Tutorial: Mount boot stick partitions in Windows (edit grub.cfg, add extra.lzma)

[jensmander 167]

If you want to modify your grub.cfg of your written boot stick or want to access the partitions (adding extra.lzma from @IG-88) you can use a free portable tool.

 

Notes:

 

- the grub.cfg is located in the folder "grub" on the first partition (15MB)

- the extra.lzma is on the second partition (30MB)

 

1.) Download MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition (portable):

 

https://www.partitionwizard.com/download/v12-portable/pw12-free-64bit.zip

 

2.) Unzip it and launch the "partitionwizard.exe" with administrative rights.

 

3.) Plug in your boot stick. Partition Wizard will automatically recognize the new drive. In this example it is drive no. 4. Now select the 1st partition of your stick (15MB) -> rightclick and select "Change Letter" in the context menu.

 

4.) Select a desired drive letter and click on "OK".

 

 

5.) In the lower left pane of the tool click on "Apply" and confirm the pending changes:

 

 

 

If everything went OK you should see a success message:

 

 

Now you have full access to the 1st partition with the Explorer or your favourite file manager.

 

If you're done with any modifications it's advisable to unmount the drive letter. The steps are nearly the same.

 

6.) Right click the 1st partition again -> "Change Letter" -> select "New Drive Letter: none" -> "OK" -> click on "Apply" to the lower left and confirm the changes.

 

 

 

[chrisdefrag72 1]

thank you you saved me or you saved my data especially after updating DSM HS. I removed the extra izma modified by the original one.

[drapan 0]

I do as explained, partitions are mounted,  first partition (15MB)  can't be accessed, Windows tell me "You don't currently have permission to access this folder"

For the second partition, everything is ok , can be mounted and accessible from explorer.

 

I need this to copy grub.cfg.

Any idea ?

 

 

[jensmander 167]

On 5/26/2020 at 8:59 AM, jensmander said:

launch the "partitionwizard.exe" with administrative rights

 

Did you do that?

[indyslim 0]

Can I also use this tool to make a back up copy of the boot USB stick from a functioning DSM installation?

[jensmander 167]

13 hours ago, indyslim said:

Can I also use this tool to make a back up copy of the boot USB stick from a functioning DSM installation?

 

No, for this you would need another tool, like the "USB image tool" (freeware):

 

https://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/

 

 

[IG-88 822]

beside the mounting with partitionwizard there is a better way to use the tool to get easy access to the loaders 1st and 2nd partition

start the tool, right click on the loaders main entry where is states GPT, convert it to MBR, apply to execute the oüeration, do the same again but revers it, convert it to GPT and click apply

now windows 10 can access both partitions as its supposed to be and you don't need any additional tools

 

and with that its also possible to get the MBR version of the loader (often needed for HP desktop's), no need for a special download of the loader, just do it yourself

 

@jensmander maybe you can add this in the 1st post as option?

[flyride 582]

Nice trick.  Does this work to make 1.03b loader usable on UEFI-only systems?

Edited April 16 by flyride

[asheenlevrai 1]

On 5/26/2020 at 8:59 AM, jensmander said:

If you want to modify your grub.cfg of your written boot stick or want to access the partitions (adding extra.lzma from @IG-88) you can use a free portable tool.

 

Notes:

 

- the grub.cfg is located in the folder "grub" on the first partition (15MB)

- the extra.lzma is on the second partition (30MB)

 

1.) Download MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition (portable):

 

https://www.partitionwizard.com/download/v12-portable/pw12-free-64bit.zip

 

2.) Unzip it and launch the "partitionwizard.exe" with administrative rights.

 

3.) Plug in your boot stick. Partition Wizard will automatically recognize the new drive. In this example it is drive no. 4. Now select the 1st partition of your stick (15MB) -> rightclick and select "Change Letter" in the context menu.

 

4.) Select a desired drive letter and click on "OK".

 

 

5.) In the lower left pane of the tool click on "Apply" and confirm the pending changes:

 

 

 

If everything went OK you should see a success message:

 

 

Now you have full access to the 1st partition with the Explorer or your favourite file manager.

 

If you're done with any modifications it's advisable to unmount the drive letter. The steps are nearly the same.

 

6.) Right click the 1st partition again -> "Change Letter" -> select "New Drive Letter: none" -> "OK" -> click on "Apply" to the lower left and confirm the changes.

 

 

 

Hi

 

I get the following error:

 

 

When I click on "security tab" (opens properties but there is no Security tab)

 

I'm trying to read the grub.cfg file to see if I made any mistake.

 

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

Best,

-a-

Edited July 2 by asheenlevrai

[asheenlevrai 1]

On 4/16/2021 at 4:34 PM, IG-88 said:

beside the mounting with partitionwizard there is a better way to use the tool to get easy access to the loaders 1st and 2nd partition

start the tool, right click on the loaders main entry where is states GPT, convert it to MBR, apply to execute the oüeration, do the same again but revers it, convert it to GPT and click apply

now windows 10 can access both partitions as its supposed to be and you don't need any additional tools

 

and with that its also possible to get the MBR version of the loader (often needed for HP desktop's), no need for a special download of the loader, just do it yourself

 

@jensmander maybe you can add this in the 1st post as option?

I tried that but I get the same error as in the previous post.

[asheenlevrai 1]

...

Great

Now, the USB loader doesn't work anymore on my xpen rig...

I need to make a new one I guess