Change the payload menu entry menu text using a .txt file (+ add hotkeys)

Contents
  • Intro
  • Use a .txt file
  • TXT_Maker.exe
  • Check for 32-bit and 64-bit CPUs
  • Check for 4GB RAM
  • Hotkey support

Introduction

By default, E2B will list the file name of the payload file in the menu. For example, if you have payload files (.ISO, .bin, .img, etc.) in the Main menu or in the other folders, the actual filename will be listed in the menu.
 

Try a filename (without spaces or special characters like '(' or ')' or  '&' ) first. 

Then you can change the filename of the payload file to any name you like and use spaces in the file name for most types of payload (except VHD/WIM files or WinBuilder-based WinPE ISO files).  

You can suppress all the filename extensions from being shown in the menu, if you set EXTOFF=1 in the MyE2B.cfg file (default) or display the full file name using set EXTOFF= in your MyE2B.cfg file.

For simple linux ISOs and some other types of files, you can simply rename the ISO file to include whatever text you like.
For instance \_ISO\LINUX\Ubuntu 16.04 (64-bit).iso64 will be listed as 'Ubuntu 16.04 (64-bit)' in the Linux menu if EXTOFF is set.
 
Note: The .iso64 file extension ensures that E2B will not list ithe ISO file in the E2B menu on 32-bit systems.
 
 

Use a .txt file

Instead of the actual file name being listed in the menu, you can display any menu text and menu help text you like, by creating a .txt file.

The .txt file must have exactly the same filename as the payload file (not case-sensitive).

e.g.
\_ISO\MAINMENU\Clonezilla_64.iso
\_ISO\MAINMENU\Clonezilla_64.txt

 

Tip:
Make a .txt file by dragging-and-dropping the payload file onto the \_ISO\TXT_Maker.exe utility (see below).
      OR...
you can use the  \_ISO\docs\E2B Utilities\E2B TXT Maker.cmd file (you can copy the file to your Desktop first for convenience). You will be prompted to enter the menu text and help text. A new .txt file will be made automatically on the E2B drive in the same folder as your payload file.

You can instead make a .txt file using Windows Notepad or any text editor (save as UTF-8 if special characters are required)...

Note: If you create a matching .txt file, the QRUN Auto-suggest text and user prompt will be suppressed. If you wish to see suggestions, turn on SCROLL-LOCK before selecting the menu entry. (E2B v1.96+).

 

If you require a password prompt before execution is allowed, use .isopwd with a .txt file:

\_ISO\MAINMENU\Clonezilla_64.isopwd
\_ISO\MAINMENU\Clonezilla_64.txt

The password is determined by menupwd (if set in MyE2B.cfg) or by pwd if menupwd is not defined.

Note: If you specify a .txt file, then the file extension suffixes of '4GB', 3GB', '32' and  '64' will have no effect because you must add these tests into the .txt file.

 

Making a .txt file using NotePad

 

Watch this vid eo at 3:40s.

Without a .txt file, if you have an ISO file at \_ISO\MAINMENU\LinuxTails_x86_2012_11_02.iso, it will be displayed in the Main menu just as the filename, e.g.

 19       LinuxTails_x86_2012_11_02

However, if you also specify an alternative title in a .txt file of the same name and in the same folder, then that title will be used instead (note the line of text in the .txt file must start with lowercase grub4dos command title), e.g.

\_ISO\MAINMENU\LinuxTails_x86_2012_11_02.iso
\_ISO\MAINMENU\LinuxTails_x86_2012_11_02.txt

where \_ISO\MAINMENU\LinuxTails_x86_2012_11_02.txt could contain the following text :

title  ^T Tails 2 Nov 2012 (32-bit)   [T]\nPress ENTER to launch the GUI once it has booted.\nPassword is toor.\nGood luck!

A hotkey of T has been defined for this entry (hotkeys are always preceded by a ^ symbol).
If you don't want a hotkey or if you use a GFXBoot Menu, omit the ^T characters. See below for more details about hotkeys.

  • You must use .txt files which exactly match the payload filename (e.g. if your file is linux.i386.iso, then create a file called linux.i386.txt). 

