Kingston MobileLite G3 and unRaid


Talsit

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My flash drive has apparently died  :( I'm looking to replace it with an SD card reader and everyone says the MobileLite G2 has its own unique GUID.

 

Does anyone know if the G3 does as well?  I would assume it does but was looking for anyone with experience with the reader.

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The G3 mobile lite does have unique GUID's. I have 4 of them all unique and working.

It might be a motherboard or bios issue more so then the card itself.

 

I'm using the microsd card slot for unRAID.

 

You have to program the bios and select the slot that has the card you want to boot.

This can be confusing as it can come up twice and you don't know which is which until you try, fail and swap.

 

I've had success with X9SCM-F and HP Microserver.  Both bare metal and under ESX.

 

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I have 4 of the G3 Mobile lite card readers. I am able to boot from the SD card slot AND the SD Micro card slot.

 

What I found:

For each slot that is populated, there will be a BIOS entry in the boot section.

The correct slot needs to be selected for boot or select both and make sure one is bootable and the other is not. (or both are with the same configuration).

 

This threw me for a loop once. However I can assure you it works with the X9SCM and the SD Slot since this is how I tried to flash it.  I wasn't able to flash it this way due to the Freedos compatibility with the board. But I certainly was able to boot it and unRAID via syslinux.

 

Just to be sure. I tried it once again.

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  • 7 months later...

I haven't been able to the G3 to work properly. I just picked up 3 last night for myself and friends along with a SD card. Booting from the G3 does work BUT unraid doesn't find a volume labeled "UNRAID" and therefore doesn't load properly.  keep getting a loop with this text: "waiting for /dev/disk/by-label/UNRAID" (not exactly as I can remember it word for word)

 

I tried an different card reader and same card and it boot and loads fine (finds the volume labeled "UNRAID"). But its blacklisted.

 

I do see if I populate both the SD and the Micro SD slots that two different option come up to select. On my bios, only the slots that are populated will show up as a valid boot device. One odd thing I did notice is that when the SD card is populated its called "USB-KEY" if the micro SD is populated its called "USB-HDD"  I'm going to try with a Micro SD and see if I can get unraid to load. (only micro I have is in my phone so will have to back it up then wipe it or borrow one or buy one)

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Here is the testing I have done with the Kingston G3.

 

First off, the other equipment I used for troubleshooting:

Transcend SD/Micro SD USB card reader

2GB Lexar Micro SD

8GB Silicon Power SD

16GB Sandisk Micro SD

Samsung Micro SD to SD adapter

 

My server running the Supermicro X7DWN+ motherboard does the following:

With the Kingston G3:

Will boot from the SD card slot but the partition is not mounted properly (not found by running fdisk)

Will boot with Micro SD in SD adapter, with same result from above

Booting with the Micro SD in I get "No Operating System found"

In BIOS, the 2GB Lexar is shown as a "USB KEY" the 16GB Sandisk is shown as "USB HDD" (they were formatted in Fat and Fat32 respectively)

 

With the Transcend:

Both the SD and Micro SD, the Silicon Power and the Lexar card all booted fine and were found with fdisk and by-label. 100% working. Except this adapter is blacklisted.

 

My Lenovo T420:

With the Kingston G3:

Both the SD and Micro SD are shown as "USB HDD"

Will boot from the SD card slot but the partition is not mounted properly (not found by running fdisk) (Silicon Power 8GB Fat32)

Will boot from the Micro SD slot and is found with fdisk and by-label. 100% working (2GB Lexar Fat)

 

With the Transcend:

Both the SD and Micro SD, the Silicon Power and the Lexar card all booted fine and were found with fdisk and by-label. 100% working. Except this adapter is blacklisted.

 

I'm disappointed that the Kingston G3 doesn't look like it will work with my motherboard. But I'm open to suggestions as I would really like a SD card reader that will work with unRAID.

 

(I have pictures for all that was done if they are helpful I'll post them)

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I did not have the latest bios. I had planned to update the bios and try again tonight. Well I'm glad to report that the G3 did boot and mount the partition successfully from the micro SD slot. The G3 still does not mount the partition properly if using the SD slot both on my server and laptop. So I think there is some truth to what was previously said. It's a safer bet to just go with the micro SD.

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  • 1 month later...

I bought a G3 for use with a ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS motherboard.  I quickly found that it would not boot properly from an SD card.  So I ordered a microSD card and it works. 

 

Apparently, as near as I can tell, The BIOS will recognize the SD card and start the boot process.  However as soon as unRAID takes controll of the final portion of the boot process, the card is suddenly "lost" and the reminder of the boot process fails.

 

 

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I know Weebo's probably going to shoot this down, but I'm not totally confident about the G3's...

 

I ordered one off of Amazon and have tested it in 3 different computers, including my currently running 5.0.4 rig.  I fiddled with BiOS settings to exhaustion, and tested both SD & Micro SD ports, but no matter what all tests report back a 'Blacklisted' GUID under unRAID webGUI.

 

I will say however, that I was able to find two new G2's on Ebay for $10.00/ea +shipping and both report an 'Unregistered' GUID.

 

It may just be my bad luck, but I'd have to say it's not a 100% guarantee that all G3's are unique.  I'm sure the same could be said for the G2's but I feel you at least have a better chance...

 

-D

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I ordered one from Amazon.com on Jan 23, 2014 and received it on the 24th.  It has a valid GUID and I have registered it with LimeTech and received a Plus license key.  Now, I must also state that I was aware that, apparently, there have been counterfeit Kingston G2's (now probably, G3's) made and sold in the past.  So I ordered it directly from Amazon.com and did not use one of the many third party vendors who sell through Amazon.  (I have an unsettling feeling that many of these third party vendors are operating off of their dining room tables.    :o  )

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