So this is the official Rescatux tutorial based on the latest 0.32 beta 3 Rescatux. Please enjoy the full show or select the section that matches your need.

• Recover Windows boot after removing GNU/Linux partition – (grub rescue)
• Restore Grub after Windows reinstallation
• Update and Restore Grub after renumbering partitions – (grub rescue)
• Share boot info script log
• Blank Windows password
• Reset GNU/Linux password
• Regenerate /etc/sudoers
• Summary

If you are more interested on what Rescatux can do instead of how you are supposed to use it please check Summary .

If you want to make use of the Recover Windows boot option ( Restore Windows MBR (Beta) ) make sure to use Rescatux 0.32 beta 2 or a newest version else you might get your Windows 7 unbootable even if you use the latest stable 0.30.2 version.

My English is not perfect and I will try to improve it for the next videos.

Changelog

• Based on Grub 2.02 (commit bac5d1a64ab4191058a8fd4c05f6b3b339e249e7 )
• Added new option: “Enable all native disk drivers” so that you can try to load: SATA, PATA and USB hard disks (and their partitions) as native disk drives. This is experimental.
• Removed no longer needed options: “Enable USB” and “Enable PATA”.
• “Search floppy” and “Search cdrom” options were moved into “Extra GRUB2 functionality menu”. At the same time “Extra Search functionality” menu was removed.
• Added new straight-forward option: “Enable GRUB2’s RAID and LVM support“.
• “List devices/partitions” was renamed to “Print devices/partitions”.
• “Everything” option was renamed to “Detect and show boot methods”.
• “Everything +” option was removed to avoid confusions.
• Other minor improvements in the source code.
• Updated translation files. Now most translations are pending.
• Updated INSTALL instructions.

Recommended download (Valid for i386, x86_64, and x86_64-efi):

• Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.02s1-beta1 (ISO) (MD5)[Mirror #1]

About other downloads. As this is the first time I develop Super Grub2 Disk out of source code (well, probably not the first time, but the first time in ages) I have not been able to build these other downloads: standalone EFI x86_64, coreboot, i386-efi, i386-pc, ieee1275, x86_64-efi, standalone coreboot, standalone i386-efi, standalone ieee1275. Help is welcome on this subject.

How to test.

Try to boot your desired operating system with this version. If it does not boot try the 2.00s2 stable version. If you can boot with the stable version but not with this beta version please report it to the bug tracker.

This is a Super Grub2 Disk tutorial that it’s not based in this beta version but that can help you understand what you can do with Super Grub2 Disk.

Development miscelanea:

• This release was built in a Debian jessie system but using upstream 2.02 grub version (commit bac5d1a64ab4191058a8fd4c05f6b3b339e249e7).
• I want to thank Jordan Uggla to teach me about what were the Grub2 native disk drivers and what nativedisk command did actually. phcoder did try once to explain it but I wasn’t smart enough to understand it. Hopefully I can help with nativedisk help text inside Grub2.
• This new “Enable all native disk drivers” option unloads the usually default biosdisk drivers which talks to the bios to access hard disks (Like did MS-DOS in the old days) and replaces it with native drivers (as a normal Operating System would do). It also manages to find somehow the old Super Grub2 Disk device and define the correct $prefix variable.
• In my tests this new option: “Enable all native disk drivers” aborts Virtualbox. That means that we are also testing Grub2 or maybe Virtualbox. Please check my submitted bug.
• We have renamed many menues so that their purpose is more clear.

If you want to translate into your language please check TRANSLATION file at source code to learn how to translate into your language.

Note: 2.02s1-beta1 means:

• 2.02: Upstream Grub 2.02 version
• s1 : Super Grub2 Disk scripts version (inside this Upstream Grub version)
• beta1: Beta 1

I am going to modify Rescatux 0.32 roadmap so that it’s easier to release Rescatux 0.32 even if it lacks some importants items.

•  We drop UEFI Boot Support. This does not mean not being able to fix grub systems based on UEFI. What it means is that I was going to make sure that you could boot Rescatux cd in EFI mode without a problem. You will be able to boot Rescatux cd from a UEFI system if the CD is booted in legacy boot mode (BIOS) but not as EFI mode. The reason for dropping this UEFI boot support is because of Debian Live for its Debian Wheezy version not being good enough for enabling UEFI boot based on grub2. I also do not want to achieve the same result by using current SG2D and the Rescatux isolinux image as I did in the old days. I just want a plain isolinux based ISO image and that’s it. I also do not want to rebase Rescatux on Debian Jessie even if it’s tempting. Once we release the stable Rescatux 0.32 we would be able to think about rebasing Rescatux on Debian Jessie which its Live Build package will have EFI support based on syslinux / isolinux. Not yet, but I’m sure that they won’t release Debian Live for Jessie without EFI boot support because it’s a must nowadays.
• Doubts about SELinux. I was about to drop SELinux support but I will make more tests and depending on the result I might drop it or not.

Well, that’s not as much as I had thought but these are some changes. Hopefully I do not rewrite release roadmap for 0.32 in the future again.

Roadmap for Rescatux 0.32 stable release:

You can check the complete changelog with link to each one of the issues at: Rescatux 0.32-freeze roadmap.

• [#1323] GPT support
• [#1364] Review Copyright notice
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2188] install-mbr : Windows 7 seems not to be fixed with it
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2190] debian-live. Include cpu detection and loopback cfg patches
• (Fixed in 0.32b3) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout
• [#2192] UEFI boot support
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2193] bootinfoscript: Use it as a package
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2199] Btrfs support
• [#2205] Handle different default sh script
• [#2216] Verify separated /usr support
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2217] chown root root on sudoers
• [#2220] Make sure all the source code is available
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2221] Detect SAM file algorithm fails with directories which have spaces on them
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2227] Use chntpw 1.0-1 from Jessie
• [#2231] SElinux support on chroot options
• [#2233] Disable USB automount
• [#2236] chntpw based options need to be rewritten for reusing code
• [#2239]http://www.supergrubdisk.org/wizard-step-put-rescatux-into-a-media/suppose that the image is based on Super Grub2 Disk version and not Isolinux.The step about extracting iso inside an iso would not be longer needed.”>Update doc: Put Rescatux into a media for Isolinux based cd
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2259] Update bootinfoscript to the latest GIT version
• [#2264] chntpw – Save prior registry files
• [#2234] New option: Easy Grub fix
• [#2235] New option: Easy Windows Admin

This is an exciting release. For the first time we are not relying on Debian’s grub packages but on our own grub2 build system. Yes, just like the distributions do when they build their own packages.

This improvement let us to track grub git so that we can use its latest features. Sometimes you choose to rely on an stable grub release but sometimes some features are needed  as right now.

One of these features is being able of booting from EFI system from a hard disk or usb in EFI mode. (That feature was wrongly announced in the past releases of Super Grub2 Disk as being functional). And, what it’s better than that… The same disk also works for BIOS based boot and also for CDROM boot.

Let me repeat it slowly. With Super Grub2 Disk hybrid iso you will be able to boot from:

• EFI mode. Cdrom or DVD media.
• EFI mode. USB or hard disk media.
• BIOS mode. Cdrom or DVD media.
• BIOS mode. USB or hard disk media.

Another fix from upstream grub enables us to avoid showing Super Grub2 Disk device itself as a (wrongly detected) Mac OS X installation. This error arised on last beta and we discovered that grub itself did not work ok when testing two expressions if the first one was detecting if a file existed or not. You can check this grub commit if you are interested.

That same fix might make Super Grub2 Disk run faster because now our tests will work as expected. I haven’t tested Super Grub2 Disk speed myself so if you have feedback on it please report here on the comments.

Dedicated to forum.ubuntu-fr.org and malbo

I want to dedicate this release to the Communauté francophone d’utilisateurs d’Ubuntu forum people and specially to malbo who managed to make Super Grub2 Disk to boot from a USB thanks to the standalone version. Now the Super Grub2 Disk hybrid version should boot in either BIOS or EFI mode when burned to a cdrom and also when dd to a hard disk. No need to build your own usb version for that.

I know that around that community there are many great people that did find many ways of dealing with EFI specifics (Hopefully I can reuse some of these next year for Rescatux) but I chose malbo because he is great at writing howtos or step-by-step instructions so that other people can debug why their systems do not boot and hopefully they can finally boot into them.

Unfortunately Microsoft’s approved secure boot is not in my Super Grub2 Disk TODO list because of ethical reasons. That would even help even more, till then, make sure you disable secure boot when booting from Super Grub2 Disk in an EFI machine.

Changelog

• Updated grub 2.02 build to commit: 8e5bc2f4d3767485e729ed96ea943570d1cb1e45
• Updated documentation for building Super Grub2 Disk
• Improvement on upstream grub (d29259b134257458a98c1ddc05d2a36c677ded37 – test: do not stop after first file test or closing bracket) will probably make Super Grub2 Disk run faster.
• Added new grub build scripts so that Super Grub2 Disk uses its own built versions of grub and not the default system / distro / chroot one.
• Ensure that Mac OS X entries are detected ok thanks to Users dir. This is because Grub2 needs to emulate Mac OS X kernel so that it’s detected as a proper boot device on Apple computers.
• Thanks to upstream grub improvement now Super Grub2 Disk supports booting in EFI mode when booted from a USB device / hard disk. Actually SG2D was announced previously to boot from EFI from a USB device while it only booted from a cdrom. Use dd to put Super Grub2 Disk in your usb device if you want to make use of it.

Recommended download (Valid for i386, x86_64, and x86_64-efi):

• Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.02s2-beta1 (ISO) (MD5)[Mirror #1]

EFI x86_64 standalone version:

• Super Grub2 Disk (Standalone ; x86_64-efi) 2.02s2-beta1 (EFI)(MD5)[Mirror #1]

Floppy, CD & USB in one downloads:

• Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.02s2-beta1 [i386-pc] (ISO)(MD5)[Mirror #1]
• Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.02s2-beta1 [x86_64-efi] (ISO)(MD5)[Mirror #1]

About other downloads

As we no longer rely on Debian grub packages some of the releases have been removed (till someone teachs me how to rebuild them). The downloads you will not be finding are: coreboot, i386-efi, ieee1275, standalone i386-efi and standalone ieee1275. Help is welcome on this subject and also feedback if someone was actually using them or not. Else I might remove them completely.

How to test

Try to boot your desired operating system with this version. If it does not boot try the 2.00s2 stable version. If you can boot with the stable version but not with this beta version please report it to the bug tracker.

