jaclaz

Sure, but the real issue (as I see it) is the "interchangeability" of parts and "repairability" of the device (this does not apply to smart fridges only it is a general issue with *anything* nowadays). See as an example what this (IMHO very brave, besides smart) nice guy from Mexico did to upgrade the SSD in his Surface Pro 3 : http://surfacepro3ssdupgrade.blogspot.it/2015/02/surface-pro-3-ssd-upgrade-i7-with-1-tb.html Compare that experience with that of changing a disk (or SSD) on *any* desktop and on most "normal" laptops, it is clear to me how desktops are a more mature technology because when a part of it breaks it is easy (and relatively inexpensive) to replace the broken part, with laptops it has been already made much more difficult since years, tablets have made it impossible or very, very difficult/complex. As another example - and as a matter of principle - I won't have a phone on which I cannot swap or replace batteries, I find it "immoral" to create such devices. and profoundly wrong to give money for them to the people that create and sell such technology. And - just for the record - I did change a few batteries on (of course out of warranty, but otherwise perfectly working) iPhones (old models, 3 and 4), it has been a terrible and terrifying experience comparable to - say - opening up and cleaning a mechanical watch, to a certain extent needing even more care and risking more to break something. jaclaz

Naah, there are quite a few on e-bay from time to time, maybe are a bit costly (when compared to the 15 bucks or so you need for a "plain" slim external USB floppy), out of the top of my head I would say you need some 50-60US$ to get one, but usually there are many of the MACINTOSH model. I believe that internally they are just "normal" LS-120's https://it.ifixit.com/Device/Imation_Superdisk_USB_Drive If you are into DIY, and wishing to "arrange something" for the (I presume front bezel and) eject button, look at what I just found: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Compaq-388772-401-LKM-F933-1-Super-Disk-Drive-gray-door-/272014681636?hash=item3f5556a624:g:FyYAAOSw9mFWLnDC jaclaz

Yep, but nothing actually "fundamental", I reported briefly my (positive) expereience wiht an el-cheapo (but not too shabby) little tablet the Chuwi 8 Pro that can dual boot Android and Windows 10, finding out how for the specific things that needs to be done on it (browsing a few sites and update some offers) it worked very nicely with both Android and Windows 10 , and concluding how Windows 10 is a working alternative to Android on that machine. And you confirmed your positive experience with the bigger brother Chuwi 10. If I recall correctly I also commented this: hinting that maybe on business the IT guys "force" users to use "good" Operating Systems (that the IT department can *somehow* control) while at home people is "forced" to use the stupid Windows 10 because that is what comes with new devices. jaclaz

Ah-ha! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094898/quotes?item=qt1099763 jaclaz

Let me think, let's say I produce *something* at a steady rate of - say - 100 pieces a month, and this *something* comes with Windows 10 "embedded"... ... and Windows 10 is also available to all the people that wants it (de gustibus ...) is it likely that they adopt the OS at the same rate as I produce the *something* and sell it? What I completely fail to see is a step-up (or step down) around end of july 2016 (the famous deadline about the "free" upgrade) where have the late, last minute adopters gone? jaclaz

Right now a fridge has five things that may break: 1) the motor starter <- it happens more often than not 2) the thermostat 3) the lamp inside 4) the motor 5) the gas that needs to be recharged I can fix/replace myself the first 3 and I need to call a single specialist for the last 2, but even if you are not of the DIY kind, the same specialist is of course able to fix all issues for you in no or little time. We even have a name for that person in italian "frigorista" (while English that is a more efficient language uses "refrigerator repairman", I believe), the guys I know that do that are more or less a cross-breed between an electrician and a plumber, with looks not completely unlike the ones made famous by Mario Bro's, including the overalls. Even if we all "digitally evolved", very likely when your stupid fridge will BSOD (or equivalent), those nice guys won't be able to fix it, and you will need to call a software or a hardware engineer to reset/reformat/update/whatever its embedded computer (or you will need to get a new one, of course loosing ALL your recipes, historical buying records, etc.). I too cannot see their value propositions for the customer... jaclaz