  • The .txt file must be in the same folder that the payload file is in.

  • .txt files have no effect if they are present in sub-folders below the \_ISO\xxxx menu folders because, unlike .mnu files, payload files are not enumerated if they are more than one level below \_ISO\xxxx (except for \_ISO\Auto and \_ISO\WINDOWS\xxxx folders).

  • Use only a single line of text (or one line followed by a blank line) in a .txt file. Only the first line will be used (but .txt files under \_ISO\WINDOWS\ can have multiple lines).

  • .txt files must begin with title or iftitle.

Text that follows \n will appear as help text at the bottom of the menu list when the item is selected. Any more \n's on the line (max. 4 lines) will start a new line of help text. 

You can use just \n with no following text after the title text to suppress the standard grub4dos default help text (which may not be aligned correctly), e.g.

title  ^T Tails 2 Nov 2012 (32-bit)   [T]\n

- or -  

title  Tails 2 Nov 2012 (32-bit)\n

Note: the text in a .txt file must start with the lower-case word title (or iftitle) or you will see errors reported by E2B as it boots.

Tips: Save the .txt file as UTF-8 using NotePad and any special characters such as ü will be displayed correctly.
 

TXT_Maker.exe

Instead of using NotePad, you can make a .txt file by dragging-and-dropping the payload file onto the Windows \_ISO\TXT_Maker.exe utility...


  Click on Save .txt file to write the new .txt file.

4GB options only work with E2B v1.A4 and later versions.

Note that if you delete the payload file (e.g. linux.iso) you do not need to delete the .txt file - it will just be ignored if the corresponding payload file of the same file name is missing.

Note: If using iftitle with Windows ISOs, use TXT_Maker.exe from E2B v1.94 or later (bugfix).

From E2B v1.67+, you can also use $HOME$ (the folder path of the .txt file) and $NAME$ (the filename, without extension, of the .txt file) in .txt files - e.g.

title Boot to $NAME$\nBoot $HOME$/$NAME$.ISO

e.g. For a Ubuntu1401.txt file in the MAINMENU folder, the menu entry will appear as 'Boot to Ubuntu1401' and help text is 'Boot /_ISO/MAINMENU/Ubuntu.ISO'

Note: $HOME$ and $NAME$ should not be used in .txt files in the \_ISO\WINDOWS\xxxxx folders as they are not changed by E2B.

Note: If you specify a .txt file, then the file extension suffixes of '4GB', 3GB', '32' and  '64' will have no effect because you must add these tests into the .txt file.

Checking for 64-bit or 32-bit CPUs

In E2B 1.62+ you can add '32' or '64' to a file extension (e.g. Ubuntu.iso64 would only appear in the menu if the system contained a 64-bit CPU). For example, you could have both Ubuntu.iso64 and Ubuntu.iso32 payload files so that on a 32-bit system, it would only list the 32-bit ISO and on a 64-bit system, it would only list the 64-bit ISO or try \_ISO\WINDOWS\WIN10\Windows10.iso64 (E2B v1.94+).

You can also add a 'pwd' suffix, e.g. Ubuntu.pwd64 so that the E2B password is required before it can be run.

However, if you use a .txt file  (Ubuntu.txt) then the special 64\32\pwd suffixes will not work and your Ubuntu.iso64 file will still be listed on 32-bit systems.

To only list the file on a 64-bit system, you would need this .txt file

iftitle [checkrange 2,3 is64bit] Ubuntu\nRun Ubuntu on a 64-bit system

To only list an iso on a 32-bit system, you would need this .txt file

iftitle [checkrange 0,1 is64bit] Linux32\nRun 32-bit linux

You must use a .mnu file for Windows Installer ISOs or if you want extra features like password protection on the file, as the 'pwd' suffix may not work if you use a .txt file. See Password_Protect_64_32.mnu in \_ISO\docs\Sample mnu files for an example.

Another way to make a .txt file or new .mnu file, is to use the .cmd batch files in the  \_ISO\docs\E2B Utilities folder.
Just drag-and-drop your payload file onto the E2B TXT Maker.cmd or E2B MNU Maker.cmd files and it will make the file for you!


