Rufus++ v0.2.1

Rufus++ 0.2.1 fixes VHDX captures rejected by independent readers and adds
independent VHD/VHDX decoding checks. Physical USB capture/restore tests now cover
DD, fixed VHD, dynamic VHD and VHDX on macOS.

Fixed

• Reserve an aligned, empty VHDX log region and record its offset and length in
  both checksummed headers. Previously, Rufus++ accepted its own capture while
  QEMU rejected the invalid log location. The fix is in the portable capture
  writer and ships in every platform package.
• Existing VHDX files are not rewritten by an upgrade. Recapture the source with
  0.2.1 to produce the corrected layout.

Added

• Assert VHDX log geometry in native regression tests and compare captured VHD
  and VHDX files byte-for-byte through QEMU's independent decoder when
  qemu-img is installed. Linux build/package CI now installs this dependency.
  VHD comparisons explicitly use the footer's declared disk size so older QEMU
  versions do not substitute rounded legacy CHS geometry.
• Add a manual, identity-pinned physical USB capture/restore runner with
  deterministic dummy files, independent raw FAT32 checks, resumable evidence
  and temporary host-mount suppression. Its automated safety checks use mocks
  and private files; normal tests never write a physical device.

Validation and known limits

• All 27 local macOS arm64 CTest entries pass, including the independent decoder
  regression and 38 physical-runner safety cases. The decoder regression failed
  with the old writer and passed with the fix.
• DD, fixed VHD, dynamic VHD and corrected VHDX captures passed production
  restore/verification, independent comparison of all 15,472,047,104 physical
  bytes, and all 82 fixture files plus nine directories on the tested Kingston.
• Some completed writes were followed by macOS losing the disk interface.
  Protected reconnects and read-only continuations completed the independent
  checks without repeating those writes. The cause remains unresolved; these
  results establish data integrity after recovery, not uninterrupted operation.
• This remains a field-testing preview. Other physical host backends, devices,
  actual PC firmware, Secure Boot and a complete Windows installation remain
  separate qualifications. macOS packages retain unsigned-root development mode.

See the write-test record
for the procedure, retained failures and coverage limits.

Packages built and tested from commit ba4b848.

The macOS DMGs are explicitly unsigned-root development builds for controlled field testing. They run in restricted mode normally and enable physical-device operations only when their bundle executable is launched with sudo. They are not signed or notarized distribution builds.