Cloud Bootlacer

Online Installer of Grub4DOS

What on earth is this?

As the title says, this is an online installer for Grub4DOS. More precisely, this is a web GUI frontend for the 'bootlace.com' utility of Grub4DOS.

'Bootlace.com' is a DOS/Windows/Linux utility that 'installs [Grub4DOS's ] GRLDR.MBR boot record to the MBR of a harddrive or of a harddrive image file, or to the boot sector of a floppy[/partition] or a floppy[/partition] image' (quoted from Grub4DOS README).

Unfortunately, 'bootlace.com' cannot be executed from within 64bit Windows or 64bit Linux without virtualization. Neither can it be expected to run on non-x86 platforms, such as most smart phones and tablets. No trivial modification of 'bootlace.com' source code could possibly fix these issues.

What is offered here is a lazy solution that completely circumvents the platform architecture problem. The installer is served from a 32bit Linux host, which is capable of executing 'bootlace.com'. You upload the boot sectors of you disk/floppy/partition (image) in a small image file, specify the commandline options to 'bootlace.com' you would like to use, and get the 'bootlaced' image back as a download. In 2010s' terminology, 'bootlacing' occurs 'in the cloud' and all you need to enjoy this cloud service is a 'dd' utility, a modern browser and an internet connection.

How do I use it?

If you are familiar with 'bootlace.com' or Grub4DOS Toolbox for Windows, you would have little or no difficulty getting used to this online installer. There are also popup tooltips available explaining almost everything on the GUI to help you get along. Nevertheless, here is a short walk-through:

First, you need to prepate a small image file containing leading sectors of the disk/floppy/partition you wish to install Grub4DOS boot record to. Only the first 63 sectors are needed. The easiest way of doing this in *nix-based systems is using dd:

dd if=/dev/sda of=sda.bin bs=512 count=63

or

dd if=/dev/sdb1 of=sdb1.bin bs=512 count=63

On Windows, you can use Grub4DOS Toolbox for Windows 0.21 or higher with its 'dd from disk/partition to disk image' option and default parameters, or use one of many 'dd' ports for Windows (Google is your friend).

Next, at the Main tab of this site, select the version of Grub4DOS you wish to install. A list of recent versions is available for you to choose from, but it is advised to alwasy use the latest. You also need to download the selected version's release package and extract 'grldr' to your device, and if desired, create a custom menu.lst file.

After that, specify your local image file as the target file, set up 'bootlace.com' options, and click 'Submit'. The results of the operation will be displayed at the bottom of the page.

If 'bootlacing' is successful, you will be prompted to download the 'bootlaced' image file contained in a zip archive, along with a backup copy as well as a log file describing the operatation details.

To acually install Grub4DOS boot record to your device, you have to extract the 'bootlaced' image file and 'dd' it onto your device:

dd if=bootlaced.bin of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=63

or

dd if=bootlaced.bin of=/dev/sdb1 bs=512 count=63

In Grub4DOS Toolbox for Windows 0.21 or higher, use its 'dd from disk image to disk/partition' option and default parameters.

It's of course possible to work with virtual disk images, instead of real drives or partitions. Just make appropriate changes to the steps described above to target the intended image file. (Note: You can NOT directly upload your disk image. You must manually prepare a small file containing the leading sectors, just as with real devices.

Is it safe?

The short answer: No.

The long answer: Tempering with your hard drive's boot record is never 'safe', and should be avoided if other solutions are available, especially if you have only one hard drive on your computer to boot from. That said, there are numerous situations when 'bootlacing' your device with Grub4DOS is either needed or preferred. The key to staying on the safe side is having the ability to revert any change(s) you make, possibly mistakenly, by keeping a backup of the affected sectors and means to restore that backup to your device.

Since this online installer only accepts small image files containing leading sectors of disk/partition, you already have a backup image before you use the installer. In addition, the 'bootlaced' image file that you download is packaged inside a zip archive, which also contains a backup copy, so you are doubly insured.

Is it secure?

The short answer: still No.

The long answer: No communication over internet is 100% secure, but if the communicated information is of no interest or value to anybody else, you can afford to be not 100% secure. Leading sectors of disk/partition are almost never allocated to store files. Consequently, the info exchanged between your browser and this site, if ever intercepted, can only be used to deduce your device's size, label, partition scheme, file system type, and so on. How much use is that to anybody but you?

This does not seem to work as I expected?

You might do something wrong, or you have hit a bug. Either way, visit the forum to ask for help.

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