Boot Freezes when trying to redirect boot to USB stick

[Usos]

I burned the .iso image (5.0.1.1) to a CD.
Then I booted my Samsung R560 Laptop with the CD, while the bootable (grub4dos) usb-stick (which is supposed to get boot redirected to) is plugged in.
In the Bootmanager menu I select "USB" and it reads:

"LOADING EHCI DRIVERS
 SEARCHING ON HOSTS
 HOST 1"

then nothing happens. no key-command is registered or anything. have to cut power to turn it off.

Tried changing all bios settings (AHCI off, Ex. Dis. Bit off, etc.) but still no luck. It still freezes with the same message. 

[jan4]

Hello, looks like what I described some posts down!!

As you use a laptop there is probably no way to warm reset.
You can try to boot from a cd or floppy with usb drivers and then use Ctrl-Alt-Del to boot plop with the usb port initiated.
(DeviceHigh=\dos\usbaspi1.sys /v
DeviceHigh=\dos\Di1000DD.sys)

I think then grub4 dos will load

[Usos]

Dont know if thats what you meant, but I tried a warm-reboot with crtl+alt+del and tried booting from usb again. same result, it crashes. 

[jan4]

Yes I ment that only in my case ctrl+alt+del was not working when plop was frozen!

[onomatopellan]

I have the same problem but I can boot from USB holding CONTROL before selecting USB and after that pressing a key it should boot.

[Usos]

Holding CTRL sounded too good to be true ... and it was. Tried it, but no joy. I also tried holding SHIFT while selecting USB, this caused plop to use different drivers, but then it did not recognize a bootable usb device and it did not work either.

I noticed that the bootable USB stick gets listed as HDB Partition 1 (or was it SDB, not sure about it). Anyway, when I select this option it just sais "boot error" and goes back to the plop menu.

Manually booting the Multiboot USB Stick still works just fine if I select it in bios without plop present, but somehow plop just wont boot it for whatever reason. 

[onomatopellan]

I'm not using a laptop, so it's way different for me. I can't boot from USB without Plop Boot Manager as my BIOS has not support for that.
Maybe there is some kind of conflict between BIOS USB boot support and Plop Boot Manager.

[Usos]

Well I also tried disabling the BIOS USB boot feature and plop still crashes. So I doubt that its a conflict.

[Elmar]

please try this test version http://download.plop.at/tmp/plpbt.bin

regards
elmar

[Usos]

I burned the bin file to CD and it did not even boot. Maybe because I had to convert it to .iso before burning using CDBurnerXP. Anyway that didn't work out. Do you have an .iso to use?

[Elmar]

try this http://download.plop.at/tmp/plpbt.iso

[Usos]

Alright I burned and tried the .iso and this is what I found:

- Select boot from USB --> Crash (same as before)
- Select boot from USB + Shift --> Discovers 6 Hosts but does not find a bootable device (same as before)
- Select HDB Partition 1 (which appearantly is my USB stick) --> Boot error and return to plop (same as before)

Not using plop --> My USB Stick boots, but this is not the way I want to use it, since I want to use it at a friend's PC which definatly does not support USB boot

The Bootable USB Stick was created using "MultiBoot ISO" which uses syslinux and grub4dos to create a multiboot capable partition

I suspect that the crash when selecting "boot from USB" could be caused by trying to discover the laptops internal usb components (trackpad, camera, maybe wireless, etc.) as proper USB storage devices, but this is mearly my suspicion knowing nothing about how plop operates.

Anyway I still hope you find a solution and I am happy to try more .iso files if you have or are going to create any.

[Elmar]

Not using plop --> My USB Stick boots, but this is not the way I want to use it, since I want to use it at a friend's PC which definatly does not support USB boot

that it does not work on your pc, does not mean that it does not work on your friends pc.

[Usos]

But it makes it far less likely to work.

I want to use this method to make my friend see how awesome linux is and that he can use it as well. The stick contains fully bootable distro, rescue tools, etc. And when I show up and it does not work or causes weird errors and freezes he is never gonna go for linux and will never even consider it again. So I'd like it to work on the first try.

Besides, wouldn't it be great if plop would work anywhere, even on this stupid laptop?

