NASLite Network Attached Storage

The NASLite-2 USB edition is not working with my system/flash drives. I need to swap it for the CD version.

When I boot my system from the USB flash drive I get the message followed by a string of high ascii characters. I have tried several different flash drives by manufacturers including Sony and Logitech, all with the same result.

The flash drives were formatted as fixed disks with a bootable partition. I attempted formatting the drives as superfloppies, but in all cases the process failed at the Make Bootable step.

The motherboard correctly detects and identifies the flash drives and allows booting to the USB drive as a hard disk as well as a floppy. I have tried both options, always with the same result.

I sent a support request several weeks ago and have yet to receive a reply.

I need to get this system up and running and have already wasted plenty of time trying to get it to work from USB. Please tell me how I can return the USB edition and get the CD edition instead.

Does it boot with the kicker floppy?

I haven't tried that. How do I make a kicker floppy?

I'm out of town right now, but I will be returning on Wednesday the 18th. From that date I will have 2 weeks to get this system (among others) up and running. I will try the kicker floppy, but if that does not work, what are my options?

If I must boot from floppy to use the USB drive, it makes more sense to just use the CD version and reduce the number of potential failure points. I wanted to use USB because it would be unobtrusive and I could hide the drive inside the machine as well as remove the risk of a mechanical failure on the boot drive.

There's a kicker image on the USB install CD, you'll use Windows to create the kicker.

First we have to discern if it's a problem with either the USB key or the install type on it. If it boots with the Kicker than we can look at your motherboard, bios etc.

This isn't working for a number of reasons:

First, we have no workstations with an internal floppy disk drive. I am using an external USB floppy drive, which installs as drive B: The floppy kicker installer appears to look only for the A: drive and does not offer the option to install to to B: drive

Second, the readme file for the kicker says that the flash drive must be formatted as a superfloppy for the kicker to work. As I noted above, I have been unable to format any of my flash drives as superfloppy drives, since the installer program consistantly fails to make the partition bootable. I have only been able to format as a hard disk partition.

Although I would prefer to use the USB version of the program, I do not have time to continue to troubleshoot this issue.

Please contact me directly so that I can discuss obtaining the CD version instead. Since I have never successfully booted the system, I have not yet registered my license code. If my license code is not compatible with the CD version, I would presume that it could either be transferred or disabled and a new one issued.

please email me at ajm (at) mjslaw dot com

thanks,

andrew

If you don't have an internal floppy, then how do you intend to use the CD version?

I have yet to run into a USB stick that formats as a partition and not as a superfloppy, so whatever you have on hand sounds pretty weird. Why don't you try programming the USB on another computer? Also disable USB2 in the BIOS of the NAS. Sometime that tends to mess with booting. If you are getting the USBX line on boot, then you obviously can boot from USB. You may just have to tweak things a bit. Using another USB stick is also an option. Low capacity generic sticks are $5 and seem to do just fine.

Why would I need a floppy drive to boot from a CD? Besides, the server does by chance have a floppy drive, but since it doesn't have an OS, I have no way to use it to install the kicker image.

I've tried programming the flash drive on 3 different workstations, plus the server itself and none have been successful at formatting as a superfloppy.

Anyway, as I mentioned to Ralph, I have a half-dozen projects to finish before I have to return to Seattle in two weeks and this is one of them. I don't have time to track down the cause of the problem, I just need something that will work.

Dimension:
I reread the docs and noted that the configuration is stored to the floppy disk. As I said, the server does happen to have a floppy drive, but none of the workstations do and the server of course doesn't have windows installed.

Well, I went out and bought a couple more flash drives and got it to work. Apparently there is something wonky with the drives I was using. I'm finishing up the configuration, but it seems to be working for now.