NASLite Network Attached Storage

I'd added this query to an earlier thread but on reflection thought I'd have a better chance of getting some help by posting a new thread.

I have installed NASLite 2 on a CF card (apparently successfully) but it won't boot from the CF card on a restart. I've set the BIOS to ensure that the CF card (which shows up as removable media) is first to boot but all I get is a blinking cursor and NASLite doesn't start.

Any suggestions as to what the problem might be?

is this in an ide adaptor - if not not sure it will boot from it as a usb devce - others here may know - if in a ide/cf adaptor try the other formatting method - you can set it up as a super floppy or a hdd - i have had mixed results with both on different motherboards - but always got one to work

Thanks Tony. Yes, it's an IDE/CF adapter and I'm using the HDD version of HASLite. When you say "try the other formatting method" what do you mean?

ahh sorry may have msled - i assumed HDD version would be same as usb version - maybe not have not seen HDD version

on the usb version you can set up the usb/cf as a super floppy or hdd -

again going on usb version working in ide/cf adaptor - check how bios sees the cf card - setting on fully auto may detect the card but may not boot - certianly i had problems on one motherboard - i had to play with some of the settings in the hdd detect - there is a thread here somewhere about it - will post a link if i can find it

Depending on your main board your BIOS setting might be quite a bit different, but these are the settings i used:-
IDE HDD Block Mode - Disabled
IDE DMA Transfer Mode - Disabled
IDE Primary Master PIO - Mode 0
IDE Primary Master UDMA - Disabled

Mine wouldn't boot with the default settings, but works great with the above if a bit slow booting up (made worse by the RAID adaptor booting as well).
Have you got a power supply to the CF/IDE adaptor?

You say thet the CF card is recognised as a removable drive
this confuses me
if you use a CF/IDE adapter, I would expect to see a "normal" harddrive
(I see that on my box at least)

make sure the adapter is in IDE-0 (first IDE slot)
make sure that the poweradapter is connected if applicable
make sure your adapter is set as master
make sure there is no other drive connected to this IDE channel
make sure you boot from IDE Primary Master

that "should" do it

Thanks, guys, for these suggestions and my apologies for not acknowledging them before now but the email notification didn't work so I wasn't aware of them and hadn't been back to look until today. I'll see if they can be applied to my situation and let you know the result.

OK, here's the score.

I've installed the CF/IDE adapter in the first IDE slot and disconnected the other HDD so that the CF shows up as the primary Master drive in the BIOS setup. (Interestingly the CF also still shows up as a removable drive in the BIOS boot set up, i.e. the boot order is CD drive, removable devices (including the Lexar CF), hard drive (and here it lists 'bootable add-in cards' but not the CF) and network. But when I try to install NASLite, the system won't boot from the CD. However if I set the CF as a slave by removing the little cap from the two pins on the adapter, and connect it to another IDE slot, the system boots from the CD and installs NASLite on the CF! I then tried replacing the cap on the adapter and installing the CF as the primary master drive but when I try to start NASLite I get the message 'Operating System not found'!

I'm stumped! What to do now?

Some CF adapters don't do well when sharing a cable with another device. Try running the CF alone and the CD on the other interface.

The CF adapter was on a separate cable from the CD drive and it was the only IDE device on that cable. Likewise the CD drive was the only device on its cable.

I think I see the problem
You haven't created the usb-drive (CF-card) yet
hence the error "no operating system found"

first you need to boot off the cd
and have the cf-card connected via USB (use a simple cardreader)
then you can create your usb flash drive
now install it in the CF-IDE adapter
reboot from the cf-card "primary harddrive"



Lol
see me rambling on and on
you got the hdd version, not the usb version
I just realised that

sorry for the confusion, disregard all my remarks