August 4, 200916 yr I bought 2 lexar firefly's when I built my unraid last year.... I was able to prep both of them and boot of them just fine... I ended up reformatting firefly #2 to be an appleTV patchstick which worked out just fine.... I am about to buy the pro version and was going to get the backup key so I am attempting to reconvert firefly #2 back to unraid. Problem is the thing wont boot.... I do the same steps, format fat/32 (tried both), syslinux -ma f:, copy unraid, eject but it wont boot the stick visually browse the working stick and everything appears the same Any idea on what might be wrong... is there some low level format I need to do before I do all this to remove some hidden turd from when it was an appleTV patch stick.... Any Suggestions would be much appreciated.... Sean
August 4, 200916 yr When you say it doesn't boot what exactly happens? Does the BIOS see it? Does it try to boot and then fail? Does it just hang? If it doesn't see it, double check the BIOS. I know that with Gigabyte motherboards you have to first configure it to boot off USB-HDD, then reboot with the USB drive plugged in and go into the bios a 2nd time. This time you'll see the USB device in the list of boot devices and then you have to move it up the list to be first. Simply configuring it to boot off USB is not enough. But again, that's just what I've seen with Gigabyte motherboards.
August 4, 200916 yr Author OK let me try that... I just tried the low level format procedure here and it still does not work.... http://bytes2000.wordpress.com/2006/12/03/how-to-fix-an-unreadeable-usb-flash-drive-illustrated/ when I swap back to my original USB drive boots everytime..... let me go try the bios.... Sean
August 4, 200916 yr Author I need to get a regular USB Keyboard. my keyboard though the KVstops working with the USB Key installed.... I dont undertand the comment about does the BIOS see the drive.... I have a gigabyte mobo with AMD Chipset. I have the boot sequence set to USB first.... when I swap the other key in it boots fine... Is there some kind of pairing procedure between an individual USB key and the mobo? Sean
August 4, 200916 yr I have the boot sequence set to USB first.... when I swap the other key in it boots fine... Is there some kind of pairing procedure between an individual USB key and the mobo? Well, sort of. With Gigabyte motherboards in order to boot off a USB there are 2 settings. The first setting tells the MB that you want to boot off a USB, but all this really does is add any USB removable drives to the list of bootable devices. The second setting is where you set the boot priority (which drive it tries to boot off of). You will only see your USB device in this list after you set the first setting, then reboot with the USB flash drive inserted and then go into the bios again. Chances are in the boot priority your new device might have been placed at the bottom of the list and it's not liking that. I know I have this issue when I've changed boot devices and I forget to put the USB drive back as the first device. Obviously you may have an older motherboard which may not work like that. I'm just talking from experience with the 3 motherboards I have from them and all 3 happen to behave like this. So it's likely that yours is doing the same. The fact that the old one works fine doesn't really mean much if the motherboard happens to recognize it from when you configured it before. Just look again for the 2 settings and follow what I said. If not, then it could be something else, but this is the only idea I have
August 4, 200916 yr This has been a rather common problem, and users have found many different 'obstacles' and solutions, listed in the USB Flash Drive Preparation wiki page, last section. It could be something as simple as a newer syslinux.
August 4, 200916 yr Author will try out new syslinux and some of the other tips.... need to go find a good ole corded keyboard so I can check the BIOS with the key plugged in..... Sean
August 5, 200916 yr need to go find a good ole corded keyboard so I can check the BIOS with the key plugged in..... I've had this same problem with a USB-based wireless keyboard and mouse set. You should check your BIOS settings for something like 'enable USB keyboard'. Turn that option on, and after a reboot your wireless keyboard will start to work in BIOS. Of course you will need an old school PS2 (not USB) wired keyboard to even get to that option to turn it on, so its kind of a catch 22....just try to borrow one from someone, use it once to turn that option on, then you'll never need it again.
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