trying to use Tualatin 1.4ghz for Nas4Free.. unable to boot usb?

**supernova777** · June 10, 2014

i have an AOPEN AX3S-U motherboard (http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench2/2460846)

how can i get it to boot from usb?

there is no boot settings in bios yet i want to run this as a nas4free box (http://www.nas4free.org)because of the low power requirement of the cpu..

for those that dont know nas4free turns the box into a ftp/cifs/samba/afp fileserver u usually boot this from 4-8gb usb device to save all your devices for file storage

it would make a good choice to run this software.... perhaps i should just find a small 4-8gb compactflash to run this off instead of a usb

that would solve my problems..

but does anyone have any other ideas?

is there a possible bios modification to allow for usb boot?

then again the usb is only 1.1 not 2.0 so i guess its pointless?

**submix8c** · June 11, 2014

PLOP? (google that...)

This suggest putting in XP (and up) Boot -

http://www.hacktohell.org/2010/11/booting-from-usb-without-bios-support.html

However, you could use Grub4DOS instead (installed in MBR).

Doubting that it will boot from USB. UNLESS you can find a stick that -appears- as if it's a HDD (I have ONE of those, Lexar-based) that "cheats" the BIOS into seeing External USB HDD. It -might- be accomplished by using WinSetupFromUSB utility (makes it "bootable"). Doubting, however that it would.

HTH

**Drugwash** · June 11, 2014

There is a setting that turns a removable device into a fixed HDD device. Certain utilities can do that, however they cannot revert the setting to original - that can only be accomplished by rewriting the firmware. I did that some time ago, but meanwhile I lost the mobo that powered the SATA HDDs where all those utilities resided and I have no other SATA board in house. Try Flashboot.ru , I got many of the firmware tools from there. But please be careful how you use them or you may damage the USB stick! Also, some Phison tools tend to install some drivers or filters (forgot what exactly) which may disturb other USB devices' functionality. Better use them only on a testing/virtual machine.

**jaclaz** · June 11, 2014

Well,

newish (latest-latest-latest) grub4dos of the 0.4.6 series does have a USB stack.

Some motherboards, particularly those with a limited amount of settings in BIOS, may be able to directly boot from USB (even if not stated anywhere in the BIOS) when a "particular" set of conditions are met concurrently.

As an example I have a motherboard that needs "Legacy USB enabled" AND USB 2.0 disabled AND a USB device connected at cold boot BUT NOT a grub4dos installed to the MBR+hidden sectors while Syslinux MBR is fine.

Usually the "removable" vs. "fixed" bit is ignored at BIOS level ( it will make a difference for Windows NT's, DOS and Linux/BSD also ignore that).

Post a link to the motherboard manual or to some screenshots of the BIOS that thingy has.

jaclaz

**submix8c** · June 11, 2014

Specs (at least) -

http://www.motherboards.org/mobot/motherboards_d/AOpen/AX3S-U/

Manual

http://www.elhvb.com/mobokive/Archive/Aopen/manuals/ax3spu/Ax3spu-ol-e.pdf

No info on Boot Devices.

edit - Go here and in PullDown select your MoBo -

http://asia.aopen.com/products_download.aspx?auno=2973

There appears to be a BIOS dated Jan 6 of 2003 as well.

More "specs" here (wouldn't advise getting the BIOS from here - use AOPEN link) -

http://www.driverszone.eu/download-bios/aopen/aopen-ax3s-u-r1-12-bios_6895.html

BTW, you -are- aware that the USB Stick has to be inserted BEFORE Machine Boot for it to be "seen", right? IOW, turn it OFF, insert USB, turn it ON, then go into BIOS to select it.

HTH

Edited June 11, 2014 by submix8c

**rloew** · June 11, 2014

As far as I can tell, putting a valid bootable MBR on the USB Key is sufficient to get it to boot with most BIOSes.

**Drugwash** · June 11, 2014

The BIOS images are available from the official FTP here. Included there is a flashing utility.

As far as I can tell, the latest available (3u112) has a few USB-related boot options, but two of them are disabled, namely USB-CDROM and USB-HDD. You may use ModBin 6 and maybe even a version of CBROM (haven't tried any yet) to enable those options.

Edited June 11, 2014 by Drugwash

**submix8c** · June 11, 2014

Iffy - FWIW the "AX3S Pro" had an update in 2002 supporting boot USB devices, so maybe a "mod" might work... Be aware that you may want to FIRST update to YOUR latest BIOS -and- modding the BIOS could brick the board. Be SURE you have a good backup of the BIOS after the FIRST Flash Upgrade. Using a Floppy -directly- to update BIOS is REAL dangerous -if- your FloppyDrive -or- the Floppy have any problems.

I would suggest -first- updating the BIOS, then try a Bootable USB Flash set up with WinSetupFromUSB and maybe basic DOS (from maybe 98SE - see bootdisksDOTcom) and just test the Boot (off-insert-on, see if it "shows").

HTH

edit - FYI same BIOS files here -

ftp://usa.aopen.com/pub/bios/ax3su/

Cross-Flashing (with the Pro BIOS) to get that will more than likely create a doorstop. Don't!

Edited June 11, 2014 by submix8c

**Drugwash** · June 11, 2014

Here's all the boot options for the BIOS revision R1.12 (3u112.zip) - unless the user specifically needs USB-CDROM or USB-HDD boot options enabled, the official BIOS image may be flashed in without any modification and all selectable options should be available.

Personally I've flashed some BIOS images from HDD, by letting Win9x boot in DOS mode (F8 during boot -> Command prompt only) and running the flasher from a previously prepared folder in C:, to avoid any floppy issues - your mileage may vary.

**jaclaz** · June 11, 2014

Before modifying a BIOS, I would try a few tricks, once the (new/latest) BIOS has been flashed, around the USB-ZIP format. It is gonna take some time/experiments as it is a "slippery" matter, see:

http://reboot.pro/topic/4830-help-can-boot-usb-hd-in-one-pc-not-in-another/

http://reboot.pro/topic/4863-change-from-usb-zip-to-usb-hdd-by-removing-partition-boot-flag/

and:

http://cheesehead-techblog.blogspot.it/2011/11/booting-old-via-epia-5000l-motherboard.html

I remember that on a similar to this latter motherboard (an EPIA 6000) the "original BIOS did have the USB-CDROM and USB-HDD "enabled" but they did not work (cannot really remember if they did not work "at all" or they were simply tricky/not reliable) whilst on a later (that became last released) BIOS upgrade the two mentioned items were "disabled" (and I was able to boot - after some tweaking - through the USB-ZIP choice).

Nowadays I would try first thing the (smallest you have available) USB stick and FBINST to partition/format it before making an attempt with good ol' makebootFAT.

jaclaz

Edited June 11, 2014 by jaclaz