MPI Tool Kit

The MPI Tool Kit allows you to convert a payload file or folder to a Partition Image file – .imgPTN, .imgPTN23 or .imgPTNREP3 (using a Windows system).

• A .imgPTN file will replace Partition 1 of the USB drive and temporarily remove partitions 2 and 3.
• A .imgPTN23 file will replace Partition 1 of the USB drive but also keep partitions 2 and 3 (if present).
• A .imgPTNREP3 file will replace Partition 3 on the USB drive. The file itself should already be be inside Partition 3 of the USB drive.

Partition images can be made as FAT32 or NTFS volumes. However, partition images files can contain any filesystem – e.g. ext4.

Downloads

• Easy2Boot and MPI Tool Kit     (FossHub for superfast downloads)

Tip: If you want the second partition on the E2B USB drive to remain accessible, use a file extension of .imgPTN23 to keep partitions 2 and 3 (if they exist). 

Note: Easy2Boot v2 supports direct UEFI-booting of ISO, EFI, WIM, VHD files using the agFM grub2 menu system. .imgPTN files are only required if you have problems with payloads which won’t boot directly using agFM or Ventoy. .imgPTN files are particularly useful for multi-boot ISO conversion or when Secure Boot is needed. 

MakePartImage includes support for English, German, Czech and Hungarian menu option (other languages can be added by user), extracts EFI boot files, includes syslinux v6.03, rEFInd (does not support secure boot) can also be added as an option. 

Split_WinISO.exe is also included which is used for splitting large .wim or .esd files which may be inside a Windows Install ISO.  A new ISO can be made or it can be converted directly into a FAT32-formatted .imgPTN file. By making these files smaller than 2Gb each, the contents can be placed on a FAT32 partition and thus will support UEFI booting.

Note: Folder and file names must not contain the characters ! or $ or ( or ). 

Instructions

1. Download the MPI Tool Pack .zip file and extract the contents to a new folder on your Desktop
2. Run ImDisk\imdiskinst.exe (required by the .cmd file – see below)
3. Run the CreateDesktopShortcuts.cmd script to create the Desktop Shortcuts
4. Drag-and-drop your ISOs onto the MPI_FAT32 Desktop Shortcut which runs the MakePartImage.cmd script (use FAT32 for UEFI-bootable images)

The MakePartImage.cmd Windows batch file in the MPI Tool Kit is the main tool which converts a bootable payload file (or USB drive partition) into a partition image (.imgPTN23) file which can then be added to your E2B USB drive. The extension can be changed by the user after it has been made.

• This Windows MPI Tool Kit is required if you want to convert an ISO/payload for UEFI-booting (Windows, Linux, KonBoot, MemTest86, etc.) and for ‘special’ ISOs such as Windows All-in-One ISOs, Hirens ISOs, Falcon F4, Strelec, etc.
• For UEFI-booting, convert the ISO using the MPI_FAT32 Desktop shortcut.
• Note: adding rEFInd+WinPE requires you to run MPI on a Win8/10 system.
• If you are using a USB Hard drive, you can convert Windows Install ISOs to .imgPTN files and they will MBR- and UEFI-boot and no ‘Helper’ USB Flash drive is required.
• Use SWITCH_E2B.exe to quickly ‘switch-in’ any .imgPTN file or ‘switch-back’ to E2B Menu mode using a Windows host system – no need to boot to the E2B menu first (E2B v1.73+ and MPI v0.055+)!

IMPORTANT! If you are updating MPI , you should re-install ImDisk because new versions use a Windows 10-compatible version of ImDisk – see below. See MPI Tool Pack Version History for changes. 

Alternate download sources (check here for latest\Beta version)

To Update the MPI Tool Pack to a later version

1. Download the MPI Tool Pack and extract the contents to a new folder on your Desktop
2. Run ImDisk\imdiskinst.exe
3. Run the CreateDesktopShortcuts.cmd
4. If you previously added your own files into the CUSTOM folder of the previous version, you should copy the contents of the old CUSTOM folder to the new MPI Tool Packs CUSTOM folder. If you have a menu.lst file in your CUSTOM folder, please compare it with the menu.lst file in the csm folder to look for any changes. If there is a CUSTOM_PE folder, update the contents with the previous version.

MakePartImage.cmd (MPI) user prompts

Some of these questions may not appear, it depends on what command line parameters you have used and what source you specify. Default answers are indicated in square brackets by MakePartImage, usually you just need to press [Enter] to use the default answer. If you drag-and-drop into a Desktop shortcut, some questions may be omitted.

