ThinkPads & USB + DOS boot support + tools

Hi all.
This post is the result of a personal effort to create my own type of recovery cd with tools and utilities. Basically, I did not want to use creations such as Hiren'd CD or DVD, PartPE etc. in order to solve backup/recovery or any other taks - under goold old DOS.
The challenge was to be able to boot from cd (classic ATA interface = built-in the ThinkPad or USB-based).
At the same time, I needed support for the built-in HDDs (a SSD & HDD in my case) + USB-connected HDDs (I have a WD in a Zalman case which I use as external backup or other storage needs).
The hardware configurations on which I tested: my T61p (check signature) and my wife's R60.
The result of the efforts is a boot file, containing DOS boot files (Win9x-based), freely available drivers (.sys files available on the Internet). Any tool can be added / removed from the CD, using an .iso editor and then re-burning the resulted image on CD-R/RW support.
If such a customized tool would be of any use, please send me a PM.
I do not know if such a post corresponds with the forum rules - just trying to bring some support to the community.
Best regards.
W500 / T61p / T61 / R60

I am able to boot with my usb drive or to a bootable CD ( I'm trying to run Norton ghost to ghost the hard drive). I have no floppy in the system. The system boot ( using F11 and change the boot device) but in both situations it boots starts ghost but doesn't see the hard drive or only sees the usb drive(as the hard drive). The hard drive is sata seagate 80 gigs. I did finally give up temporarily installed a floppy to get the image but would like to make this work. I have done this with laptops and other pc's. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Similar Messages

ThinkPad USB 3.0 Dock - Prevents ThinkPad Twist (S230) from booting (Windows 8.1 Pro 64 bit)

Hi, I upgraded to Win 8.1 tonight and found the ThinkPad Twist wouldn't boot at all when the USB 3 dock was plugged in. When it tried to reboot I just get a permanent blank screen. When I power down and do a cold boot, I get the ThinkPad welcome screen but no boot options line prompt below it and it gets stuck on the ThinkPad logo. The only way I can get it to boot is to unplug the ThinkPad USB 3.0 Dock USB cable from the machine then dreboot from cold again. It's a bit annoying and definitely didn't behave like this under Win 8.0 RTM just a few hours ago.
I also found the dock-attached external displays wouldn't work under Win 8.1, but updating the Dock firmware and the DisplayPort firmware as mentioned in another discussion board fixed that prob at least. But I still can't boot or reboot with the ThinkPad USB 3.0 Dock attached... Help would be appreciated.
TIA...
Paul
p.s. my ThinkPad USB 3.0 Dock is Model DU99019, ASM PN OA34193
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Thanks for the help. None of that fixed the problem, so I've run the tool and sent the results to DisplayLink support as you asked, with a link back to this thread. For your reference I have a Lenovo Service Request Number: 8001961163 on this problem. ( I mention this so we don't duplicate efforts).
Here's part of what I said to DisplayLink Support:
"I have all the latest drivers and updated the UEFI from Lenovo a couple of weeks ago. I restored a Windows 8.0 clone to see if the problem was present at that level, but I had the same problem, so I put Win 8.1 back. It used to work fine up until a week ago when I updated to Win 8.1, but as I said, I regressed to a Win 8.0 image and it persists there now, too.
The problem is when I restart Windows with the Dock connected, it’ll shut down normally then not reboot – it gets stuck on the Lenovo screen that asks to press Enter for the UEFI config. Same happens if I cold-boot it from power-off. Unplugging the USB3 cable and cold booting is the only way to get the PC going again.
Files attached show screen shots of my troubleshooting progress. There was originally a “Mirage Driver” that the compatibility reporter was complaining about, so I removed that but still had the same problem after rebooting.
Personally, I think it’s a hardware or UEFI problem, as the problem happens before anything of Windows gets loaded at boot time."
Best regards,
Paul

USB Boot support for K7N420 Pro???

Would it be possible for the BIOS release to include USB Boot support?
This way you could use a lot of bootable USB peripherals (USB Flash DIsk for example) and you wouldn't need your FDD anymore.
Can this be done?
Best regards,
Pulsar

newer boards have begun to incorporate this bios feature.