[Elmar]

I want to use this method to make my friend see how awesome linux is and that he can use it as well. The stick contains fully bootable distro, rescue tools, etc. And when I show up and it does not work or causes weird errors and freezes he is never gonna go for linux and will never even consider it again. So I'd like it to work on the first try.

i gave up to tell people the benefit of linux. when he don't want to use it because of some problems, then he will never accept a new operating system.


maybe it stops because of a internal usb device. please post the "lspci -v" output.

elmar

[Usos]

So far he has not even seen linux in action and I dont think it would cause many problems with the things he is using a computer for, namely email, web, im,  office and gimp. Adding the fact that he is frustrated over having to reinstall windows recently due to a virus infestation I would think that it is possible he would like a linux based OS.

"lspci -v" output is in the attachment

[Elmar]

sorry, i was meaning "lsusb -v"

[Usos]

There you go.

[Elmar]

the problem is the bluetooth device

[Usos]

What makes it a problem?

[Elmar]

my stripped down driver. there is a communication error and its not handled. the next boot manager version will have an option to skip such devices

[Usos]

So will it crash unless an option is set, or will it skip such devices like the bluetooth one by default?

[Elmar]

you will enable the skip option on demand with ALT-U key in the main menu and there will be a configuration in the setup to boot a device connected to a port number

[Elmar]

here is a test version, press alt-u in the main menu to skip  usb devices

regards
elmar

[Usos]

Where is a test version? I dont see one. 

[Elmar]

i forgot to post the download link. i created a public test version. you find it at http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanagerdl.html

regards
elmar

[Usos]

Alright I just tried 5.0.11-2 and here is the result:

- alt+u in main menu --> nothing happens at all (does not crash, does not boot)
- usb boot --> still crashes
- hdb partition 1 --> still boot error
- shift + usb --> no bootable device found (6 hosts found)

so far no luck

[Elmar]

not 5.0.11-2, you have to try 5.0.12-test1

[Usos]

Oh, alright, sorry about that. Trying it now...

[Usos]

So, I tested everything twice just to be sure (5.0.12-test1):

- u --> device discovered --> crash
- shift+u --> device discovered, not hd, driver not loaded --> back to menu
- alt+u --> device discovered: choose enter or s
    - enter --> crash (saw 111ra in the upper left corner of the screen)
    - s --> crash
- hd2 part 1 --> boot error --> crash when trying to get back to menu

things cerainly changed, but its not yet working

[Elmar]

do you mean with "crash" a hang or reboot or anything else?

[Usos]

With crash I always mean hang and no reaction to input. It never rebooted by itself. Had to hold on/off to switch it off.

[Elmar]

currently i have no idea whats going wrong

[yanger]

I would like to note that PLOP does not work on Averatec 3200 series laptops as well - it freezes. [it's currently running windows xp]

Also, just for kicks, I tried it under Virtualbox attempting to boot a usb stick, and it as well froze.

Let me know if any details are needed. I can boot a livecd from the averatec to get specs and info if needed.

would love it to work on it. the bios does state usb-floppy and usb-cdrom, but no usb-harddrive option for boot options, will test more later when i can.

thanks.

[yanger]

oh yeah, my purpose is to boot a usb running ms-dos so i can flash the dvd-drive since it only supports ms-dos.

i know, i could just throw a ms-dos cdrom in and access a usb stick for data, but i think it's not safe to flash the cd-rom when using the cdrom to boot from it.. you know besides, i may flash a few different versions as well for testing purposes...

[Elmar]

I would like to note that PLOP does not work on Averatec 3200 series laptops as well - it freezes.

please post the output of a linux livecd "lsusb -v > output.txt"

i know, i could just throw a ms-dos cdrom in and access a usb stick for data, but i think it's not safe to flash the cd-rom when using the cdrom to boot from it.

when you load the dos to the ram, then it doesn't matter that you booted from cdrom.

regards
elmar

[Elmar]

- alt+u --> device discovered: choose enter or s
    - enter --> crash (saw 111ra in the upper left corner of the screen)
    - s --> crash

only to be sure, it stopped immediately after pressing s? no second detection?

- hd2 part 1 --> boot error --> crash when trying to get back to menu

can you better explain the "boot error", it can be anything. what did you see?

regards
elmar

[yanger]

please post the output of a linux livecd "lsusb -v > output.txt"

I've linked it to http://pastebin.com/0AQJnd3K

[yanger]

hmm.. should i of lsusb with the usb stick in? or does it matter?

[yanger]

funky thing... not the way i wanted it to work...

i used plop 5.0.12-test1 iso for this test... just in case...

plop boots and prompts what I would like to do.

if i choose the hard drive partition 1 option, it boots up windows xp (of course)
if i choose the cdrom, of course, it reboots the cd..
if i choose the usb option, it attempts to search for the usb device and hangs at the uhci drive detection, as it find one device... [it passes ehci with nothing found]
do note, if i hold the shift down, it does the same as above, just skips to uhci then hangs.
now here's the wierd thing... if i choose the floppy, and there is no floppy on this system, the usb drive boots!

the only side effect is that now ms-dos has to re-think everything and everything needs to be reprogrammed as a:\ instead of c:\ ... on most comps, the system boots as c:\ [windows ntfs and linux systems] ... hope that helps some!

[Elmar]

if i choose the usb option, it attempts to search for the usb device and hangs at the uhci drive detection, as it find one device... [it passes ehci with nothing found]

what happened when you plug in the usb drive when plop has been started?

now here's the wierd thing... if i choose the floppy, and there is no floppy on this system, the usb drive boots!

the only side effect is that now ms-dos has to re-think everything and everything needs to be reprogrammed as a:\ instead of c:\ ... on most comps, the system boots as c:\ [windows ntfs and linux systems] ... hope that helps some!

i think, your bios provides to boot the usb drive as "super floppy". only the first partition is used and the drive is accessed like a floppy drive a:. when you would have an internal floppy too and use that bios usb mode, then the internal floppy drive became b:

please post a lsusb with the connected usb drive too.

regards
elmar

[Usos]

Well I just tried HDB and alt+u again and wrote down all the output, here is what I got [_ means blinking cursor, --> means input from me]:

--> choose HDB Partition 1 (again I have no second HDD, this probably is the USB stick)
Boot error
_
--> Enter
Boot From Ahci CD-Rom
...
ISOLINUX 3.73 3.73 ...
Loading plpbt.bin ... ready.
a_ [cursor keeps blinking, no reaction to input, dont know what the "a" means]

--> alt+u
Host 1
Port 3: Device Connected
Enter = Use ...
s = Skip
--> s
Host 2 [here nothing happens, no reaction to input]

hope this helps

[Usos]

And just for good measure I just tried Floppy boot, didn't work:

--> choose Floppy
Loading Boot Sector
***  Boot Error  ***
Can't Read Bootsector
--> Enter
[Back in Menu, still works but looks distorted, weird characters around the menu]

looks like there is no "super floppy" for me

[Elmar]

Boot error

when this text is gray on black screen, then its from something else than the plop boot manager.

for a test, can you make the usb drive bootable to dos? with "fdisk /mbr", "sys" and so on?

[Usos]

for a test, can you make the usb drive bootable to dos? with "fdisk /mbr", "sys" and so on?

Error: Insufficient Skill available.

Boot error may be the bios or something, dont know. Or even the USB stick itself, maybe because plop tried to boot the partition instead of the mbr, I dont know.

[VTCodeSlinder]

I'm suffering from similar issues (I'm trying to boot in Virtual Box using Plop and a USB Stick).  In the test version after pressing Alt-U the Enter key freezes the application but the S key does not as described above.  Instead I get output similar to:

Loading EHCI Driver
Searching on Hosts
Host 1
Port 9: Device Connected
Port : : Device Connected
Port ; : Device Connected
Port < : Device Connected
...

Of course pressing Enter at any of these options does in fact freeze the application.

[yanger]

please post a lsusb with the connected usb drive too.

http://pastebin.com/3K75v1CC

the usb device is the "Actions Semiconductor Co., Ltd MPMan MP-Ki 128 MP3 Player/Recorder" in usb mode

[walterav]

Also, just for kicks, I tried it under Virtualbox attempting to boot a usb stick, and it as well froze.

I'm suffering from similar issues (I'm trying to boot in Virtual Box using Plop and a USB Stick).