Well, what do you think the thing you used (that you can get for around 30 US$) actually does (in a nice, easy, and hopefully foolproof way) ? Rest assured, you used EXACTLY the method(s) in this thread, nicely packaged in a more friendly kit. Anyway, all is well that ends well. jaclaz

Yes, that's the idea. And I believe also what happens if you install "normally" from a DVD. BUT you need to correct the script, the Boot partition (the one MS calls "System") MUST be FAT32 (thanks to the UEFI "standard") as most motherboards won't have a NTFS EFI driver and it should be of the EFI type: If you make it 350 Mb you won't have issues with 512 bytes vs. 4096 bytes disk sectors, though I am not too sure why the size of that partition is so large, and why exactly there is the recommendation (in the given page): https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn621890.aspx create partition efi size=100 rem ** NOTE: For Advanced Format 4Kn drives, rem change this value to size = 260 ** format quick fs=fat32 label="System" assign letter="S" jaclaz

Naah, it is just a "guideline" for OEM's. While there might be some relevance in having the WinRE partition (of course only if actually working/populated by the WinRE.wim) the recovery partition makes little sense on desktops (managed, in a commercial environment), it is designed/suited for OEM laptops and tablets. The MSR partition as well makes little sense, it has yet to be proved/tested/reported that has ANY use if not in case of resizing partitions (which you won't likely do) and even in that case, allow me to doubt that it is actually *needed*. My guess is that they are trying to show off a little bit and make use of the GPT partitioning scheme that allows for unlimited volumes[1] all primary. All that is needed is a "System" and a "Boot" volume (which the good MS guys call the other way round), respectively the W: and S: in your gpt.txt if called "rightly" or S: and W: using the MS terminology. I will think of something though usually coupling physicaldrives with volumes/drive letters is a PITA. Which should mean that it is a timing issue of some kind, maybe the shrinking of the W: partition? Try removing from gpt.txt the lines that shrink the "main" volume and create the additional (unused) recovery partition: select disk 0 clean convert gpt create partition primary size=300 format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows RE tools" assign letter="T" set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac" gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001 create partition efi size=100 format quick fs=fat32 label="System" assign letter="S" create partition msr size=128 create partition primary format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows" assign letter="W" list volume exit and try it with the previous (without the check) batch. jaclaz [1] "unlimited" as in "max 128 partitions"

Hmmm. It could be a timing problem, but since after you create the "main" partition and assign to it the "W" drive letter you create another partition that shouldn't be the issue. And after all the gpt.txt seems like being taken (almost verbatim) from the MSDN one: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn621890.aspx What happens if you add a check after the gpt.txt is run? Still downright selecting disk 0 may be a risk in some configurations... and there is not much sense in creating the WinRE and Recovery partition if you don't use them. jaclaz

