Add Kali linux v1.0.7 + LUKS encrypted persistence to your E2B USB multiboot drive

Kali is the follow on from BackTrack for penetration testing. It provides a full linux development environment as well as pen-test tools. You can add Kali v 1.0.7 ISOs to your E2B USB drive and boot them with a LUKS encrypted persistence volume.

Kolibri - a successor to MenuetOS

A few weeks ago I mentioned MenuetOS in this blog post. This is an entire OS written in assembler which can fit on a 1.44MB floppy disk. This was discontinued in about 2004 but Kalibri is it's much-improved successor.

You can download either the ISO or .img file from here.
Full FAT12/16/32 support is implemented, as well as read-only support for NTFS, ISO9660 and Ext2/3/4. Drivers are written for popular sound, network and graphics cards and USB 1.0 and 2.0.
It has network drivers, text editor, file browsers and a basic text-only web browser. To run under VBox, I had to turn off VTx CPU acceleration, set a Sound Blaster 16 audio adapter and a linux 32-bit system type.
If you need to boot from a system and get a file from a non-GPT disk very quickly and save it to a FAT32 USB drive, this could be really handy!

MPI Tool Pack 035 available

Changes are:

1.  First time you ran the CSM menu you would get a 'syslinux alternative boot' menu entry - now fixed by changing PBR.BIN file which contained the 'SYSLINUX' text string.
2. Added new menu for NTFS+FAT32 dual partitions

If E2B is on a USB hard disk we can use:

• Partition 1 = FAT32  - for clover+E2B files
• Partition 3 = NTFS - for Windows files

When Setup/ WinPE boots, it will be able to access the files on the NTFS partition of the hard disk.

Change #2 allows you to easily make an NTFS partition image from any Windows Vista/7/8 ISO using large install.wim files, and boot to it via Clover in UEFI mode.  This is useful if you have E2B on a Removable USB Flash drive because Windows Setup can only access the first partition on a Removable UFD and so the first partition must be NTFS. Clover needs a FAT32 partition in order to boot, so this is on the 3rd partition.

To make the files you need to:

1. Drag-n-drop the Win7/8 ISO onto the MPI_NTFS Desktop shortcut
2. Drag-n-drop an empty folder onto the MPI_FAT32 shortcut
3. Copy the two files to your E2B USB drive and name the first one with a .imgPTNLBAa file extension and the second one with no file extension (the name should NOT contain a dot) using the same file name for both files - e.g.

\_ISO\MAINMENU\Win81_x64.imgPTNLBAa   - NTFS Windows Install image + MPI+Clover
\_ISO\MAINMENU\Win81_x64                          - blank image containing just MPI+Clover

When loaded by E2B you will have:

• Partition 1 = NTFS = Windows Install files and MPI+Clover files
• Partition 3 = FAT32 = MPI+Clover files

It will NOT be able to boot via the UEFI system firmware because the first partition is not FAT32, however it will boot to the grub4dos CSM menu and you can then boot via Clover (which will load from the FAT32 partition as it cannot 'boot' from an NTFS partition) to the \efi\boot\bootx64.efi Windows UEFI boot file and then install Windows in UEFI mode.

This method is very easy to set up as you don't have to swap files around between the two partitions or split the install.wim file if it is larger than 4GB. The downside is that Clover may not run on all hardware (as it is a 'replacement' UEFI BIOS and is quite hardware dependent) - in which case you cannot boot it via the UEFI system firmware.

I have outlined the 4 methods of adding large-file UEFI-bootable Windows installer images here. The most reliable\versatile method is Method 1 where we use a single FAT32 partition and split the install.wim into .swm files (if required).

Run OpenElec XBMC 2014 Live from Easy2Boot

I have updated the instructions in my previous blog with instructions for the new 2014 4.0.2 version of OpenElec XBox Media Centre. This can be booted directly from your E2B multiboot USB drive>

I tested it by booting from my Z87 system from a USB 3.0 port and video, internet and audio worked fine (I had to change the Audio device setting first though).

Please see the second part of the blog for 2014 version here for details.

P.S. The latest build from here worked under VBox when booting from Easy2Boot. I actually used OpenELEC-Virtual.i386-devel-20140317134709-r17946-gb27c946.tar. The x64 version runs better than the i386 version under VBox - enable 64-bit and configure multiple CPUs (no video stutter) with Video acceleration for best performance.

To watch Live TV programs such as BBC1/2 and other freeview channels, add TVCatchup. Download the repository zip file to the E2B USB drive and then boot XBMC and load it into XBMC - follow the instructions here. Using this and the VM x64 version of OpenElec, I am able to watch live TV having booted from my E2B USB drive under VBox with no stutter/lag!

MPI Tool Pack 034 - HP Utility ISOs now supported

There were a few issues with HP Utility ISOs and MPI.