1. Add multi-UEFI support ([1]/2/N/R) – adds the rEFInd UEFI boot manager GUI (non-secure) – default is No. Timeout in 30 seconds. Do not add if you want to Secure Boot.
2. Source ISO or Folder – specify either a path to an ISO file (or zip/7z file) (e.g. C:\fred\debian.iso) OR a USB drive that you want to ‘clone’ (e.g. G:\) or a folder that contains a copy of the source files (e.g. C:\temp\ExtractedWin8\). Note that the path should always end in a backslash. Remember, you can type TAB  on the command line during typing, to make Windows complete the path or filename for you.
3. Use FAT32 for the new image (N=NTFS) (A/[Y]/N) :  – Type either FAT32 or NTFS or hit enter for the default which is indicated by the [square brackets] (Y=FAT32 is the default). If you are using a Windows ISO which has a file >4GB inside it, you must choose NTFS (but it won’t UEFI boot) or split the install.wim into smaller files – see here for details.
4. Size for Image file (MB), min=38 – e.g. [1073] : – Enter the size that will be required for the partition image. Hit [Enter] for the suggested size (which is usually a tad generous). If the process fails due to insufficient space, run MPI again and increase the size.
5. OUTPUT FILENAME for new Image (e.g. C:\temp\xxx.imgPTN) : – A DEFAULT path and name may be suggested – if so, just hit [Enter], otherwise type a valid path and filename. If the path contains spaces, enclose the whole path in double-quotes. Usually E2B will require a .imgPTN or .imgPTN23 file extension.
6. VOLUME NAME for partition [LIVE] : – MPI will use ‘LIVE’ as the default volume name OR if using a USB drive as the source, it will use the same Volume Name as the source USB drive. If the image is made from an XBOOT drive, use the Volume Name of XBOOT. Max = 11. Avoid using spaces. If the source is a folder, you will be prompted for a Volume name.
7. EI.CFG – if a Windows install payload is detected, you may be asked if you want to delete or make an EI.cfg file. This can enable more choices as often Windows Install ISOs contain multiple versions. If you are unsure what to answer – just press [Enter].
   Windows 8/10 ISOs usually do not contain an EI.CFG file – if you add one it will allow you to pick any version contained inside the ISO. It will also avoid you having to enter a Product Key and also allow you to use ‘split wim’ files (.swm files).
   If your source is a Windows 7 ISO, it usually contains an EI.CFG file – by using a modified EI.CFG file, you will be able to choose any version inside the ISO.
8. Which version of Syslinux shall I use (37,38,[4],5,6,N=None) : – Normally it is safe to use the suggested version. Some versions of Linux may require Version 6 (tip: if you see a ‘COM32R’ error when booting from the CSM menu, then try ‘6’ instead).
9. Press a key to dismount – At this point you can inspect and change the contents of the ImDisk RAM drive volume (usually U:). Once you press a key, the volume will be dismounted and all contents saved to the image file.
10. MENU.LST FOUND – OK  to combine them ([Y]/R/N) : – If a menu.lst file is found, it indicates that the source payload is grub4dos bootable. As MPI installs it’s own menu.lst file there is a problem! Normally the safest thing to do is combine the two menus, however you may find that some of the menu entries are redundant or don’t work. If the main CSM ‘Boot from this drive’ entry works, then re-make the .imgPTN file and answer R for Replace. You are strongly advised to NOT answer N because unless you use the MPI CSM menu.lst, you will not be able to easily restore the E2B drive partitions after switching to the .imgPTN partition (but see the RestoreE2B utility below). Unless the menu contains the correct commands, E2B will refuse to run the .imgPTN file.
11. Title of the CSM menu : – If you did not use an ISO file as the source, then we need to know what the payload actually is, so we can display the name at the top of the CSM menu. You can edit this heading in the menu.lst file once the image is made.
12. INFORMATION: xxx occurs in the .YYY files – AUTO-CORRECT these? ([Y]/N) : – If syslinux, grub, EFI config files or isolinux files have been detected (.cfg, .lst or .conf) then MPI can attempt to do ‘fixups’ on these so that it matches the Volume Label of the partition and the UUID of the partition, as well as change the parameters for USB booting rather than CDROM booting. Normally, just hit [Enter] to change all these automatically. For a Hirens ISO, you may need to answer No to ensure any linux files still boot.
    Tip: To see what it finds and what it changes them to, type set NOISY=1 at the command console before you run MPI.
13. WARNING: Cannot dismount volume U: – This is quite common/normal on some systems if you have Explorer windows open, hit [Enter] and another attempt will be made to dismount the ramdrive.
14. A Windows Explorer window will open if the image file was made successfully. If there was a problem the console background will change to a red colour and the ImDisk Manager Control Panel application may appear so that you can ‘Remove’ any ramdisk drive that is ‘stuck’.