Easy2Boot V1 - Make a USB MultiBoot drive that is easy to set up and maintain

Discussion in 'Application Software' started by steve2926, Apr 20, 2013.

  1. pisthai

    pisthai Imperfect Human

    Jul 29, 2009
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    I would buy another "Toy" I've to much already!!

    First problem: Can NOT install using USB 3.0 HDD (Original Acer HDD) connected to an USB 3.0 port! It start the installation till the point to transfer the files from External to internal HDD. I was try to use to install Windows 8 Pro. After connecting to an USB 2.0 port it started to transfer the files and hangs after 29%.

    Any Idea? Thanks.
     
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  2. steve2926

    steve2926 MDL Member

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    Sounds like an unreliable USB transfer issue - nothing to do with Easy2Boot.
    Maybe a power problem? I always use a USB Y-cable for my USB drives and so I get power from 2 USB ports to the caddy. This is particularly needed on laptop ports as they seem to limit power.

    Take a look at the Zalman VE-200/300/400 - it really is worth the money if you make and test a lot of ISOs. There is an article on my rmprepusb.com site.
     
  3. pisthai

    pisthai Imperfect Human

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    USB 3.0 Enclosure's didn't have Y Cable!! Also not an Power Jack for to connect an power supply! Mainly I use eSATA boxes because of the speed while USB 2.0 is to slow for bigger operations. All USB 2.0 Enclosure's I have also have external power.

    No, The problem is USB 3.0! For some reason, while try to install let say Windows 7 Ultimate, the Box light will just blinking. Installing Windows 8, it will start the setup process on the exact same post, will stop latest at the start of copy files from ISO to destination.
     
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  4. steve2926

    steve2926 MDL Member

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    Sorry about that!;)
    reboot.pro is THE place to go for any USB booting stuff. I have been a member on there for several years now. You need more Google Fu!
    Also LOTS of Tutorials on my rmprepusb.com website about booting all sorts of stuff.
    Easy2Boot is the latest project which sort of puts lots of these tutorials together into one 'easy' multiboot project!
     
  5. steve2926

    steve2926 MDL Member

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    #26 steve2926, Apr 21, 2013
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2013
    (OP)
    Hi Tito
    I downloaded the Trial version and got a trial product key from MS.
    It seems to be XP based, so I renamed it to XPHOMESP2.ISO and copied it to the \_ISO\WindowsXP folder in Easy2Boot.
    I booted to Easy2boot and picked the ISO from the main menu
    It booted and I pressed F6 and added firadisk32 and winvblock32 drivers
    I formatted the whole EeePC disk as a single primary partition.
    It installed to an HDD in my EeePC fine.
    I rebooted to Easy2Boot and ran STEP 2 of XPHOME menu (LowRam version)
    On Restart it booted from EeePC and First Boot Agent ran (for ages!)
    Finally says 'Cannot find installation media' - this happens on some - but not all - systems with XP installs (inc. Atom-based nbooks like my Asus EeePC!).

    I repeated the test, but used STEP 2 (not LOWRAM)
    This has to load the whole ISO into RAM so is not suitable for the full 3GB ISO!
    This method works on my Asus EeePC for XP installs...
    However, I get the same issue 'Setup cannot find the installation media':mad:

    SHIFT+F10 does not seem to work either.

    So, sorry, but it looks like my method of XP installs does not work with POS2009:confused:. You will have to use WinSetupFromUSB or similar installer instead

    P.S. I think I may have it working... watch this space...!
     
  6. Tito

    Tito Admin / Adviser
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    Nov 30, 2009
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    AFAIK, it uses WinPE for installation; just like any NT 6.x.
     
  7. steve2926

    steve2926 MDL Member

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    Well the trial version that you gave me the link to, has a splash screen that say Windows XP and the ISO has an i386 folder???
    Did you give me the correct link? NT6 stands more of a chance of working that NT5.1!
     
  8. Tito

    Tito Admin / Adviser
    Staff Member

    Nov 30, 2009
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    The link is correct. I am downloading the full edition and post info about it asap.

    I think it uses some kind of hybrid PE based setup like WHS (based on Server 2003).
     
  9. steve2926

    steve2926 MDL Member

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    If NT6 based, try renaming it as one of the win7 or Vista ISOs and installing it using Easy2Boot Windows Install - Win7 menu.
    are you downloading the ftp link that you gave me? It would take me many hours to download I'm afraid...
     
  10. Weedy

    Weedy MDL Member

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    #33 Weedy, Apr 21, 2013
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2013
    Steve,

    Any reason you don't support installing XP in ACHI mode on AMD hardware?

    Edit : I see that I'd have to edit loads of stuff and add the drivers myself.
    I guess it really doesn't matter about installing XP in IDE mode, as I can't be arsed with faffing about.

    2nd edit : OOOOH, I've just had an idea... You could boot to a winPE iso, and deploy an image from there... Much faster, wouldn't matter about ACHI, Mass storage drivers, etc. And the image would only take 5 mins to deploy instead of waiting through an entire XP install.

    3rd edit : Ok, wtf, I'm testing the install of XP, done the first part ok, but when I try and reboot, it won't let me boot from the usb stick. Every time I select the stick, it just loads the hard drive...

    4th edit : Nice... it wiped my USB stick. Looks like your app needs some work on the XP front.
     
  11. steve2926

    steve2926 MDL Member

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    XP install using standard MS XP ISO works fine, Tested many times. Did you manually select the partition to install to?
    To use PE3 to install XP - see Tutorial 82 on my site.
     
  12. Weedy

    Weedy MDL Member

    Mar 9, 2011
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    Ignore my previous post, my usb drive is shagged. Need to RMA it.
     
  13. Weedy

    Weedy MDL Member

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    #36 Weedy, Apr 22, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 20, 2017
    I also need to report a bug. In file menuVista.lst

    Code:
    iftitle [if exist \_ISO\WINDOWS\VISTA\Vista64.iso] INSTALL Windows VISTA 64-bit\n This will install any edition of Windows 32-bit to your hard disk
    The slashes are the wrong way round and it's not detecting Vista64.iso as an option.
     
  14. steve2926

    steve2926 MDL Member

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    #37 steve2926, Apr 22, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 20, 2017
    (OP)
    Thanks! Well spotted!

    P.S. On a new USB Flash drive, test using RMPrepUSB Quick Size Test to check it is not a 'fake' Flash drive!
     
  15. Weedy

    Weedy MDL Member

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    Nah, it's not a dodgy flash drive. It's a 64Gb corsair flash slider, and for some reason it keeps losing the MBR, so all the partitions keep disappearing. Well annoying.
     
  16. pisthai

    pisthai Imperfect Human

    Jul 29, 2009
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    When that lose is happen: only with Easy2Boot? Or with normal installation/format as well?
     
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  17. Weedy

    Weedy MDL Member

    Mar 9, 2011
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    It happens randomly.
    I thought I'd fixed it as the drive has been good for a while now, but it's started doing it again. It is not the fault of this tool. This tool is a fantastic piece of software.