Saturday 14 January 2017

Add the recent Gandalf PE builds to E2B


The latest Gandalf PE builds from WindowsMatters.com are (at the time of writing):

Gandalf’s Win10PE x64 Redstone build 14393 version 11-10-2016

Gandalf’s Win10PE x86 Redstone build 14393 version 11-07-2016

Using a partition image (UEFI+MBR)

You can add these to your E2B drive is to convert each ISO to a .imgPTN file using the MPI_FAT32 shortcut provided by the MPI Tool Kit. It should then MBR or UEFI-boot.

For the x64 ISO you will need to increase the suggested size to 5100MB.
For the x86 ISO you will need to increase the suggested size to 4300MB.

Tips: If you want as small a .imgPTN file as possible, extract the contents of the ISO to an empty folder on your desktop and then drag-and-drop the folder onto the MPI_FAT32 shortcut.
Use a file extension of .imgPTNauto so that it goes directly to the CSM menu and also add a timeout 3 line to the \menu.lst file inside the image.

Direct MBR-boot from ISOs (MBR only)

E2B v1.90 and later supports direct booting of WinBuilder-based ISOs.

1. Ensure the .ISO file has no spaces in the file name
2. Keep the file extension as .ISO (do not use any other extension)
3. (optional) If you want to suppress the QRUN suggestion prompt, ensure the filename ends with the letter q or Q - e.g. Gandalfx64_q.iso.


Other older methods (now superseded)...

You can MBR-boot directly from the ISOs by moving them to the root folder of your E2B drive and renaming them.

You will also need to create a .mnu file for each one. However, you can only have one ISO file of each name in the root, so this may limit the number of different WinBuilder-based ISOs you can add, because they have to be in the root of the E2B drive for the code inside the ISO to find it and map it as the Y: drive.

Here are the .mnu files you will need:

# For Gandalf's Win10PE x86 Redstone - 11-07-2016.ISO 
# Rename it to \Win10PE_x86.ISO
# Copy the .iso file to the root of the E2B USB drive
# Copy this .mnu file to \_ISO\WINPE folder
# For MBR & UEFI-booting, just convert the .iso to a FAT32 .imgPTN file (you may need to use 4300MB as the suggested size)

title Gandalf 10 x86 11-07-2016\n Boot to Gandalf 32-bit PE
set ISO=Win10PE_x86.iso
/%grub%/qrun.g4b force.iso01 /%ISO%
boot


[Edit] Sorry! This does not actually work for the 64-bit ISO!!!!
The ISO is not loaded as the Y: drive even though no Yellow Warning icon is displayed on the Desktop. I suspect it is due to the spaces in the ISO filename??
You will need to use the more complicated WinBuilder approach (see link below). [\Edit]

# For Gandalf's Win10PE x64 Redstone - 11-10-2016.ISO 
# Rename it to \Gandalf's Win10PE x86 Redstone-11-07-2016_x64.ISO
# Note the name is correct as x86 and 11-07-2016 even though the ISO is 11-10-2016!
# Copy the .iso file to the root of the E2B USB drive
# Copy this .mnu file to \_ISO\WINPE folder
# For UEFI-booting, just convert the .iso to a .imgPTN file and use a size of 5100MB

title Gandalf 10 x64\n Boot to Gandalf 64-bit PE
set ISO=Gandalf's\ Win10PE\ x86\ Redstone-11-07-2016_x64.iso
/%grub%/qrun.g4b force.iso01 /%ISO%
boot


As you can see, the name required for the ISO is not very consistent or logical!

Better method
You can also directly MBR-boot from the ISOs by following the instructions under the heading:
E2B + Multiple WinBuilder ISOs (Removable and Fixed-disk drives)

Since this is quite tricky to get right (there are a number of files and folders to configure), I suggest that you simply use .imgPTN files unless you have a good reason not to!

For the Gandalf Redstone x64 ISO, you will need to use a filename that has no spaces in it and is less than 20 characters.
See also E2B v1.90 for an easier way to boot WinBuilder ISOs using a .mnu file.







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