supernova777 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submix8c Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted 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.htmlHowever, 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drugwash Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submix8c Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 (edited) Specs (at least) -http://www.motherboards.org/mobot/motherboards_d/AOpen/AX3S-U/Manualhttp://www.elhvb.com/mobokive/Archive/Aopen/manuals/ax3spu/Ax3spu-ol-e.pdfNo info on Boot Devices. edit - Go here and in PullDown select your MoBo -http://asia.aopen.com/products_download.aspx?auno=2973There 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rloew Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drugwash Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submix8c Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drugwash Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submix8c Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Hmmm... a "super floppy" Zip-250?http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/152097-on-superfloppies-and-their-images/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Hmmm... a "super floppy" Zip-250?http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/152097-on-superfloppies-and-their-images/ NO, NOT a super-floppy! The USB-ZIP tends to be connected to the "partitioned" kind of ZIP, AND usually *require* a ZIP compatible geometry.The "real" superfloppy ZIP's were actually a "workaround" and rather uncommon.http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/linux/zip/zip-1.html What was suggested was a "partitioned" ZIp and/or a makebootfat double effect MBR/PBR + ZIP geometry compatibility. http://reboot.pro/topic/12436-usbzipls120-booting-with-minimalist-mbr-code-and-grldr/http://reboot.pro/topic/12436-usbzipls120-booting-with-minimalist-mbr-code-and-grldr/?p=108810 jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submix8c Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 I stand corrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 I stand corrected. Naah, no need to blush, on these "early" motherboards *everything* and the contrary of everything is possible. I will give you a link to a case that seemingly only boots to a partitioned hard disk like device BUT maps it ONLY as superfloppy device :http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?s=&showtopic=14181&view=findpost&p=121665http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=18485 @supernova777If you want to make a few tests with makebootfat, this might be of use:http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=13784&st=44and these for FBINST:http://reboot.pro/topic/7932-create-universal-flash-boot-disk-with-fbinst/http://reboot.pro/topic/11463-fbinsts-automated-script-by-maanu-now-working-for-win7/http://www.rmprepusb.com/tutorials/usbutils jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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