First, it seems that even though I install syslinux into the PBR using the correct 3.75 version of syslinux, it will not boot the HP files and you get a 'boot:' message. The ONLY way I could get the files to boot correctly using v3.75 was to install syslinux to use -fm which installs to the MBR and the files had to be in the root of the drive. So instead I have used syslinux 4 and removed the troublesome hpbootxx.c32 module.

More details on reboot.pro here.

The second problem was that EFI booting did not work because it had some .cfg files which referenced \system and the boot files were moved by MPI to \syslinux.

These (hopefully) have now been fixed by keeping the \system folder where it is, using syslinux 4 and changing the syslinux.cfg file to remove hpbootxxx.c32.

I tested with SPP2014020B.2014_0421.2.iso (MBR and UEFI boot) and hpacuoffline-8.75-12.0.iso and both seem to work now when converting straight from an ISO to a FAT32 partition image using the AUTO FAT32 shortcut (although I don't have any HP kit to fully test it on!).

YouTube video here.

MPI Tool Pack 033 - Clover now works on Z87 Haswell systems

I changed the Clover config.plist file and now Clover boots on my Asus Z87 Haswell system. MPI Tool Pack v.033 is now updated with this new config file. The old one is called config.plist.ASUS in case you need it for older Asus systems..

The only change I made was to change:
<key>KernelAndKextPatches</key>
<dict>
<key>AppleRTC</key>
<true/>
<key>AsusAICPUPM</key>
<true/>
<key>Debug</key>

to

<key>KernelAndKextPatches</key>
<dict>
<key>AppleRTC</key>
<true/>
<key>AsusAICPUPM</key>
<false/>
<key>Debug</key>

This disables the patch for 'AppleIntelCPUPowerManagament.kext for ASUS Native PM'.
P.S.
I also found that adding
<key>KernelPm</key>
<true/>
to the old config.plist in the same section also worked. KernelPm is 'Kernel Power management'. As this sounded like it might affect other non-Asus systems, I chose to not use this patch.

MPI Tool Pack 032 allows Clover and syslinux

Previous versions would not allow you to boot to Clover (and then UEFI boot from Clover) if syslinux was present in the Partition Boot Record (PBR). This meant that you couldn't use Clover to directly UEFI-boot to linux. This restriction has now been fixed. You can now boot linux distros using Clover as well as other non-linux (syslinux) payloads.

MPI Tool Pack 032

My PC's Samsung 932GW monitor didn't work this morning!

It started off just as any other normal morning. Last night I switched off my new home-built Win 8.1 PC with dual (Dell+Samsung) monitors as usual, then went to bed as usual, and slept well (not always as usual!). This morning I switched on both monitors, the external speakers and then my PC as usual. When I came back from making a cup of Earl Grey tea (we drink tea in the morning, here in the UK!), there was no display on the Samsung 932GW display (connected via DVI-D) or the Dell monitor (connected to the VGA cable).

After a few panicky moments, I realised that just the Samsung monitor was not working. Even if I disconnected the DVI cable, there was no 'No monitor detected' floating message box like there usually is when the cable drops off! If I switched it off and then on again, I saw an on-screen pop-up box for about a second and then it all went black again.

On further inspection, when I connected it to the DVI cable and PC, I could just see a very faint image of the Windows login background, especially if I used a torch, shone at an angle to the screen.

At this point it looked like the backlight to the display was on the blink/fritz (technical terms for cream-crackered!). Since the backlight did come on for about 1 second immediately on first switch-on, it looked like the high-voltage CCFL inverter was the problem, rather than the high-voltage CCFL bulb(s).

I Googled for 'samsung 932GW backlight' and it led me to some discussion forums about 'bad capacitors'. I also found some 'Capacitor kits' being sold on Amazon.com for this exact model of monitor.

As a computer\electronics engineer, I am very familiar with this issue. As well as seeing bad capacitors on mainboards whilst working for RM, I have seen them in other products too. For instance, over the last 10 years or so I have bought 3 different D-Link routers. All three of them started to play up after a year or so. One seemed to work fine until my ADSL supplier upgraded my line for higher ADSL speeds - after that I kept getting a dropped ADSL connection. I initially blamed my phone company, but when I used an old USB ADSL modem, I had no problem. Sure enough, when I opened up the D-Link ADSL router, there was one large capacitor with a swollen top! I replaced it and the router worked fine from then on. The extra power demand to drive the ADSL line at higher speeds must have been too much for that poor swollen capacitor!

Since companies are selling 'capacitor kits' for this particular Samsung monitor, it leads me to believe that this monitor was built with sub-standard components. This leads to an interesting question. Samsung monitors have a 2 year warranty and mine was out of warranty. However. the Sale of Goods Act states that goods should be of reasonable quality, last for a reasonable time and be free from defect at the time of manufacture. This covers the product for up to 6 years from the time of purchase and is over and above any manufacturers warranty. Since my monitor was about 3 years old and was built with poor-quality capacitors, it could be argued that I am covered by the Sale of Goods act and EEC law to have my monitor fixed or replaced.

