Change Auto-Suggest prompt

Configure the QRUN ‘Change file extension’ suggestion feature (Auto-Suggest)

If you place a payload file with a standard file extension in a menu folder – e.g. \_ISO\MAINMENU\Ubuntu.iso, then when you select that menu entry, E2B may suggest an alternative file extension which, based on the file name, E2B might think is more suitable.

E2B may require you to use a different (special) file extension). Once you have found the best file extension to use for any particular ISO, you can modify the filename so that the correct file extension is used.

To avoid QRUN suggestion prompt, you can specify your own special file extension using an underscore plus dot filename suffix which allows Ventoy to see the .iso file extension but E2B and agFM will use the specified file extension instead, e.g. .isodef or .isopup or .isowin or .isomap0164, etc.

\_ISO\MAINMENU\Ubuntu_.isodef.iso
\_ISO\MAINMENU\PuppyLinux_x64_.isopup.iso
\_ISO\WINPE\StrelecPE_.isowin.iso
\_ISO\WINPE\HBCD_PE_x64_.isomap0164.iso

If a special file extension or file extension suffix is used then the QRUN prompt will not be shown.

E2B may also suggest an alternative file extension for some other types of payload files (e.g. FreeBSD or haiku images).
E2B may also offer some hints/tips too, such as converting the file to a .imgPTN file for best results. 

Note: Suggestions, information and tips are in English only (even if a different menu language is set).

It is recommended to use a .txt file or use a file extension suffix which suppresses the auto-suggest feature (e.g. .isodefault or .imgPTNAUTO or *q.iso) – however if you don’t want the English suggestions even for new .iso files, you can either use set redir=1 or set NOSUG=1 in your MyE2B.cfg file. 

Shown below is the QRUN ‘Auto-Suggest’ feature in E2B when a standard linux .iso file is selected…

Y=use suggested extension, N or [ENTER]=use original extension, I=use .ISOASK, A=Abort 

Press [ENTER] to run as .iso or press Y and [ENTER] to load the ‘isoask’ menu and choose a different file extension. 

This screenshot shows the suggested file extension when a Hirens ISO is selected and also a Tip…

 Y=use suggested extension, N or [ENTER]=use original extension, I=use .ISOASK, A=Abort 

If the user presses the Y key within 6 seconds and then press the [ENTER] key, E2B will run the payload file with the suggested alternative file extension instead of the current file extension.

If you press the [DEL] or [BACKSPACE], then the 6 second timeout will stop (to allow you more time to read the text). 

There are several ways to suppress the change file extension ‘auto-suggest’ feature:

1. Rename the file to use the suggested special E2B file extension, e.g. .isoPE (if it works as required). If the file has a .iso file extension, use a file extension of .isodefault (or .isodef) instead of .iso.  RECOMMENDED! 
   Tip: If it is a 64-bit ISO, use .isodefault64 so it is not listed on 32-bit systems. 
   Note: WinBuilder ISOs like Gandalf, Yol, Dium, etc. must end with .ISO – you cannot use .isodefault or .isodef because it will not load the ISO as drive Y:
   If your file ends in .iso, you can suppress the auto-suggest prompt by ensuring that the file name ends with the letter q or Q – e.g. Win10PESEQ.iso or Win10PESE_q.iso (E2B v.1.93+). If the file is not contiguous but boots OK (e.g. WinPE) use *NCQ.iso to suppress the ‘not contiguous’ warning messages (e.g. Win10PEncq.iso). You can also override the file extension using _. followed by the new extension and the old extension (e.g. Win10PESE_.isodef64.iso) (E2B v1.A9+).
2. If you create a matching .txt file, the QRUN Auto-suggest text and user prompt will be suppressed. RECOMENDED
3. If you wish to see suggestions and tips, even if you have disabled them using redir or NOSUG, turn on SCROLL-LOCK before selecting the menu entry. (see below for more info).
4. If the redir variable is set in the \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file, the user will not be prompted about .iso files (but may be prompted about other file types) – NOT RECOMMENDED!
5. Use set NOSUG=1 in the \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file (suppresses all auto-suggest warnings, advice and best extension to use). Also suppresses the user prompt in ISOBOOT – NOT RECOMMENDED! 
6. If the redirp variable is also set in the \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file, the user will never be prompted with an alternate file extension and many other messages are also suppressed (no matter what the file extension is) – DEFINITELY NOT RECOMMENDED!
7. Use set TSUG=1 to reduce the timeout waiting for user input to 1 second. Use set TSUG=993 if you want the default answer to be Y (always use the suggested file extension) and wait 3 seconds (see below for more details).

