Helix Boot v0.6.10

Full Changelog: v0.6.9...v0.6.10

Helix Boot v0.6.9

Full Changelog: v0.6.8...v0.6.9

Helix Boot v0.6.8

Full Changelog: v0.6.7...v0.6.8

Helix Boot v0.6.7

Full Changelog: v0.6.6...v0.6.7

Helix Boot v0.6.6

Full Changelog: v0.6.5...v0.6.6

Helix Boot v0.6.5

A round of fixes from a review of everything added since 0.5.3. Two of them could lose data in unusual situations, so updating is recommended:

• an update from another PC that failed half-way could lose the stick's own icons and splash;
• on a stick last written by 0.6.1 or older, a tool could be removed as an "old version" of another whose file name differed only in a number.

Also: a refresh that changes nothing now writes nothing to the stick's theme, and Lazarus PE and Super GRUB2 Disk have icons in the default set.

Fixed

From a review of everything since 0.5.3:

• A stick's own icons and splash could be lost for good if an update from
  another PC failed half-way: they were moved aside first. They now stay in
  place.
• On a stick last written by 0.6.1 or older, a tool could be taken for an old
  version of another whose file name differed only in a number
  (windows10.iso, windows11.iso) and be removed. Only a download named after
  its version is matched that way now.
• A stick given a name of your own (stick_label), or renamed, was refused by
  refresh.sh and Update if its first fill had been cut short. It is known by
  Ventoy's own partition beside it.
• In the Windows app, Apply in the Look window could run while an update
  was copying. The Look window now holds the app while it is open.
• A dry run, and the app's update summary, listed an image that only moves
  folder as one to be removed.
• A look.json on the stick with a value this version doesn't know crashed
  theme.sh and left the Look… button doing nothing.
• In the Look window, a picture chosen but not sent was treated as already on
  the stick after Apply.
• A boot menu or theme file that couldn't be written on Windows was reported
  as "in use" and the update still ended as a success; only the running app's
  own file is let through now.
• refresh.sh <folder> stopped with an error after a good sync when the folder
  wasn't on a plain partition.

Changed

• A refresh that changes nothing writes nothing to the stick's theme: the
  theme on the stick is updated in place, and the boot menu is only rebuilt
  when what it is built from changed.

Added

• Icons in the default set for the two entries that still had their classic
  ones: Lazarus PE (the phoenix on a glossy badge, drawn by
  docs/artwork/helix-icons/make-lazarus-pe.py) and Super GRUB2 Disk.

Helix Boot v0.6.4

Please update from v0.6.2 and v0.6.3. In those, Update from a PC without your local.toml removed Kaspersky Rescue Disk from a stick that had it: the tool is switched off as shipped, and the update took that as a reason to remove it. Fixed here.

Also new:

• Helix Boot is on the stick itself. Every stick gets a HelixBoot folder with HelixBoot.exe and HelixBoot.sh, so it can be updated, or its look changed, from any PC.
• An update says what it will do first. HelixBoot.exe shows what it will copy, remove and keep, and asks before writing.
• A new stick is named HelixBoot instead of Ventoy.

Added

• Helix Boot on the stick itself: every stick gets a HelixBoot folder with
  the latest released HelixBoot.exe and HelixBoot.sh and a short README, so
  it can be updated, or its look changed, from any PC without downloading
  anything first.
• An update says what it will do before it does it. HelixBoot.exe shows
  what Update stick will copy, remove and keep, and asks before writing
  when anything is copied or removed. helix sync --dry-run and
  helix unpack --dry-run end with the same summary.
• A new stick is named HelixBoot instead of Ventoy (stick_label under
  [settings]; "Ventoy" keeps Ventoy's own).
• tests/boot/boot_menu.py boots the menu in QEMU with every theme, on UEFI
  and BIOS, and checks each came up; CI runs it on every push and keeps the
  screenshots.

Fixed

• An update from a PC without your local.toml removed a tool that is switched
  off as shipped but that you had switched on (Kaspersky Rescue Disk): it took
  "off here" as a reason to remove it. Only a tool switched off by hand in that
  PC's own local.toml counts now.

Changed

• A file on the stick that hasn't changed isn't written again on every
  refresh, and one that is in use (the app updating the stick from the stick,
  on Windows) no longer stops the run: it is replaced next time.

Helix Boot v0.6.3

New default icons. Every tool, category and Ventoy entry in the boot menu now has an icon from one glossy set, on every theme. The previous set is still there: ./theme.sh --icons classic, or Icons: Classic in the Windows app's Look window.

