jaclaz

Let's put it this way: did your "supplier" (there is another English word for it, maybe "pusher" ) give you also a License or COA or proof of payment for a license for EVERY Commercial app contained in the "unnameable" Boot CD? If yes, you should have spent something around $3,000.00 US dollars which was the actual value of those licenses, last time it was checked, if I remember correctly, there was an article or a blog about it a couple of years ago, cannot find it right now. JFYI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiren's_boot_CD Let's say that in the jurisdiction of MSFN it is illegal. jaclaz

PROS: Size occupied on hard disk? http://www.oooninja.com/2008/05/openoffice...ice-moores.html (you have less space to store games and p0rn that may distract you from actually working) CONS: Everything else. Make a test drive of Spread32 and Atlantis: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=8898 then come back to me and tell me that I am completely wrong when I say that a very large part of Office is perfectly unneeded. Back to real topic, the 2000 version is in my view the one that has already everything that is needed (very few minor things when compared to 97) 2002 (XP) is a buggy version of 2000, 2003 is simply the same as 2000 with more bells and whistles, I WON'T comment 2007. jaclaz

Just for the record, about FAT vs. FAT32 vs. NTFS: http://www.msfn.org/board/fat16-vs-fat32-v...ck-t125116.html http://www.msfn.org/board/usb-stick-dead-t137512-page-6.html Happy the stoopid thingy was reveived! jaclaz

Hmm, I guess it's ahead of it's time: http://www.kmitl.ac.th/~kswichit/MAX232/MAX232.htm Seriously, now, everything is inside the MAX232, there is no reason why it shouldn't work, though you must be aware that there are at least two versions of the MAX232, a 3.3V and a 5V one. Be aware that there are a number of WRONG/INCOMPLETE schematics around, particularly in the one you posted, I am perlexed by the 10uF capacitors, there should be ONLY 1x10uF and 4x1uF See this other schematics, which is also simplier to follow for a DIY job, as it represents the actual casing of the MAX232: http://sodoityourself.com/max232-serial-level-converter/ this one: http://freecircuitdiagram.com/2009/04/24/t...sing-max232-ic/ has either ALL FIVE 1uF or 0.1uF This one: http://www.seattlerobotics.org/encoder/aug97/cable.html confirms that the MAX232A needs ALL 0.1uF, but talks about This one: http://news.robot-golem.org/parallax/6-col...-un-max232.html says that the MAX232 from Texas Instruments is OK with 1uF ones, whilst the MAxim Max232 "needs" 10uF It is very difficult to say which is which. Personally, but mind you your mileage may vary, I would double check the datasheet of the IC you have in your hands, but I would go for the: http://sodoityourself.com/max232-serial-level-converter/ which is a simplified version of this one: http://www.adrirobot.it/bs_autocostruita/b...-sx_seriale.htm with the 1x10uF and 4x1uF The "schmartboard" should be as well allright, provided that the IC you have in your hands is the MAX232A that needs the smaller capacitors. jaclaz

Yes. http://homepages.tesco.net/J.deBoynePollar...no-answers.html Curiously enough we have a section of the board titled "Install XP from USB" http://www.msfn.org/board/install-xp-usb-f157.html Maybe it would be an appropriate place to start reading, starting from the stickies. jaclaz

I simply try to keep up the morale of the troops with some fun. jaclaz

Well, you posted that the device was detected: We are back to square #1. Try reading page 6 and 7 of the manual. Check them, again and again, there are PICTURES of what you should do and see. Is what happens on your PC different from what is described there? Also, wait a minute, what do you mean by "hubscan"? DO NOT use any USB hub, insert directly the device to a USB port (one of those at the back of your computer, not one of those in the front - if you hav them) jaclaz

Do you or your friend plan to just solder those components in a random way or are you going to follow a schematics? My crystal ball is in the shop for tuning at the moment, cannot say. Yes. http://homepages.tesco.net/J.deBoynePollar...no-answers.html Comeon, get real, how can one possibly know the answer to your questions? SET /A Willwork=0 IF the schematics is a correct one SET /A Willwork=1 IF the components are good SET /A Willwork=%Willwork%+1 IF the assembling/soldering is done properly SET /A Willwork=%Willwork%+1 IF %Willwork% leq 3 (ECHO IT WILL WORK) ELSE (ECHO IT WILL FAIL) Seriously, if everything is done correctly, the final result will be a working RS232 to TTL converter , exactly like the ones you can buy pre-assembled. Once you have done it, a check wiht a multimeter and some loopback tests will quickly show whether it is working properly or not. jaclaz

@pointertovoid @blackwingcat Please check here: http://www.msfn.org/board/install-w2k-sata...410-page-4.html jaclaz

It would be nice if you could share a link to the "BlackWingCat's Ahci/Raid driver" you used. His site is in Japanese: http://blog.livedoor.jp/blackwingcat/ and it's not really "immediate" to find something on it. OT, but FYI, while I was looking for the drivers, completely failing to find them, unless you were talking about these ones: http://blog.livedoor.jp/blackwingcat/archives/339894.html http://blog.livedoor.jp/blackwingcat/archives/813816.html I found this one: http://209.85.129.132/translate_c?&ie=...ves/864112.html Which seems to me a pretty straightforward way to get quicly some info on unknown devices. jaclaz