Note that setting redir removes helpful informational messages. If you also set redirp, then many other, more important messages are also suppressed. 

Tip: Use TSUG and redir if you want to see the auto-suggest message and prompts but not the file enumeration messages (see below). 

SCROLL LOCK

If SCROLL LOCK is on (press Scroll-Lock key to turn on LED), Verbose Mode and Auto-suggest will be enabled for QRUN.g4b. The NOSUG, redir and redirp variables are cleared and TSUG is set to 0 (wait for user input) and so the user will see all messages when QRUN.g4b is run (E2B v1.91+). If SCROLL LOCK is on, then you will always get the auto-suggest prompt (even if no alternative extension is suggested or you have used .isodef or .isodefault) – you can then type Y=Yes, N=No, A=Abort or I=use .isoask.

Tip: Some ISO files will only work correctly if they end with a file extension of .ISO (e.g. WinBuilder-based ISOs such as Win10PE ISOs – they also must have no spaces in the filename). For these you can either ensure the filename ends in …q.iso (e.g. WinPESE10_q.iso) or create a .mnu file for each one so that the auto-suggest feature is suppressed just before it is run, e.g. here are some example .mnu files… 

title Win10PESE_x64.ISO MNU TEST
set NOSUG=1
set redir=> nul
/%grub%/QRUN.g4b $HOME$/Win10PESE_x64.ISO
boot

title Win10PESE_x64.ISO MNU TEST
set NOSUG=1
set redir=> nul/%grub%/QRUN.g4b $HOME$/Win10PESE_x64.ISO
boot

title Win10PESE_x64.ISO\n Boot quickly with a few messages
set NOSUG=1
call /%grub%/QRUN.g4b $HOME$/Win10PESE_x64.ISO
boot

# .MNU file for WinBuilder ISOs - display menu entry if CPU is 64-bit and boot without any E2B messages
# no spaces allowed in filename
iftitle [checkrange 2,3 is64bit] Win10PESE_x64.ISO\n Boot silently and quickly (no messages)
set redir=> nul
call /%grub%/QRUN.g4b $HOME$/Win10PESE_x64.ISO
boot 

Note: E2B also supports the *NCQ.* file name suffix (e.g. Win10PESEncq.iso) which suppresses warning messages if the file is not contiguous. 

Change the Auto-Suggest Timeout and Default Choice

If you set the TSUG variable (suggested timeout in seconds) in your \_ISO\MyE2B.cfg file, you can change the timeout and behaviour of Auto-Suggest, e.g. 

# No timeout - auto-suggest will always wait for the user to press a key
set TSUG=0
 
# Change auto-suggest timeout (1-989)  - e.g. 10 = wait 10 seconds
set TSUG=10
 
# use default timeout of 3 seconds, but if user does not press a key, always use the file extension suggested by E2B (if not .isoask), valid range = 991 to 999
set TSUG=993
 
# No timeout - if user presses ENTER key only, the suggested file extension will be used instead of the current file extension
set TSUG=990

Note that if TSUG>889 then the auto-suggest prompt will indicate that the default is ‘N’ ([N]/Y) but actually the default will be ‘Y’ because the suggested file extension will be used if the user just presses the ENTER key! 

TSUG and redir\redirp interaction

TSUG will override redir for auto-suggest, so if you use redir and  TSUG, then you will still see the auto-suggest text and prompt, e.g.

# user will not see payload enumeration messages and other informational messages and will not see auto-suggest message or prompt if .iso file selected
set redir=> nul
 
# user will not see payload enumeration messages and other informational messages but will see auto-suggest messages and prompt with 3sec timeout
set redir=> nul
set TSUG=3

redirp will override TSUG – the user will not see any auto-suggest messages if redirp is set (not recommended).