Using Ghost 2003 for quite some time through on-the-fly CD/DVD images, I decided recently to have another look at the compatibility issue between Ghost and external USB2.0 hard disks. When I originally tested this capability 2 years ago that I bought the thing, I was completely disappointed by the embedded drivers. They would not work!! Taking into account that availability in local stores of external disk enclosures is limited to some models ex-Taiwan (of rather obscure manufacturing...), I did not hope to achieve very much. Stumbling on a nice post on the "Motto Hairu" & Panasonic USB drivers:

http://radified.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1095438251

I decided to give it a try and was delighted to find out that it works!!! The only glitch I had was that the first time I connected the disk through an external hub...BAD idea!! The disk, partitioned in four was not 100% usable. Only the first partition was allocated a drive letter. Connecting directly on the PC solved this...
To give some details on the hardware...the enclosure manufacturer is called "Vipower" (the chipset is unknown...) and the HDD is a 2.5" SeaGate ST9100824A (100GB).

After testing a bootable diskette with these drivers, I was able to complete remastering my original Ghost 2003 retail CD. Since it was an old "775" level disk, I added two folders with the offline "789" and "793" update patches with a script to automate the procedure. I also replaced the files that were in the "Support" folder with the newer ones (these are the files that are used when the CD acts as a bootable medium...), added IE6sp1 (to enable an easy install even on Win98SE running PCs) and Windows Installer 2.0 & 3.1. Final touch was to replace the CD bootable image with a new one, using Win98SE MS-DOS instead of PC-DOS and a complete set of drivers including the original Ghost drivers, SCSI drivers and naturally the Motto Hairu/Panasonic drivers - all menu selectable. I tested it and it works like a charm...

Moved to the Ghost 2003 board. Nice post.

johnroberts wrote on Apr 4^th, 2007 at 5:06pm:

"... only glitch I had was that the first time I connected the disk through an external hub...BAD idea!! The disk, partitioned in four was not 100% usable. Only the first partition was allocated a drive letter. Connecting directly on the PC solved this..."

I doubt this will be the last time an external USB hub will cause grief for a Ghost user's external HDD >:(

EP :'(

johnroberts


Quote:

After testing a bootable diskette with these drivers, I was able to complete remastering my original Ghost 2003 retail CD. Since it was an old "775" level disk, I added two folders with the offline "789" and "793" update patches with a script to automate the procedure. I also replaced the files that were in the "Support" folder with the newer ones (these are the files that are used when the CD acts as a bootable medium...), added IE6sp1 (to enable an easy install even on Win98SE running PCs) and Windows Installer 2.0 & 3.1. Final touch was to replace the CD bootable image with a new one, using Win98SE MS-DOS instead of PC-DOS and a complete set of drivers including the original Ghost drivers, SCSI drivers and naturally the Motto Hairu/Panasonic drivers - all menu selectable. I tested it and it works like a charm...

Someone knows their DOS and bootable optical disc--sharing the details (not just the outline) is always welcomed!


Quote:

added IE6sp1 (to enable an easy install even on Win98SE running PCs) and Windows Installer 2.0 & 3.1.

Not sure I follow what that has to do with a DOS based bootable utility disc--how and when are you using those in DOS?!


Quote:

I decided to give it a try and was delighted to find out that it works!!! The only glitch I had was that the first time I connected the disk through an external hub...BAD idea!! The disk, partitioned in four was not 100% usable. Only the first partition was allocated a drive letter.

Must have a non-compatible hub--my Adaptec powered 4 port hub allows me to not only use DOS Ghost, but DOS PartitionMagic and I can create as many partitions, and see them, as I can thru the hub!

>Adaptec is well known for producing solid quality hware. It is no surprise that their hub works fine...

>IE6sp1 has nothing to do with DOS. It has to do with a very annoying installation failure message on Win98 (it has happened on several occasions...). The message complains about incorrect (obsolete) IE version...This is probably *.msi related...Anyway since the space Ghost 2003 occupies is a mere 110MB there is still plenty of space left even on a small 8cm disk to add more useful stuff. Plus that the 8cm CD-R is the same size as a floppy...and FAR more reliable

Greets

P.S. Rad, tks for moving to proper category...

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...now that I come to think of it...since the Ghost 2003 CD image is 110MB and the GParted-Clonezilla image is 130MB it would be actually possible to concoct a "combined" selectively-bootable CD holding  Ghost 2003 Live (with full USB support...) AND Clonezilla for the tougher filesystems, LAN/USB support AND GParted partition editor (replacing Partition Magic...) AND the retail version of Ghost 2003 with all the updates PLUS a portable CD/DVD burning program (like DeepBurner...) ALL in one 8cm CD-R...

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