'ctNotFall' etc.)

Easy2Boot and agFM can boot WinPE-based ISOs easily, however many of these ISOs require access to files on the 'DVD' drive once they have booted to WinPE.

Since these files are inside the ISO file on the USB drive, these extra utilities cannot be found by the miniWindows environment and you may find some Desktop and StartMenu items missing!

E2B and agFM can make this work however by using that fact that most WinPE's are built using WinBuilder which typically contain this extra startup code. When a WinPE made by WinBuilder boots, it looks for a volume containing a .ini file in the root (e.g. \WIN10PESE.ini) which specifies the path of an ISO file. WinPE will then find that ISO file and auto-mount it as a virtual DVD drive so that WinPE can now access the files within the ISO.

WIN10PESE.ini

[IsoInfo]
IsoName=/_ISO/MAINMENU/Win10XPE_x64.ISO

E2B and agFM will modify these .ini files before booting the ISO (that is one reason why a write-enabled USB drive is required). The ISO filename should not contain spaces because some versions of WinBuilder cannot cope with spaces in filenames.

However, this only works if the WinPE contains this special WinBuilder startup code which looks for the special WinBuilder .ini file.

E2B and agFM also modify the \AutoUnattend.xml file in the root of the E2B USB drive - this file is automatically run if the ISO is a Windows Install ISO (but it is not usually run by WinPE ISOs).

c't Emergency ISO

Unfortunately, some WinPE ISOs do not contain this special startup code (e.g. c't Emergency Windows 2021). There are a number of ways around this:

agFM v1.66 released

Changes from v1.65 are:

• F3 now also shows winre.wim Boot to Windows Recovery entries if a Recovery folder is present.
• F10 hotkey will reload agFM without rebooting
• Search hotkey is changed from Ctrl+Shift+F which did not work in MBR\Legacy mode to Ctrl+F
• New Ctrl-F search function searches current level and one folder down only. User can search for any extension or use a hotkey. e.g. Ctrl+F P will list all .imgPTN* files in current directory and level below current directory.
• F5 now uses grubfm built-in code (/boot/grubfm/f5.sh no longer used).
• Bugfix for dd command where -c exceeds 63555.
• Ability to use Ctrl+F as menu hotkey (but not all Ctrl+ letters can be used!).
• The menuentry command now supports --help_msg option which can display help text in a themed menu (but is buggy, so I recommend you don't use it in your menus!).
• The e2b.sh and map.sh files now use map -f to map as the first device when in efi mode.
• Add_Ventoy.cmd changed to work with latest e2b for Ventoy 1.0.29.zip download.
• Update_to_latest_Ventoy_version.cmd file will now automatically add 'Ventoy for Easy2Boot' to the USB drive. The current E2B version of 'Ventoy for E2B' will be downloaded from the E2B server.
• Latest grubfm build (2020-12-01).
• /e2b/loadfm file added. 
• /ventoy/Sample Ventoy config files folder added (contains sample files which user can add to ptn1). Copy to \ventoy folder on ptn1 will allow you to boot agFM or E2B from the Ventoy menu
• SAMPLE_slack theme fm.txt updated for Ctrl+F text display on menu.
• SAMPLE_slack theme fm.txt now supports timeout countdown so it can be used for startup menu with F1-F6 icons and timeout counter
• Improved SAMPLE_startup_menu.txt - now can have more than 10 entries and define a different icon and hotkey for each menu entry.

Now when a user runs Make_E2B.exe, they will be asked if they want to add agFM and Ventoy to partition 2. Both will be fetched from the E2B server. Currently Ventoy is the special 'Ventoy for Easy2Boot' v1.0.29 which is not blocked to run on an E2B USB drive.

agFM v1.66Beta12 available (and how to MBR-boot the grubfm.iso from grub2)

agFM Beta12

agFM Beta10 adds a new F10 hotkey function (new hidden feature).

If you press F10 in a grubfm menu, then it will completely reload grub2.

You may find this useful if you run an ISO or some other payload file and grubfm loses the gfxmenu system and just displays a black-and-white text menu. If you then press F10 then the whole agFM boot file will be reloaded thus saving you having to reboot. Since some servers can take 5 minutes to reboot, you might find this useful.

The actual code is compiled within agFM (in global.sh), but if you are interested, you can add a menuentry to your own menu system as shown below:

Latest agFM v1.66 Beta7 available (release candidate)

 Please test latest version 1.66 Beta7 as I hope to make it the new release version in a day or so.

See OneDrive - Latest Betas folder for the download.

Please don't just wait for it to be released before trying it. It is easy to test it by simply extracting the files to the 2nd partition. If you want to go back to the old v1.65 then simply click on \e2b\Update agFM\Download and update agFM_v2.cmd.

Changes from v1.65 are: