WxFixBoot v2.0 Has Been Released. Check out the new features!

Hi all,

Yep, the new WxFixBoot v2.0 is finally ready! It offers a ton of new features and improvements, as well as looking nicer and working faster and more reliably 🙂

Support For Fedora!

This is the 1st stable version that supports Fedora, and I’m pleased to say it works and looks just as good on Fedora as any other system! There are some screenshots later on in the post to show this.

Improved Start-up Scripts

WxFixBoot v2.0 features greatly improved start-up scripts that work faster than before and also gather a lot more info that used to be gathered during operations. This allows you to be warned of pitfalls become they become problems, and provides a more helpful, intelligent experience 🙂 The start-up window also looks a lot nicer than before:

WxFixBoot v2.0’s new start-up window.
WxFixBoot v2.0’s new start-up window.

The first thing you might notice upon using WxFixBoot is that it has its own authentication dialog. Instead of using policy kit, it now uses a GUI front-end I wrote for sudo, much the same (except for the name and icon) as the one used for DDRescue-GUI:

WxFixBoot v2.0’s new authentication window running on Fedora 24.
WxFixBoot v2.0’s new authentication window running on Fedora 24.

The New Bootloader Options Window

There’s a new bootloader options window to see as well, which looks and works a lot better than the old one. It intelligently lists other bootloaders only when they are available (for each OS). Also, it properly supports multiple OSs, allowing you to modify any number of operating system as once if you so wish. I added some nice “Update Config” and “Fix/Reinstall” buttons to make general use easier, as well as expandable section for different types of operations.

WxFixBoot’s new bootloader options window running on Fedora 24 (1st picture).
WxFixBoot’s new bootloader options window running on Fedora 24 (1st picture).
WxFixBoot’s new bootloader options window running on Fedora 24 (2st picture).
WxFixBoot’s new bootloader options window running on Fedora 24 (2st picture).
WxFixBoot’s new bootloader options window running on Fedora 24 (3rd picture).
WxFixBoot’s new bootloader options window running on Fedora 24 (3rd picture).

As you can see, you can also backup, restore, and revert configuration, which are all helpful tools that aid usability.

System Information Window

This has been redesigned from the ground up, and shows you (almost) all of the helpful information WxFixBoot has gathered, including Disk Info, OS Info and Bootloader Info in quite a lot of detail, and all of the other, more complicated information can be found when you create a system report. Here’s what it displays on my system:

Bootloader Info in WxFixBoot’s System Info Window on Fedora 24.
Disk Info Page 1 in WxFixBoot v2.0’s New System Information Window on Linux Mint (image 1).
Disk Info Page 2 in WxFixBoot v2.0’s New System Information Window on Linux Mint (image 2).
Disk Info Page 2 in WxFixBoot v2.0’s New System Information Window on Linux Mint (image 2).
Disk Info Page 3 in WxFixBoot v2.0’s New System Information Window on Linux Mint.
Disk Info Page 3 in WxFixBoot v2.0’s New System Information Window on Linux Mint.
OS Info in WxFixBoot v2.0’s New System Information Window on Linux Mint.
OS Info in WxFixBoot v2.0’s New System Information Window on Linux Mint.
Bootloader Info Page 1 in WxFixBoot v2.0’s New System Information Window on Linux Mint.
Bootloader Info Page 1 in WxFixBoot v2.0’s New System Information Window on Linux Mint.
Bootloader Info Page 2 in WxFixBoot v2.0’s New System Information Window on Linux Mint.
Bootloader Info Page 2 in WxFixBoot v2.0’s New System Information Window on Linux Mint.

Other New Features and Improvements

There are numerous other improvements, too many to mention all of them in fact XD The Main Window looks slightly different:

WxFixBoot’s new(ish) Main Window on Linux Mint.
WxFixBoot’s new(ish) Main Window on Linux Mint.

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of the other most important fixes and features:

  • Rewrite all UI code to use sizers so windows are resize-able.
  • Add support for LVM and RAID disks.
  • Store all info and settings in dictionaries rather than loads of global variables.
  • Support LILO and ELILO better, and create recovery menu entries for OSs using them.
  • Make the system report generator run better and more reliably.
  • Write a privacy policy (you can see it in the View menu in the Main Window).
  • Detect EFI systems more reliably.
  • Better error handling so when stuff goes wrong you can normally try again or at least save the log file.

Conclusion

All in all, I’m very happy with the new version of WxFixBoot, and I hope you will be too 🙂
It’ll be landing in the next stable version of Parted Magic when it comes out too, but can be manually added to the current stable version as of right now (which is 2016_07_12). I hope you enjoyed reading this post, and stayed tuned, there are more to come! If you want to leave some feedback (positive and negative are both fine), drop me a comment below.

If you liked this one, check out my other posts too.

Hamish

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About Hamish McIntyre-Bhatty

I'm a self-employed software developer working on Free Software projects, as well as studying for my degree with the Open University. Being pedantic when it comes to detail is fortunately useful for both of these things! A strong believer in free software, I have a few pay-for programs available under the GPLv3 and enjoy reporting bugs and helping to improve various open source projects, including volunteering at Wimborne Model Town to work on their river control system.

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