To me it isn't so obvious. I read: as: jaclaz

See here: http://www.msfn.org/board/burn-900-mb-cd-t56028.html http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=16068 If the size is very near to 700 Mb, a 700Mb "normal" CD (as opposed to the 650 Mb ones) may be overburned a little. If it's noticeably bigger than 700 Mb buy a bigger CD, or reduce the source. How do you manage to get to 700 Mb? I mean, there may be parts that are not "optimized" or maybe you have "duplicates" files. http://www.msfn.org/board/make-cd-take-dat...pid-771290.html jaclaz

The info shown seems allright. Next step would be going on each of the three tabs above and press OK and then Save As (to have a backup just in case). You will be prompted for a file where to save the settings. Then what you have to do is go back on the "main" interface and press F10 (quicktest) See if it returns any error. If no error is returned, CROSS YOUR FINGERS and press SPACE bar (you might appreciate the fact that they used the Space bar, in order to press it easily with crossed fingers ) Wait. See if any error is returned. Close the app. Eject the key and test it on another PC for the moment. jaclaz

The hard disk firmware know NOTHING about the partitioning of the drive, partitions are at a "higher level" than firmware. In other words, the WHOLE disk is either bricked or not. It is possible that something got corrupted. The next step would be to use TESTDISK on the drive: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk If you need support in using it, start a new thread, your problem shouldn't be connected (not anymore) to the firmware issue. jaclaz

If I may, your statement is inaccurate. Not really. It may be illegal to do so in countries where the Law prohibits it. Well, NO. Until you download the file and read the EULA you CANNOT know it's contents, unless you have ESP capabilities. The License or EULA is a (supposedly, as again it depends on each country's Laws) binding agreement between Microsoft and the licensee, i.e. the End User, the person who receives the files (supposedly and originally from Microsoft). The EULA states that you CANNOT re-distribute files, i.e. the one that is breaking the EULA is the one that ALLOWS redistribution or GIVES the copy, not the one who receives the files (which is not binded until he reads the EULA). You simply cannot infringe anything that you don't know or that you haven't read and explicitly agreed upon. Laws may consider the fact that the mere act of being in possession of an unauthorised copy a crime (and again whether it is permitted, it is a crime, it is a felony or it is a "minor" thing: a misdemeanor, may, and does change from country to country), but this has NOTHING to do with the EULA. jaclaz

You need to post more details on how is partitioned the drive you are installing XP from USB on. Have you already checked FAQ#4? http://www.msfn.org/board/faqs-t116766.html Or do you mean that you do not undestand the BOOT.INI Arcpath syntax? Here: http://www.msfn.org/board/discovery-unusua...030-page-2.html http://www.msfn.org/board/boot-ini-and-dif...365-page-2.html Post your current BOOT.INI, too. jaclaz

Q.E.D. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q.E.D. For the moment just post a screenshot of it, taken after having done the following: F1->Select Device->OK (see pages 9 and 10 of manual ) ->screenshot (same image as in chapter 7. of the manual) Parameter Input ->screenshot -> (same image as in chapter 8. of the manual) Partition Setting ->screenshot -> (same image as in chapter 9. of the manual) jaclaz

A BSOD 0x000000ED is generally speaking connected to a corrupted filesystem, which would be coherent with your previous reports. http://www.msfn.org/board/help-unmountable...me-t117693.html The next "easy" thing you can do is booting off the Windows CD and attempt a Chkdsk from Recovery Console. jaclaz

Regarding this, you heard "wrong", generally speaking. Inside it there is just common (rather clean) air and unlike what some people may believe a hard disk is NOT normally airtight/waterproof, there is usually at least one (smallish) hole on the cover of most hard disks. (and please understand that there may be airtight hard disks and even hard disks "filled" with vacuum or nitrogen or whatever) Mind you I will NEVER suggest that opening a hard disk is "advisable", nor that it is "possible", .... but it is "possible" (KIDS, DO NOT do this at home!), given that you take some time to build/create a proper set of "tools". Some hints (which nor you, nor anyone else should never even think to follow): http://www.forensicfocus.com/index.php?nam...opic&t=4536 Please note that the idea in this kind of topics is NOT to "repair" a hard disk, nor to guarantee it a "new" life of several years, it is just to (hopefully) get all the data you can from it, and immediately after throw the drive in the dustbin. jaclaz

JFYI: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...=18873&st=4 Actually related to USB booting, but still valid for generic USB troubleshooting: Happy problem was solved! jaclaz

Thanks for the heads up. Passing the info : http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...ic=9127&hl= jaclaz

Sure , but that, again, would not prevent connecting to the PCB via hyperterminal and TTL. jaclaz

Have you tried the method described by derp in the given thread?: I have nothing more than the above to "offer". Try posting there. jaclaz

Start in safe mode. Open a command console. http://how-to-use-dos.blogspot.com/2008/06...and-prompt.html Type in it chkdsk C: and press the [ENTER] key. If you have a feedback like "errors found not corrected since /F was not specified" do the following: chkdsk C: /F [ENTER] Re-run chkdsk C: [ENTER] When you run: chkdsk C: [ENTER] on a healthy volume you should have this output: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chkdsk_screenshot.png Post result. jaclaz

Of course not, but there still is UNIATA : http://alter.org.ua/en/soft/win/uni_ata/ that "cover" at leas a great part of the usual controllers, maybe it works for six pack. @joe sixpack Please POST some EXACT reference to the HARDWARE you are talking about. jaclaz