Secondly, another user 'CW Palace' has created a module and scripts to determine the processor type of the machine CD Shell is running on. This has been requested before as a way to select a proper Linux kernel to load. You can find CPUType, including sources, at his website under the downloads section.

Thanks guys!

• Isolinux module updated to match H. Peter Anvin's 2.05 version.
• Support added for alternative VGA fonts (see here).
• Support added for true-color graphics on VMWare.
• Splash images now go in the folder /cdsh/graphics, and are now called splash.bmp and splash.csi (cleaning up the /cdsh folder).

Ahmad Hisham has generously provided some excellent example scripts for others to learn from. They look great and are a good example of what can be accomplished with CD Shell. You can find them in the folder /cdsh/samples/doctorxp.

I've also put a lot of work into the makefiles, and tested assembling CD Shell on Windows using Win32 make and some unknown version of make on Solaris. It should now be easy for anyone to assemble CD Shell from its sources by issuing the command 'make -f makefile.win'

I've been informed we need a string comparison function for comparing variables. Look for it in an upcoming build.

CD Shell is the new name for the Boot Scriptor program. Many things in this version are carried over from Boot Scriptor 1.2, but there are a lot of changes and most scripts from Boot Scriptor 1.2 will not work with CD Shell. Most of the changes revolve around the addition of two new features: variables and command predication (if/then/else). There is a readme file included which explains the changes in detail, or you can look here.

There were many changes and bugfixes made since Boot Scriptor 1.1. The most notable and/or important ones were:

• Image display capabilities added
• Startup procedures were optimized (faster and 'cleaner')
• Startup progress bar and error condition codes added
• Clean shutdown implemented (system is restored to a clean state before booting another loader)
• Detailed script error reporting added (script file name, line number, and failed command reported)
• Highlight command changed to 'color h'
• Diskemu module added
• Command history increased to remember the last 16 commands
• Fixed long-directory bug
• Userkey command/module renamed to 'hotkey'

The Beta website is green so nobody gets confused at which site they're looking at. When the beta program ends, which I hope is real soon, the green/beta website will replace the blue/stable one (and it will turn blue in the process :). I've recoded it using style-sheets, so it should load slightly faster and will be easy for me to change back to blue. If anyone has any trouble viewing this new website please let me know.

I've also relaxed the file size limit for the BMP files to 126kb, which should be plenty for the resolution we're working with.

Boot Scriptor now provides 78 API functions to support modules and make it easy for them to accomplish various tasks, from menial ones such as string processing, to non-trivial ones such as file and disc I/O. Boot Scriptor Modules provide a way for developers to implement proprietary features seamlessly into Boot Scriptor. They also allow for the creation of interfaces to various applications that require independent compilation in order to satisfy licensing agreements.

• Fixed a bug that resulted in file-not-found errors when using backslashes as opposed to forward-slashes.
• Progress bar and error code are not shown by default. They show up on error, or for troubleshooting you can hold down Alt or turn on Scroll Lock to step through the startup process and they will be shown.
• Isolinux's default directory is now /bscript/modules/isolinux, so that is where the memdisk file must go. This was done to make things a little cleaner for users who are booting Linux kernels from Boot Scriptor.

I'm gearing up for the first non-beta release of Boot Scriptor 1.2. If I can figure out what was causing error 00400079 in Boot Scriptor 1.2.7b and fix it, then I'll go ahead and make the switch to 1.2. It still won't boot on an HP e-Vectra, but if that's the only known issue then I guess I can live with it for now. That problem still baffles me :/

If you're wondering what happened to build 8, it was sent out to users experiencing that BIOS bug to verify the workaround.

I have put some work into getting the Diskemu module ported to Boot Scriptor 1.1, which should bring it up to the level of functionality of the current beta. Hopefully I can get it tested and released here soon, which should hold us off until Boot Scriptor 1.2 becomes stable.

Please bear with me if I haven't responded to all the emails and pursued the currently know bugs as thoroughly as I have in the past. There are a couple showstoppers in the 1.2 beta (won't boot on some systems, Memdisk hangs when booting floppy images in some circumstances) that I would *love* to go away, but to this point I've been unsuccessful in tracking down the problems.

I would like to thank everyone for their patience. When I was going full force a few weeks back I discussed a lot of future features with some of you and even accepted some website content to add here, but since I haven't had the chance to follow through to this point you all have been very understanding. Hopefully soon I can get the ball rolling again...

You can step through the startup progress by holding down the alt key or by turning on scroll-lock. Also if you're having problems with Boot Scriptor taking a long time to boot, you can hold down the alt key or turn on scroll-lock at any point so that you'll have time to write down the status codes of the areas where the most time is being spent. Just for reference, Boot Scriptor should take around a half second or less to start up. The longest wait is while the modules are being loaded, which happens toward the end of the startup code. Naturally the faster your CD or DVD drive is, the faster this step will be.

Please download this build if you're having problems getting Boot Scriptor to load, and let me know what it's doing. Thanks :)

If you're wondering what happened to Boot Scriptor 1.2.5b, it was only released to a few beta testers who were having problems with the aforementioned startup bug. My thanks go out to Lucian, Chris, and Rolf for their help with getting that bug squashed.

I'd still like to wrap up the beta program for Boot Scriptor 1.2 before too long, if possible. I just need to implement a couple more features and resolve a compatibility issue. Then I can get started updating the website and documentation to include the changes since 1.1. When all of that's done, I'll make the official move from Boot Scriptor 1.1 to 1.2.

• Isolinux module is now based on Isolinux 2.00 pre-7. If this module causes anyone problems, please let me know and I'll provide a link to the older (1.67) version.
• Better script error reporting. When a command crashes a script, you will now see the command name that failed (even if the error was "unknown command"), the name of the current script file, and the line number the error occurred on.
• The highlight command will be deprecated in Boot Scriptor 1.2. You can still use it, but it won't show up when you type "list commands". The new way of changing the highlight color is "color h <value>".

There are a couple other minor changes that you can read about in the change-log included in the distribution.

Make sure you read the included Beta-tester's guide so you will know what changes were made. Also, as with any beta release, there is expected to be some bugs. Please report any problems you might find to me. Thanks!

I had to get rid of the num-lock feature introduced in the last build, because on some systems Isolinux was automatically turning num-lock on when it started up. I switched it to the control key, so now if you want to go straight to the Boot Scriptor command prompt by bypassing the startup script, just hold down the control key as it starts up.

I've also created a new module that will be included in the main release from now on. It's called userkey, and it lets you define custom hotkeys that perform any action you set them to. For more information and an example, see the updated documentation. You can define many custom hotkeys, but you will need to load the module multiple times (once for each hotkey).

The rest of the changes were minor cleanups/bugfixes. One of them was to delay the splash screen when Boot Scriptor starts up so that you won't see it if your startup script wipes the screen right away.

Secondly, you can now disable startup scripts by turning num-lock on. This feature was added because the previous way of disabling startup scripts (caps-lock) is the same key used by Isolinux to force display of the boot: prompt. So if you want to go straight to the Boot Scriptor command line, just use the num-lock key.

Lastly, you can now do reverse directory traversal by using the command "cd .."

Ranish Partition manager is a great tool for working with local hard drives. It's capable of making quick and easy changes to your partition tables. It can also format FAT partitions and copy or zero other partitions, and even function as a multi-boot manager. Special thanks go out to Mikhail Ranish and Muthukumar (Muthu) for their program and permission for distributing it.

You can find the module available for download here.

I haven't had the opportunity to make any additional add-on modules yet, but hopefully they will come soon.

When 1.1.3 is released, I will update the web documentation to include all the changes since 1.0. I will probably still provide a download for Boot Scriptor 1.0, but it will no longer be supported.

On a side note, I got to the bottom of what was causing Boot Scriptor not to assemble properly in the latest versions of NASM. There happens to be a bug causing segments not to be aligned properly, which proved to be fatal to the plug-in interface which depends on an API table being aligned on a paragraph boundary. If you are building the Boot Scriptor Modules included in the source distribution, you don't need to be concerned about this too much. If you're trying to build the main program, however, you will run into problems. E-mail me if this is causing you trouble and I can direct you to a temporary fix.

Boot Scriptor 1.1 is a major rewrite of the program. It is the result of about a month's worth of coding (to put it in perspective, version 1.0 took about a month to develop as well). There are some cool new features in this release, but the real purpose behind the rewrite is the new, fully extendable plug-in interface. This will allow myself and others to create custom commands to extend the capabilities of Boot Scriptor. I won't go into any details right now (once again licensing issues are up in the air) but I have some really useful add-on modules planned for future release.

So what are you waiting for? Grab the first beta release of 1.1 here!!

I've also posted the version of NASM I use on the developer page. It's only needed if you want to assemble Boot Scriptor from the sources and are having trouble using the later versions of NASM.

• The currently supported version of Isolinux for Boot Scriptor is 1.67-1.0b. I will probably get back in sync with HPA when he finishes the rewrite of Isolinux.  But for now 1.67 is the most stable version of the program, so that is what should be used. I'll take the beta status off the version number as soon as I track down that mkisofs bug, which leads me to my next point...
• I haven't begun debugging that mkisofs bug just yet. When it came up I was up to my ears in working on Boot Scriptor 1.1, and did not want to lose that momentum. I will work on it soon, and hopefully the fix will arrive with or before Boot Scriptor 1.1 (I don't like the idea of releasing new software with known bugs).

First, I've started this news page because there is no mailing list, and therefore no way for me to get announcements out and things like that.  Also Freshmeat.net severely edits any message I submit with the new releases, so everything I try to get across there is either watered down or taken out of context.  So check here for the latest news, and feel free to write me and give feedback on the project, the website, submit ideas (or criticize mine :), or just to let me know you're out there.

Secondly, the downloads of version 1.0.12 were down for a couple days this week. This was my fault; I accidentally deleted the wrong files from my webspace. I wanted to thank the person who notified me of the problem, but unfortunately due to my second-rate Unix abilities and several things going on with my account here at UIC, I lost his email. So if you're reading this, guy...Thanks!

Third, you will notice changes on the downloads page. The web-based change logs will now have updates grouped by release, rather than by date. I figure this is the way it should be for users, however the plain-text version I keep for myself (and include in the distros) I like to keep organized by date. This way I can see my progress, or lack thereof. Another relatively new item on the downloads page is the Known Bugs list. Some bugs have come up in the latest (1.0.12) release, so please read about them so you know the limitations of the software. The mkisofs bug is especially disturbing to me, because it hits the Linux users hard.

Now that the basic stuff is out of the way, I will follow with info about Boot Scriptor 1.1.  There are a lot of under-the-hood changes that will allow me to add some really cool features in the near future, so stay tuned. :)