2TB SSD What is the Best Partition Layout
I have a Sandisk 2tb Portable SSD , and I want to set it up with Easy2Boot.
I will be Using it to Install Windows 10 on My System which has onboard Raid , Intel RST.
There may be times that I will want to Install Windows on Legacy Bios Systems.
I will be Using it to Install Linux on My Own System and perhaps on some Legacy Systems.
I won't be needing to install XP or Windows 7 on any 32bit systems.
So I basically need this SSD to be prepared for Any Occasion .
However I am Confused about the the Partition Layout.
When I run the make E2B it more or less tells me to Use Two Partitions, The first one should be 128 or 32 or something for max compatibility .
Then the next one should be something else, Confusing.???.
I just want One Big Partition with all My ISO's, Apps and Stuff.
So I tried it with one big partition but it didn't work.
So I need some Assistance in Creating it .
Any help would be appreciated.
If you only want to Legacy boot from the USB drive and install non-UEFI windows then you can have just one large NTFS partition.
BUT
Many computers have a Legacy BIOS bug and they will not access sectors beyond 128GB on a USB drive - so if you have placed any file past 128GB on the USB disk AND you boot on one of these bad BIOSes (which are quite common) then it just won't be able to access that ISO (or whatever file you want to boot to).
ALSO if you later update the E2B drive with a later version of E2B, it is possible that one or more of the new E2B files will be written beyond the 128GB point on the drive. So when you next try to Legacy boot on a bad BIOS - it wont boot or wont work correctly.
That is why I strongly recommend that you keep the first partition under 128GB.
Another BIOS bug is typically found where if a USB drive only has a single partition, the BIOS treats the USB drive as a USB floppy disk instead of a USB Hard disk. This means it tries to boot it as a floppy disk and so it fails to boot to the E2B menu. That is why I strongly recommend that you have two partitions on the USB drive. Even if the 2nd partition is empty and unformatted - it doesn't matter - it is enough to make these bad BIOSes boot it correctly as a USB HDD instead of a USB FDD.
Next we have the issue of UEFI. Now UEFI BIOSes need a FAT partition to boot from. Since the E2B Ptn 1 is NTFS, we need to add the agFM UEFI boot files to a second FAT32 partition so we can UEFI-boot from modern systems.
Due to the first BIOS bug I mentioned, this FAT32 partition should also be within 128GB of the beginning of the USB disk because this partition also carries some agFM and Ventoy Legacy boot files too.
So we have:
Primary Ptn1: NTFS (127GB)
Primary Ptn2: FAT32 (600MB+)
If you have a large USB HDD, you can add a 3rd partition which can be formatted as NTFS and you can place any extra files on that partition.
Using agFM and Ventoy you can browse to any payload file on the 3rd partition. You can also add a special menu file into E2B to select files from the 3rd partition within the E2B menu system, if needed.
So use the Gear Wheel button in Make_E2B.exe and follow the recommendations.
Thanks to ( steve6375 ).
I appreciate your thoughts and once again thanks for that info.
I have been using e2b and ventoy for some time now.
I couldn't get ventoy to work with a VHD of windows, But I just Sorted that out and all is working just fine now.
So for the time being I will stay with ventoy.
But I will keep a copy of your advice should I need to go back to E2B.
Cheers, John
Ventoy (or any legacy boot USB drive) will hit the same BIOS bugs as E2B.
Ventoy places all of its boot files on partition 2 which is normally at the end of the drive. So again, you should ensure Ptns 1 and 2 add up to below 128GB if you want legacy booting to work on as wide a variety of systems as possible.
Quote from steve6375 on 2022-09-15, 12:16 PMSo we have:
Primary Ptn1: NTFS (127GB)
Primary Ptn2: FAT32 (600MB+)If you have a large USB HDD, you can add a 3rd partition which can be formatted as NTFS and you can place any extra files on that partition.
Hi Steve and Sparks,
I was hoping to do something similar. I thought "Hey, I'll by a 1 TB NVMe SSD and throw it in an external usb enclosure. Then I'll copy a whole lot of Windows and Linux .isos on it and I'll have plenty of space to spare!!!"
Uh... Not that easy hey?
I now know about the 128GB limitation for partitions 1 and 2.
Apparently if we create a third partition, we can no longer Boot Linux-based ISOs with persistence.
What if I use just a 128GB SSD for E2B, with 2 partitions. Put the most often used payloads on partition 1. Then I could use a second SSD to store more Payloads. Can E2B load Payloads from a second Drive?
The legacy E2B menu will not work well for Linux ISOs when on another drive, esp. if you want to use persistence files or imgptn, etc. You can try agFM and Ventoy menu systems which may work better.
I would make a ptn3. Using Linux Live CD ISO + persistence is very unreliable in my experience (mainly because if you don't shutdown Linux nicely it corrupts the persistence file and then you cannot boot from the ISO again until you replace the persistence file as it prevents it from booting).
Why not add Linux fixed VHD files - then you have fully installed Linux OS's? These can be kept on Partition 3.
Note that if the BIOS has the 128GB legacy USB bug then you cannot access or boot any files on ptn3 or past 128GB anyway!
If you make the first partition greater than 128GB and you try to boot on a 128GB-buggy BIOS, it may not even boot at all because the legacy boot files may be located past 128GB (esp. if you have updated the USB drive with newer versions of E2B and the original boot files have been moved).