USB 1.1 mode boots in Virtualbox 3.x-4.x only very slow, usb2.0 doesn't boot at all see next topic.

http://forum.plop.at/index.php/topic,1007.0.html

[grandma]

Similar Question:

Objective: Get Linux TinyCore to boot on a partition created on single drive in laptop - or get a USB stick with Linux TC to boot. USB stick tested and works on other laptops.

Current Environment: W2KSP4 on Dell Latitude - 1 HD, CD (no burner), USB sticks, BIOS won't recognize or boot to USB.

Drive Modifications: 29GB C: was partitioned today

Primary: 15GB w/ W2KSP4 (shrunk)
Logical: 256MB FAT
Logical: 500MB Linux Swap
Logical: 5GB Linux EX2
Logical: 7GB Linux EX2

Used XCOPY /h /e to install all TinyCore files from USB stick (F:) to G: (HD and 2nd partition), hidden boot file for Linux generated by Netbootin shows, but not sure if drive is bootable.

Ran plpgenbtldr - normal termination.

Boot Results: Plop Menu Booting shows W2K (default) and HD Partition 2, as well as CDROM and USB, but USB still won't fly and selecting HD Partition 2 goes to black screen.

Would this line be the correct syntax to force a USB boot on a machine that has no such drivers loaded at that point?

plpcfgbt stm=menu cnt=on cntval=30 dbt=usb usb1=2 usbmdev=2 plpbt.bin

Also - not sure about usbmdev=2 - don't know ?which? usb device to use and BIOS only allows COM1 or COM2 settings - am trying both.

Any suggestions or comments are appreciated.

Thank you.


p.s. Elmar - tell the plop developers they did a wonderful job - very sweet utility and I appreciate the support - as good or better than any. Thank you.

[Elmar]

plpcfgbt stm=menu cnt=on cntval=30 dbt=usb usb1=2 usbmdev=2 plpbt.bin

Also - not sure about usbmdev=2 - don't know ?which? usb device to use and BIOS only allows COM1 or COM2 settings - am trying both.

usbmdev means the second usb drive that is found. this is only needed when you have 2 drives connected and you always want to boot from the second.

btw. usb1=2 is only needed in some special cases to force the use of usb 1.1.

p.s. Elmar - tell the plop developers they did a wonderful job - very sweet utility and I appreciate the support - as good or better than any. Thank you.

i am the only developer


regards
elmar

[grandma]

When I select the G: drive - first logical partition formatted with format G: /FS:FAT - and then laid out with Linux /boot files and folders that work in a laptop that can boot from USB (this one cannot) - and I select PARTITION 2 in Plop's menu, I get a black screen. If I select USB it says no device found.

Any ideas?

[grandma]

Dear Elmar,

Got it - with a little reading and poking around - thank you. Now I can boot to Linux and jump - in a blink - to 3 isolated Linux partitions Fat/Swp/Ex2, all sitting on a Windows 2000 SP4 box that resides in the first boot position (4 partitions total). Works like a charm. Thank you for the inspiration.

[atb]

Hi all

I solved this problem

Problem get from USB keyboard

I was take out USB keyboard USB boot succesfull

Best regards

[floriab]

bug still exists in the current version

i think it's a problem in choosing the correct usb port. i plugged the usb stick in front of my pc, i got a freeze. when i plug the usb stick in another usb port at the back of the pc, then it works. i think plop tries to boot from keyboard or so

whenever you get a freeze, try to rotate the usb devices in your usb ports

[Puzzled]

I have exactly the same problem as Usos, and I've tried all the solutions offered.  Nothing helps.  At least I now know that I'm not crazy.

[eugeneseah]

Hi all

I solved this problem

Problem get from USB keyboard

I was take out USB keyboard USB boot succesfull

Best regards

Thanks!! This helped me to get plop working, and even figured out how to do it with only a USB keyboard, no PS/2 keyboard at hand.

FYI for future users having similar trouble getting USB boot working, WHILE using USB keyboard, here's the workaround that worked for me :

Figure out the device number that is assigned to your USB keyboard (mine was 3, for e.g.). This may involve booting through the USB option a couple of times and paying attention to the log messages. I think this number depends on the actual port the USB keyboard is attached to.
Use the settings option "Ignore USB device" to set the boot to ignore the USB keyboard by indicating the above number, and it should boot into your USB drive fine.

Was using latest version as of writing -  5.0.15.

WOOT!!!