Super Grub2 Disk 2.04rc1s1 beta 4 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 beta release
This new releases features new upstream grub 2.04rc1 which includes
- Support for multiple early initrd images
- Support for the F2FS file-system
- A verifier framework
- RISC-V support
- UEFI Secure Boot shim support
- Btrfs Zstd improvements
- Btrfs RAID5/RAID6 support
- Xen PVH support
- UEFI TPM 1.2/2.0 support
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
- Russian
- Finnish / Suomi
- Chinese
Super Grub2 Disk 2.01 rc2 Spanish Main Menu
- Detect and show boot methods option to detect most Operating Systems
Super Grub2 Disk 2.01 beta 3 – Everything menu making use of grub.cfg extract entries option functionality
- 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
Super Grub2 Disk 2.01 beta 3 grub.cfg Extract entries option - 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 10
- Windows Vista/7/8/8.1
- Windows NT/2000/XP
- Windows 98/ME
- MS-DOS
- FreeDOS
- GNU/Linux
- Direct Kernel with autodetected initrd
Super Grub2 Disk – Detect any Operating System – Linux kernels detected - 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
- FreeBSD
- Direct Kernel with autodetected initrd
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, i386-efi, x86_64-efi) (ISO)
- EFI x86_64 standalone version (EFI)
- EFI i386 standalone version (EFI)
- Additional Floppy, CD and USB in one download (ISO)
- i386-pc
- i386-efi
- x86_64-efi
Known bugs
- Non English translations are not completed
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, i386-efi and x86_64-efi):
EFI x86_64 standalone version:
EFI i386 standalone version:
CD & USB in one downloads:
- Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.04rc1s1-beta4 [i386-pc] (ISO)[Mirror #1]
- Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.04rc1s1-beta4 [x86_64-efi] (ISO)[Mirror #1]
- Super Grub2 Disk (Floppy, CD & USB in one) 2.04rc1s1-beta4 [i386-efi] (ISO)[Mirror #1]
Source code:
Everything (All binary releases and source code):
- Super Grub2 Disk 2.04rc1s1-beta4 Everything (ZIP)(MD5)[Mirror #1]
- Super Grub2 Disk 2.04rc1s1-beta4 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
e2d3fc9c1097a04301851e3a28471cb9 super_grub2_disk_2.04rc1s1-beta4_source_code.tar.gz e0a9b2c6cda6c98cec6e25efb48f008d super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.04rc1s1-beta4.iso 18efd15d8cd320ec3059387ccfd91154 super_grub2_disk_i386_efi_2.04rc1s1-beta4.iso df9e3da46c365586547053a6505e0492 super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.04rc1s1-beta4.iso eb3ddf1e6aea3ef8bb56f8d65c7dcd82 super_grub2_disk_standalone_i386_efi_2.04rc1s1-beta4.EFI ce695895bef77c1aac8c2a737d38fbac super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.04rc1s1-beta4.EFI 666a197765b481b82717fc3917d9c506 super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.04rc1s1-beta4.iso 75471d118381ba82fec39fab8670d348 super_grub2_disk_2.04rc1s1-beta4.zip
SHA1SUMS
ca71b0e51f8854f8aa11f7a8b015b871b1766e47 super_grub2_disk_2.04rc1s1-beta4_source_code.tar.gz 1c15c67ecb7cccb27ff8e4310ae84bb9ac6d08aa super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.04rc1s1-beta4.iso d3c09bcf13f4b770b073c82fddd445b7e196636c super_grub2_disk_i386_efi_2.04rc1s1-beta4.iso e0a2925f7ce28fde82d9c5480bbf19ee584ef313 super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.04rc1s1-beta4.iso 730ea63e4cb279710f7ffb2d4450791464aee55c super_grub2_disk_standalone_i386_efi_2.04rc1s1-beta4.EFI f15116b867ebad51727d47289bc623da27f8a53d super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.04rc1s1-beta4.EFI 855debb761c7caa9294f1a1d0af56e01f24ee455 super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.04rc1s1-beta4.iso 8800e20ac105714803cddec69ffdd06fbd530672 super_grub2_disk_2.04rc1s1-beta4.zip
SHA256SUMS
eb2f48b75de9d2a566c7385f1956dcc80bd0484ac1a2bf0a0e2f914930b4acd6 super_grub2_disk_2.04rc1s1-beta4_source_code.tar.gz 77a2716e544bd8ee598e306f4fcc776e65124841b1926fa80d849f3900d54719 super_grub2_disk_hybrid_2.04rc1s1-beta4.iso d7a0657e76198d00f2dc5b6b5d986758e6046dfc219c1b3020230737c3e90f76 super_grub2_disk_i386_efi_2.04rc1s1-beta4.iso 65f67deec4c683fa211ca17621444c924b371d506a7ac73e377a0bbaeb3247e4 super_grub2_disk_i386_pc_2.04rc1s1-beta4.iso 0b691c73346abae945d3c827080eb4640e52fa290effd5d1122eba635464aedf super_grub2_disk_standalone_i386_efi_2.04rc1s1-beta4.EFI d3d94e870a9a2667feb1c68393df6e0c1fd67c1e92b2d15cf31d78e3de12fc59 super_grub2_disk_standalone_x86_64_efi_2.04rc1s1-beta4.EFI 007da80fa9fa051cd35a939a3f25860030ab24d15b27bddd58519aa0698285e3 super_grub2_disk_x86_64_efi_2.04rc1s1-beta4.iso 222bfa9a79f6ddfe1e15108cda35ed521d7a92a97fd0e53e3780b0c931fdb6c6 super_grub2_disk_2.04rc1s1-beta4.zip
Changelog (since former 2.00s2 stable release)
Changes since 2.02s10 version:
- Use grub-2.04-rc1 upstream grub2 tag
Changes since 2.02s9 version:
- ‘Enable all native disk drivers’ option was improved. It no longer crashes.
- Now devices are cached and Super Grub2 Disk is faster
- Modify sg2d_directory and sg2d_dev_name variables so that SG2D is more portable
- Standalone images are no longer broken and show main menu
Changes since 2.02s8 version:
- (Devel) supergrub-release-news helps release team to generate a template for its news. Initial implementation.
- (Devel) Added supergrub-release-changes to help with the release team.
- (Devel) INSTALL: Improved explanation about what release scripts and file outputs.
- Rename ‘(GRUB2 installation (even if mbr is overwritten))’ to: ‘(GRUB2 installation)’
- Use grub-2.02 upstream grub2 tag (Stable version)
- Added Chinese (zh-cn) translation
- Added Finnish translation (Thanks to tavallinenvirtanen7)
Changes since 2.02s7 version:
- Use grub-2.02-rc2 upstream grub2 tag
- Default theme starfield is no longer included. This will make images smaller.
- (Devel) Make sure normal isos and standalone images have hash files without its full path.
- (Devel) File hashes generation has been rewritten to work from the single supergrub-mkcommon generate_filename_hashes function
- (Devel) Now MD5SUMS, SHA1SUMS and SHA256SUMS files are generated as part of the official build.
Changes since 2.02s6 version:
- Updated grub 2.02 build to tag: 2.02~rc1
Changes since 2.02s5 version:
- Added Russian language
- Improved Arch Linux initramfs detection
- Added i386-efi build support
- Added i386-efi to the hybrid iso
- Grub itself is translated when a language is selected
- Added loopback.cfg file (non officially supported)
- (Devel) sgrub.pot updated to latest strings
- (Devel) Added grub-build-004-make-check so that we ensure the build works
- (Devel) Make sure linguas.sh is built when running ‘grub-build-002-clean-and-update’
- (Devel) Updated upstream Super Grub2 Disk repo on documentation
- (Devel) Move core supergrub menu under menus/sgd
- (Devel) Use sg2d_directory as the base super grub2 disk directory variable
- (Devel) New supergrub-sourcecode script that creates current git branch source code tar.gz
- (Devel) New supergrub-all-zip-file script: Makes sure a zip file of everything is built.
- (Devel) supergrub-meta-mkrescue: Build everything into releases directory in order to make source code more clean.
- (Devel) New supergrub-official-release script: Build main files, source code and everything zip file from a single script in order to ease official Super Grub
2 Disk releases.
Changes since 2.02s4 version:
- Stop trying to chainload devices under UEFI and improve the help people get in the case of a platform mismatch
- (Devel) Properly support source based built grub-mkfont binary.
- New options were added to chainload directly either /ntldr or /bootmgr thanks to ntldr command. They only work in BIOS mode.
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:
- The upstream Grub crew. I’m subscribed to both help-grub and grub-devel and I admire the work you do there.
- Necrosporus for his insistence on making Super Grub2 Disk smaller.
The person who writes this article is adrian15 .
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 think we won’t improve Super Grub2 Disk too much. We will try to stick to official Grub2 stable releases. Unless a new feature that it’s not included in official Grub2 stable release is needed in order to give additional useful functionalities to Super Grub2 Disk.
I have added some scripts to Super Grub2 Disk build so that writing these pieces of news is more automatic and less prone to errors. Check them out in git repo as you will not find them in 2.02s8 source code.
Old idea: 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 2017. Now I need to finish adding UEFI features (most finished), fix the scripts that generate Rescatux source code (difficult) and write much documentation.
(adrian15 speaking)
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