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Problems with iprep and booting from USB
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Senior Member
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19. September 2008 @ 14:01 |
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Hi everyone i have some questions about using iprep to prepare a bootable usb for flashing samsung drive.
I have read the textbook and watched the video tut also.
i purchased a via card from newegg which was linked in the textbook so i know i have the right sata controller.
I used i prep to make a bootable usb drive and when i try to boot to the usb i get to a blank screen with a blinking cursor and that is all.
Is this what i should see? i know what dos is and everything so dont think i am stupid.
The reason i am asking is cause i cannot type on this screen. I press buttons but no characters show up, but i can do a ctrl-alt-del and the system responds so it appears the keyboard is working in this mode even though it is usb with usb for dos support enabled in the bios.
Now i was expecting it to boot into the program to flash to instead of a blank screen with blinking cursor.
however i have not connected by xbox drive yet to the card cause i am at work and i plan on preparing everything now to flash tonight when i get home.
does the program only move forward when a drive is plugged in? or do i need a keyboard with a ps2 conector?
also does the type or brand of usb drive matter? i am using a 4gb sandisk U3 cruzer, it has been formatted so all the preinstalled software and junk is removed. should i purchase a cheapy verbatim 1 gig stick from officemax?
I do not have internet access from home so that is why i post here now, i would like to flash my unit when i get home and play this weekend as i have already aquired force unleashed and pure.
i have spent 40 bucks on verbatim dvd+r dl discs and 30 bucks on the via card(overnight shipping) i would like to avoid spending further money on this as i think i have everything i need already but problems still persist.
any help is much appreciated and if possible please respond by 6pm central US time as i will be leaving work and not have internet access all weekend. Much thanks!
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AfterDawn Addict
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19. September 2008 @ 14:56 |
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Something is wrong in how your flash drive is formatted. I believe the guides tell you that even thought your drive might be connected, I thought it typically is off while you are first booting from the USB drive. I know I atleast had mine off when booting from it. It sounds like you have all the right hardware, so that shouldn't be the issue.
Also, it should not just be blank with a blinking cursor. The screens should show up that you see in textbook's guide. Something is wrong in how you formatted the flash drive, so you will need to fix that. Don't know how to tell you exactly what you did wrong, because I'm not there to see, but just be sure to follow the guide precisely. It's what I did and it worked, so it will work for you.
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Senior Member
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19. September 2008 @ 16:01 |
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Ok thanks for the advice. The only thing i can think of asfar as formatting goes is ntfs or fat32. currently it is fat32. i just went out and bought a new usb drive. this time a toshiba 4 gig. officemax has 2 gigs on sale for 9.99 but the 4 gig was 14.99 so i went for it. i will try it out and post results.
thanks again
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Senior Member
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19. September 2008 @ 16:09 |
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Just tried the new usb stick and after iprep said it was successfull it still boots to a blinking cursor. I forgot usb can only be fat32 so that cant be whats wrong. Im going to go thru my bios and see if there are any settings, but i have been thru it so many times already. this is frustrating , maybe i will have to use a diff computer. i have 2 other at home but none have OS installed....going to be a long friday night lol
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db5304
Member
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19. September 2008 @ 16:36 |
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Make sure you have usb keyboard/mouse support in your bios if your using a usb keyboard. also make sure all your other drives are unplugged, and be sure that you have set your boot device (already sounds like you may have done this). The screen when you boot to it should not be blank at all, it gives you like a warning or something first that you have to type y to continue, and then has a screen with some minimal documentation on what to do.
try different usb ports, and give it several ties for each maybe. some motherboards may be picky about booting from the usb device, i know mine was.
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Senior Member
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19. September 2008 @ 16:48 |
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Yea it is something to do with my motherboard. i have tried both these usb drives with no luck and i just tried xtreme boot maker and it did the samething. very weird.
Thanks the the advice, im going to keep trying.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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19. September 2008 @ 18:21 |
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it is your usb stick, you arnt doing anything wrong. i had same problem and had to try diff stick until i found one that worked. the cruser is the only on that will work on my pc. if i put anything else in i get blinking white cursor
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 19. September 2008 @ 18:23
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Senior Member
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19. September 2008 @ 19:09 |
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so u used a sandisk micro cruzer and it worked?
so far everything i have tried has failed.
using via card with newest versions of everything and tried 2 usb sticks(one sandisk cruzer and one toshiba) with iprep and xtreme bootmaker
im going to use a different pc at home and try again, i just have to install an os and crap, going to take forever and prob wont work....
