Pyrox Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Hello,I've been playing with the program for a few days now and i eventually mananged to get it working - i have a Corsair Flash Voyager Mini 4GB. When i tried to use the HP format tool (using H) to format to NTFS it worked fine with the batch script. As soon as it was complete though i tried booting the drive and all i got was "A disk read error occurred; Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" I tried redoing it with different settings but no joy.I then formatted using the PetoUSB with FAT (which states 2GB maximum) and it seems to work fine? Although it does have a cluster size of 32kb (which is a waste of space if theres lots of files under 32k).Does anyone know how i can get my usb drive to work with NTFS? I'm baffled - in the guide the example usb drive was a corsair flash voyager 4gb? the only difference is mines the mini...Also is it actually possible to get the Windows Repair to work in the txtmode setup? (where it normally gives you a list of the Windows versions installed and says "esc to not repair or R to repair")I've tried playing with the winnt.sif's and can't seem to get it going.Also both of the questions i have searched for in the forums and on google but can't seem to find anything that's relevant.Many thanksMike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilko_t Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 A few things to try for NTFS-1. Try zeroing out the first say 200 sectors of the USB drive. Unplug it safely using the windows icon, replug it and reformat it with HP tool in NTFS, try using the tool a few times one after another.2. Use Hitachi microdrive filter driver or dummydisk (latter is present in both WinSetupFromUSB and USB_multiboot) to make your stick visible to Windows as a hard disk. Then format it from Windows Disk management AND set active partition. Experiment with cluster size.Sometimes second or third format helps, I have noticed maybe a bug in HP USB format tool, when it doesn't rewrite the MBR on first run, do it 3 times and suddenly it works. As for the USB repair option- it's been always working, since the first batch files. You must NOT edit BOOT.INI on the internal hard disk after the install completes, there is a second entry, making this installation visible for repair from USB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimb Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Repair Option See:http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...=4900&st=15Therefore a rule in boot.ini on Harddisk was made by Install XP from USB.If not present you have to add this rule to your C:\boot.ini file prior to booting from stick.multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="USB Repair NOT to Start Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrox Posted October 3, 2008 Author Share Posted October 3, 2008 (edited) awsome! thanks for the help. I am just experimenting with cluster sizes, using windows disk managment.i will get back with results again, many thanks.Mike############### UPDATE ##################I managed to get rid of the disk read error occurred, but now it's continued with just a blinking underscore! haha, typical. i used the HP format tool (3 times) and also i've tried every cluster size with NTFS, thats 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16k, 32k, and 64k. is the flashing underscore something i've done wrong?thanksMike Edited October 3, 2008 by Pyrox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrox Posted October 3, 2008 Author Share Posted October 3, 2008 How would i zero the first 200 sectors? isn't that what formatting does? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 (edited) How would i zero the first 200 sectors? isn't that what formatting does?NO.The problem is exactly that.The first sector is affected by partitioning (NOT formatting)Sectors 2÷63 should not be affected by partitioning, nor by formatting.A number of sectors after sector 63 are the bootsector and some other filesystem structures (depending if FAT16, FAT32 or NTFS) and are affected by the formattingThe problem is that in some cases info already written in these places is "kept" or however used in the partitioning and formatting procedure, which makes the result incorrect.By wiping first 200 sectors (but I personally recommend just first 100, as they are usually enough) you make sure that the drive is "blank".Read here:http://www.msfn.org/board/USB-Booting-issu....html&st=13(AND links within)jaclaz Edited October 3, 2008 by jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrox Posted October 4, 2008 Author Share Posted October 4, 2008 OK, i'v tried the wiping the first 100 sectors which was demonstrated with the following:-fsz 51200 0file100sectors.datdsfi \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1 0 0 0file100sectors.datafterwards i formatted with the HP utility, i tried formatting once, and also another time doing it three times.still ends up with a flashing underscore Will the MBRBATCH script have different results?thanksMike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 Well, actually yes.Basically, though not yet fully established/verified, the "HP" utility may produce in some cases an "unbalanced" partition table, where CHS and LBA address data are not corresponding to each other, and/or making a partition that may not end on Cylinder "boundary". This is not usually a problem with the FAT16 bootsector, but it can be one with the FAT32 one, and the problem may also be caused by a combination of this "mispartitioning" with the peculiar BIOS of your motherboard.The MBRBATCH and MKIMG method are designed to have (as it should always be ) CHS and LBA data corresponding and partition ending on Cylinder boundary, thus they should solve the problem.There also two other workarounds, see here:http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=21864(using DOS to load grub4dos grub.exe or installing grub4dos grldr.mbr)And a third one, installing (on Xp, NOT Vista) either the Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver or the dummydisk.sys by Anton Bassov (google for them) in order to make the USB stick seen as "fixed" and thus enabling you to use the "usual" Disk Manager.And a fourth one (untested by me) by using SwissKnife:http://www.compuapps.com/download/Swissknife/swissknife.htmthat should be able as well to "hd-like format" a device seen as "removable".If you cannot make it with any of the above methods, use HDhacker:http://dimio.altervista.org/eng/to save BOTH MBR and bootsector of the stick, then compress them in a .zip file and post it here, I'll have a look at them. jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrox Posted October 4, 2008 Author Share Posted October 4, 2008 I'm beginning to think that something is certainly not right when i run the command dsfo \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1 0 0 NULwhich is correct for my 4gb usb drive.. that it's up to 89182MB...?0 is definatly my main hard drive, because when i take out the usb drive, 1 is not available... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 Hmmm, maybe the USB controller goes in some kind of "loop". Try using good ol' diskprobe (dskprobe.exe):http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...61-ba8011fabf38To see which last sector it detects on physicaldrive.jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrox Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 (edited) Excellent i think i've got the exact amount. I looked in the volume information for my usb drive and it listedDrive Type - DRIVE_PHYSICAL_DEVICESector Size - 512Sectors / Track - 63Tracks / Cylinder - 255Cylinders 504Total Sectors - 8096760I multipied the sector size by the total sectors to get a result of 4145541120 (Bytes?)Ok now to follow the rest of the guide with mbrbatch.Cheers duudeMike Edited October 6, 2008 by Pyrox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrox Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 (edited) mbrbatch method did not work neither. maybe i did something wrong so ill try again.attached the bootsector and the mbr of my usb flash drive after being formatted 3 times by hp util.oh yeah also, i've tried the dummydisk method, that gets rid of the "A disk read error occurred; Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" problem and turns it into and annoying blinking underscore! habootsecandmbr.zip Edited October 6, 2008 by Pyrox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Pyrox,I've seen the file, but right now I'm out of town and don't have my usual tools available, I'll check them in a couple of days.jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Pyroxtry the atttached:1) 00 out first 100 sectors2) use hdhacker to restore the modified MBR to the stick3) remove stick4) re-insert stick5) use the built-in Windows FORMAT to format the partition6) copy to the newly made partition just:NTLDRNTDETECT.COMBOOT.INI (the boot.ini should have at least two different entries)7) try booting, if you get to the BOOT.INI choices, everything is fine8) reportjaclazMBR_mod.zip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrox Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 God damnit! ha still no joy. Still ends up with a flashing underscore. im beginning to think it's this peice of s*** chipset/bios setup i've got in the badly made Dell M1330.I did do everything properly, just doesn't wan't to work. ill have to just use FAT or FAT32, tried FAT and it is pretty slow installing xp.Thanks for all your help jaclaz it's much appreciated.it was kind of fun trying to get it to work. i learnt some new stuff.i'll keep looking the net to see if theres any specific links to why it doesn't. ill also try on another computer if i can.Many thanks,Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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