This is a Super Grub2 Disk tutorial that it’s not based in this beta version but that can help you understand what you can do with Super Grub2 Disk.

Development miscelanea:

• This release was built in a Debian jessie system but using upstream 2.02 grub version (commit 8e5bc2f4d3767485e729ed96ea943570d1cb1e45).
• Please check the new DEVELOPMENT file if you plan to build Super Grub2 Disk on your own very often.

If you want to translate into your language please check TRANSLATION file at source code to learn how to translate into your language.

Note: 2.02s2-beta1 means:

• 2.02: Upstream Grub 2.02 version
• s2 : Super Grub2 Disk scripts version (inside this Upstream Grub version)
• beta1: Beta 1

Last week I learnt (adrian15 speaking) about other people doing live streams while programming. It sound as something stupid you doing a live streaming when you develop but as I saw all the streamings most of them where in non open source languages or non open source projects. So I told myself that I had to do it too.

The other reason is that it might help other people who are doubtful about contributing to Super Grub2 Disk to finally begin to do so. Because, it’s not as difficult as it might seem.

So last weekend I performed a public live devopment streaming which I announced in Super Grub2 Disk chat channel.

As you might see there are two things to be improved in the video:

• Sound quality (I need something to remove my laptop fan noise at runtime)
• Video quality. I think I will record with my second screen at 1024×768 instead of squeezing my bigger screen to 1024×768. This might improve video quality.

So I promise I’ll try to announce the live development streamings with more time, probably three or fours days in advance so that you can join by the chat.

So, here there is the video about how I managed to remove Super Grub2 Disk devices from search by default. You can find its associated commit here.

This live development is about improving grub detect script so that it does not loop so much. We will also try to do other improvements.

I would have liked to announce it more in advance but that’s you what you get. Two days or so.

It will take about half an hour or an hour. Depending on it I might do an additional live development for Rescatux after it.

So if you want to join the conversation you need to join the #sgrub channel at freenode.

March 1, 2015  at 15:00 UTC Time.

Check the exact time for your country.

I have choosen a random day from 2015 to generate some stats of Super Grub2 Disk usage (and their users). I could use some better stats from a longer period of time but being exact is not the purpose of this post.

Social networks

There are people who use Google + (1), and comment on it (2). Yeah, although you might not believe it some people use Google+ (3).

Twitter (8),  yeah, some twits (9) can be found on twitter (10).

Video

There are people who record their videos on Youtube (1) or that use it (2). Actually Youtube (3) is quite popular.

Countries

• Poland (1)
• Mexico (2)
• Japan (3)
• USA (4)
• Italy (5)
• Germany (6)
• Probably Germany (7)
• Iran (8)
• Australia (9)
• Spain (10)
• Hungary (11)

Operating Systems

Some people still use the quite old Windows 7 (4). Other people use Gentoo (11).

 Summary

As you can see Super Grub2 Disk is being used daily on many parts of the globe on such distant places as Japan, USA or Iran. You can learn that Windows 10 has not been released yet because people still use Windows 7. Hopefully many of the Super Grub2 Disk are young and will never need to ask for help.

See you next year!

Approximatively in a year I will redo the stats again so that we can compare with this year’s stats.

I am not proud to announce Super Grub2 Disk 2.02s3 stable.

Super GRUB2 Disk is a live cd that helps you to boot into most any Operating System (OS) even if you cannot boot into it by normal means.

A new stable release

The former Super Grub2 Disk stable release was 2.00s2 version and released on May 2014 (one year ago). This release does not have as many new features as the previous stable version but some of them are quite interesting:

• New option: ‘Disks and Partitions (Chainload)’ adapted from Smx work.

• New option: “Enable all native disk drivers” so that you can try to load: SATA, PATA and USB hard disks (and their partitions) as native disk drives. This is experimental.
• Most options had their search code improved. Super Grub2 Disk should be faster.
• Based on grub 2.02 ( commit: 8e5bc2f4d3767485e729ed96ea943570d1cb1e45 )
• Super Grub2 Disk builds its own grub based on upstream grub instead of Debian grub.
• Mac OS X kernel detection was improved to avoid false detections.
• Thanks to upstream grub improvement now Super Grub2 Disk supports booting in EFI mode when booted from a USB device / hard disk. Actually SG2D was announced previously to boot from EFI from a USB device while it only booted from a cdrom.
• Many options titles were rewritten so that they are better understood.

Let me repeat it slowly. With Super Grub2 Disk hybrid iso you will be able to boot from:

• EFI mode. Cdrom or DVD media.
• EFI mode. USB or hard disk media.
• BIOS mode. Cdrom or DVD media.
• BIOS mode. USB or hard disk media.

We are going to see which are the complete Super Grub2 Disk features with a demo video, where you can download it, the thank you – hall of fame and some thoughts about the Super Grub2 Disk development.

Please do not forget to read our howtos so that you can have step by step guides (how to make a cdrom or an usb, how to boot from it, etc) on how to use Super Grub2 Disk and, if needed, Rescatux.

Tour

Here there is a little video tour in order to discover most of Super Grub2 Disk options. The rest of the options you will have to discover them by yourself.

Features

Most of the features here will let you boot into your Operating Systems. The rest of the options will improve the Super Grub2 Disk operating systems autodetecting (enable RAID, LVM, etc.) or will deal with minor aspects of the user interface (Colours, language, etc.).

• Change the language UI
• Translated into several languages
  • Spanish / Español
  • German / Deutsch
  • French / Français
  • Italian / Italiano
  • Malay / Bahasa Melayu

• Detect and show boot methods option to detect most Operating Systems

• Enable all native disk drivers *experimental* to detect most Operating Systems also in special devices or filesystems
• Boot manually
  • Operating Systems
  • grub.cfg – Extract entries

  • grub.cfg – (GRUB2 configuration files)
  • menu.lst – (GRUB legacy configuration files)
  • core.img – (GRUB2 installation (even if mbr is overwritten))
  • Disks and Partitions (Chainload)
  • Bootable ISOs (in /boot-isos or /boot/boot-isos
• Extra GRUB2 functionality
  • Enable GRUB2’s LVM support
  • Enable GRUB2’s RAID support
  • Enable GRUB2’s PATA support (to work around BIOS bugs/limitation)
  • Mount encrypted volumes (LUKS and geli)
  • Enable serial terminal
• Extra Search functionality
  • Search in floppy ON/OFF
  • Search in CDROM ON/OFF
• List Devices / Partitions
• Color ON /OFF
• Exit
  • Halt the computer
  • Reboot the computer

Supported Operating Systems

Excluding too custom kernels from university students Super Grub2 Disk can autodetect and boot most every Operating System. Some examples are written here so that Google bots can see it and also to make more confident the final user who searchs his own special (according to him) Operating System.

• Windows
  • Windows Vista/7/8/8.1
  • Windows NT/2000/XP
  • Windows 98/ME
  • MS-DOS
  • FreeDOS
• GNU/Linux
  • Direct Kernel with autodetected initrd
    • vmlinuz-*
    • linux-*
    • kernel-genkernel-*
  • Debian / Ubuntu / Mint
  • Mageia
  • Fedora / CentOS / Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
  • openSUSE / SuSE Linux Enterpsise Server (SLES)
  • Arch
  • Any many, many, more.

• FreeBSD
  • FreeBSD (single)
  • FreeBSD (verbose)
  • FreeBSD (no ACPI)
  • FreeBSD (safe mode)
  • FreeBSD (Default boot loader)
• EFI files
• Mac OS X/Darwin 32bit or 64bit

Support for different hardware platforms

Before this release we only had the hybrid version aimed at regular pcs. Now with the upcoming new EFI based machines you have the EFI standalone versions among others. What we don’t support is booting when secure boot is enabled.

• Most any PC thanks to hybrid version (i386, x86_64, x86_64-efi) (ISO)
• EFI x86_64 standalone version (EFI)
• Additional Floppy, CD and USB in one download (ISO)
  • i386-pc
  • x86_64-efi

Known bugs

• Non English translations are not completed
• Enable all native disk drivers *experimental* crashes Virtualbox randomly

Supported Media

• Compact Disk – Read Only Memory (CD-ROM)
• Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices
• Floppy (1.98s1 version only)

Downloads

Recommended download (Floppy, CD & USB in one) (Valid for i386, x86_64, and x86_64-efi):

• Super Grub2 Disk (CD & USB in one) 2.02s3 (ISO)[Mirror #1]

EFI x86_64 standalone version:

• Super Grub2 Disk (Standalone ; x86_64-efi) 2.02s3 (EFI)[Mirror #1]

CD & USB in one downloads:

• Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.02s3 [i386-pc] (ISO)[Mirror #1]
• Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.02s3 [x86_64-efi] (ISO)[Mirror #1]

About other downloads. As this is the first time I develop Super Grub2 Disk out of source code (well, probably not the first time, but the first time in ages) I have not been able to build these other downloads: coreboot, i386-efi, i386-pc, ieee1275, x86_64-efi, standalone coreboot, standalone i386-efi, standalone ieee1275. Help is welcome on this subject.

Source code:

• Super Grub2 Disk 2.02s3 Source Code (Git repo)[Mirror #1]

Everything (All binary releases and source code):

• Super Grub2 Disk 2.00s2 Everything (ZIP)(MD5)[Mirror #1]
• Super Grub2 Disk 2.02s3 Everything TORRENT

Hashes

In order to check the former downloads you can either download:

• super_grub2_disk_2.02s3_MD5SUMS
• super_grub2_disk_2.02s3_SHA1SUMS
• super_grub2_disk_2.02s3_SHA256SUMS

or you can check their contents right here.