Also note: E2B (legacy) has a USB driver which does not have the 128GB bug - so if you find a system with the 128GB legacy BIOS USB driver bug - just hold down the SHIFT key as E2B starts to boot and the grub4dos USB 2.0 driver will be loaded. If the system has a compatible USB 2 controller then it will install successfully. As well as fixing the 128GB bug it is also usually faster than the BIOS USB 2 driver. Unfortunately, the grub4dos USB 2 driver does not work with modern USB 2 and USB 3 chipsets and also it wont even start to boot to grub4dos if the main boot file (\grldr) happens to be located past 128GB on the drive.
I'd rather go the "only 1 drive needed" way. Much simpler.
Quote from steve6375 on 2022-10-10, 9:15 AMWhy not add Linux fixed VHD files - then you have fully installed Linux OS's? These can be kept on Partition 3.
That would be awesome. I haven't use a Linux fixed VHD before. Would this video be a good start on how to proceed to create one? : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBjpJl5nMGQ
Is it only generally older BIOSes that have the 128GB bug? Or can newer BIOSes have it too?
Quote from steve6375 on 2022-10-10, 9:15 AMJust hold down the SHIFT key as E2B starts to boot and the grub4dos USB 2.0 driver will be loaded.
Nice trick to know! Thanks!
I have not heard of any 128GB buggy legacy BIOSes made in last 5 years, but that doesn't mean to say that there aren't any.
Yes that video.
You can boot it using latest agFM or Ventoy for E2B, but you will need the latest Beta version of E2B 2.16 if you want to legacy boot .vtoy files using the E2B menu system.
Cool.
If I want to put some payloads on PTN3, do I need to, beforehand, replicate the _ISO folder (of PTN1) and all it's subfolders and files, on PTN3?
Should I rename all my .imgPTN files to .imgPTN23? That way, PTN3 would be available for storage, if needed, when loading an .imgPTN.
Yes
yes
I recomend downloading the latest Beta 2.16j of E2B. In it you will find a sample mnu file "\_ISO\docs\Sample mnu files\E2B Menus\PTN3_ADD_ALL_FOLDERS_TO_MENU.mnu" which you can copy to \_ISO\MAINMENU.
Note that .imgptn and .imgptn23 files should only be on Ptn1 or else UEFI BIOSes will not recognise the USB drive at all if you try to switch in a .imgptn/imgptn23 file which is on ptn3.
You can use .imgptnREP3 for image partition files on Partition 3 - it will replaces the entire Ptn3 with its contents when you switch it in.
It is really best just to put imgptn/imgptn23 files only on ptn1.
We put PTN3_ADD_ALL_FOLDERS_TO_MENU.mnu in \_ISO\MAINMENU of PTN1 or PTN3 (I'm guessing PTN1)?
So, it's usually better to put imgptn/imgptn23 files on ptn1, but if space is an issue we can put them on ptn3 and rename their extension to .imgptnREP3 and they should work fine? It's just that ptn3 content won't be available while it's switched in. Correct?
Quote from steve6375 on 2022-10-10, 9:15 AMWhy not add Linux fixed VHD files - then you have fully installed Linux OS's? These can be kept on Partition 3.
Wow! I've just booted my first Zorin Lite VHD from ptn3 on an i5-4570. This is cool!
While in Zorin, is it normal I could mount pt1 and ptn2 but not ptn3?
The 'source' partition is obscured.
If you boot using Ventoy you can add a REMOUNT configuration setting to the \ventoy\ventoy.json file as described in the video.
If you boot using E2B or agFM menus, you must modify the grub file as described in eBook 'Getting started with Ventoy'.
Quote from steve6375 on 2022-10-12, 3:26 PMThe 'source' partition is obscured.
If you boot using Ventoy you can add a REMOUNT configuration setting to the \ventoy\ventoy.json file as described in the video.
Ah OK. Thanks for the tip. Oh, you see, I hadn't make it to the end of the Video :-p
One thing I did, different from the video, is (before first booting from the Zorin iso) :
- Shut down the vm
- Machine: Settings: System: Motherboard: Extended Features: Checked: Enable EFI
- Then I booted the vm with the Zorin iso and installed Zorin.
- I can now boot from UEFI via Ventoy.
Got this from here: https://www.ventoy.net/en/plugin_vtoyboot.html
Sure but you cant legacy boot the VHD. There is a link in the description of the video which leads to another YT video which tells you how to add legacy booting to the VHD (but make a backup of the VHD first in case it screws it up!).
Quote from steve6375 on 2022-10-12, 3:58 PMSure but you cant legacy boot the VHD. There is a link in the description of the video which leads to another YT video which tells you how to add legacy booting to the VHD (but make a backup of the VHD first in case it screws it up!).
OK cool. This'll be handy.
Thanks for all your help Steeve. Appreciate it! 🙂
If you want a portable workstation setup as well, I can recommend checking out https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Install_Arch_Linux_on_a_removable_medium and https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Multiboot_USB_drive#Hybrid_UEFI_GPT_+_BIOS_GPT/MBR_boot which provide hints for how to achieve something similar to E2B with GPT 😉
I use this on one of my sticks and E2B on the other, one for setup surgery and one for work 🙂