Future UEFI support in SpinRite

  • Be sure to checkout “Tips & Tricks”
    Dear Guest Visitor → Once you register and log-in please checkout the “Tips & Tricks” page for some very handy tips!

    /Steve.
  • BootAble – FreeDOS boot testing freeware

    To obtain direct, low-level access to a system's mass storage drives, SpinRite runs under a GRC-customized version of FreeDOS which has been modified to add compatibility with all file systems. In order to run SpinRite it must first be possible to boot FreeDOS.

    GRC's “BootAble” freeware allows anyone to easily create BIOS-bootable media in order to workout and confirm the details of getting a machine to boot FreeDOS through a BIOS. Once the means of doing that has been determined, the media created by SpinRite can be booted and run in the same way.

    The participants here, who have taken the time to share their knowledge and experience, their successes and some frustrations with booting their computers into FreeDOS, have created a valuable knowledgebase which will benefit everyone who follows.

    You may click on the image to the right to obtain your own copy of BootAble. Then use the knowledge and experience documented here to boot your computer(s) into FreeDOS. And please do not hesitate to ask questions – nowhere else can better answers be found.

    (You may permanently close this reminder with the 'X' in the upper right.)

Jofred

New member
Jan 5, 2021
1
0
To add to @PHolder's excellent post, the implication of this is that many newer machines (which will be documented in this thread) that only boot via UEFI and not legacy boot, will not be able to run SpinRite or ReadSpeed until @Steve incorporates UEFI support into the applications (expected in SpinRite 7.0).

Microsoft Surface Books (1 - 3) do not support legacy boot.
I am a little disappointed at this. The last few years I have had a lot of issues to run Spinrite on several computers, and as everyone else I have been looking so much forward to version 6.1 that should solve the issues. The focus has been speed, but it has been issues making it hard to solve issues on newer machines, to the point where I have stopped using Spinrite some time ago.

Very eager to test the ReadSpeed utility I see that I probably do not have any machines that I can test it on. They all seem to be UEFI boot only, as I expect most future machines will be? I also assume that the reply above means that 6.1 will never run on any of these computers?

I am really ok with that. Buyers of 6.0 from many years ago have had their money worth, over years. But I really hope that Steve will make a upgrade to 6.5 or something that adds UEFI support, (and nothing else). I would be happy to pay for the upgrade of my license of 6.0 to a version that will work on the computers I use. (I imagine that buyers for the last year or two that has been promised upgrade to 6.1 would expect UEFI support as a part of 6.1) By making it two different versions it would not impact the timing of 6.1, and it would make a version with UEFI support available (Also for sale) faster than if that first came in version 7.

Still hoping for a Spinrite that can run on my HP Elitebook machine before i change it. (I could not make it work.)

Jofred
 
I am in the same boat as you (all my current PCs are Surface Book or Surface Laptop). The version of SpinRite after 6.1 will be 7.0 and will just be UEFI support. It will be a paid upgrade unless you have purchased a recent copy of 6,1.
 
SpinRite 6.1 was always intended to be an enhanced update to SR 6.0, addressing many of the current issues with 6.0. As such, SR 6.1 will inherit SR 6.0's DOS dependence, by design. :(

Since ReadSpeed 1.0 released on Dec 24, 2020, it has become increasingly and painfully apparent, both to Steve and to many members of these GRC Public Forums, that this DOS dependence will be a major handicap for SR 6.1, which has not been released yet. :(

Thus, as soon as SR 6.1 is released (I believe it will be much sooner than many think :D ) Steve will begin working on a UEFI boot SpinRite - 7.0. :) :)

My understanding is that SpinRite 7.0 will be a paid ($29) upgrade for long time SR owners and free for recent SR 6.x purchases.
 
...
Thus, as soon as SR 6.1 is released (I believe it will be much sooner than many think :D ) Steve will begin working on a UEFI boot SpinRite - 7.0. :) :)

My understanding is that SpinRite 7.0 will be a paid ($29) upgrade for long time SR owners and free for recent SR 6.x purchases.
Most of the work for 6.1 has been done in ReadSpeed.

Where did you get the $29 upgrade price?
 
Unfortunately newer ASUS laptops have no "Legacy"/CSM option. The only boot option is UEFI (either secured/or unsecured).
As I understand, FreeDOS will NEVER support UEFI, so the only options that remain are:
- maybe virtual machines with hardware access mapping (not sure what you can do for the bootable partition though)
- moving your drives into an older PC
 
Unfortunately newer ASUS laptops have no "Legacy"/CSM option. The only boot option is UEFI (either secured/or unsecured).
As I understand, FreeDOS will NEVER support UEFI
True. But then, all (or almost all?) new systems are UEFI only these days.

