DDRescue-GUI 1.4 Release Notes and Changes

DDRescue-GUI 1.4 Release Notes

This new version is now finally ready, and it’s better than ever.

The whole GUI has been redesigned from the ground up, and it’s now much faster, sleeker and smoother, as well as more intuitive and helpful to the user.

On OS X in particular, there are many, many improvements over the last stable version, including new bundled Python (v2.7.10), and wxPython (v3.0.2, running on Cocoa), new bundled ddrescue (v1.19) disk image mounting support and stability improvements.

There are a lot of improvements for Linux as well, especially for efficiency: the new GUI displays much more helpful information to the user during recovery, but even when all of it is visible, it remains as efficient as the last version, as well as starting more quickly.

There are several improvements for both Linux and OS X as well, including a nice new authentication dialog and direct disk access (most Linux distros, and OS X).

If you’re interested, you can see the full list of changes in the changelog below.

DDRescue-GUI 1.4 Changes

  • Credit Minnie McIntyre-Bhatty for the idea for the splash screen, and for GUI design in this new version.
  • Credit Holly McIntyre-Bhatty for logo and splash screen design in the about box as well as the release page.
  • Update code (remove dependency on wx.lib.pubsub.Publisher()).
  • Update about box.
  • Use sizers with the Device Information Window.
  • Redesign the Preferences Window, and also switch to using sizers.
  • Redesign the Device Info Window.
  • Integrate the new device detection method into DDRescue-GUI (imported from Wine Autostart 2.0~rc1) (MainWindow, and DeviceInfoWindow)
  • Rewrite the finished window with sizers.
  • Write logging information in, and add support for logging to /var/log/ddrescue-gui.log
  • Do some future-proofing for python 3, including:
  • Using the new absolute import statement,
  • Using the new print function,
  • Use only unicode strings and literals, internally dropping all ASCII strings.
  • Update file choice wildcards for easier use.
  • Use one button for both starting and aborting recovery.
  • Get the Device Information Window to display properly on OS X (call self.DevInfoPanel.Layout(), and I now do this for every panel).
  • Use docstrings at the start of functions and methods, instead of comments.
  • Make the new device detection system work on OS X.
  • Make the file choices more intelligent.
  • Write logging stuff into the new device detection system.
  • Redesign the main window.
  • Remove all dependence on listdevices.sh and getblocksize.sh
  • Get detailed recovery info working in the ListCtrl.
  • Fully integrate the icon into the GUI.
  • Remove the log file when exiting rather than when starting.
  • Redesign the arrows on MainWindow.
  • Make the wx.ListCtrls resize automatically.
  • Make the main listctrl and the outputbox look nice in the GUI, and work together in a better way.
  • Fix an important UI bug that occurs only when running a wxPython version newer than 2.8.12.1 (Only affects 1.4~rc1 active development, but not v1.3)
  • Fix another UI bug with the throbber for Ubuntu 14.10 and 15.04 (Only affects 1.4~rc1 active development, but not v1.3).
  • Unmount devices before attempting to recover any data.
  • Disable the new settings button during a recovery.
  • Enable experimental support for direct disk access (not yet tested on OS X)
  • Fix a variety of bugs, and make the dialog messages more simple and clear-cut.
  • Get the output box working fully.
  • Compile new ddrescue (1.19) for OS X.
  • Test the internal tools module on OS X.
  • Design a plan for the new OS X authentication Dialog.
  • Add OS X support in the new backend.
  • Remove the old backend code.
  • Remove startddrescue.sh
  • Get the elapsed time counter working.
  • Improve Linux mount support.
  • Remove the separate Partition view Window, replacing it with a wx.SingleChoiceDialog() (I didn’t know this existed at the time).
  • Get rid of the temporary directory (no longer needed).
  • Implement support for direct disk access for both Linux and OS X.
  • Make an image for the DMG installer for OS X, simplifying installation.
  • Create and semi-finalize the new authentication dialog.
  • Remove a dependency on the “platform” module, instead using wx.PlatformInfo, and saving some RAM.
  • Fix a number of OS X specific GUI bugs, and make the GUI more intuitive for Mac users.
  • Add support for mounting finished (or semi-finished) images on OS X (Like on Linux in v1.3).
  • Write the privacy policy.
  • Update the image for the DMG installer.

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