MD5SUMS

e7515b7d4e9ea90f28b7f5a534906b85  super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.02s3.iso
1538893f58fa9dbd3a1fd5a3789f7cb5  super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.02s3.iso
38260bfd2b93586a25b2db1a27072661  super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.02s3.EFI
247f2219579d1826cf6fbdbee37d1296  super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.02s3.iso

SHA1SUMS

e1f0da49d4e600383647875f773f6182a5e3f3c4  super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.02s3.iso
c4087937567d28f46f18c100ee047057d3acbac4  super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.02s3.iso
7af5cbbf947caa975a406b70c43fad803ba9c10d  super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.02s3.EFI
1e49427f95dcff3dc0318f20bbe934b4a5eb3493  super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.02s3.iso

SHA256SUMS

74def37a1208e4e2f54bbe4bd1b66337b6f026a6c553a3b8e7db8e2206fd59ed  super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.02s3.iso
ce46670541ed9506832d1bf255a454273ac493beee68e88f823687c8ae3cc340  super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.02s3.iso
c4589c1d12fdf1260d025d11908f985a4e2b5c6b63e61d64ef0fc36e27613b30  super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.02s3.EFI
3ba7724f871f83d6996b74a529c79e6b7c237d7951eb642fd5fb7740f5d0464c  super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.02s3.iso

Changelog (since former 2.00s2 stable release)

Changes since 2.02s2 beta 1 version:

• (Devel)    grub-mkstandalone was deleted because we no longer use it
• Updated (and added) Copyright notices for 2015
• New option: ‘Disks and Partitions (Chainload)’ adapted from Smx work
• Many files were rewritten so that they only loop between devices that actually need to be searched into.
  This enhacement will make Super Grub2 Disk faster.
• Remove Super Grub2 Disk own devices from search by default. Added an option to be able to enable/disable the Super Grub2 Disk own devices search.

2.02s2 beta 1 changelog:

• Updated grub 2.02 build to commit: 8e5bc2f4d3767485e729ed96ea943570d1cb1e45
• Updated documentation for building Super Grub2 Disk
• Improvement on upstream grub (d29259b134257458a98c1ddc05d2a36c677ded37 – test: do not stop after first file test or closing bracket) will probably make Super Grub2 Disk run faster.
• Added new grub build scripts so that Super Grub2 Disk uses its own built versions of grub and not the default system / distro / chroot one.
• Ensure that Mac OS X entries are detected ok thanks to Users dir. This is because Grub2 needs to emulate Mac OS X kernel so that it’s detected as a proper boot device on Apple computers.
• Thanks to upstream grub improvement now Super Grub2 Disk supports booting in EFI mode when booted from a USB device / hard disk. Actually SG2D was announced previously to boot from EFI from a USB device while it only booted from a cdrom.

2.02s1 beta 1 changelog:

• Added new option: “Enable all native disk drivers” so that you can try to load: SATA, PATA and USB hard disks (and their partitions) as native disk drives. This is experimental.
• Removed no longer needed options: “Enable USB” and “Enable PATA”.
• “Search floppy” and “Search cdrom” options were moved into “Extra GRUB2 functionality menu”. At the same time “Extra Search functionality” menu was removed.
• Added new straight-forward option: “Enable GRUB2’s RAID and LVM support”.
• “List devices/partitions” was renamed to “Print devices/partitions”.
• “Everything” option was renamed to “Detect and show boot methods”.
• “Everything +” option was removed to avoid confusions.
• Other minor improvements in the source code.
• Updated translation files. Now most translations are pending.
• Updated INSTALL instructions.

Finally you can check all the detailed changes at our GIT commits.

If you want to translate into your language please check TRANSLATION file at source code to learn how to translate into your language.

Thank you – Hall of fame

I want to thank in alphabetical order:

• bfree (Niall Wash): For his work in rethinking how Super Grub2 Disk grub script might be rewritten although we never used that code. For adding code for EFI chainloader, helping on building and testing Super Grub2 Disk EFI releases.
• Jordan_U (Jordan Uggla) (jordan.uggla AT gmail DOT com): For his work in rewriting Lua Super Grub2 Disk into new Grub2 scripting. Also for his work in translation system based on gettext and po. And also I want to thank him for all this work in Super Grub2 Disk in many many ways.
• nox (Juergen Lock) (nox AT freebsd DOT org): For his work in fixing *BSD boot entries and helping adding new *BSD boot entries and testing.
• Smx (Stefano): For his Mac OS X / Darwin boot fixes and testing. He has also worked in redesigning some of the menues and probably his work will be included in next Super Grub2 Disk versions. He has also worked in a keyboard selection menu on his own too. That will be also included in next versions.

The person who writes this article is adrian15 and is proud of being responsible among other things for the rewriting of options as if they were libraries. And also for the User Interface (UI) complete redesign.

And I cannot forget about thanking bTactic, the enterprise where I work at and that hosts our site.

Some thoughts about Super Grub2 Disk development

Super Grub2 Disk development to be stalled

There has not been too much feedback for Super Grub2 Disk betas. Hopefully this new stable release come back with new bugs (Yes, it’s sad to say so). As I want to focus on new Rescatux stable if no one wants to help on Super Grub2 Disk development there won’t be any new release (stable or beta) in a long time.

Rescatux development

I want to focus on Rescatux development on the next months so that we have an stable release on July 2015. I will probably base it on newest Debian Jessie.

(adrian15 speaking)

Getting help on using Super Grub2 Disk

• Howtos
• Documentation / Wiki
• Chat
• Forum
• Mailing list

More information about Super Grub2 Disk

• Download stable Super Grub2 Disk
• Download beta Super Grub2 Disk
• Download latest (stable or beta) Super Grub2 Disk
• Difference between Super Grub Disk and Super Grub2 Disk

• Read the full Super Grub2 Disk 2.02s3 announcement

Recommended download (Floppy, CD & USB in one) (Valid for i386, x86_64, and x86_64-efi):

• Super Grub2 Disk (CD & USB in one) 2.02s3 (ISO)[Mirror #1]

EFI x86_64 standalone version:

• Super Grub2 Disk (Standalone ; x86_64-efi) 2.02s3 (EFI)[Mirror #1]

CD & USB in one downloads:

• Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.02s3 [i386-pc] (ISO)[Mirror #1]
• Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.02s3 [x86_64-efi] (ISO)[Mirror #1]

About other downloads. As this is the first time I develop Super Grub2 Disk out of source code (well, probably not the first time, but the first time in ages) I have not been able to build these other downloads: coreboot, i386-efi, i386-pc, ieee1275, x86_64-efi, standalone coreboot, standalone i386-efi, standalone ieee1275. Help is welcome on this subject.

Source code:

• Super Grub2 Disk 2.02s3 Source Code (Git repo)[Mirror #1]

Everything (All binary releases and source code):

• Super Grub2 Disk 2.00s2 Everything (ZIP)(MD5)[Mirror #1]
• Super Grub2 Disk 2.02s3 Everything TORRENT

Hashes

In order to check the former downloads you can either download:

• super_grub2_disk_2.02s3_MD5SUMS
• super_grub2_disk_2.02s3_SHA1SUMS
• super_grub2_disk_2.02s3_SHA256SUMS

or you can check their contents right here.

MD5SUMS

e7515b7d4e9ea90f28b7f5a534906b85  super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.02s3.iso
1538893f58fa9dbd3a1fd5a3789f7cb5  super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.02s3.iso
38260bfd2b93586a25b2db1a27072661  super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.02s3.EFI
247f2219579d1826cf6fbdbee37d1296  super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.02s3.iso

SHA1SUMS

e1f0da49d4e600383647875f773f6182a5e3f3c4  super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.02s3.iso
c4087937567d28f46f18c100ee047057d3acbac4  super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.02s3.iso
7af5cbbf947caa975a406b70c43fad803ba9c10d  super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.02s3.EFI
1e49427f95dcff3dc0318f20bbe934b4a5eb3493  super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.02s3.iso

SHA256SUMS

74def37a1208e4e2f54bbe4bd1b66337b6f026a6c553a3b8e7db8e2206fd59ed  super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.02s3.iso
ce46670541ed9506832d1bf255a454273ac493beee68e88f823687c8ae3cc340  super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.02s3.iso
c4589c1d12fdf1260d025d11908f985a4e2b5c6b63e61d64ef0fc36e27613b30  super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.02s3.EFI
3ba7724f871f83d6996b74a529c79e6b7c237d7951eb642fd5fb7740f5d0464c  super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.02s3.iso

Rescatux 0.40 beta 1 has been released.

Downloads:

• Rescatux 0.40 beta 1 Cdrom or USB ISO for x86 or amd64 (Sourceforge)
• (MD5)

Rescatux 0.40b1 size is about 596 Megabytes.

Some thoughts:

Now Rescatux is based on Debian Jessie (Latest Debian stable release)!

The great new feature in this release is the SELinux support. SELinux support is used by the Fedora, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), CentOS alike distributions. It’s not so much about adding SELinux related features which might be implemented in a far future. It’s about being able to interact with SELinux based system without damaging original contexts (contexts like additional permissions in SELinux).

Currently if you wanted to use the change password option on these systems then the system did not let you login (even if you know a password from a user different from the one its password you had changed) because these wrong contexts.

Now it should work flawlessly but please give us feedback here on the comments or in the mailing list. Anything about you detecting that Rescatux is not using the correct contexts for your files is welcomed.

It’s also welcomed feedback from people who uses non standard policy types such as the military ones. Given the nature of these systems try the options in non production machines of course.

This new beta release loses the long awaited feature about being able to select your own language, country and keyboard. The reason is that Rescatux 0.40 is based on jessie. These means that I have to use tails-greeter from Jessie and not Wheezy. The other problem on tails-greeter is that I need to hack it (this time properly thanks to the insights I have been given in Debconf 15 from Tails people) in order to fit my needs.

Finally don’t expect any new release in the next months. I am too busy. Anyway once I’ll start not being busy I will be able to speed a lot because the SELinux support improvement was very difficult to implement.

Many options have not been tested after having based Rescatux on jessie. So please use the Rescatux 0.32 beta 3 as if it was an stable release and this one as if it was a beta one. Use Rescatux 0.40 beta 1 if you have a SELinux based system of course.

In case you were asking yourself I add 0.1 to the Rescatux version either when the Rescapp program has been improved a lot or when the Debian OS has been updated to a new stable release. The latter is the reason why we jump from 0.3X to 0.4X suddenly.

I almost forgot. Thank you very much to the #fedora-devel and #selinux who helped so much on bringing SELinux support to Debian Live.

Roadmap for Rescatux 0.40 stable release:

You can check the complete changelog with link to each one of the issues at: Rescatux 0.32-freeze roadmap which I’ll be reusing for Rescatux 0.40 stable release.