The ultimate solution is SpinRite 7.0 which will support UEFI boot.

@Steve is currently hard at work building SpinRite 6.1, the last Bios-DOS only version. Per comments Steve has made, I am under the impression that SpinRite 7.0 could come relatively quickly after SpinRite 6.1 is released. Time will tell.
 
Last edited:
Have been using Spinrite since early this century after being introduced to it through the SN podcast (when podcasting was still a novel thing), and have been patiently waiting for 6.1, as we all have, for years. Today, my main system with a 500GB M.2 NvME decided it was going to start freezing, then blue-screening, and I *know* if I could run ReadSpeed on the drive, I'd likely see it is the source of the issue (WD Black, 2 years old). I also know, from my recent experience with the desktop system I'm typing this on now - an Optiplex 9010) that running SR level 3 on an SSD does indeed fix the problems exposed by ReadSpeed.

I also 'know' SR 6.1 is 'imminent', but the fact is we need UEFI booting for SR to have any significant value.

I own 2 copies of SR, and I'm prepared to purchase 2 more to qualify for the 'consultant' license (I'll probably buy 2 copies of 6.1 to get the 'free' 7.x upgrade).

I hope Steve needs money, or at least can use more money, because I'm waiving my credit card in the air.

Please, Steve. No more side projects until SR v? is done with UEFI support. And with your recent revelation that you can port existing code to 32-bit, I hope beyond all hope it happens this year. We need this more than ever.
 
I also 'know' SR 6.1 is 'imminent', but the fact is we need UEFI booting for SR to have any significant value.
You bought SpinRite 6 without UEFI, so why would you expect it to be supported magically in a point upgrade. We need SR 6.1 for those people who have been long term owners but are unable to use it on the older machines (that legacy boot) because it doesn't support GPT and disks larger than 2TB.

It seems perfectly acceptable to me to charge for the SpineRite 7 upgrade to support UEFI and the more modern machines that use it.
 
I also 'know' SR 6.1 is 'imminent', but the fact is we need UEFI booting for SR to have any significant value
SpinRite 6.1 is a much needed and long awaited update for us long time SpinRite 6.0 owners. It seems to be coming along nicely and I think it is not that far off. But no, I cannot say when that might be. No one can. :)

Per Steve's SpinRite Roadmap, he will begin work on UEFI boot immediately after releasing SR 6.1. Per comments he has made re the new development environment he is currently using, I'm thinking it might not take him all that long to do SR 7.0 with UEFI boot. Time will tell.

Full USB support will come with SpinRite 7.1. Until then, SpinRite's ability to work with external drives will be limited at best.

And then SpinRite 7.2 will bring NVMe support.

It's a very ambitious project. But there is only one of Steve. So, it's going to take time to accomplish. :)
 
Last edited:
You bought SpinRite 6 without UEFI, so why would you expect it to be supported magically in a point upgrade. We need SR 6.1 for those people who have been long term owners but are unable to use it on the older machines (that legacy boot) because it doesn't support GPT and disks larger than 2TB.

It seems perfectly acceptable to me to charge for the SpineRite 7 upgrade to support UEFI and the more modern machines that use it.
I was not asking for it to be supported in 6.1, and yes, there is value in 6.1 without UEFI. Perhaps I was too harsh in my wording, but it's been a long wait. As Steve's bread and butter, I'd think he would want to have 7.0 out asap, and perhaps now that he's nose-to-grindstone, we'll see it sooner than later (I hope).
 
Any updates on this? if not, are there any other solutions out there I can use?

Steve is currently hard at work on SpinRite 6.1. This needs to be done first as it will become the foundation for the SpinRite 7.x development that will follow.

The SpinRite 6.1 effort apparently involves a pretty much complete re-write of the 17 year old SR 6.0 code. Some of that code is obsolete code that has no relevance to today. Some of the relevant code has Steve scratching his head while deciphering what he did 17 years ago. Hence the major rewrite to reflect the improved coding practices Steve uses today and to yield code that will be much more maintainable. It’s taking some time, but considering that future SpinRite development depends on it . . .
 
  • Like
Reactions: Barry Wallis
Some of the relevant code has Steve scratching his head while deciphering what he did 17 years ago.

Fortunately, when coding in ASM, you can scratch your head with one hand and type the commands or macros with the other without losing as much time as when using a higher-level language. ;)
 
Last edited: