boot disk with USB CDROM support

Many say it cannot be done ...

I'm trying to create a boot disk with USB CDROM support for a Compaq BL 10e blade server. The blade comes with an adapter that has two usb ports, which is the only way to connect floppy and cdrom drives to it. I am using a regular Win98 boot floppy with CDROM support and altering the CDROM drivers. It works with other systems, just not with the blade server (some drivers load, but then hang and do not complete the boot process). The CDROM is TEAC CD-210PU. I've updated the ROMpaq on the server to the latest as of 6/18/03.
Drivers I've tried:
usbdummy.sys
usbcd.sys
usbaspi.sys
usb_cd.sys
teac_cd.sys
duse
HP/Compaq's website says it can be done, they just won't tell you because they want you to purchase their software to do it.

Thanks to anyone who can help!
~Tracie

Quote:

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Legacy USB support requires a system ROM that includes this functionality. The following table shows the minimum required ROM version to support legacy USB devices. All servers shipping in the second half of 2002 or later (supported by SmartStart 6.0 or later) will support USB keyboard, mouse, floppy and CD-ROM.

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Seems you need a bios update?

more info here

I've updated to the latest ROM/bios available ... version 2003.02.17. I'm beginning to wonder if this is faulty hardware ...

in order to get my external cdrom , om my laptop to work i used the following lines in the config sys,

DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS /testmem:off
FILES=30
BUFFERS=20

device=USBASPI.sys
device=usbcd.sys /D:mscd001
rem device=RAMFD.SYS

LASTDRIVE=Z


if anyone can throw suggestions how to get my usb pendrive to work , i would be happy

i had to do the above in order to load the i386 dir over to my drive , in order to run setup

good luck

freddy

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Originally posted by tgtipton
I've updated to the latest ROM/bios available ... version 2003.02.17. I'm beginning to wonder if this is faulty hardware ...

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The bios must have the option 'boot from usb' as one of the choices for your 'boot' source !!

Boot from USB device is not an option in the bios. The boot order is floppy, CDROM, hard drive, NIC. Interestingly enough, the blade does not come with an internal floppy or CDROM drive ... they have to be attached externally via USB ports on the diagnostic adapter

Blade Info

I have access to a spare blade and diagnostic adapter, so I am going to try my drivers with them to rule out hardware problems.

On a side note: The last driver I tried on the blade server, which was the DOS driver provided by TEAC, gave me an "invalid parameter" error (although it worked fine on a desktop using the same CDROM drive). I am researching the "parameters" but have found nothing yet.

Thanks again for your help.
~Tracie

Quote:

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Originally posted by tgtipton
Boot from USB device is not an option in the bios. The boot order is floppy, CDROM, hard drive, NIC.....

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Sorry then I think no good ... the device must be able to directly access the usb before any o/s support kicks in ... this is only just starting to appear in the latest stuff ... you might get lucky & have it added later ... but I doubt it !

You started this with "HP/Compaq's website says it can be done, they just won't tell you because they want you to purchase their software to do it" ... I suggest you ask just exactly what models it is available from, direct usb boot is only possible when you have the option 'boot from usb' ... you can boot from dos & then run windows or whatever from usb ... but that's different !

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Originally posted by confus-ed
direct usb boot is only possible when you have the option 'boot from usb' ...

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The floppy is USB and it boots to disk just fine (without CD support). I'm thinking this is specific to Compaq ... if only they would support their hardware and the devices they recommend.

I tried using a different adapter with no luck. However I learned that when the floppy drive is plugged into the right USB port and CD drive in the left I get the "invalid parameter" error. When I switch them it says the driver installed successfully, but it hangs there and doesn't finish booting.

I've also tried this on a different blade with both the old bios and the new bios with the same results. And I've sent a message to TEAC for support.

Any other suggestions?
Thanks
~Tracie

Ah so ! (puts on chinese face :D)

If it can boot natively from a usb floppy then maybe you just haven't made the 'right' kind of boot cd .... or are you trying with a windows cd which ought to be the correct kind ? ...

Actually, I'm making a boot floppy that loads the CDROM drivers. I'm using the Win98 boot floppy as my model, just substituting drivers and editing config.sys and autoexec.bat as needed. The floppies I test work on a PC, just not on these blade servers. :( It's very aggravating!

Advanced USB Boot

:rolleyes: I read the post wrong in the first place ... I thought you wanted direct usb boot .. you want a dos boot floppy with usb support ! .... but since you appear to be able to boot from a usb device (floppy) ... why the hell are we bringing dos into this ...? Can't you just boot directly from the cd ? (its not hard to make bootable cd's with dos on it if you must ...) .

Usually the reason why folks want some boot source with usb support is because their bioses won't boot from them, which isn't the case here !

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Originally posted by confus-ed
Can't you just boot directly from the cd ?

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No ... unfortunately. The Win2K server CD will boot, but gets to a point where it can't read the drive b/c the driver isn't loaded. Compaq has only just recently released a driver to use (press F6 when setup starts and load the driver-haven't tried this yet b/c server is already installed), however I need a driver that works in DOS so that I can create a bootable CD to use with Ghost.

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Originally posted by tgtipton
.... however I need a driver that works in DOS so that I can create a bootable CD to use with Ghost.

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Seen this then ?

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... Click "Boot Disk with CD-R / RW, LPT and USB Support" and click Next..

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I've not tried it !!! ... but that looks promising ..... ;)

Oddly enough that is referring to USB to USB connections (like a null modem cable). I tried this and was quite dismayed when it prompted me to connect the USB cable to another computer. :(

This is what I followed and it worked great http://howtofixstuff.blogspot.com/20...table-usb.html

Back in 2003, it wasn't so easy s3200! We take usb booting for granted now, but prior to 2005 it could be a complete nightmare.