• [#1323] GPT support
• [#1364] Review Copyright notice
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2188] install-mbr : Windows 7 seems not to be fixed with it
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2190] debian-live. Include cpu detection and loopback cfg patches
• (Reopened in: 0.40b1) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout
• [#2192] UEFI boot support
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2193] bootinfoscript: Use it as a package
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2199] Btrfs support
• [#2205] Handle different default sh script
• [#2216] Verify separated /usr support
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2217] chown root root on sudoers
• [#2220] Make sure all the source code is available
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2221] Detect SAM file algorithm fails with directories which have spaces on them
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2227] Use chntpw 1.0-1 from Jessie
• (Fixed in 0.40b1) [#2231] SElinux support on chroot options
• [#2233] Disable USB automount
• [#2236] chntpw based options need to be rewritten for reusing code
• [#2239]http://www.supergrubdisk.org/wizard-step-put-rescatux-into-a-media/suppose that the image is based on Super Grub2 Disk version and not Isolinux.The step about extracting iso inside an iso would not be longer needed.”>Update doc: Put Rescatux into a media for Isolinux based cd
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2259] Update bootinfoscript to the latest GIT version
• [#2264] chntpw – Save prior registry files
• [#2234] New option: Easy Grub fix
• [#2235] New option: Easy Windows Admin

Fixed bugs (0.40b1):

• (Fixed in 0.40b1) [#2231] SElinux support on chroot options

Reopened bugs (0.40b1):

• (Reopened in 0.40b1) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout

Fixed bugs (0.32b3):

• (Fixed in 0.32b3) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout

Other fixed bugs (0.32b2):

• Rescatux logo is not shown at boot
• Boot entries are named “Live xxxx” instead of “Rescatux xxxx”

Fixed bugs (0.32b1):

• Networking detection improved (fallback to network-manager-gnome)
• Bottom bar does not have a shorcut to a file manager as it’s a common practice in modern desktops. Fixed when falling back to LXDE.
• Double-clicking on directories on desktop opens Iceweasel (Firefox fork) instead of a file manager. Fixed when falling back to LXDE.

Improvements (0.32b1):

• Super Grub2 Disk is no longer included. That makes easier to put the ISO to USB devices thanks to standard multiboot tools which support Debian Live cds.
• Rescapp UI has been redesigned
  • Every option is at hand at the first screen.
  • Rescapp options can be scrolled. That makes it easier to add new options without bothering on final design.
  • Run option screen buttons have been rearranged to make it easier to read.
• RazorQT has been replaced by LXDE which seems more mature. LXQT will have to wait.
• WICD has been replaced by network-manager-gnome. That makes easier to connect to wired and wireless networks.
• It is no longer based on Debian Unstable (sid) branch.

Distro facts:

• Packages versions for this release can be found at Rescatux 0.40b1 packages.
• It’s based mainly on Debian Jessie (Stable). Some packages are from Debian Unstable (sid).

Feedback welcome:

Did you ever complain because of not being able to write in your own keyboard layout when asking for help in the integrated chat? Don’t miss your chance on testing if it works ok for your language and report us feedback !!!

Don’t forget that you can use:

• Super Grub(2) Mailing list
• Rescatux Forum
• Chat

Help Rescatux project:

I think we can expect four months maximum till the new stable Rescatux is ready. Helping on these tasks is appreciated:

• Making a youtube video for the new options.
• Make sure documentation for the new options is right.
• Make snapshots for new options documentation so that they don’t lack images.

If you want to help please contact us here:

• Super Grub(2) Mailing list
• Rescatux Forum
• Chat

Thank you and happy download!

Rescatux 0.40 beta 2 has been released.

Downloads:

• Rescatux 0.40 beta 2 Cdrom or USB ISO for x86 or amd64 (Sourceforge)
• (MD5)
• Torrent

Rescatux 0.40b2 size is about 596 Megabytes.

Some thoughts:

This release adds support for a separated /usr in case that the GNU/Linux distribution uses UsrMerge. This is again is a another feature in order to be able to support completely the Fedora, CentOS, RHEL and alike distributions.

Additionally there are three new features related to GPT support:

• Gptsync – Create Hybrid MBR
• Recompute Hybrid GPT/MBR CHS
• Check bios_grub partition on GPT

Finally on the technical side the gdisk package has been added and support of gpt partitions by default has been checked thanks to newest fdisk binary on Jessie that now can detect GPT partitions ok.

Although some of these GPT features are useful in some scenarios where you use old OSes that do not understand GPT partition tables but only MBR partition tables in most of the cases you won’t need to use them. Probably the most useful option would be the Check bios_grub partition on GPT which could be useful in those cases where there is a GPT partition table but, somehow, you don’t manage to install grub-efi package (Maybe because the machine is not EFI but has a GPT hard disk.) That option will encourage you to create a bios_grub partition for you to be able to install grub-pc package finally. But, once again, if possible try to install grub-efi package instead.

The great feedback from prolinux.de (it’s the only community where I gather quite useful feedback on their comments) have made me think about reconsidering UEFI boot support and, even if possible, Secure boot support.

I don’t want to support Secure boot support because of ethics but that means in practice that less people would be able to use Rescatux (more easily) in order to fix their systems. And, well, I would probably add Secure boot support to Super Grub2 Disk too. Although in that later case I’m not sure if it makes sense.

I have also noticed that the current SElinux support on Rescatux needs to be improved because, e.g. I cannot install the ssh program in it while running because of context issues. It might be a problem of Debian Jessie ssh package but I think it’s a problem on how the aufs mount in the disk is being done. This is more an issue on Debian Live accepting SELinux support patch than on Rescatux not working ok on SELinux systems. It actually works quite nicely on them.

Roadmap for Rescatux 0.40 stable release:

You can check the complete changelog with link to each one of the issues at: Rescatux 0.32-freeze roadmap which I’ll be reusing for Rescatux 0.40 stable release.

• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#1323] GPT support
• [#1364] Review Copyright notice
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2188] install-mbr : Windows 7 seems not to be fixed with it
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2190] debian-live. Include cpu detection and loopback cfg patches
• (Reopened in: 0.40b1) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout
• [#2192] UEFI boot support
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2193] bootinfoscript: Use it as a package
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2199] Btrfs support
• (Closed in 0.40b1) [#2205] Handle different default sh script
• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#2216] Verify separated /usr support
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2217] chown root root on sudoers
• [#2220] Make sure all the source code is available
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2221] Detect SAM file algorithm fails with directories which have spaces on them
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2227] Use chntpw 1.0-1 from Jessie
• (Fixed in 0.40b1) [#2231] SElinux support on chroot options
• [#2233] Disable USB automount
• [#2236] chntpw based options need to be rewritten for reusing code
• [#2239]http://www.supergrubdisk.org/wizard-step-put-rescatux-into-a-media/suppose that the image is based on Super Grub2 Disk version and not Isolinux.The step about extracting iso inside an iso would not be longer needed.”>Update doc: Put Rescatux into a media for Isolinux based cd
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2259] Update bootinfoscript to the latest GIT version
• [#2264] chntpw – Save prior registry files
• [#2234] New option: Easy Grub fix
• [#2235] New option: Easy Windows Admin

Fixed bugs (0.40b2):

• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#1323] GPT support
• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#2216] Verify separated /usr support

Fixed bugs (0.40b1):

• (Fixed in 0.40b1) [#2231] SElinux support on chroot options

Reopened bugs (0.40b1):

• (Reopened in 0.40b1) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout

Fixed bugs (0.32b3):

• (Fixed in 0.32b3) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout

Other fixed bugs (0.32b2):

• Rescatux logo is not shown at boot
• Boot entries are named “Live xxxx” instead of “Rescatux xxxx”

Fixed bugs (0.32b1):

• Networking detection improved (fallback to network-manager-gnome)
• Bottom bar does not have a shorcut to a file manager as it’s a common practice in modern desktops. Fixed when falling back to LXDE.
• Double-clicking on directories on desktop opens Iceweasel (Firefox fork) instead of a file manager. Fixed when falling back to LXDE.

Improvements (0.32b1):

• Super Grub2 Disk is no longer included. That makes easier to put the ISO to USB devices thanks to standard multiboot tools which support Debian Live cds.
• Rescapp UI has been redesigned
  • Every option is at hand at the first screen.
  • Rescapp options can be scrolled. That makes it easier to add new options without bothering on final design.
  • Run option screen buttons have been rearranged to make it easier to read.
• RazorQT has been replaced by LXDE which seems more mature. LXQT will have to wait.
• WICD has been replaced by network-manager-gnome. That makes easier to connect to wired and wireless networks.
• It is no longer based on Debian Unstable (sid) branch.

Distro facts:

• Packages versions for this release can be found at Rescatux 0.40b2 packages.
• It’s based mainly on Debian Jessie (Stable). Some packages are from Debian Unstable (sid).

Feedback welcome:

Did you ever complain because of not being able to write in your own keyboard layout when asking for help in the integrated chat? Don’t miss your chance on testing if it works ok for your language and report us feedback !!!

Don’t forget that you can use:

• Super Grub(2) Mailing list
• Rescatux Forum
• Chat

Help Rescatux project:

I think we can expect four months maximum till the new stable Rescatux is ready. Helping on these tasks is appreciated:

• Making a youtube video for the new options.
• Make sure documentation for the new options is right.
• Make snapshots for new options documentation so that they don’t lack images.

If you want to help please contact us here:

• Super Grub(2) Mailing list
• Rescatux Forum
• Chat

Thank you and happy download!

This is an update to Super Grub(2) Disk: More than 3,5 million downloads since 2005 article.

We have reached the round figure of 1,000,000 downloads on Cenatic forge.

Thank you Centro Nacional de Referencia de Aplicación de las Tecnologías de Información y la Comunicación basadas en Fuentes Abiertas !!!

Rescatux 0.40 beta 5 has been released.

Downloads:

• Rescatux 0.40 beta 5 Cdrom or USB ISO for x86 or amd64 (Sourceforge)
• (MD5)

Rescatux 0.40b5 size is about 603 Megabytes.

Some thoughts:

This release adds support for both 64-bit amd64 UEFI boot (most common) and 32-bit UEFI boot (not tested that one myself). It should be bootable from some Intel-based Mac Book (Pro) systems too.

It does not support Secure boot yet. The reason is we are going to rely on the debian-cd team work inside Debian itself and they have not finished with it yet.

I am pushing this work into Debian so that live-build has UEFI boot support by default.

If you have a UEFI boot-only system feedback is welcome. Specially if the Debian installation disks work for you but not the Rescatux ones.

This was possible thanks to the great feedback from prolinux.de (it’s the only community where I gather quite useful feedback on their comments) which had made me think about reconsidering UEFI boot support and, even if possible, Secure boot support.

Finally I want to make clear that we don’t support fixing specific UEFI issues yet from inside Rescapp native options. If you run the Restore Grub option and your Grub was originally setup in an EFI way it should probably fix it.

You can also use boot-repair for UEFI issues, of course, which it’s included inside Rescatux, but that’s not supported by us.

