Jump to content

Drive not "seen" when laptop plugged in


IcemanND

Recommended Posts

Ok, so I have a number of 32gb DataTraveler 100 G3 thumbdrives, they boot either WinPE 3 or 4, and using the HKEY_Local_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\PEBootRamdiskSourceDrive" to find the assigned driver letter and change it to a fixed letter so we don't accidentally wipe the USB drive if the internal hard drive has no partitions.

 

So on some laptop machines if the power adapter is plugged in the referenced registry value is not created, even if you use "WPEUTIL UpdateBootInfo" to force the creation of it. If the machine is running off of battery it seems to always work fine, issue comes when the machine has a dead battery and can not be run without the power adapter.

 

Another interesting thing to note is that I have the same thumbdrive in an 8gb version and this issue does not happen with that drive.

 

Anyone see this before or have any idea, I've beat my head against it for three days now with no luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Another interesting thing to note is that I have the same thumbdrive in an 8gb version and this issue does not happen with that drive.

Interesting :yes:

And scary/queer. :w00t::ph34r:

Three questions:

  1. Are both the 32 Gb and the 8 Gb set as "Removable" (or as "Fixed")? (or are they differently set?)
  2. Are both the 32 Gb and the 8 Gb partitioned (or "superfloppy")? (or are they differently set?)
  3. Have you tried making a smaller than 8 Gb partition on the 32 Gb stick? (if it is partitioned)

jaclaz

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Additional:

4. Does this ever happen with desktops?

5. Have you tried it on a desktop with a card reader installed?

6. Does this happen if no battery is installed?

Also post the make/models of these notebooks. I may be able to do some testing as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. Not sure, not an easy thing to check when booted to WinPE, but I will check that tomorrow, in PE and installed OS.

2. Both are partitioned using the same diskpart script:

Sel disk 4

clean

create part pri

sel part 1

active

format fs=ntfs quick

assign

    then the WinPE files are copied over.

3. No i have not I will attempt that in the morning also.

4. Never reported by anyone with desktops.

5. Yes, card reads have never been an issue.

6. I can try that tomorrow.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, this has been a fun one to track down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tough to fit a 16gb image file on a 1gb USB stick for offline imaging.

Of course! I'm not saying you are using too large of USB keys, I'm saying that sometimes Windows detects a USB key as a CD or DVD rather than a removable disk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. Both the 8 and 32 are detected as removable disk.


 


3. Different partition size on the 32gb drive, made no difference.


 


6. Makes no difference if the battery is removed, still does not work.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another thing to check (though it is more like shooting in the dark :w00t::ph34r: ) do they have the same current consumption?

 

One of the "features" of USb devices is power consumption, maybe one has a lower value than the other?

Like one beiing - say 100 mA and the ther being - still say - 300 mA?

 

Try running this with both the 8 Gb and the 32 Gb connected and see if you can spot any difference (besides the obvious ones connected to size) :unsure::

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html

 

jaclaz 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

USBView shows everything the same for both the 8 and 32 gb drive except size and serial number.

 

They are both 300 mA devices, which should not be an issue I have a 64gb thumb drive the tools says uses 498 mA and that drive works without issue but is a different flavor of Kingston drive from the other two.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...