jjan

I managed installing windows 2003 server(with sp1) from USB (Sandisk Cruzer Micro 1GB) with the help from this post to my diskless Asus Eee Box b202 PC. For all you out there trying to figure it out (took me 3 days, and only the suggestions in this post worked!), I hereby paste the combined steps I did (the info is in this post, but is easier to have it all together). Note: I used the ISO image from the MSDN website containing Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition with SP1. I had to choose the second USB Cruzer device provided in the Bios and set it to CD-ROM emulation, while the first instance I had to set to Auto emulation. I used the original U3 software first to clear the USB stick. Some lines in the Hacked Launchpad Updater are not similar to the provided steps, but in the end just type what is provided in the steps and you will be allright. Also lines containing: <productId value= might be double in the scripts. In this case just kill these lines and keep one; edit it accordingly the steps and it will work. Asus does not provide drivers for windows 2003, but it is possible to enable the hardware by using the provided(or downloadable) drivers. Sometimes you can just use the setup, but sometimes(e.g. display driver) you have to install it manually and browse to the inf file in the driverset. Good luck... Steps (many thanks to the people, which provided these steps earlier in this post): *** For informational purposes only *** *** Use at your own risk *** *** I will not be responsible if you damage your drive *** *** Backup Your Data *** !!! The original instructions were found at http://usb.smithtech.us/projects/u3updater.php 1. Download the Memorex LaunchPad Updater v1.4.0.2 http://www.memorex.com/u3/upgrade_vista/ 2. Download Universal Extractor http://www.legroom.net/software/uniextract 3. Download Resource Hacker http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/ 4. Extract U3 Launchpad v1.4.0.2 Updater.exe to a folder with Universal Extractor 5. Open UpdaterCore.exe from the folder you extracted the LaunchPad Updater to with Resource Hacker. 6. Expand "String Table". Expand "132". Click "1033". You should see STRINGTABLE LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US { 2096, "Skip" 2097, "Skip All" 2098, "Retry" 2099, "Abort" 2100, "Wrong password" 2101, "%d attempt(s) before device is permanently locked" 2102, "Failed to set password. To try again, please remove your %2 and reinsert it." 2103, "%1 failed to format your %2" 2104, "Backing up your data..." 2105, "Updating the %2 firmware..." 2106, "Restoring your data ..." 2107, "Formatting your %2..." 2108, "Updating your version of the U3 Launchpad..." 2109, "1.0.5.17\n" 2110, "bin\\Launchpad.iso" 2111, "\\\\Launchpad.zip" } Change 2109, "1.0.5.17\n" to 2109, "_LP_VERSION_" and 2110, "bin\\Launchpad.iso" to 2110, "bin\\U3CUSTOM.iso" Click the Compile Script button This just allowed you to update the drive over and over. This fools the updater in to thinking the firmware isnt updated 7. Expand "133", Click "1033", you should see 2123, "Memorex Inc." 2124, "Memorex Inc." 2125, "Memorex" Change the values to: 2123, "*" 2124, "*" 2125, "*" Click the Compile Script button 8. Expand "BIN", Expand "709", Click on "0", you should see <vendorId value="2284"/> <vendorName value="Memorex"/> <productName value="Mini TravelDrive"/> <productId value="22"/> Change the values to: vendorId value="*"/> <vendorName value="*"/> <productName value="*"/> <productId value="*"/> Click the Compile Script button 9. Click File and Save 10. Delete Updater.pdb 11. Delete the LaunchPad.iso file in the bin subdirectory and place to one of your own Rename it to U3CUSTOM.iso 12. Run CoreUpdater.exe to install the U3CUSTOM.iso to your U3 Drive, follow instructions, be patient! 13. Boot from USB-CDROM and start installing XP you must configure your bios in order to select the CD-ROM Usb key found by the bios. This means that the key must be plugged in before entering bios. In my case, my computer shows the key as two differents element : USB HDD and USB CDROM. You must select USB-CDROM for booting on ISO image. What may be confusing is : - sometimes it just says USB Micro Cruzer .... (no info about HDD or CDROM) - sometimes you will see twice the same label (so peek one and if it does not work try the other one)