Super Grub2 Disk 2.04s2-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 features a new usb based image which lets you carry your loopback.cfg enabled distros in a second partition. Power users will be glad to learn that you can edit any Super Grub2 Disk file and make bigger the ISOs partition. Filenaming scheme for released files was improved. Finally Korean translation was added.
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 2.04s2-beta2 |
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|---|---|---|---|
USB Bootable Images |
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| Download | Supported archs | Notes | |
|
Download supergrub2-2.04s2-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 supergrub2-2.04s2-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 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-i386_pc-CD.iso |
i386 and x86_64 | Old BIOS (non UEFI) systems only. | |
|
Download supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-x86_64_efi-CD.iso |
x86_64-efi | Modern UEFI 64-bit systems only. | |
|
Download supergrub2-2.04s2-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 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-x86_64_efi-STANDALONE.EFI |
x86_64-efi | Modern UEFI 64-bit systems only. | |
|
Download supergrub2-2.04s2-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 | |
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Source Code (Git repo) |
N/A | Let’s you build Super Grub2 Disk on non supported archs. | |
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Download super_grub2_disk_2.04s2-beta2.zip |
i386, x86_64, i386-efi and x86_64-efi | Every binary and source code inside a zip file. For offline people. | |
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Everything in a TORRENT |
i386, x86_64, i386-efi and x86_64-efi | Every binary and source code inside a torrent 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
8ea03a225a239837fdc77dc50e2e3396 super_grub2_disk_2.04s2-beta2.zip 3e4122add9256d7d7d03831fd48b78c5 super_grub2_disk_2.04s2-beta2_source_code.tar.gz 9a40ded5cdeeb2d5fabd91aaa870a1e5 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-i386_efi-CD.iso 1bf7fa5858e5abf805ab5a18b7b29780 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-i386_efi-STANDALONE.EFI 6220cea1205ea3acd5417b5c0be866ee supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-i386_pc-CD.iso 968826f225bd0645a2d893e274c24175 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-multiarch-CD.iso 9cf23233cf70afad842d7ee9c29e46fb supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-multiarch-USB.img.zip 4c34d123b3ab89f6c895694af32256a3 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-x86_64_efi-CD.iso cd909f60c57fdb87a1f0f9c7e7ce27ac supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-x86_64_efi-STANDALONE.EFI
SHA1SUMS
215a27eb48fcd6546278413016116dae33bbf7b7 super_grub2_disk_2.04s2-beta2.zip a650c5181363bda863230436eac4fd10df176764 super_grub2_disk_2.04s2-beta2_source_code.tar.gz 4cd05a9417838b6ac183149f943b378b8d72faa8 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-i386_efi-CD.iso 5e9c8e5d5197f54cc708b61cbc64c20fb012dfe2 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-i386_efi-STANDALONE.EFI d64b1cdd8d23dcce0c41cbc41357f78369348d39 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-i386_pc-CD.iso 2b1a2654d68efb6c55f2aa256658a0d571deb893 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-multiarch-CD.iso 9d954f402bbc177f4bcb78f8a0428292a8245def supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-multiarch-USB.img.zip af2ba56447eeab0fb916f2bb3e5fa9e972f5d349 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-x86_64_efi-CD.iso 3385be38de87b5012bd9eed140d98e9f3a55f2d7 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-x86_64_efi-STANDALONE.EFI
SHA256SUMS
263cc337b1e34bc958dcdd9a4b9748d05cfa9ee5f6e26c2cc153b16a01a1b8b1 super_grub2_disk_2.04s2-beta2.zip 9e0b054bc2439c4662b65d566ae7f3e14dadb9eb00bc1034154810d8e4bedd7c super_grub2_disk_2.04s2-beta2_source_code.tar.gz 39816ecfc579bb2859d5d78c697411b7d7b10af05eef2ab95dd4d93d25a53a6c supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-i386_efi-CD.iso 22f7faaa6d83f699838961d65997fc0df460b07ea2c8da3b677f7693972ab26a supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-i386_efi-STANDALONE.EFI 3b479c455a9dec4ae4607b2031c1967f36f81cb9d97e24c46bc3dcdf38510f08 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-i386_pc-CD.iso 74c1719a3ec425a33e64000d75169fc5923eac73d46761cbbf5c4b74cf737ffa supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-multiarch-CD.iso 56e51549e88f09d07562b221b51ad2a88d1ccdaba78f5c803d7b70f44777f3f1 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-multiarch-USB.img.zip 9903a5bbfd2baf7a11c40324f49a3821be2e34bb8316095c0055bce37295d20e supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-x86_64_efi-CD.iso ca79c0027f059ac038e1da1455c77d84c5669b3a07792fff09dc5cd3771a0a90 supergrub2-2.04s2-beta2-x86_64_efi-STANDALONE.EFI
Changelog (since former 2.00s2 stable release)
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)
