Super Grub2 Disk 2.06s1-beta2 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 release removes the April Fools Day prank, adds a new Docker build system and has many other minimal improvements. Finally this new release is based on Grub 2.06 instead of the older Grub 2.04
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
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NOTE: The hybrid version should work in most any machine you might have. Please download that version.
NOTE: The hybrid version should work in most any machine you might have. Please download that version. |
Super Grub2 Disk 2.06s1-beta2 |
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|---|---|---|---|
USB Bootable Images |
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| Download | Supported archs | Notes | |
|
Download supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-multiarch-USB.img.zip |
i386, x86_64, i386-efi and x86_64-efi | Recommended. Modern UEFI 64-bit and 32-bit systems and also old BIOS systems. Includes additional BOOTISOS so that you can carry your loopback.cfg enabled distributions with you. | |
CD-ROM Bootable Images |
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| Download | Supported archs | Notes | |
|
Download supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-multiarch-CD.iso |
i386, x86_64, i386-efi and x86_64-efi | Modern UEFI 64-bit and 32-bit systems and also old BIOS systems. | |
|
Download supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-i386_pc-CD.iso |
i386 and x86_64 | Old BIOS (non UEFI) systems only. | |
|
Download supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-x86_64_efi-CD.iso |
x86_64-efi | Modern UEFI 64-bit systems only. | |
|
Download supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-i386_efi-CD.iso |
i386-efi | Modern UEFI 32-bit systems only. Also known as ia-32. | |
Standalone Images |
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| Download | Supported archs | Notes | |
|
Download supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-x86_64_efi-STANDALONE.EFI |
x86_64-efi | Modern UEFI 64-bit systems only. | |
|
Download supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-i386_efi-STANDALONE.EFI |
i386-efi | Modern UEFI 32-bit systems only. Also known as ia-32. | |
Misc |
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| Download | Supported archs | Notes | |
|
Source Code (Git repo) |
N/A | Let’s you build Super Grub2 Disk on non supported archs. | |
|
Download super_grub2_disk_2.06s1-beta2.zip |
i386, x86_64, i386-efi and x86_64-efi | Every binary and source code inside a zip file. For offline people. | |
About other downloads. These other downloads might be built in the future if anyone complains and helps enough on our mailing list: coreboot, ieee1275, standalone coreboot and standalone ieee1275.
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
6ea377ac313aa13470a4015b141cecae super_grub2_disk_2.06s1-beta2.zip 36c5e2f8dfc778b0bfa188f5de8bf2bf super_grub2_disk_2.06s1-beta2_source_code.tar.gz f47c6f3de5c56bd192e582ab30ca9632 supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-i386_efi-CD.iso 39fc068b1d7582f01e114875e804451d supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-i386_efi-STANDALONE.EFI e6309a3e70da1027bfea1271b1056425 supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-i386_pc-CD.iso 7e056911818ec7a712ab23f599976ef4 supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-multiarch-CD.iso 8c724336d70c26fa7c4eb225c38707c0 supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-multiarch-USB.img.zip 6d1d158278460362dee656f64208385d supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-x86_64_efi-CD.iso 31af5e0a3008e2be5710ed05b57a59bd supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-x86_64_efi-STANDALONE.EFI
SHA1SUMS