For the moment I just re-ordered/re-compacted your script, this way it should be easier to read (and modify when needed) without (hopefully) changing anything in the commands that are actually executed and in the messages to the user. (BTW isn't it Laufwerk and not Lauferk?) @ECHO OFF SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION ::Let's check first thing if a volume with label "wim" is found, otherwise there is no sense to go on SET wimdrive= FOR /F "tokens=1,2 " %%A in ('wmic logicaldisk get caption^,VolumeName 2^>NUL') do ( IF /I "%%B"=="wim" SET wimdrive=%%A ) IF DEFINED wimdrive ECHO Lauferk "wim" wurde gefunden: %wimdrive% &&PAUSE&&GOTO :MENU ECHO Lauferk "wim" wurde nicht gefunden :( PAUSE GOTO :EOF :MENU CLS ECHO ============= Bitte auswaehlen ======================= ECHO ----------------- ECHO 1. Windows 7 64bit - 29.08.2016 ECHO ----------------- ECHO 2. Windows 7 64bit - AutoCAD ECHO ---------------- ECHO 3. Windows 10 LTSB - mit BIOS ECHO ---------------- ECHO 4. Windows 10 LTSB - mit UEFI ECHO ---------------- ECHO ==========Bitte druecken Sie Taste-Q zum Abbrechen========== ECHO. :Inputloop SET "Input=" SET /P "Input=Please Enter 1-4 or Q: " IF NOT DEFINED Input ECHO Invalid input & goto :Inputloop ::This limits the input to first character: SET "Input=!Input:~0,1!" ::This limits the input to characters in delims for /f "delims=1234qQ" %%? in ("!Input!") DO ECHO Invalid input & GOTO :Inputloop IF /I "%Input%"=="q" ECHO Batch stopped by user choice&&PAUSE&&GOTO :EOF ECHO Jetzt wird alles automatich gemacht (diskpart, imagex(dism), bcdboot)! CALL :Choice_%Input% ECHO Fertig. Bitte PC neu starten (exit befehl). ECHO ------------------ ECHO =============Druecken Sie belibiege Taste============== ECHO ------------------ GOTO :EOF :Choice_1 Diskpart /s %wimdrive%\mbr.txt %wimdrive%\Imagex.exe /apply %wimdrive%\win7_64bit_2016.wim 1 C: CD /D C:\Windows\SysWow64 bcdboot C:\Windows /s S: GOTO :EOF :Choice_2 Diskpart /s %wimdrive%\mbr.txt %wimdrive%\Imagex.exe /apply %wimdrive%\win7_64_autocad_07092016.wim 1 C: CD /D C:\Windows\SysWow64 bcdboot C:\Windows /s S: GOTO :EOF :Choice_3 Diskpart /s %wimdrive%\mbr.txt dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:%wimdrive%\win10.wim /Index:1 /ApplyDir:C:\ CD /D C:\Windows\SysWow64 bcdboot C:\Windows /s S: /f ALL GOTO :EOF :Choice_4 Diskpart /s %wimdrive%\gpt.txt dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:%wimdrive%\win10.wim /Index:1 /ApplyDir:W:\ CD /D W:\Windows\SysWow64 bcdboot W:\Windows /s S: /f ALL GOTO :EOF At first sight, you have seemingly 3 out of the 4 choices working when using the drive letter C: and 1 not working when you use drive letter W:. Now what it seems like missing/wrong/to be understood is how you assign drive letters (I believe that this happens in the Diskpart scripts mbr.txt and gpt.txt, which you should provide, later we will see if it is the case of embedding them in the batch) and how BEFORE running potentially destructive commands such as Diskpart and ImageX or Dism the status of drive letter assignments and of physicaldrives is checked. I mean, are all machines in the same EXACT configuration and do all the BIOSes/UEFIs behave the same? Is actually the internal disk the first disk (PhysicalDrive0) on all machines (even when booted from USB)? Is the disk always either "clean" or "partitioned"? Please post some details and the two diskpart scripts so that we can understand if this can be an issue. jaclaz

This is strange. If you connect the 32 pin cable reversed (it has happened to everyone) what should happen is that the led light on the drive switches on (and remains on), see: http://www.oldskool.org/guides/oldonnew/floppy jaclaz

Yep, it is possible that it is the cable, but that motor is linked to the heads slide assembly (through a worm screw) so if the motor runs, the head slide should also move. If the motor runs and the head slide remain in the same position, it may mean: 1) the head slide is stuck and the motor can't move it (and there is some mechanism, think of a slip clutch, that makes the motor turn anyway "idle" whenever a given excessive force is needed) 2) the head slide is at the end of its intended travel, and *something* (wrong cable, a position sensor/switch. something else, whatever) keeps the motor powered on (and there is some mechanism as above) 3) for *whatever reasons* the motor is disjointed from the worm screw (which doesn't turn) 4) ... jaclaz

At the light of this (Mac OsX news): http://applehelpwriter.com/2016/07/28/revealing-dropboxs-dirty-little-security-hack/ http://applehelpwriter.com/2016/08/29/discovering-how-dropbox-hacks-your-mac/ maybe if it is discontinued on XP would not be that bad. jaclaz

That could be the head motor? It is possible that in several years of storage some grease has become "stale" blocking some mechanisms, if it was not a just bought (new) drive it would be the case of (carefully) disassembling it (at least the cover) and manually move the spinner and the heads, but not on something you just paid an awful amount of money for and that should be under warranty. Here is a video representing your floppy drive (or a very similar model): you should be able to see how it works. jaclaz