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Senior Member
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22. September 2008 @ 18:41 |
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Alright here is the good news. I did get it to work finally.
I dont know if this is true but on another forum someone said that it will not work with any usb drive over 1 gig, so maybe that was my problem with the USB cause both sticks i had were 4 GB.
I was going to use the newly formatted system i had prepared at work during the day but at the last minute when i figured USb wasnt going to work i decided i would do the NTFS for dos boot cd with a HDD. so i downloaded partition magic from torrents but the copy i got was fake and planted 50+ viruses on my newly installed windows. so i gave up on that system and decided i would use an old dell i had at home. Of course it had no OS so i spent the night installing windows and running service packs from CD and .net framework and i was all set.
Now i booted everything up and i follow textbooks directions but it seems that the textbook is somewhat outdated cause it was saying to use the iDump command and the newest version of iprep doesnt even use iDump. so i was baffled till i saw the autoexec.bat file
i ran it and iprep started and it had directions built into it on what to do. It was using dsam and not iDump, but the bottom line is i got it to work with some tinkering.
Pardon my horrible grammer and punctuation, im lazy yes and it is the end of a long day integrating servers so im going home to enjoy new season of HEROES YAY!
YATTA!!!!!
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Kalub
Newbie
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29. September 2008 @ 19:16 |
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Originally posted by stealthdf:
I dont know if this is true but on another forum someone said that it will not work with any usb drive over 1 gig, so maybe that was my problem with the USB cause both sticks i had were 4 GB.
I can confirm that this is true. I was having the same problem that you described. I was trying to boot from USB and my computer would freeze at a flashing cursor after POST. I was using a 4GB drive. I happened to have a 1GB around, so I gave it a shot with that. It booted up great and it was smooth sailing from there on out.
One thing I noticed was the 1GB was formatted in FAT, where the 4GB was FAT32. Either way, your statement is absolutely confirmed. USE USB DRIVES OF 1GB OR LESS! :)
Thanks for your post, without it I'd still be trying a bunch of different SATA ports and other BS, with not results. Cheers.
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AfterDawn Addict
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30. September 2008 @ 09:40 |
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Originally posted by Kalub:
Originally posted by stealthdf:
I dont know if this is true but on another forum someone said that it will not work with any usb drive over 1 gig, so maybe that was my problem with the USB cause both sticks i had were 4 GB.
I can confirm that this is true. I was having the same problem that you described. I was trying to boot from USB and my computer would freeze at a flashing cursor after POST. I was using a 4GB drive. I happened to have a 1GB around, so I gave it a shot with that. It booted up great and it was smooth sailing from there on out.
One thing I noticed was the 1GB was formatted in FAT, where the 4GB was FAT32. Either way, your statement is absolutely confirmed. USE USB DRIVES OF 1GB OR LESS! :)
Thanks for your post, without it I'd still be trying a bunch of different SATA ports and other BS, with not results. Cheers.
myth UNconfirmed. i normally use a 2 gig stick since it always has the iprep stuff on it for benq drives and never had a problem with it.
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Senior Member
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30. September 2008 @ 10:38 |
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It probably is a combination of a large stick and certain motherboard types that wont allow a larger than 1 gig stick to boot. You my friend are lucky to have one that boots. My mobo is about 5 years old so that isnt suprising.
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AfterDawn Addict
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30. September 2008 @ 10:54 |
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I will also "debunk" that myth. I use a 2 gig kingston I believe (can't remember the brand, it's not with me) to boot from and I haven't had it go to a blinking cursor. There have been times where I need to restart my computer once or twice, but it does always work.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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30. September 2008 @ 12:57 |
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yea i use a 2 gig as well, so i think that 1 gig myth is bs. i think it all has to do with the mobo and usb stick combination. my buddy also uses a 2 gig stick. my mobo is a little over a year old.
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Kalub
Newbie
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2. October 2008 @ 12:28 |
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Well, perhaps it needs to be 2GB or less, because I certainly could not boot using a 4GB drive.
I'd like to know if anyone has had problems booting with drives 2GB or less in size.
All I know is that the tip saved me lots of time, and I think there really is something to limiting the capacity of the device you're booting from.
Anyways, I'm glad to hear that you are all having no problems with 2GB flash drives. Keep it going strong.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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2. October 2008 @ 13:20 |
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yes i can confirm i had two drives that were 2 gigs and both gave me white cursor. i put in my old 2 gig that worked and it worked.
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