Roadmap for Rescatux 0.40 stable release:

You can check the complete changelog with link to each one of the issues at: Rescatux 0.32-freeze roadmap which I’ll be reusing for Rescatux 0.40 stable release.

• (Fixed in 0.40b5) [#2192] UEFI boot support
• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#1323] GPT support
• [#1364] Review Copyright notice
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2188] install-mbr : Windows 7 seems not to be fixed with it
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2190] debian-live. Include cpu detection and loopback cfg patches
• (Reopened in: 0.40b1) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout
• [#2192] UEFI boot support
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2193] bootinfoscript: Use it as a package
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2199] Btrfs support
• (Closed in 0.40b1) [#2205] Handle different default sh script
• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#2216] Verify separated /usr support
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2217] chown root root on sudoers
• [#2220] Make sure all the source code is available
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2221] Detect SAM file algorithm fails with directories which have spaces on them
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2227] Use chntpw 1.0-1 from Jessie
• (Fixed in 0.40b1) [#2231] SElinux support on chroot options
• [#2233] Disable USB automount
• [#2236] chntpw based options need to be rewritten for reusing code
• [#2239]http://www.supergrubdisk.org/wizard-step-put-rescatux-into-a-media/suppose that the image is based on Super Grub2 Disk version and not Isolinux.The step about extracting iso inside an iso would not be longer needed.”>Update doc: Put Rescatux into a media for Isolinux based cd
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2259] Update bootinfoscript to the latest GIT version
• [#2264] chntpw – Save prior registry files
• [#2234] New option: Easy Grub fix
• [#2235] New option: Easy Windows Admin

Fixed bugs (0.40b5):

• (Fixed in 0.40b5) [#2192] UEFI boot support

Fixed bugs (0.40b2):

• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#1323] GPT support
• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#2216] Verify separated /usr support

Fixed bugs (0.40b1):

• (Fixed in 0.40b1) [#2231] SElinux support on chroot options

Reopened bugs (0.40b1):

• (Reopened in 0.40b1) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout

Fixed bugs (0.32b3):

• (Fixed in 0.32b3) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout

Other fixed bugs (0.32b2):

• Rescatux logo is not shown at boot
• Boot entries are named “Live xxxx” instead of “Rescatux xxxx”

Fixed bugs (0.32b1):

• Networking detection improved (fallback to network-manager-gnome)
• Bottom bar does not have a shorcut to a file manager as it’s a common practice in modern desktops. Fixed when falling back to LXDE.
• Double-clicking on directories on desktop opens Iceweasel (Firefox fork) instead of a file manager. Fixed when falling back to LXDE.

Improvements (0.32b1):

• Super Grub2 Disk is no longer included. That makes easier to put the ISO to USB devices thanks to standard multiboot tools which support Debian Live cds.
• Rescapp UI has been redesigned
  • Every option is at hand at the first screen.
  • Rescapp options can be scrolled. That makes it easier to add new options without bothering on final design.
  • Run option screen buttons have been rearranged to make it easier to read.
• RazorQT has been replaced by LXDE which seems more mature. LXQT will have to wait.
• WICD has been replaced by network-manager-gnome. That makes easier to connect to wired and wireless networks.
• It is no longer based on Debian Unstable (sid) branch.

Distro facts:

• Packages versions for this release can be found at Rescatux 0.40b2 packages.
• It’s based mainly on Debian Jessie (Stable). Some packages are from Debian Unstable (sid).

Don’t forget that you can use:

• Super Grub(2) Mailing list
• Rescatux Forum
• Chat

Help Rescatux project:

I think we can expect four months maximum till the new stable Rescatux is ready. Helping on these tasks is appreciated:

• Making a youtube video for the new options.
• Make sure documentation for the new options is right.
• Make snapshots for new options documentation so that they don’t lack images.

If you want to help please contact us here:

• Super Grub(2) Mailing list
• Rescatux Forum
• Chat

Thank you and happy download!

Super Grub2 Disk 2.02s4 stable is here.

Super GRUB2 Disk is a live cd that helps you to boot into most any Operating System (OS) even if you cannot boot into it by normal means.

A new stable release

The former Super Grub2 Disk stable release was 2.00s3 version and released on May 2015 (10 months ago) . New features or changes since previous stable version are:

• Using upstream grub-2.02-beta3 tag as the new base for Super Grub2 Disk’s grub.
  If Super Grub2 Disk 2.02s3 let you boot into your OS but Super Grub2 Disk 2.02s4 does not let you boot into your OS please report it so that we can report it back to the grub team which tries to release a Grub 2.02 stable release.
• Major improvement in Windows OS detection (based on BCD) Windows Vista, 7, …
  That means that even if Windows 7 is alone in the hard disk (with no GNU/Linux) it will now be detected and you will be able to boot it if the partition boot record is ok. The fix was trivial, take into account that ntfs is case sensitive but, somehow, not enough people had complained about it. So, please, if something it’s not working as expected report it.
• Major improvement in Windows OS detection (based on ntldr) Windows XP, 2000, …
  Same explanation as per Windows 7 but applied to Windows XP.

We are going to see which are the complete Super Grub2 Disk features with a demo video, where you can download it, the thank you – hall of fame and some thoughts about the Super Grub2 Disk development.

Please do not forget to read our howtos so that you can have step by step guides (how to make a cdrom or an usb, how to boot from it, etc) on how to use Super Grub2 Disk and, if needed, Rescatux.

Tour

Here there is a little video tour in order to discover most of Super Grub2 Disk options. The rest of the options you will have to discover them by yourself.

Features

Most of the features here will let you boot into your Operating Systems. The rest of the options will improve the Super Grub2 Disk operating systems autodetecting (enable RAID, LVM, etc.) or will deal with minor aspects of the user interface (Colours, language, etc.).

• Change the language UI
• Translated into several languages
  • Spanish / Español
  • German / Deutsch
  • French / Français
  • Italian / Italiano
  • Malay / Bahasa Melayu

• Detect and show boot methods option to detect most Operating Systems

• Enable all native disk drivers *experimental* to detect most Operating Systems also in special devices or filesystems
• Boot manually
  • Operating Systems
  • grub.cfg – Extract entries

  • grub.cfg – (GRUB2 configuration files)
  • menu.lst – (GRUB legacy configuration files)
  • core.img – (GRUB2 installation (even if mbr is overwritten))
  • Disks and Partitions (Chainload)
  • Bootable ISOs (in /boot-isos or /boot/boot-isos
• Extra GRUB2 functionality
  • Enable GRUB2’s LVM support
  • Enable GRUB2’s RAID support
  • Enable GRUB2’s PATA support (to work around BIOS bugs/limitation)
  • Mount encrypted volumes (LUKS and geli)
  • Enable serial terminal
• Extra Search functionality
  • Search in floppy ON/OFF
  • Search in CDROM ON/OFF
• List Devices / Partitions
• Color ON /OFF
• Exit
  • Halt the computer
  • Reboot the computer

Supported Operating Systems

Excluding too custom kernels from university students Super Grub2 Disk can autodetect and boot most every Operating System. Some examples are written here so that Google bots can see it and also to make more confident the final user who searchs his own special (according to him) Operating System.

• Windows
  • Windows Vista/7/8/8.1
  • Windows NT/2000/XP
  • Windows 98/ME
  • MS-DOS
  • FreeDOS
• GNU/Linux
  • Direct Kernel with autodetected initrd
    • vmlinuz-*
    • linux-*
    • kernel-genkernel-*
  • Debian / Ubuntu / Mint
  • Mageia
  • Fedora / CentOS / Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
  • openSUSE / SuSE Linux Enterpsise Server (SLES)
  • Arch
  • Any many, many, more.

• FreeBSD
  • FreeBSD (single)
  • FreeBSD (verbose)
  • FreeBSD (no ACPI)
  • FreeBSD (safe mode)
  • FreeBSD (Default boot loader)
• EFI files
• Mac OS X/Darwin 32bit or 64bit

Support for different hardware platforms

Before this release we only had the hybrid version aimed at regular pcs. Now with the upcoming new EFI based machines you have the EFI standalone versions among others. What we don’t support is booting when secure boot is enabled.

• Most any PC thanks to hybrid version (i386, x86_64, x86_64-efi) (ISO)
• EFI x86_64 standalone version (EFI)
• Additional Floppy, CD and USB in one download (ISO)
  • i386-pc
  • x86_64-efi

Known bugs

• Non English translations are not completed
• Enable all native disk drivers *experimental* crashes Virtualbox randomly

Supported Media

• Compact Disk – Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) / DVD
• Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices
• Floppy (1.98s1 version only)

Downloads

Recommended download (Floppy, CD & USB in one) (Valid for i386, x86_64, and x86_64-efi):

• Super Grub2 Disk (CD & USB in one) 2.02s4 (ISO)[Mirror #1]

EFI x86_64 standalone version:

• Super Grub2 Disk (Standalone ; x86_64-efi) 2.02s4 (EFI)[Mirror #1]

CD & USB in one downloads:

• Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.02s4 [i386-pc] (ISO)[Mirror #1]
• Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.02s4 [x86_64-efi] (ISO)[Mirror #1]

About other downloads. As this is the first time I develop Super Grub2 Disk out of source code (well, probably not the first time, but the first time in ages) I have not been able to build these other downloads: coreboot, i386-efi, i386-pc, ieee1275, x86_64-efi, standalone coreboot, standalone i386-efi, standalone ieee1275. Help is welcome on this subject.

Source code:

• Super Grub2 Disk 2.02s4 Source Code (Git repo)[Mirror #1]

Everything (All binary releases and source code):

• Super Grub2 Disk 2.00s2 Everything (ZIP)(MD5)[Mirror #1]
• Super Grub2 Disk 2.02s4 Everything TORRENT

Hashes

In order to check the former downloads you can either check the download directory page for this release

or you can check checksums right here:

MD5SUMS

dcb779162fad41805839f709897f8c9e super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.02s4.iso
aa5c41e32554f9e5150f70e0fa621d80 super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.02s4.iso
48c7a8464543d783936cf92656bf4b5f super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.02s4.EFI
91e81de1e92d3364026823a722d050b7 super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.02s4.iso

SHA1SUMS

6fed370c439d298d64aa99bf10d0ffc8d078de5e super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.02s4.iso
cde22454c213d050c96643e4d93d45f7592bc2d5 super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.02s4.iso
41e5de11fea74ce2ba7a543be3a00ecb6d8f2333 super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.02s4.EFI
e3864e1a8b41021a38885f8bfba5dc57f0ec323d super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.02s4.iso

SHA256SUMS

a60bc71148e3f8f669ba2a131c4bc1352e0f34164f1f0ddae695462ad6f9ae7b super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.02s4.iso
d2fc6346885ef2aa96360f288b6fc3f3c8c2880c8f7e86bdf60d77a65958a6e9 super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.02s4.iso
009092adcd4af6eaca051873d87976684be8142ec5dfb6cccb843ad6e001fe5a super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.02s4.EFI
d6cbddfd762db93ef03b374700bed061fd2a50a8d8523272cba8804b7833952d super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.02s4.iso

Changelog (since former 2.00s2 stable release)

Changes since 2.02s3 version:

• Using upstream grub-2.02-beta3 tag as the new base for Super Grub2 Disk’s grub.
• Major improvement in Windows OS detection (based on BCD) Windows Vista, 7, …
• Major improvement in Windows OS detection (based on ntldr) Windows XP, 2000, …

Changes since 2.02s2 beta 1 version:

• (Devel)    grub-mkstandalone was deleted because we no longer use it
• Updated (and added) Copyright notices for 2015
• New option: ‘Disks and Partitions (Chainload)’ adapted from Smx work
• Many files were rewritten so that they only loop between devices that actually need to be searched into.
  This enhacement will make Super Grub2 Disk faster.
• Remove Super Grub2 Disk own devices from search by default. Added an option to be able to enable/disable the Super Grub2 Disk own devices search.

2.02s2 beta 1 changelog:

• Updated grub 2.02 build to commit: 8e5bc2f4d3767485e729ed96ea943570d1cb1e45
• Updated documentation for building Super Grub2 Disk
• Improvement on upstream grub (d29259b134257458a98c1ddc05d2a36c677ded37 – test: do not stop after first file test or closing bracket) will probably make Super Grub2 Disk run faster.
• Added new grub build scripts so that Super Grub2 Disk uses its own built versions of grub and not the default system / distro / chroot one.
• Ensure that Mac OS X entries are detected ok thanks to Users dir. This is because Grub2 needs to emulate Mac OS X kernel so that it’s detected as a proper boot device on Apple computers.
• Thanks to upstream grub improvement now Super Grub2 Disk supports booting in EFI mode when booted from a USB device / hard disk. Actually SG2D was announced previously to boot from EFI from a USB device while it only booted from a cdrom.

2.02s1 beta 1 changelog:

• Added new option: “Enable all native disk drivers” so that you can try to load: SATA, PATA and USB hard disks (and their partitions) as native disk drives. This is experimental.
• Removed no longer needed options: “Enable USB” and “Enable PATA”.
• “Search floppy” and “Search cdrom” options were moved into “Extra GRUB2 functionality menu”. At the same time “Extra Search functionality” menu was removed.
• Added new straight-forward option: “Enable GRUB2’s RAID and LVM support”.
• “List devices/partitions” was renamed to “Print devices/partitions”.
• “Everything” option was renamed to “Detect and show boot methods”.
• “Everything +” option was removed to avoid confusions.
• Other minor improvements in the source code.
• Updated translation files. Now most translations are pending.
• Updated INSTALL instructions.

Finally you can check all the detailed changes at our GIT commits.

If you want to translate into your language please check TRANSLATION file at source code to learn how to translate into your language.

Thank you – Hall of fame

I want to thank in alphabetical order:

• bfree (Niall Wash): For his work in rethinking how Super Grub2 Disk grub script might be rewritten although we never used that code. For adding code for EFI chainloader, helping on building and testing Super Grub2 Disk EFI releases.
• Jordan_U (Jordan Uggla) (jordan.uggla AT gmail DOT com): For his work in rewriting Lua Super Grub2 Disk into new Grub2 scripting. Also for his work in translation system based on gettext and po. And also I want to thank him for all this work in Super Grub2 Disk in many many ways.
• nox (Juergen Lock) (nox AT freebsd DOT org): For his work in fixing *BSD boot entries and helping adding new *BSD boot entries and testing.
• Smx (Stefano): For his Mac OS X / Darwin boot fixes and testing. He has also worked in redesigning some of the menues and probably his work will be included in next Super Grub2 Disk versions. He has also worked in a keyboard selection menu on his own too. That will be also included in next versions.

The person who writes this article is adrian15 and is proud of being responsible among other things for the rewriting of options as if they were libraries. And also for the User Interface (UI) complete redesign.

And I cannot forget about thanking bTactic, the enterprise where I work at and that hosts our site.

Some thoughts about Super Grub2 Disk development

Super Grub2 Disk development ideas

I don’t know when but I plan to readapt some scripts from os-prober. That will let us detect more operating systems. Not sure when though. I mean, it’s not something that worries me because it does not affect too many final users. But, well, it’s something new that I hadn’t thought about.

Again, please send us feedback on what you think it’s missing on Super Grub2 Disk.

Rescatux development

I want to focus on Rescatux development on the next months so that we have an stable release before the end of 2016. It’s a shame because last time I predicted July 2015. But, well, I don’t want to maintain many forks myself. That’s why I want to contribute some of these subprojects (E.g. UEFI support on Debian Live) to Debian properly and that takes some time.

(adrian15 speaking)

Getting help on using Super Grub2 Disk

• Howtos
• Documentation / Wiki
• Chat
• Forum
• Mailing list

More information about Super Grub2 Disk

• Download stable Super Grub2 Disk
• Download beta Super Grub2 Disk
• Download latest (stable or beta) Super Grub2 Disk
• Difference between Super Grub Disk and Super Grub2 Disk

• Read the full Super Grub2 Disk 2.02s4 announcement

Recommended download (Floppy, CD & USB in one) (Valid for i386, x86_64, and x86_64-efi):

• Super Grub2 Disk (CD & USB in one) 2.02s4 (ISO)[Mirror #1]

Super Grub2 Disk 2.01 rc2 Main Menu

EFI x86_64 standalone version:

• Super Grub2 Disk (Standalone ; x86_64-efi) 2.02s4 (EFI)[Mirror #1]

CD & USB in one downloads:

• Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.02s4 [i386-pc] (ISO)[Mirror #1]
• Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.02s4 [x86_64-efi] (ISO)[Mirror #1]

About other downloads. As this is the first time I develop Super Grub2 Disk out of source code (well, probably not the first time, but the first time in ages) I have not been able to build these other downloads: coreboot, i386-efi, i386-pc, ieee1275, x86_64-efi, standalone coreboot, standalone i386-efi, standalone ieee1275. Help is welcome on this subject.

Source code:

• Super Grub2 Disk 2.02s4 Source Code (Git repo)[Mirror #1]

Everything (All binary releases and source code):

• Super Grub2 Disk 2.00s2 Everything (ZIP)(MD5)[Mirror #1]
• Super Grub2 Disk 2.02s4 Everything TORRENT

Hashes

In order to check the former downloads you can either check the download directory page for this release

or you can check checksums right here:

MD5SUMS

dcb779162fad41805839f709897f8c9e super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.02s4.iso
aa5c41e32554f9e5150f70e0fa621d80 super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.02s4.iso
48c7a8464543d783936cf92656bf4b5f super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.02s4.EFI
91e81de1e92d3364026823a722d050b7 super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.02s4.iso

SHA1SUMS

6fed370c439d298d64aa99bf10d0ffc8d078de5e super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.02s4.iso
cde22454c213d050c96643e4d93d45f7592bc2d5 super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.02s4.iso
41e5de11fea74ce2ba7a543be3a00ecb6d8f2333 super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.02s4.EFI
e3864e1a8b41021a38885f8bfba5dc57f0ec323d super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.02s4.iso

SHA256SUMS

a60bc71148e3f8f669ba2a131c4bc1352e0f34164f1f0ddae695462ad6f9ae7b super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.02s4.iso
d2fc6346885ef2aa96360f288b6fc3f3c8c2880c8f7e86bdf60d77a65958a6e9 super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.02s4.iso
009092adcd4af6eaca051873d87976684be8142ec5dfb6cccb843ad6e001fe5a super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.02s4.EFI
d6cbddfd762db93ef03b374700bed061fd2a50a8d8523272cba8804b7833952d super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.02s4.iso

Rescatux 0.40 beta 6 has been released.

Downloads:

• Rescatux 0.40 beta 6 Cdrom or USB ISO for x86 or amd64 (Sourceforge)
• (MD5)

Rescatux 0.40b6 size is about 603 Megabytes.

Some thoughts:

This release improves support for both 64-bit amd64 UEFI boot (avoids booting in blind mode problems) and 32-bit UEFI boot (not tested that one myself). It should be bootable from some Intel-based Mac Book (Pro) systems too. We also add AFD scanning technology to reduce user interface time based interactions while scanning the computer system. Finally some of the internal code has been updated to reflect the new repositories which are found in github rescatux’s organization.

So if you already have Rescatux 0.40b5 you do not need at all to download Rescatux 0.40b6 unless you are concerned about UEFI boot. Anyways it’s always nice for you to have the latest version so that you can give us feedback.

It does not support Secure boot yet. The reason is we are going to rely on the debian-cd team work inside Debian itself and they have not finished with it yet.

I am trying to polish this work so that it finally makes into Debian. It’s not obvious as it would seem originally with the current live-build framework based on bash. ( live-build UEFI boot support bug ).

If you have a UEFI boot-only system feedback is welcome. Specially if the Debian installation disks work for you but not the Rescatux ones.

Finally I want to make clear that we don’t support fixing specific UEFI issues yet from inside Rescapp native options. If you run the Restore Grub option and your Grub was originally setup in an EFI way it should probably fix it.

You can also use boot-repair for UEFI issues, of course, which it’s included inside Rescatux, but that’s not supported by us.

Roadmap for Rescatux 0.40 stable release:

You can check the complete changelog with link to each one of the issues at: Rescatux 0.32-freeze roadmap which I’ll be reusing for Rescatux 0.40 stable release.