The GRUB2 has now a "mechanism" that creates grub.cfg (the configuration file for GRUB2) "on-the-fly" and on the actual grub.cfg there is a "warning" against NOT editing the grub.cfg manually. The idea is that this way when GRUB2 is updated there are no (or less) issues (if I get it right) but the practical result is that a number of entries in grub menu are added, and possibly the "auto-magic" mechanism *somehow* mixes up the two Linux distro's. The same kind of "mixed up" may happen due to glitches with the update mechanisms for dist/packages/drivers. Which of the volumes is Ubuntu installed on? Which of the volumes is the Kali installed on? Not on the same volume I hope, anyway I suspect that since you have two distro's using the same GRUB2 mechanisms there may have been a glitch in the grub.cfg making scripts (kernel parameters passed at boot time?) or some form of cross-linking between the two installs in some other configuration or "default" file. Can you try making a bootabe USB stick (or other boot media) with GRUB2 and a "static" (handmade) grub.cfg (with just the two or three boot entries you use) and check if the behaviour is the same? jaclaz

Allow me to doubt they can have blacklisted "Setup.exe" by filename ONLY. jaclaz

You are likely using (and that might explain the "left" and "right" quotes), a "wrong" editor that "mixes" character sets (or possibly uses UNICODE) or you are saving the file in the "wrong" format. It is common enough, especially when copying and pasting from the Internet as a web page (or a forum post) may have "strange" formatting of characters. Open the .cmd in NOTEPAD (and nothing else) and try replacing what you may see as "-" dashes, with actual dashes and make sure to save as ANSI text. The cmd.exe command processor using a given encoding (which is similar to the DOS one, different from the usual Windows one), this is normally not an issue with any character in the ASCII table (i.e. code up to 127) but that has a few incompatibilities with the 128-255 range. jaclaz

It seems like a DS0/DS1 jumper, maybe the drive you have is a "recent" one that has some automagical trick inside that sets all the other options/configurations, the number after the V might be the Version. And yes, the "standard" is DS1 (like it is seemingly set now), but the combination of drive cable and motherboard may need it instead as DS0 This is the V2: http://forum.kryoflux.com/viewtopic.php?t=556 http://embeddedsw.net/EMUFDD_MITSUMI_Jumpers.html and this is a V3: https://gist.github.com/anarchivist/3003928 Cannot find anything specific for the V5, I remember the old ones with several jumpers, so it is likely I am barking up the wrong tree :w00t:. jaclaz

You don't have a set of jumpers like?: http://embeddedsw.net/EMUFDD_MITSUMI_Jumpers.html http://www.cbmstuff.com/downloads/5.25-jumpers.pdf I was thinking of lack of termination (or termination that should not be there) and/or DS0/DS1 etc. https://offog.org/notes/archiving/minifloppies/ Sometimes you just need to try every possible combination It's a lot of years I don't fiddle with those 5.25" floppy drives, but I remember them being - in the good ol' times - a real PITA ... jaclaz

So does that mean that windows 10 "blacklists" executable based on filename + *something else* (let's say a CRC or similar checksum)? jaclaz

What do you mean "it is not working"? It cannot find the drive or it doesn't accept user input? Or *something* else? I would guess that conditions like this: IF /I ‘%INPUT%’==’1’ GOTO Selection1 will NEVER be true (first quote on the left is ‘ while the one on the right of the equal sign is ’ Use "plain" double quotes or 'straight' single quotes like the rest of the world... IF /I "%INPUT%"=="1" GOTO Selection1 (though I suggested you an input routine which is much "safer") and of course you cannot have TWO labels ":_doit" the batch would be rather confused about them. jaclaz

It is possible, but unlikely (they would have needed to remove part of the BIOS code), it is more likely that there is an issue of some kind between the cable and the jumper settings, can you post exact model of the floppy drive? Maybe we can find some documentation for it. jaclaz

And now, Married to the Sea jaclaz

Just the usual list of semi-random ideas: "straight" or "twisted" cable? any jumper on the actual Floppy drive? does the slot lever close properly? jaclaz