USBKeysTroubleBooting

Last Edited: 01 May 2008 by superuser
Importered from old WiKi -- 30/04-08 18:04.
Contents
      Trouble Booting USB Keys
      (Thumb Drives)
         Comments:
         Hardware Lists:
         Most Common Problem: (BIOS Settings)
         Common Problem: (Line Noise/System Freeze)
         Common Problem: (USB Hubs/usr_cram.fs error)
         Common Problem: (Old syslinux)
         Common Problem: (Can't Mount Pen Drive)

Trouble Booting USB Keys

(Thumb Drives)

Last edited by Wosh

Comments:

This page is to help users troubleshoot problems with booting their computer from a USB Key. There are loads of reasons why booting a key might not work, so putting all of this information in a single spot seemed like a good idea.
Most keys work. Many SD card adapters don't work, but some do e.g. a "Praktica" single-slot SD card adapter, which is no bigger than some USB sticks.
Remember that if your key doesn't boot straight off, a good way to get it to boot is to use the WakePup or WakeUSB floppy disks created by a very good Puppy user. Search the forum to find disk images for these disks.
More information will be added soon.
USB keyboard and mouse typically works in from puppy 2 onwards, often requiring "legacy USB support" turned on in BIOS.

Hardware Lists:

Most Common Problem: (BIOS Settings)

The most common BIOS settings to use when attempting to boot from a USB key are "USB-zip" or "USB-floppy". "USB-zip" seems to be the one most commonly successful. There are rumors of people having success with "USB-cdrom", you will have to try each to see what works for your system. If you have a relatively new motherboard (2003 or newer), particularly using AwardBIOS, you may find that your motherboard BIOS detects your key as another hard drive. In this case, you will need to boot into the BIOS (with the key plugged in), make sure that "hard drive" is set as the "First Boot Device", and then find the setting for "Hard Disk Boot Priority". When you enter this menu, you will see a list of all of the hard drives attached to the computer, including your USB key. Set your key to be first in the boot order, and then reboot. This has been found to be the correct setting on most newer motherboards. Some motherboards (like MSI) require "USB legacy support" turned on for "all devices" (or similar) in the BIOS, otherwise it won't work.

On the forum (February 25, 2006) - We are reminded to make sure that ''USB legacy support'' is turned on for all devices, including (as posted) ''Legacy USB keyboard support''. (Link to this forum thread∞)

Common Problem: (Line Noise/System Freeze)

There are reports of reproducible lock-ups where the systems will freeze during boot (when the dots are progressing across the bottom of the screen as a progress indicator). Some USB 2.0 thumb drives don't boot nicely if put into an extension cable. This includes both the USB connections on the front panel of your and extension cords from the rear of the system. A potential cause of this failure is "line noise". If you are experiencing a problem with booting, and BIOS settings are not your problem, then try plugging your USB drive into the rear of your system since these ports are connected to the motherboards directly and not as likely to experience the line noise problems.

Common Problem: (USB Hubs/usr_cram.fs error)

Simply put - Do not use them. (If you use one and it works, please let TheBabbs∞ know.)
There is something in the way that some hubs get recognized during the boot sequence that makes them inaccessible for a time, and if your USB drive is plugged into one when Puppy needs it, your boot will fail (likely with a "Could not find usr_cram.fs" Error). Sometimes even the ports found on the front of the system are seen as a hub, so if you plugged your USB drive in here and the boot fails, try moving the key to one of the ports on the back of the computer (the ones up high, near all of the other connections, not down low among the slots).

Common Problem: (Old syslinux)

It has been found that in some cases, whether due to USB key issues or BIOS issues is not known, that later versions of syslinux will not actually render certain keys properly bootable. As of this writing, Puppy Linux has been using syslinux 3.08 since version 1.0.4 (Puppy Linux 1.0.7 is expected to have syslinux 3.11), which is generally very good for the vast majority of users. Some, however, may find that their key is not made bootable by this process. These users may find success in downloading and using a copy of syslinux version 2.11. I am no expert on syslinux or its inner workings, so I don't know exactly what changed after 2.11, or why this method works on some keys and later versions of the software do not. I have however had personal experience with this, and other users on the forum have concurred.
Comment by TheBabbs: It is my understanding that the Cruzer Mini USB thumb drives require Syslinux 3.08 or later due to a bug fix released in that version. I have had no problems with the Cruzer Mini 1GB thumb drive when booting Puppy 1.0.2, Puppy 1.0.4, Puppy 1.0.5, Puppy 1.0.6, and Puppy 1.0.7; additionally, I have not had any problems with booting Puppy 1.0.7 with a Cruzer Micro 1GB.

Common Problem: (Can't Mount Pen Drive)

Some drives (Transcend JetFlash and PNY drives have both been reported as having this problem) cannot be mounted and therefore cannot be booted properly even when using a floppy. In Windows, these drives appear to have only one partition (or maybe two if you create another one); but if you boot Puppy from LiveCD and look at them in MUT, they appear to have four or five, with clearly incorrect partition sizes. These partitions are also unmountable in Puppy.
Comment by TheBabbs: I have had no problems with the PNY Attache 1GB thumb drive when booting Puppy 1.0.6 or Puppy 1.0.7.

In order to fix this, you need to:

1. If you have data on the drive, back it up in Windows first. If you don't do this you'll lose all of it.
2. Start Puppy from a LiveCD.
3. Go to Control Panel under Start Menu and choose Pdisk.
4. Choose sda to access your pen drive.
5. Choose fdisk (cfdisk often won't open these partition tables).
6. Use fdisk to delete all the existing partitions (use the "m" letter to get help if you don't know how to do any of the things that I'm talking about in fdisk).
7. Switch to fdisk's "expert mode" and change the number of sectors per track to 32. I am not sure why this is necessary but have been told that it is necessary.
8. Write the partition table to disk and exit. You have now wiped out your pen drive.
9. Start fdisk for sda again through Pdisk (or directly if you wish).
10. Create new partitions. I have been told that one should keep the first partition at less than 1024 cylinders but it seems difficult to access more than one partition in Windows. So, creating one large partition may be better.
11. Mark the first partition you create as type FAT16. If you create more than one, not sure what to mark the others as, but try W95 FAT16 (LBA).
11. Mark the first partition active.
13. Write the partition table to disk.
14. Reboot your computer into Windows.
15. Format your pen drive's partitions in Windows as just FAT (not FAT32 or NTFS, the latter being an option under NT / XP).
16. Reinstall Puppy on your drive through Puppy or through other methods. Recopy your data to the drive if you wish.

Phew. That should do it.

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