• (Fixed in 0.40b5) [#2192] UEFI boot support
• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#1323] GPT support
• [#1364] Review Copyright notice
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2188] install-mbr : Windows 7 seems not to be fixed with it
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2190] debian-live. Include cpu detection and loopback cfg patches
• (Reopened in: 0.40b1) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout
• [#2192] UEFI boot support
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2193] bootinfoscript: Use it as a package
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2199] Btrfs support
• (Closed in 0.40b1) [#2205] Handle different default sh script
• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#2216] Verify separated /usr support
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2217] chown root root on sudoers
• [#2220] Make sure all the source code is available
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2221] Detect SAM file algorithm fails with directories which have spaces on them
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2227] Use chntpw 1.0-1 from Jessie
• (Fixed in 0.40b1) [#2231] SElinux support on chroot options
• [#2233] Disable USB automount
• [#2236] chntpw based options need to be rewritten for reusing code
• [#2239]http://www.supergrubdisk.org/wizard-step-put-rescatux-into-a-media/suppose that the image is based on Super Grub2 Disk version and not Isolinux.The step about extracting iso inside an iso would not be longer needed.”>Update doc: Put Rescatux into a media for Isolinux based cd
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2259] Update bootinfoscript to the latest GIT version
• [#2264] chntpw – Save prior registry files
• [#2234] New option: Easy Grub fix
• [#2235] New option: Easy Windows Admin

Improved bugs (0.40b6):

• (Improved in 0.40b6) [#2192] UEFI boot support

Fixed bugs (0.40b5):

• (Fixed in 0.40b5) [#2192] UEFI boot support

Fixed bugs (0.40b2):

• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#1323] GPT support
• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#2216] Verify separated /usr support

Fixed bugs (0.40b1):

• (Fixed in 0.40b1) [#2231] SElinux support on chroot options

Reopened bugs (0.40b1):

• (Reopened in 0.40b1) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout

Fixed bugs (0.32b3):

• (Fixed in 0.32b3) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout

Other fixed bugs (0.32b2):

• Rescatux logo is not shown at boot
• Boot entries are named “Live xxxx” instead of “Rescatux xxxx”

Fixed bugs (0.32b1):

• Networking detection improved (fallback to network-manager-gnome)
• Bottom bar does not have a shorcut to a file manager as it’s a common practice in modern desktops. Fixed when falling back to LXDE.
• Double-clicking on directories on desktop opens Iceweasel (Firefox fork) instead of a file manager. Fixed when falling back to LXDE.

Improvements (0.32b1):

• Super Grub2 Disk is no longer included. That makes easier to put the ISO to USB devices thanks to standard multiboot tools which support Debian Live cds.
• Rescapp UI has been redesigned
  • Every option is at hand at the first screen.
  • Rescapp options can be scrolled. That makes it easier to add new options without bothering on final design.
  • Run option screen buttons have been rearranged to make it easier to read.
• RazorQT has been replaced by LXDE which seems more mature. LXQT will have to wait.
• WICD has been replaced by network-manager-gnome. That makes easier to connect to wired and wireless networks.
• It is no longer based on Debian Unstable (sid) branch.

Distro facts:

• Packages versions for this release can be found at Rescatux 0.40b6 packages.
• It’s based mainly on Debian Jessie (Stable). Some packages are from Debian Unstable (sid).

Don’t forget that you can use:

• Super Grub(2) Mailing list
• Rescatux Forum
• Chat

Help Rescatux project:

I think we can expect four months maximum till the new stable Rescatux is ready. Helping on these tasks is appreciated:

• Making a youtube video for the new options.
• Make sure documentation for the new options is right.
• Make snapshots for new options documentation so that they don’t lack images.

If you want to help please contact us here:

• Super Grub(2) Mailing list
• Rescatux Forum
• Chat

Thank you and happy download!

I have choosen a random day from 2016 to generate some stats of Super Grub2 Disk usage (and their users). I could use some better stats from a longer period of time but being exact is not the purpose of this post.

Social networks

Unlike last year there has been no interaction from Google+.

Twitter (1),  yeah, some twits (2) can be found on twitter (3).

Video

There are people who watch old videos(4)  and new videos(5) on Youtube.

They happen to upload them into sendvid(6) too.

Reddit

Actually it was a subreddit (6).

Countries

• Brasil (1)
• (Probably) Brasil (6)
• USA (2)
• Germany (3), (5), (7)
• Unknown (4)
• Swaziland (8)
• Italy (9)

Technology

Some people use flash disks (8) and some other chrome books (9). I guess many of them just use plain GNU/Linux (6).

 Summary

As you can see Super Grub2 Disk is being used daily on many parts of the globe on such distant places as Brasil, USA or even Swaziland. Given this year stats we could say that Germany is an IT country. You can learn that Chrome books are now among us. Hopefully many of the Super Grub2 Disk final users are young and will never need to ask for help.

See you next year!

Approximatively in a year I will redo the stats again so that we can compare with this year’s stats.

What happened last year?

If you want to check last year stats please check: Super Grub2 Disk stats in a random 2015 day.

(Note: If you are looking for the Super Grub2 Disk April Fools Day just check: Happy 2012 April Fools’ Day .)

The Rescatux 2016 April Fools’ Day joke in action

He, he, he! XD

If you have tried Rescatux 0.40b6 yesterday you will have noticed different than usual.

First of all a full screen window will tell you that you are doing something against the U.S.A. law. Yes, you are using a GNU GPL licensed software ! And it is forbidden, not this year actually but next year, but your computer is going to be blocked anyway. Who would have thought that the law agent would be ahead of their time! Because, yes, Software Industry jobs.

Here’s an snapshot of what I am saying:

Which I transcript (as it’s seen in 2016) here as:

Your computer has been locked!

This operating system is locked due to the violation of the federal laws of the United States of America!

(Article 2, Section 9, Clause 9; Article 303; Article 320 of the Criminal Code of U.S.A.

provides for a deprivation of liberty for one to four years.).

Following violations were detected:

* You are using Rescatux which its license is: GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE.

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE has been totally forbidden since 2017

in order to protect our Software Industry jobs.

This computer lock is aimed to stop your illegal activity.

To unlock the computer you are obliged to pay a fine of $100.

You have 48 hours to pay the fine, otherwise you will be arrested.

Please click this text anywhere to learn about the different payment methods available.

This text has an FBI seal at the bottom of it to make it more credible. As you might have guessed this joke mokes up many ransomware virus that pretend to be your country police while acussing you of having child pornography (or alike) in your computer.

So if you click anywhere on the text in order to learn the different payment methods you get a HA HA screen which features the current year april fools day:

which I will also transcript for you:

Scared?

Happy 2016 April Fools’ Day !!!

Click anywhere to use Rescatux / Rescapp.

Some more facts about the joke:

• In some screens the FBI seal gets cut. Unless someone submits a patch I’m not fixing it. Additionally, I think that a wrong implementation of the seal image adds to the joke. You know… We pay too much to the IRS so that the FBI can fight terrorism but, somehow, they are unable to pay someone so that their seal fits ok on any computer screen.
• GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE is not forbidden but might be forbidden in a distopic future. Richard Stallman wrote The Right to Read around 1997 which describes a distopic world where it’s not so obvious to be able to read some books. If you check the article author’s notes you will notice that we might be living in such distopic world (or going towards it). If reading a book is in danger, why the GNU GPL won’t it be in the future? Think about it.
• I wanted to make a joke about the Article, Section, Clause thing. You know, as if you opened the Laws book (not sure what it’s exact name) you could find Digital Millennium Copyright Act or a similar law, but I’m not sure what to put there. If you have any idea for this your feedback is welcome.
• I tried to make the text to appear as legal as possible but if you know to improve it so that sounds like written by a lawyer please leave a comment.
• You might know that, nowadays, many Software Industry jobs now are based around free software and open source. So it’s not likely that the Industry leaders will complot to forbid GNU GPL but, well, we have been reluctant about Microsoft embracing free software all of these years… why don’t just add another year?
• Whenever the Tails greeter will be included I will try to feature 28 December (AFD for Spanish people) if you select an Spanish based language or country. Guardia Civil or Policia Nacional will be featured instead of the FBI in such case.
• If you have an special AFD day in your country or a more official authority than FBI for you country please leave here your proposal.
• AFD in AFD scanning technology stands for April Fools’ Day scanning technology. The only part of the computer system which it’s being scanned it’s the clock for the current date so that it can be compared to 1st of april.

Being serious

The pace of new media journalists

Once thing I have learnt (that I also learnt when releasing the AFD boot technology to the world) it’s that current technology journalists do not check the facts they are given.

But it’s not their fault actually. Our way of consuming new pieces of news has increased its pace. Sometimes, everything begins with a tweet, then a teaser article and finally an article.

If we swallow information how are we going able to taste it?

Great old paper magazines

Somehow, if you want something serious you need to gather the old paper based (or no longer paper based) monthly released GNU/Linux magazines where people are paid for writing articles.

These magazines might also make some errors (as a Rescatux 0.30 iso which was unbootable, so, nobody tried to boot it) but, usually, their articles are read by the author and the magazine editor.

Sometimes the article writer is the program developer too.

Rescatux 0.40 beta 6 was released two weeks ago

So, around two weeks ago (so that it was not so AFD obvious) I released Rescatux 0.40 beta 6 which among other features it had:

We also add AFD scanning technology to reduce user interface time based interactions while scanning the computer system.

This AFD scanning technology also had an image next to it.

it was the AFD Scanning technology in action. So… yes, I am trying to improve user interface time based interactions and I go lurking in the hard disk to show an image to the final user ? No way!

It’s a pity that nobody from the open source world has been interested in this new technology. A question on what this technology was about in the  mailing list would have been ideal.

If you take a look at the image you will see the FBI seal circumference copied several times with its yellow converted into blue (opposite colour).

Softpedia and their Rescatux 0.40 beta 6 article

So, I have a great relationship with Softpedia because not only they update my Super Grub2 Disk or Rescatux releases in their software directory. But usually they write articles about them.

The last one of them fits perfectly here because they only not picked the best title for it: Rescatux 0.40 Beta 6 System Rescue Live CD Introduces AFD Scanning Technology but they also copied the image where the AFD Scanning technology in action was shown.

So, they did not only check what they were publishing (a quick look at the commit would have been enough), but, also, were fooled by a rather stupid image of concentric spiky circles.

If you are used to debates you will find here an special appearence of the argument ad verecumdiam (argument of authority). So, the Softpedia guys could defend themselves by saying:

It was said by the Rescatux official webpage, so it had to be true!

As I said above, it was not actually their fault, they cannot double check everything they post online. Either they are the first ones on publishing the piece of news or other webpage will get the visits.

Not to say that many twitter accounts and media aggregator sites just reused the piece of news without checking or modifying it.

And who knows, maybe they were improving on the joke on purpose thanks to their authority on GNU/Linux news.

Actual impact

I have not found any mention of anyone mentioning this joke on social media. The Super Grub2 Disk one yes. So, probably Rescatux 0.40 beta 6 is not used so much. So, probably we will have to wait for next year (with a probable stable release) to find such reactions.