Since people are selling 'capacitor repair kits' for this exact model of monitor, surely this is proof that these monitors contained a defect at the time of manufacture? Also 3 years is a reasonable amount of time for a monitor to continue to work. So, I could go to the small claims court and claim against the retailer that I bought it from under the Sale of Goods Act regulations. Read here for more information about this.

In this case however, I just took the monitor apart and looked at the circuit board. You can plainly see that 3 capacitors (circled in yellow) out of the 8 electrolytic capacitors on the board, have tops that are 'buckled'. The tops are deliberately scored when made by the manufacturer, with a cross-cut, so that the tops will split rather than explode when/if the dielectric compound inside breaks down, becomes resistive, gets hot and starts to out-gas.

Electrolytic capacitors should last for many years. I am sure you have old TV sets and other appliances that have lasted for well over 10 years (some for 20+ years like my old Sony Trinitron TV!). So why have these capacitors blown?

The answer appears to be that these are cheap capacitors that are made in either China or Taiwan and the compounds used break down after a few years. In fact it is the power-on-time+heat that destroys the dielectric material, which is why things like monitors and routers suffer the most, rather than washing machines or other appliances that are only used for a few hours a day (most routers are left on 24x7!).

It is a basic rule-of-thumb that for every 10 deg C rise in temperature, the rate of a chemical reaction doubles. This is why manufactures (should) test components at raised temperatures - to increase 'ageing' of the components. Raising the temperature by 30 deg C whilst on, will have the same ageing affect as keeping it running for 8x as long.

Some capacitor manufacturers blame a certain supplier who 'stole a secret recipe' for making the dielectric compound more cheaply than other suppliers and then started to sell the compound as a cheaper alternative. The problem (apparently) was that the recipe they stole was inaccurate\incomplete and the dielectric degraded after a year or so. Other manufacturers copied this recipe too and soon millions of products were built using this compound or near relatives of it (psst.. wanna buy a secret formula?). This caused the infamous capacitor plague (which still seems to be going on even now!). This is why today you may see Power Supply and PC mainboard manufacturers boast that they use Japanese capacitors (rather than Chinese\Taiwanese ones).

One episode is reported to have cost Dell $300m!

Still, I guess every cloud has a silver lining, especially for people selling 'capacitor repair kits', e.g. http://www.badcaps.net.

If you are good with a soldering iron, before throwing away that router or monitor, have a look at the capacitors inside it,  then Google for a 'Capacitor Kit' for it! Follow this link for how to repair a monitor. You can order individual capacitors on eBay (but make sure they are good quality ones from a reputable supplier!). Tip: a pack of 5 capacitors of the same value is often only a few pence more than a pack of one or two.

MPI Tool Pack 031 with Clover now available

I have now added Clover Lite to the MPI Tool Pack v.031. It only adds 1MB.

If you don't want Clover to be added to your images, edit the MakePartImage.cmd files and add
set NOCLOVER=1
to the top of the file
OR make new .cmd files and add this:

e.g. MPI_No_Clover.cmd
set NOCLOVER=1
call MakePartImage.cmd   %*

or even simpler, just delete or rename the CLOVER folder.

v 031 also now includes a CreateDesktopShortcuts.cmd file which runs a vbs script to automatically add three Desktop shortcuts to your Desktop for drag-and-drop operation. The shortcuts will be set up with the Admin box already 'ticked'.

So just:

1. Download the Tool Pack
2. Double-click on CreateDesktopShortcuts.cmd
3. Install ImDisk

and you are good to go.

Drop an ISO file or folder or USB drive icon onto one of the three new Desktop shortcut icons to start the creation of an image partition file. The  FAT32 and NTFS shortcuts usually work with only 0-2 prompts needed (the .imgPTN file is created in the same folder as the Source).

MemTest86 v5.1.0 released by Passmark

Ric alerted me to a new version of Memtest86 now maintained by Passmark. There is a free edition and a Pro edition which has more features.

This will be in the next version of  E2B (with permission from Passmark) when I release it (v1.41). It uses a kernel file and a .mnu file only and so is much smaller than the previous ISO-based version.

The ISO or USB download also supports UEFI booting.

You can also make a .imgPTN partition image file from the ISO, however if you allow MakePartImage to install Syslinux to the Partition Boot Record (PBR), then you cannot boot from it using Clover (it will refuse to run).

I suggest you extract just the \EFI folder to a new folder on your hard disk and run MPI FAT32 AUTO on that folder. The .imgPTN file created will be bootable via Clover (if you added the Clover Pack) on 64-bit systems or you can boot via UEFI Firmware. For normal MBR\CSM booting, you can use the Utilities - Memtest menu entry in Easy2Boot.

This is the UEFI boot screen

P.S. In case you don't know - Passmark make some excellent software and I highly recommend having a look at their main website.