992ab3416f0c09a062c99d346f1202f4a6b8dd8e super_grub2_disk_2.06s1-beta2.zip ce2f4bfc74defee70c1478b8610538d391604611 super_grub2_disk_2.06s1-beta2_source_code.tar.gz 3d31523553e9e0db7b47c41be5113cdeab8f11e7 supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-i386_efi-CD.iso 999945ddf429cb35fb9ba3c2f540080073edd8d9 supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-i386_efi-STANDALONE.EFI 9f187a11b2231797fc3d50d6ef3fa4796f18d165 supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-i386_pc-CD.iso 1cf81a67a4aa5d11c1386d2b0cbbd83c16a9a86e supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-multiarch-CD.iso 80929b55ce8adffd02a9c519bb61607fb4b0f38e supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-multiarch-USB.img.zip 7f56ce9e6ccdc4902b8484551cc66490d3f5e20f supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-x86_64_efi-CD.iso c0b3d0ae77cf26e4697f107a04ad86e6693b78e7 supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-x86_64_efi-STANDALONE.EFI
SHA256SUMS
4e446ce36587040acc92ba3db4b51504aa758fe4ea26fd8b63196275f6b67d74 super_grub2_disk_2.06s1-beta2.zip 9042b07f67f762ff10b179f59d84928ee372925241c366b635961b05ff904c2d super_grub2_disk_2.06s1-beta2_source_code.tar.gz 2b9e20d16fde5d111edb9d6f55e6bf15b93295f3017c71af27ba866ecfa98739 supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-i386_efi-CD.iso f55a1f90c0eb77c3e5ba83b0b3f30a9bdd627d08ae420b148ce3fa00c0e832b0 supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-i386_efi-STANDALONE.EFI 12e76081a61eae547668edb86d92779d8c75250314546f21471c58f433ce4544 supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-i386_pc-CD.iso 924623a1f3730ef98ffd0542174177c7510d18e1064c54c8119a904fb0a101b4 supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-multiarch-CD.iso b891f681c7d86f6f1f58c2790a48334f5d760870ef7b8689adf4d87c6176cd96 supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-multiarch-USB.img.zip 31749cf3e0664592974a9691b6204652aad59d89d65f0fd2b316350412ff47e4 supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-x86_64_efi-CD.iso 32c264066c86451d52de1b79c40338bbf2e95bf6dfa9b1bc39d527306ff1253d supergrub2-2.06s1-beta2-x86_64_efi-STANDALONE.EFI
Changelog (since former 2.00s2 stable release)
Changes since 2.04s2-beta2 version:
- Update supergrub-mkcommon functions to be able to build gpt based images.
- menulstdetect does not need to use regexp module.
- Make sure to use regexp on autoiso. Fixes #46 .
- Move ‘GRUB Loopback Config’ from isos to the end. It’s easier to read longer iso names now.
- Show when each menu is build with its date. Fixes #44 .
- Make sure cfg files do not have execution bit
- Disk and partitions: Handle empty label properly.
- Merge pull request #49 from mk-pmb/uncontroversial_indentation_fixes
- New Docker build system
- grub-build-config: Switch to Grub 2.06 version.
- April Fools Day prank was removed.
- Docker: Use PREVIOUS_VERSION as the environment variable when the docker is run.
- Docker: Make sure that devices work seamlessly.
- Bump version to 2.06s1-beta2.
- mk-pmb (5):
- Nicer dates/times for “Detect boot methods”
- Marcel’s authorship attribution
- Cleanup: Remove trailing whitespaces
- Cleanup: Fix mixed tab/space indentations
- Cleanup: Normalize indentations to two spaces
Changes since 2.04s1 version:
- Add Korean Translation
- Use LIVEID in each secureboot vendor cfg
- USB hard disk now has an additional partition for ISO files.
- supergrub-mkusb: New script for normal (non secure boot) usb creation
- New filename standard * ${SUPER_GRUB2_DISK_FILE_PREFIX}-${sgrub_version}-${TARGET_PLATFORM}-${TARGET_DEVICE}.iso * Now we specify not only the media where SG2D is supposed to be put (TARGET_DEVICE) but also the architectures which should be boot on (TARGET_PLATFORM). * Makes all of the filenames consistent * Devices are in capital letters like in Debian disks * Old ‘hybrid’ names are now renamed into ‘CD’ so that usb only users choose the ‘USB’ multiarch one. * Filenames are now separated by “-” and no longer by “_” in order to meet other distros filenaming schemes * super_grub2_disk prefix now it’s just: supergrub2: ** That makes super grub2 disk filenames shorter ** It removes confusion because ‘disk’ might imply a cdrom
- Zip USB based images
Changes since 2.02s10 version:
- Use grub-2.04 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)