Easy2Boot v1.95b (with XP '0K low memory' error fix)

I have had a few reports of problems with XP Install Step 2 giving the following error:

"Windows NT has found only 0K of low memory. 512k of low memory is required to run Windows NT. You may need to upgrade your computer or run a configuration program provided by the manufacturer."

This has been traced to a compatibility issue between recent 2017 grub4dos versions and some chipsets. See here for a bug report.

E2B v1.95b should fix this issue.

Download E2B v1.95b from one of the Alternate Download Areas. Just click on the 'Update_E2B_Drive' button to update your E2B drive.

I have also had a report that some Gandalf WinPE ISOs do not boot and give a 'Not enough memory to create a RAM Disk' error. This only seems to be a problem on certain systems. These systems also fail in the same way when using Rufus to make a Gandalf bootable USB drive, so it seems to be a compatibility issue between the Gandalf WinPE files with a large boot.wim file and certain system BIOSes (i.e. not an E2B issue!). If you have any info on this issue, please let me know.

Beta version of Greek Language available for E2B

I have used Google Translate to make a Greek Language version here.

To test, extract the two files to your \_ISO folder on your E2B USB drive:

\_ISO\STRINGS.txt
\_ISO\F1.CFG

They will automatically be used by E2B. This is for test purposes only - any missing strings will be reported by E2B.

To use the files in non-test mode, make a \_ISO\e2b\grub\GREEK folder and place the 2 files in that folder. Then add a line to your \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file as follows:

if "%LANG%"=="" set LANG=GREEK

If you have any corrections, please edit the files and send them to me (save as UTF-8 format using Notepad).

I will not add them to E2B until they have been properly vetted by a Greek-speaking techy (as it is all Greek to me!).

UK Porn

This post is not about USB drives or booting but it is about internet porn!

E2B v1.95a BETA available

Change History here
Download from the Alternate Download Areas as usual (see side panel of blog for link).
Don't forget to subscribe for latest E2B news.

Reduce the CPU load when using the E2B Menu

You may have noticed that when you boot to the E2B menu, your CPU fan speed may start to increase and get quite noisy. This can also occur when booting to the E2B menu under a Virtual Machine such as with Virtual Box.

The reason is that grub4dos is continually calling the BIOS to detect a menu key press from the user and so the CPU is running at full speed.

Most operating systems use an interrupt-driven approach. The CPU is in an idle state when not required, until the user presses a key and causes a CPU interrupt from the keyboard controller which then wakes up the CPU.

e.g. (in x86 code)...
sti           (enable interrupts)
hlt           (stop CPU until it gets an interrupt)

Grub4dos can also use such an interrupt-driven approach if you patch it...

In the \_ISO\Sample_MyE2B.cfg file you will see the lines:

# Use HLT instruction to reduce CPU cycles whilst waiting for keypress (stops CPU from getting too hot)
### write --bytes=1 0x8205 0x20 > nul

Simply uncomment the 2nd line by removing the three ### symbols and add it to your \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file:

!BAT
# Use HLT instruction to reduce CPU cycles whilst waiting for keypress (stops CPU from getting too hot)
write --bytes=1 0x8205 0x20 > nul

As this patch may cause problems on some systems, it is not included by default in E2B. You may find it useful if you use E2B with a VM a lot.

You can remove or comment out the line to go back to the normal grub4dos behaviour if it causes you any problems (let me know if it does!).

Add i-life Windows OS re-installation payloads to E2B

i-life produce a range of laptops including the ZEDNotes.

It is possible to download the full OS re-installation files + firmware update software (e.g. ZEDNOTE 11.6.rar, 4.5GB) from the appropriate Support page for your particular i-life notebook...

E2B v1.94 full release is now available

v1.94 2017-07-21

• Bugfix for TXT_Maker.exe as iftitle caused a 'no title' in .txt file error. 
• Change_drive_Letter.cmd added to allow you to change 2nd partition drive letter on Removable Flash drive
• Sample mnu files for linux ext3 comment added
• .iso32 and .iso64 allowed in \_ISO\WINDOWS\xxxxx menu folders
• Latest grub4dos \grldr 2017-06-25
• Latest ImDisk driver
• Spanish kbd now addded if Spanish language selected
• Czech language (Beta) added

Available from Alternate Download Areas (will be added to E2B website in a few days).

E2B v1.94c BETA available

The main difference is that I have added a Czech language option.

However, the translations have not been checked by a Czech and so they are probably full of errors!

Czech language for E2B (Beta)

I have used Google Translate to make a very Beta version for the Czech language which you can download from here.  You can test it by simply copying the STRINGS.txt and F1.cfg files to your E2B USB drive's \_ISO folder.

The files are probably a bit of a wreck, so, if any Czech tech can check and make them up to spec (see what I did there?), then please send me a corrected version!

Info: How to make new language files E2B page here.

E2B v1.94b BETA available

Changes from release version 1.93A are:

• bugfix - if TXT_Maker.exe is used with iftitle, it caused a 'no title in .txt file' error.
• Change_drive_letter.cmd added to allow you to change 2nd partition drive letter on Removable Flash drive if using Windows 10 1703
• Sample mnu files for linux - 'use ext3' comment line added
• .iso32 and .iso64 now allowed in \_ISO\WINDOWS\xxxxx menu folders (except XP folder)
• latest grub4dos \grldr 2017-06-25
• latest ImDisk driver for loading Windows ISOs

Available from alternate download areas as usual.