If you come from an April Fools Day from the future please leave your comment on how you lived the joke here so that we can have all of them in the same place.

Rescatux 0.40 beta 7 has been released.

Downloads:

• Rescatux 0.40 beta 7 Cdrom or USB ISO for x86 or amd64 (Sourceforge)
• (MD5)
• Torrent (Open the link the in browser and click on Download Torrent File Now)

Rescatux 0.40b7 size is about 608 Megabytes.

Some thoughts:

This release has minor fixes on UEFI boot. Some people had problems with Rescatux 0.40b6 not booting in UEFI mode (non secure boot UEFI mode). I suspect those people could be able to boot from Rescatux 0.40b5. So, now, they should be able to boot from Rescatux 0.40b7.

As I already mentioned in Rescatux 0.40b6 it does not support Secure boot yet. The reason is we are going to rely on the debian-cd team work inside Debian itself and they have not finished with it yet.

I am trying to polish this work so that it finally makes into Debian. It’s not obvious as it would seem originally with the current live-build framework based on bash. ( live-build UEFI boot support bug ).

If you have a UEFI boot-only system feedback is welcome. Specially if the Debian installation disks work for you but not the Rescatux ones.

Finally I want to make clear that we don’t support fixing specific UEFI issues yet from inside Rescapp native options. If you run the Restore Grub option and your Grub was originally setup in an EFI way it should probably fix it though.

You can also use boot-repair for UEFI issues, of course, which it’s included inside Rescatux, but that’s not supported by us.

Roadmap for Rescatux 0.40 stable release:

You can check the complete changelog with link to each one of the issues at: Rescatux 0.32-freeze roadmap which I’ll be reusing for Rescatux 0.40 stable release.

• (Fixed in 0.40b5) [#2192] UEFI boot support
• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#1323] GPT support
• [#1364] Review Copyright notice
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2188] install-mbr : Windows 7 seems not to be fixed with it
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2190] debian-live. Include cpu detection and loopback cfg patches
• (Reopened in: 0.40b1) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout
• [#2192] UEFI boot support
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2193] bootinfoscript: Use it as a package
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2199] Btrfs support
• (Closed in 0.40b1) [#2205] Handle different default sh script
• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#2216] Verify separated /usr support
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2217] chown root root on sudoers
• [#2220] Make sure all the source code is available
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2221] Detect SAM file algorithm fails with directories which have spaces on them
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2227] Use chntpw 1.0-1 from Jessie
• (Fixed in 0.40b1) [#2231] SElinux support on chroot options
• [#2233] Disable USB automount
• [#2236] chntpw based options need to be rewritten for reusing code
• [#2239]http://www.supergrubdisk.org/wizard-step-put-rescatux-into-a-media/suppose that the image is based on Super Grub2 Disk version and not Isolinux.The step about extracting iso inside an iso would not be longer needed.”>Update doc: Put Rescatux into a media for Isolinux based cd
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2259] Update bootinfoscript to the latest GIT version
• [#2264] chntpw – Save prior registry files
• [#2234] New option: Easy Grub fix
• [#2235] New option: Easy Windows Admin

Improved bugs (0.40b7):

• (Improved in 0.40b7) [#2192] UEFI boot support (Yes, again)
  

Improved bugs (0.40b6):

• (Improved in 0.40b6) [#2192] UEFI boot support

Fixed bugs (0.40b5):

• (Fixed in 0.40b5) [#2192] UEFI boot support

Fixed bugs (0.40b2):

• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#1323] GPT support
• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#2216] Verify separated /usr support

Fixed bugs (0.40b1):

• (Fixed in 0.40b1) [#2231] SElinux support on chroot options

Reopened bugs (0.40b1):

• (Reopened in 0.40b1) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout

Fixed bugs (0.32b3):

• (Fixed in 0.32b3) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout

Other fixed bugs (0.32b2):

• Rescatux logo is not shown at boot
• Boot entries are named “Live xxxx” instead of “Rescatux xxxx”

Fixed bugs (0.32b1):

• Networking detection improved (fallback to network-manager-gnome)
• Bottom bar does not have a shorcut to a file manager as it’s a common practice in modern desktops. Fixed when falling back to LXDE.
• Double-clicking on directories on desktop opens Iceweasel (Firefox fork) instead of a file manager. Fixed when falling back to LXDE.

Improvements (0.32b1):

• Super Grub2 Disk is no longer included. That makes easier to put the ISO to USB devices thanks to standard multiboot tools which support Debian Live cds.
• Rescapp UI has been redesigned
  • Every option is at hand at the first screen.
  • Rescapp options can be scrolled. That makes it easier to add new options without bothering on final design.
  • Run option screen buttons have been rearranged to make it easier to read.
• RazorQT has been replaced by LXDE which seems more mature. LXQT will have to wait.
• WICD has been replaced by network-manager-gnome. That makes easier to connect to wired and wireless networks.
• It is no longer based on Debian Unstable (sid) branch.

Distro facts:

• Packages versions for this release can be found at Rescatux 0.40b7 packages.
• It’s based mainly on Debian Jessie (Stable). Some packages are from Debian Unstable (sid).

Don’t forget that you can use:

• Super Grub(2) Mailing list
• Rescatux Forum
• Chat

Help Rescatux project:

I think we can expect four months maximum till the new stable Rescatux is ready. Helping on these tasks is appreciated:

• Making a youtube video for the new options.
• Make sure documentation for the new options is right.
• Make snapshots for new options documentation so that they don’t lack images.

If you want to help please contact us here:

• Super Grub(2) Mailing list
• Rescatux Forum
• Chat

Thank you and happy download!

Rescatux 0.40 beta 8 has been released.

Downloads:

• Rescatux 0.40 beta 8 Cdrom or USB ISO for x86 or amd64 (Sourceforge)
• (MD5)

Rescatux 0.40b8 size is about 671 Megabytes.

Some thoughts:

This release readds support for changing keyboard layout when starting Rescatux.

I want to thank Intrigeri from Tails project for his support. I will try to convert tails-greeter into a project suitable por other Debian Live based distros but it’s not an easy task.

UEFI feedback is still welcome. Specially if the Debian installation disks work for you but not the Rescatux ones.

Roadmap for Rescatux 0.40 stable release:

You can check the complete changelog with link to each one of the issues at: Rescatux 0.32-freeze roadmap which I’ll be reusing for Rescatux 0.40 stable release.

• (Fixed in 0.40b5) [#2192] UEFI boot support
• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#1323] GPT support
• [#1364] Review Copyright notice
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2188] install-mbr : Windows 7 seems not to be fixed with it
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2190] debian-live. Include cpu detection and loopback cfg patches
• (Fixed in: 0.40b8) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout
• [#2192] UEFI boot support
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2193] bootinfoscript: Use it as a package
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2199] Btrfs support
• (Closed in 0.40b1) [#2205] Handle different default sh script
• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#2216] Verify separated /usr support
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2217] chown root root on sudoers
• [#2220] Make sure all the source code is available
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2221] Detect SAM file algorithm fails with directories which have spaces on them
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2227] Use chntpw 1.0-1 from Jessie
• (Fixed in 0.40b1) [#2231] SElinux support on chroot options
• [#2233] Disable USB automount
• [#2236] chntpw based options need to be rewritten for reusing code
• [#2239]http://www.supergrubdisk.org/wizard-step-put-rescatux-into-a-media/suppose that the image is based on Super Grub2 Disk version and not Isolinux.The step about extracting iso inside an iso would not be longer needed.”>Update doc: Put Rescatux into a media for Isolinux based cd
• (Fixed in: 0.32b2) [#2259] Update bootinfoscript to the latest GIT version
• [#2264] chntpw – Save prior registry files
• [#2234] New option: Easy Grub fix
• [#2235] New option: Easy Windows Admin

Fixed bugs (0.40b8):

• (Fixed in 0.40b8) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout

Improved bugs (0.40b7):

• (Improved in 0.40b7) [#2192] UEFI boot support (Yes, again)
  

Improved bugs (0.40b6):

• (Improved in 0.40b6) [#2192] UEFI boot support

Fixed bugs (0.40b5):

• (Fixed in 0.40b5) [#2192] UEFI boot support

Fixed bugs (0.40b2):

• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#1323] GPT support
• (Fixed in 0.40b2) [#2216] Verify separated /usr support

Fixed bugs (0.40b1):

• (Fixed in 0.40b1) [#2231] SElinux support on chroot options

Reopened bugs (0.40b1):

• (Reopened in 0.40b1) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout

Fixed bugs (0.32b3):

• (Fixed in 0.32b3) [#2191] Change Keyboard layout

Other fixed bugs (0.32b2):

• Rescatux logo is not shown at boot
• Boot entries are named “Live xxxx” instead of “Rescatux xxxx”

Fixed bugs (0.32b1):

• Networking detection improved (fallback to network-manager-gnome)
• Bottom bar does not have a shorcut to a file manager as it’s a common practice in modern desktops. Fixed when falling back to LXDE.
• Double-clicking on directories on desktop opens Iceweasel (Firefox fork) instead of a file manager. Fixed when falling back to LXDE.

Improvements (0.32b1):

• Super Grub2 Disk is no longer included. That makes easier to put the ISO to USB devices thanks to standard multiboot tools which support Debian Live cds.
• Rescapp UI has been redesigned
  • Every option is at hand at the first screen.
  • Rescapp options can be scrolled. That makes it easier to add new options without bothering on final design.
  • Run option screen buttons have been rearranged to make it easier to read.
• RazorQT has been replaced by LXDE which seems more mature. LXQT will have to wait.
• WICD has been replaced by network-manager-gnome. That makes easier to connect to wired and wireless networks.
• It is no longer based on Debian Unstable (sid) branch.

Distro facts:

• Packages versions for this release can be found at Rescatux 0.40b8 packages.
• It’s based mainly on Debian Jessie (Stable). Some packages are from Debian Unstable (sid).

Don’t forget that you can use:

• Super Grub(2) Mailing list
• Rescatux Forum
• Chat

Help Rescatux project:

I think we can expect four months maximum till the new stable Rescatux is ready. Helping on these tasks is appreciated:

• Making a youtube video for the new options.
• Make sure documentation for the new options is right.
• Make snapshots for new options documentation so that they don’t lack images.

If you want to help please contact us here:

• Super Grub(2) Mailing list
• Rescatux Forum
• Chat

Thank you and happy download!