PLoP Boot Manager on Sony Vaio

[tru]

Hey,

first off, awesome work Elmar Keep it up.

to my issue:
I have two Sony Vaio Computers, one is a Desktop pc and one is a VGN-FE11M laptop. Both do NOT support USB boot via BIOS. They get stuck whenever I press Enter on USB. It searches for host 1 but cannot find anything. If i force USB 1.1 it goes up to Host 3. I bought and now use a SanDisk Cruzer 8gb, because i saw a screenshot on a third party website showing this device booting through your Bootloader. My question:
Can I boot ANY OS or is your bootloader restricted to free distros of Linux (/etc)? What could be the reason that both of my Vaios freeze? Is there anything I can assist with regarding debug information, if so, how?

Thanks elmar

tru

[Elmar]

hi,

Can I boot ANY OS or is your bootloader restricted to free distros of Linux (/etc)?

yes, you can boot what you want (as long as it it able to boot from usb)

What could be the reason that both of my Vaios freeze? Is there anything I can assist with regarding debug information, if so, how?

does it hang too when no usb drive is connected?

are you able to boot a linux from cd? please post the output of some programs as attachment. run them when your usb hardware is connected in the same way where my boot manager hangs.

lspci -v > lspci.txt
dmesg > dmesg.txt
lsusb -v >lsusb1.txt
lsusb -t > lsusb2.txt

regards
elmar

[tru]

This sir, was a lightning fast reply. Thanks. I just tried to enter boot without my USB cruzer connected but it hangs just like if it was connected. I installed PLoP thru windows 7, does that make a difference? I am downloading Ubuntu right now, to get the desired logs.

[Elmar]

I just tried to enter boot without my USB cruzer connected but it hangs just like if it was connected.

maybe the problem is easy to fix, but i can't promise anything.

I installed PLoP thru windows 7, does that make a difference?

no, this makes no difference.

regards
elmar

[tru]

Aaaalright:

lspci went without problems. so did dmesg. lsusb -v produced a file, but gave me 24 errors:
can't get hub descriptor: Operation not permitted
and
cannot read device status, Operation not permitted (1)

lsusb -t gave me: 4-1:1.2: No such file or directory but also produced a file.

this happens when thumbdrive is connected AND when it is not. the logfiles produced are from when the drive was connected.

let me know what else I can contribute to fix this. please do not worry about doing risky stuff, this machine has no data on it.

regards,
tru

[Elmar]

can't get hub descriptor: Operation not permitted
and
cannot read device status, Operation not permitted (1)

you have to run it as root: for ubuntu "sudo lspci -v"

i make a test version for you to see where it hangs, but currently i have no time. maybe you get it tomorrow.

regards
elmar

[tru]

Thanks,
on sudo lsusb -v, it gave me a single timeout error after the file was created. for sudo lsusb -t it had the same error as posted before. Thanks for the test version, i very much appreciate your support. Have a good night/day wherever you are located on this blue marble

attached are the revised lsusb -v and -t logs.

regards,
tru

[Elmar]

i think i see the problem. there is an usb bluetooth adapter and an usb webcam connected to the usb port. i assume they are builtin and hardwried before the external ports. however, one of those usb devices are making problem during the usb device detection process. maybe its the timeout you have seen in linux. my drivers must be very small, so the drivers have only a limited error handling. so one of those usb devices are making an unhanded error and this results in an endless loop.

i think about a workaround, so i still will give you test test version

regards
elmar

[tru]

Once I get back from college, I will try to turn off the bluetooth adaptor via a hardwired switch on the side. Thanks for the investigative work. I will then post another lsusb -v/-t and/or boot once without it being on.

tru

[tru]

Hi Elmar,
I was able to "remove" the BT adaptor and also a MemoryCard reader, which were all built in. Running sudo lsusb -v gave me just one Timeout error now, after finishing writing the file. I assume a last entry? the lsusb -t, this time, gave no error at all. I guess that is a good thing
Attached, new logs.

I also tried to boot from my USB thumb drive again, but it freezes as usual. Looking forward to your test test version tailored to my system. Take your time though, no rush

Thanks again and regards,
tru

[Elmar]

hi,
here is a test version
what chars do you see in the first line when you use usb boot?
http://download.plop.at/tmp/plpbt.bin

regards
elmar

[tru]

hey elmar,

"IraIIIIIIIra" is in the first line.