How Create Dos boot able USB for Create Ghost for NTFS File and windows server 2008

Hi
How Create Dos boot able USB.
Which show all Partition Drive in dos mode for NTFS file system.
I have Windows Server 2008 which have NTFS File System of Hard disk.
I have not CD / DVD Rome and I cannot attach the CD / DVD because we have no permeation by our organization.
but i wanted to create Ghost.
So i need boot pc by other media USB.
Please help me.

Hi
I just assembled a cd which boots dos and can read and write to ntfs drives.
Should you be interested in the iso image file which you can use to write to cd or usb please email me at [email protected]
Thanks
Nuno

Can't install Win 7 from USB with Boot Camp - please help

Hi,
I'm going crazy trying to install Win 7 from a USB using Boot Camp.
I've got a 13" MacBook (Aluminum) with 6GB RAM (trying to get to 8GB, but that's a different issue), 500GB HDD, running 10.7.4.
In the Boot Camp Assistant I want to partition 60GB for the Win 7 drive, but when I click install I get the error: "The installer disc could not be found. Insert your Windows installer disc and wait a few seconds for it to be recognized." However, the USB drive that I used Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool in Win XP to create is plugged in. I also have the .iso file on my Mac desktop.
Googling hasn't produced any solution that I can work - most seem to be using Boot Camp assistant 3.0, and I've got 4.0.3 running.
I'd appreciate help, particularly step-by-step instructions that I could follow.
Thanks in advance.

Lion has been out and most threads here deal with 10.7. and BCA 4.0.x
There are problems with burning ISO to DVD etc at anything other than slowest burn speed (2x)
New 2012 models don't have an internal DVD but if you do, then yours does not support a USB-DVD.
So you are running XP now and have Windows XP partition? knowing that the update will need 40GB and that Lion does not support XP.
Look at the other posts I made this morning for some of the FAQ Boot Camp support links.

ThinkPad USB 3.0 Dock - Firmware update doesn't work

Hello,
My company has bought over 200 ThinkPad USB 3.0 Docks to use with HP Folios to connect dual and single monitors. Some users have experience multiple issues with this product and I am trying to determine how to resolve these issues. I first want to update the firmware that is located here: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/guides-and-manuals/detail.page?DocID=UM014961
ThinkPad USB 3.0 Dock - Firmware Update - Lenovo Docking FW Update Tool V1.0
I have the USB 3.0 dock connected to the 3.0 USB port on the Folio. The unit I am testing seems to be working fine as I have dual monitors up, external keyboard and mouse are working.
I ran the .exe, a command window comes up, and it attempted to look for the device. The text is as shown:
1. Initialzation<> Success
Start Search HUB
!!!No device found!
Press any key to continue . . .
This has been tried on several devices and it simply does not work. Does anybody have any suggestions? I have contacted support which was a complete waste of time because they have no idea what I am talking about.

I'm going to return my dock if possible. My main problem is that I cannot view Vmware virtual machine which is required for work. 2nd I can't view photos on my dual screens, it just hangs saying "Loading...", but I can view them on my W520 LCD Display. 3rd, I can't view a downloaded video, as in an .mp4. I disabled the hardware acceleration in Firefox, so I can see streaming video.
I have a Thinkpad W520 and an X1 Carbon and both exhibit the same problems with the dock.
I tried upgrading the DisplayLink Drivers to the 7.x version and that created a slew of problems. The Dock firmware driver link in the OP doesn't work either. As mentioned it couldn't find the device. Uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling the stock one cause lots of problems with my W520. The dock would try to connect but it kept connecting and disconnecting and the cycle would continue infinitly. It wasn't until I did a system restore that I could get it working again to where I can use the dock again.
I am extremely dissapointed with this dock.

T420S does not initialize NIC driver via DOS Boot key

Hello,
I am trying to boot a T420S laptop via DOS. When the "net initialize" command is executed the driver never gets initialized. This is the first time I've encountered this problem. I have used my DOS boot key on previous lenovo models (T410, T400, T61, X300, T60, T43, T42).
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
FO

I am having the same problem, brand new shipment of T420s models, BIOS 1.24 (not even available on the drivers website), and none of my Netboot/Ghost boot tools work. I can get it to netboot to a TFTP server but it wont load my Ghost image (freezes as "transferring image file"), nor do my USB or CD Ghost boot tools work. I randomly got it to load off a Ghost CD once correctly, but after that, it loads and fails to intiailize the UNDI driver (as if PXE was turned off, which it isnt).
This is pretty frustrating since there are no newer BIOS revisions yet, and I cant image them for deployment...

External ThinkPad USB Keyboard with TrackPoint issues with scroll (55Y9003) and hotkeys on a x201

Hello
Once more there is a glitch with the drivers for this external keyboard 55Y9003.
I have the drivers:
16.2.19.13 for the ultranav system of the x201
1.10 for the external keyboard
My system is XP sp3.
The keyboard of the x201is fine relative to the one 55Y9003.
The scrolling is set to standard for both systems.
Please do not advise to select smooth; it is not a solution and the smooth scrolling has been systematically utterly unusable.
The issues:
-the hotkeys on the external keyboards are not all working:
basically, fn+f4 and fn+nmlk work but the rest does not (say fn+f8)
-the scrolling of the external keyboard is not at all identical to the scrolling of the x201.
For instance, in pdfs viewed with foxit for instance, I have not a problem to scroll horizontally with the x201 starting with the hand tool.
WIth the external keyboard, whan I press the middle button to activate the scrolling, it remains the hand tool, I can scroll vertically but not horizontally.
FIrefox as also issues whith the middle button.
-the external keyboard still suffers from the sticky shift key.
I know the x201 and the 55Y9003 are no longer fashionable, but Is there some directly guy working at Lenovo who could help ?

I have the ThinkPad USB keyboard on a non-Lenovo desktop, and it works.
Yes the keyboard driver installs, but not the Lenovo System Interface Driver, for obvious reasons. All the buttons and TrackPoint work.
Yes the TrackPoint does not scroll in all programs. Search the community for "trackpoint scroll fix" and you will come up with instructions on how to fix this.
I don't work for Lenovo. I'm a crazy volunteer!

ThinkPad USB 3.0 Dock Driver Availability Win 8.1

Driver for ThinkPad USB 3.0 Dock station cannot run under Win 8.1. Support Center stated: Driver being developed. Does anyone have an expected completion date?
Moderator Note; subject edited.

Hi,
Which USB 3.0 dock are you refering to?
If it is this one:
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/itemdetails/0A33970/460/EB6CE8241B8A47E18EBAF06F8726DA3E
Then the latest driver which supports Windows 8.1 can be found here:
http://www.displaylink.com/support/sla.php?fileid=100
Thnaks,
James

ThinkPad USB Keyboard with TrackPoint -- Buttons not working (SK-8833)

The buttons on my trusty Thinkpad USB external keyboard (SK-8855) have suddenly stopped working properly. The right-hand button has ceased functioning most of the time, and now the middle button both scrolls windows (as it is supposed to) but also acts as the right-hand button (showing context menus, etc.). Also, occasionally, the left button stops working too, until I click on the center button, and then it will work fine for a while. There is no real consistency except that they are inconsistent.
The rest of the keyboard, including the trackpoint, works fine, but the fault happens when the keyboard is plugged into two different machines--my Thinkpad T430 and my Thinkpad x100e (the very first time it was ever plugged into this one).
I would be happy to see if some dirt has clogged up the button mechanism, but the keyboard is still under warranty and one of the screws is under a label (I think). It looks like some kind of hardware issue since I haven't changed any software on my system, but I guess it could be a driver problem, but Lenovo has made it all but impossible to find the drivers of this keyboard.
Does anyone have any ideas, or should I just be contacting support for a warranty repair?

You should get the keyboard changed under warranty.
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

ThinkPad T440s + Nvidia - ThinkPad USB 3.0 compatibility

As ThinkPad T440s with discrete graphics doesn't support docking stations is it possible to connect external monitor, AC, mouse, keyboard and headphones through ThinkPad USB 3.0?

Hi,
Which USB 3.0 dock are you refering to?
If it is this one:
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/itemdetails/0A33970/460/EB6CE8241B8A47E18EBAF06F8726DA3E
Then the latest driver which supports Windows 8.1 can be found here:
http://www.displaylink.com/support/sla.php?fileid=100
Thnaks,
James

ThinkPad USB Keyboard with TrackPoint (55Y9003) FRU

I'm trying to order a ThinkPad USB Keyboard with TrackPoint part no. 55Y9003 here in Bulgaria.
But here they are selling only the European/Bulgarian version with a slighly differerent layout and part no. 55Y9009.
I had this problem before with the old UltraNav Keyboard and the keboards for my X40, X60 and X61s. What I did then was to order the keyboards as a replacement.
So I need to find the FRU P/N to order it as a replacement. But I only know the FRU of the bulgarian version (57Y4647).
I remember it used to be easy to find it on the product page, though I may be mistaking as I can't find it now.
Please does anybody know where I can find the FRU P/N of part no. 55Y9003?
Also I don't understand why the retailer here in Bulgaria can't do that, but lets not overdo it :-)
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Never mind I found it
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?&LegacyDocID=MIGR-73185
Still if anyone in Europe is ordering this keyboard have in mind that the enter is the fat one and not the one on the picture if you havent figured that out already about the keyboards in Europe.

P55M GD45 experience; only 1.1 bios works, forum usb key boot didn't work, Win 7

My experience. Got board w/ 1.1 BIOS installed, installed Win 7 64-bit. Used LiveUpdate to flash BIOS to 1.5.
Then box froze at "Starting Windows" screen. However it would boot ok to Safe Mode, and also Safe Mode with Networking. It wouldn't boot to Knoppix, Ubuntu LiveCD, ... (In Windows 7, I spent hours trying stuff, did boot logging, turned off startup services, piles of stuff, but didn't seem to be getting anywhere...)
Tried using the Forum USB Key boot for BIOS flashing. Couldn't get it to boot, just got black blank screen with cursor. (Could this be because board doesn't support 98/ME?)
Finally figured out the M-Flash option, and tried 1.4, which gave same results as 1.5. Then went back to 1.1 and that got my Win 7 booting again ok. Then tried 1.2 and that gave same result as 1.4/1.5 (screen freezing), so went back to 1.1.
Later tested out HP USB key booter and that worked for me, though I didn't end up using it for anything, since I went with the M-Flash.
I was hoping that this new board would help me have better eSATA (hot-swappable/recognizable), than my previous setup but it's actually worse. With my old setup, I could plug in an eSATA drive, then Add Hardware, and the drive would be recognized by Win (XP). With this new setup, eSATA drives only get recognized if I have them connected and on before I boot up my box. Not good. Also, the BIOS has a tendency to prioritize the eSATA's before the regular SATA's in boot order, which seems weird.
Anyone else have any experiences like this? Any suggestions on moving towards a BIOS upgrade and more eSATA functionality (ideally without spending another 12 hours on it )
Thanks for reading and in advance for any suggestions!!
MSI P55M GD45
i5-750
2x2gb g.skills ddr3
64GB SSD (Crucial)

I have exactly the same problem and a reinstallation won't solve anything !
You will even not be able to finalize the installation !
Freeze in Windows Seven after several minutes even after having cleared CMOS + loads of optimal mode or fail safe mode...
Here is my computer:
-MSI P55M-GD45
-Intel CoreI5 750
-Noctua NH-D14---> CPU @ 28°
-2 X 1Go Crucial Balistix DDR3
-2 X SAMSUNG SPINPOINT T166 - 500GO SATA II 7200TRS/MN 16MO (HD501LJ)
-2 X Seagate 1.5 To 32 Mo 7200 tpm
-2600XT fanless gigabyte
-Corsair 520VX or HX I forgot it
No problem with the last bios 1.1.
!!!!! Totaly unstable with the last bios 1.5 !!!
I read your solution about reinstalling the OS after a bios update (that's the first
time that I read it and I owned something as 15 motherboards in the last 10 years...but
you have 20k post so I think that you know what you write...)
So I tried to REINSTALL after "upgrade" of the firmware 1.5 of the MSI P55M-GD45.
I did it with a USB KEY....not [email protected] with defaults values !
The only thing to do is downgrade the bios in 1.1 and now no problem @ 3.8 GHz !!!
WHY IS THIS BIOS SO unstable ?
What will MSI do ?
I have never had a so unstable motherboard after a bios upgrade !

USB 3.0 support in Windows 7?

I can't find any official information online about what support Windows 7 has for USB 3.0, can someone point me in the right direction?

I can say categorically that USB 3.0 support for Windows 7 seems to be a little like the eSATA problems experienced by people... A washout.....
I have Windows 7 professional SP1 with ASUS p6t deluxe X58 chipset... USB 3.0 with the drivers (at least) from Buffalo are highly unreliable and not worth investigating or buying....
Until the drivers have clear standards there will remain these motherboard chipset incompatibilities like with the X58 chipset. I have a 3.0 USB Buffalo Controller that whose driver seems to be VERY BUGGY....
a. external connected loses connection with the mobo
b. throughput is ABSOLUTELY PITIFUL as many have said at a miserable 23-28 Mb/Second (this is what we waited for????)....
c. the drivers on the controller card...that it seems to fail at will where a navigational-"ghost" of the attached drive's directory is frozen (i.e. not refreshed by windows explorer) and consequently the ONLY thing that remedies is a re-boot UNTIL....
....it fails again. Not, repeat, not a happy camper. I would have gladly waited until the drivers had been cleaned and ready for RTM status not this pre-alpha/alpha nonsense that the poor unsuspecting early-adopter geek community is having
to suffer through.................GROWWWWWWL.......... It is a bit sad really....the first real blemish on what has been an otherwise stellar O/S release.... So dammit...................FIX/STANDARDIZE THE DRIVERs... There...I tried...to
say it nicely.
It's alway interesting hearing from experts that know everything.
I have two system with USB 3.0 on the motherboard and my transfer rates usually run between about 60-90 Mb/secs.
And, Microsoft does not write the USB 3.0 driver - it is written by NEC or one of the other hardware partners! My guess is your problem is caused by the Bufflao hardware and their implementation of USB 3.0. It's definitely has nothing
to do with Microsoft! Talk to the USB 3.0 committee @
http://www.usb.org/developers/ssusb
Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread. ”

TS4517 Macbookpro can't recognize bootable usb at boot time

I created a windows usb with bootcamp assistant, "Create a Windows 7 or later version install disk" with a windows 7 ISO image.
I went through bootcamp's "Install or remove Windows 7" option and partitioned 21GB from my harddisk for my windows partition (it's named "BOOTCAMP", MS-DOS (FAT)).
I plugged in my usb and restarted my laptop. I pressed option during boot to go into the boot menu. Somehow, my usb stick doesn't show up in the boot menu. I only see my normal boot partition and a recover partition. I tried removing the USB stick while I am still in that menu and plugging it back to see if that will fix the problem. It did not.
Strangely, I noticed that my USB stick does not light up when I unplugged it and reinserted it when my mac is in the boot menu. Normally the usb stick will light up when inserted into this usb port.
I thought my ISO is not bootable so I tried another windows 7 ISO and the results remain the same.
Is it possible that my model is too old such that it doesn't allow booting from USB during boot time? Is it possible that older ROMS do not check for USB drives during boot time (hence explaining why my usb doesn't light up)?
I can assure you that my usb port is functioning correctly

I have the same issue on a late 2013 Macbook Pro 15inch. I booted into Recovery mode, and selected to install new Mavericks, and chose my USB drive as the target.
The installer correctly downloads to the USB, and the bootable USB works fine on my old 2010 macbook pro. However, the USB drive does not show when i boot with option pressed. It is as if the Macbook just dont permit booting from USB - eventhough the drive was created on the very same mac.
Anyone have a clue as to how to boot from USB?

ThinkPads & USB + DOS boot support + tools

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