Also: a stick keeps its own icons and splash when it is updated from a PC that has none of its own.

Changed

• New default icons: every tool, category and Ventoy entry now has an icon
  from one glossy set, the HELIXBOOT icon collection, the same on every theme
  (the presets no longer recolour the category icons). The set before it, each
  tool's own logo with flat category icons, is the classic icon pack:
  ./theme.sh --icons classic. Masters are in docs/artwork/helix-icons/.
• A stick keeps its own icons and splash (the ones from a byo/ folder) when it
  is updated from a PC that has none of its own, instead of getting the stock
  ones back. The PC that put them there still replaces or removes them.

Helix Boot v0.6.2

Please update from v0.6.1 and earlier if you use a stick from more than one PC. In those versions, Update (and refresh.sh) made the stick match the PC running it: updating from a PC without your own files, such as the Windows app on a second machine, removed every paid and bring-your-own tool from the stick, and any tool whose download had just failed.

From this version a stick remembers which PC put each tool on it. An update removes a tool only when it brings a newer copy, when the tool is switched off, or when the PC that put it there no longer has it. Everything else stays, with its name and icon in the boot menu, and the run lists what it kept.

Also fixed: a stick renamed in Explorer wasn't recognised, HelixBoot.exe couldn't download from some sites, and the Look window didn't fit a short screen.

Changed

• An update no longer strips a stick of tools the updating PC doesn't have.
  Updating from a second PC (the Windows app without your byo files, say)
  used to remove every paid or bring-your-own tool, and a tool whose download
  had just failed. Now a managed file is removed only when the same tool was
  brought again (a newer version) or the tool is switched off; the rest stay,
  keep their names, tips and icons in the boot menu, and the run says which
  were kept. --prune-unknown (helix sync, helix unpack, refresh.sh)
  removes them as before. The stick records which tool each image belongs to;
  a pack says which tools were switched off where it was made.

Fixed

• HelixBoot.exe failed to download from some sites with
  CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED (Hiren's, OnyX): Windows hadn't fetched their
  root certificate yet. It now also trusts the certifi bundle.
• A stick whose data partition was renamed (to anything but Ventoy) wasn't
  recognised: the Windows app showed it as not having Ventoy, so Look… and
  Update refused it, and refresh.sh / theme.sh didn't find it. A stick
  is now known by Ventoy's own VTOYEFI partition, whatever the other is called.
• The Look window fits a short screen (a 1366×768 laptop, a small VM window): its
  preview is smaller there, so the buttons no longer end up under the taskbar.

Helix Boot v0.6.1

Two more boot-menu themes, greyscale icons, and a folder of tools for a Mac.

• Standby and Poly dark join the theme list (./theme.sh --theme standby, or the Look… window in HelixBoot.exe). They are other people's GRUB themes, adapted for Ventoy, and show every tool's icon in shades of grey. Standby is now the plain choice, in place of Ventoy's own white look.
• The stick gets a Mac folder: 18 free utilities to run on a working Mac, Apple silicon included, kept current like every other tool.

Standby is by Llewelyn Trahaearn (GPL) and Poly dark by Andrei Shevchuk (MIT); each is credited in its folder with its licence.

Added

• Tools for a Mac, in a Mac folder on the stick with a README.txt: 18
  free utilities to run on a working Mac (EtreCheck, OnyX, Malwarebytes, the
  Objective-See tools, Stats, Macs Fan Control, coconutBattery,
  GrandPerspective, AppCleaner, SuperDuper!, TestDisk & PhotoRec, Mist,
  OpenCore Legacy Patcher, Chris Titus Tech's MacUtil), fetched, verified and
  kept current like everything else. platform = "mac" on an app puts it
  there, as downloaded, and packs carry them.
• Two more themes for theme.sh and the Look window, both other people's GRUB
  themes with their own layout, adapted for Ventoy: Standby (Llewelyn
  Trahaearn, GPL) and Poly dark (Andrei Shevchuk, MIT), each with a splash
  in its colours. A preset can now bring its own layout and fonts
  (standalone = true in preset.toml).
• Greyscale icons: --icons grey redraws every icon, yours included, in shades
  of grey. Standby and Poly dark use it by themselves: the icon choice now
  defaults to auto, the theme's own style, and --icons logos keeps colour.

Changed

• Standby is the plain choice, in place of Ventoy's own white look: "Off" is no
  longer on the theme list, and --theme off (or a stick that had it) gives
  Standby. theme = "" in local.toml still gives Ventoy's own look.

Fixed

• The look preview follows each theme's own layout, boxes and font sizes.