Thanks,

tru

[Elmar]

and after the last "a" it hangs, or?

[tru]

and after the last "a" it hangs, or?

I am able to interact with the program and can choose USB boot and other stuff but it hangs whenever I try to boot from USB. No other characters after the second Ira, yes.

[managed]

Hello, I just joined the forum so please be gentle with me

I have the same freeze issue with Plop on a Sony Vaio VGN-FE790G laptop.

However I found that pressing the F11 key when the Vaio logo is on-screen at the start of POST will allow a Usb stick to boot but not a Usb hard drive !

I would like to get Plop Usb working if possible. I downloaded the test version above and it still froze and I didn't see any extra characters on-screen.

If someone is willing to help me with this I'd be happy to supply any linux output files required.
I'm not an experienced linux user but I can do the steps in this topic or similar.

Thanks.

[BlondAngel]

Not sure if this helps, but I also have an old Sony Vaio machine (pcvsr220) whose bios does not allow boot from usb.  I installed plop onto a cd.  The computer boots from the cd, and from there I am able to choose 'USB' and my usb thumbdrive boots up just fine.  FYI, my usb thumbdrive is the xbmc live.

[managed]

Hi BlondAngel, thanks for the quick reply.

I'll try the CD method and report back.

Have you tried F11 with your Usb stick (see my first post) ?
As that works for Usb sticks on my laptop it may work on yours.

[managed]

Well I discovered selecting Usb in Plop's boot menu then holding Shift down and pressing Enter gives this text output :-

Loading Uhci driver
Searching on hosts
Host 1
Host 2
Host 3
Host 4
Driver removed
Loading ohci driver
Searching on hosts
Driver removed
*** Boot error ***
No boot device found, please retry it

Then if I press Enter then press Enter again it works !

What's more it's extremely fast so I assume it uses an ehci driver ?

I'd also like to repeat I found pressing F11 caused a Usb stick to boot but not an IDE hard drive in a Usb caddy.

I hope this proves useful for others with Vaio laptops.

@BlondAngel - I didn't need to try booting Plop from a CD after all, did you try F11 ?

[BlondAngel]

@managed --  I tried F11 but it doesn't do anything.   F2 puts my computer into the POST menu where I can change the boot order.  I tried every variable in the boot order in order to try to make it boot from the USB.  No such luck.   I have to use plop CD in order to boot from USB.

[tru]

hello managed, hello others.

I was able to recreate the boot error, however, i cannot press enter again afterwards. also, f11 does not work. can you describe the complete procedure a little more detailed please? (what boot manager [CD/install], which buttons/keys to press when.

I would really much appreciate that.

Thank you.

[managed]

Hello tru, no problem, as I'm not sure what might affect this I'll include as much information as I can.

First though, I press F11 just after powering up, when the Vaio boot screen is visible, and that causes Usb stick(s) to boot but not an IDE hard drive in a Usb caddy. This is totally separate from Plop and I assume is built into the Bios.

My Vaio FE790G laptop's hard drive has 4 partitions, 1st is restore partition for XP Media Centre (hidden), 2nd is XP Media Centre OS, 3rd is 7 and 4th is for Data.
I have plop in a folder (C:\Plop) in the root of my Win 7 partition and I added it to the 7 boot menu with the windows 7 instructions here :- http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager.html#runwin
The 7 boot-manager runs each boot and has 3 choices, 7, XP MC or Plop.

I select Plop and press Enter then on the Plop screen I select USB then I press (either) Shift Key and hold it down as I press Enter.
That gives the text as in my previous post with 'No boot device found, please retry it' as the last line.
(Is this where you got to ?)
I press Enter now and it goes back to the plop menu at top left and USB is still highlighted.
I press Enter again and the central plop window opens again and the top line is 'Loading Ehci driver', the next line is 'Searching on hosts' and the last line is 'Host1'.
My Usb stick(s) will then boot (very quickly, due to using the Ehci driver I think).
My IDE hard drive in a Usb 2 caddy also boots.

HTH

I still intend to try the CD method to start Plop and then see if it does the same as above. I'll post back when I have.

EDIT : Forgot to mention that pressing F2 gets into the Bios on my Vaio too.
Plus pressing Esc shows a Post screen, holding pressing Esc down again gives a (Bios) Boot menu.

EDIT 2 : I tried booting with the Plop CD, everything was the same as above.