   MNU Maker.cmd in action!

 

Checking for 4GB+ RAM

If you also want to check for systems containing more than 4GB of memory, place the following 2 lines in your \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file:
Note: E2B v1.A4 and later versions already add the GB4 variable for you.
 
# set GB4 if 4GB+ of memory present
set /a M=*0x8298 & 0xffffffff>>10+1 > nul ;; set /a M1=*0x82c0>>10+1 > nul ;; set /a M=%M% + %M1% > nul ;; if %M%>=4096 set GB4=1 ;; set M= ;; set M1=
 
The variable GB4 will now exist if the booted system contains more than 4GB of memory. 
 
Examples
Suppose we have a Windows10_x86.iso and a Windows10_x64.iso:
 
If a system has more than 4GB of memory, we want to only show the 64-bit Windows ISO (it must have a 64-bit CPU if it detects >4GB).
If it has less than 4GB we only show the 32-bit Windows ISO.
 
Windows10_x64.txt
iftitle [if exist GB4] Win10 1703 x64\nInstall 64-bit Windows 10

Windows10_x86.txt
iftitle [if not exist GB4] Win10 1703 x86\nInstall 32-bit Windows 10
 
 

Hotkey support

As soon as the user presses a hotkey (e.g. presses the CTRL+T key), the menu entry with a CTRL+T hotkey assigned will immediately run (no need to press the Enter key).

Avoid using SHIFT+ P, C, E or B for hotkeys as these are used by grub4dos for password entry and editing, etc. You can use Ctrl+B or Alt+C, etc. instead.

When you use a title command (e.g. in .mnu and .txt files), you can also specify a hotkey, e.g.

title ^Ctrl+T Tails linux ISO [Ctrl+T]\nPress Ctrl+T to boot to Tails
or
iftitle [if exist $HOME$/Tails.iso] ^Ctrl+T Tails linux ISO [Ctrl+T]\nPress Ctrl+T to boot to Tails

The menu entry will be displayed as: Tails linux ISO [Ctrl+T]

You use the up-arrow symbol ^ to specify a non-displayed hotkey.

Alternatively, you can use square brackets at the beginning of the title to define a hotkey - in which case the square brackets and the hotkey character(s) will also be displayed in the menu, e.g.

title [CTRL+T] Tails linux ISO\nPress T to boot to Tails

Will be displayed in the menu as: [CTRL+T] Tails linux ISO

You can use numbers (best avoided as menu items can be selected by entering their number too!) or letters for a hotkey, as well as F1, F2, etc and Ctrl+F1 (e.g. ^Ctrl+F1). Hotkeys are not case sensitive, you cannot have both ^t and ^T (they are the same!), but you can have ^t and ^SHIFT+t.

Because grub4dos uses SHIFT+e, b, p or c for menu editing, etc., I would avoid using these keys for hotkeys. Also, E2B uses some CTRL+ for menu selection hotkeys. I recommend using ALT+ for your own menu hotkeys (but some non-USA keyboards may remap some of alt keys - e.g. Hungarian kbd!).

You can also use iftitle - e.g. iftitle [if exist /_ISO/MAINMENU/fred.iso] [shift+F] Run fred.iso \n This runs fred.iso when you press shift+F

Note: Not all key combinations can be used as the keyboard does not generate a scan code for certain combinations (e.g. Ctrl+3). See here for a list.

Ctrl+, shift+ and alt+ combined with 1-9 and F1-F10 are good choices (but E2B uses ctrl+F8).

Avoid using number-pad keys or other special keys which may not be available on netbooks or non-standard keyboards.

Global hotkeys can also be defined.

Tip: Make a .txt file by dragging-and-dropping the payload file onto the \_ISO\TXT_Maker.exe utility.
OR
Use the  \_ISO\docs\E2B Utilities\E2B TXT Maker.cmd file (you can copy the file to your Desktop first for convenience). You will be prompted to enter the menu text and help text. A new .txt file will be made automatically on the E2B drive in the same folder as your payload file.

 

Hide Payloads

You can hide any payload file by using a special .txt file, so that the payload file is not added to the menus unless the user enters a password to enable them to be listed. See this page for details.


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