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Rad Community Technical Discussion Boards (Computer Hardware + PC Software) >> Norton Ghost 2003,  Ghost v8.x + Ghost Solution Suite (GSS) Discussion Board >> Help! - Ghost 2003 USB 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
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Message started by DonZ on Sep 15th, 2007 at 2:13pm

Title: Help! - Ghost 2003 USB 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by DonZ on Sep 15th, 2007 at 2:13pm
When I create a Ghost 2003 boot floppy w/USB 2.0 support and boot from it, it does not see my WD SATA II HDD. It sees my other PATA WD drive fine and it sees the USB HDD OK.

I have tried all Ghost 2003 HDD switches to no avail. Now a std. Ghost boot floopy sees the SATA drive fine. Of course, w/o the USB driver loaded, Ghost backups and restores run at a snail's pace. I suspect somehow the Ghost USB driver is conflicting with the SATA drive.

My Ghost 2003 ver. is the latest .793. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Title: Re: Help! - Ghost 2003 USN 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by Rad on Sep 15th, 2007 at 11:35pm
have u seen this?

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

perhaps conflict-free (like diamonds).

Title: Re: Help! - Ghost 2003 USN 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by NightOwl on Sep 15th, 2007 at 11:43pm
DonZ


Quote:
I have tried all Ghost 2003 HDD switches to no avail.

Did you try the *-fni* switch when starting ghost:

ghost.exe -fni

Also, you might try also loading the DOS memory manager *himem.sys*--it sometimes prevents two DOS programs from overwriting each other's code in RAM.

Title: Re: Help! - Ghost 2003 USN 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by DonZ on Sep 16th, 2007 at 9:11am
As far as the info shown in http://radified.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1095438251,
I reviewed that some time ago. From what I can tell, the problem is not with the Ghost 2003 default Iomega USB driver. I have never had a problem with it recognizing any USB drive attached to any PC I used it on.

Yes, I did try the -fni switch along with all the other HDD switches with no sucess.

I am leaning more toward the reply that recommends loading the Iomega driver in the DOS high memory area.

I have noticed that with the Epox 9ND3AI motherboard I have, WIN XP assigns an external USB device icon in my lower desktop task bar for the SATA drive. I assume this is being done since XP is treating the SATA drive as an unmountable USB device versus a RAID device as some motherboards do?

The question is if the Panasonic USB driver refered to in the above link will see the SATA drive. My gut tells me it won't.

This might end up being a hardware incompatibility issue for me.

Title: Re: Help! - Ghost 2003 USN 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by NightOwl on Sep 16th, 2007 at 9:39am
DonZ


Quote:
The question is if the Panasonic USB driver refered to in the above link will see the SATA drive.

The real question is will your BIOS let DOS programs see your SATA HDD!


Quote:
I have noticed that with the Epox 9ND3AI motherboard I have, WIN XP assigns an external USB device icon in my lower desktop task bar for the SATA drive.

Not sure what that means!?  SATA and USB are separate controllers!  There are USB external HDD kits that accept a SATA HDD mounted in it--so there is a converter in the USB kit that takes the SATA HDD and makes it look like any other USB external storage device.

The Panasonic USB driver has no interest in a SATA HDD controller--only USB controllers and devices.

Does your motherboard have *built-in* USB support for storage devices?  If you can select a USB flash drive to boot from would suggest that it does.  Or, if you can boot with any DOS boot disk or disc, and *see* a USB external storage device without loading any other DOS driver would also confirm the *built-in* support.  After booting to a DOS prompt, can you find the HDD--the HDD has to have a FAT partition in order for DOS to assign a drive letter to a USB HDD!

Title: Re: Help! - Ghost 2003 USN 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by DonZ on Sep 16th, 2007 at 12:12pm
I guess I did not clarify the issue.

First, when booting from a Ghost boot floppy with USB 2.0 support, Ghost can indeed see the SATA drive when the USB 2.0 WD drive is not plugged in. Ghost shows drive [1] as my boot IDE drive and drive [2] as the SATA drive.

However, when I connect the USB 2.0 drive and then boot with the Ghost floppy, drive [1] remains my IDE boot drive and drive [2] is now the USB 2.0 drive and the SATA drive does not appear at all.

Bottom line, it appears Ghost 2003 only supports 2 internal HDDs?

I did try to load high the Ghost USB driver and it did not make any difference; Ghost could not see the SATA drive when the USB drive is connected.

Note: recognition of the USB drive is not the issue. It's the SATA drive that Ghost 2003 is having a problem with when the Iomega USB 2.0 driver is loaded.  

Title: Re: Help! - Ghost 2003 USN 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by NightOwl on Sep 16th, 2007 at 1:05pm
DonZ


Quote:
I guess I did not clarify the issue.

I think I understood--if you load the Iomega DOS USB driver--and the USB HDD is hooked up--then the access to the SATA HDD is interfered with.

When you use the Iomega DOS USB drivers, you load *aspiehci.sys* in config.sys, and *GUEST.EXE* in autoexec.bat.  *aspiehci.sys* initializes the USB controller and mounts the USB HDD.  If the USB HDD is not hooked up, then it can not be mounted.  If the USB HDD is not hooked up, then *guest.exe* will error out say no USB device was seen--so I suspect it's code is not place in memory because no DOS drive letter is being assigned.

Using the Panasonic DOS USB drivers may use different memory space and may bypass the incompatibility--only trying will answer the question.

Title: Re: Help! - Ghost 2003 USN 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by DonZ on Sep 16th, 2007 at 2:28pm
Ok. I tried the Panasonic USB driver. Appears it loaded Ok but displayed "could not find USB device" or something similiar. LOL.

Below is the autoexec.bat and config.sys files I executed. I just modified the two floppy USB boot disks Ghost originally created:

autoexec.bat

@echo off
SET TZ=GHO+05:00
GUEST.EXE
MOUSE.COM
echo Loading...
cls

if %config% == FROMFLPY goto FLPYBOOT
if %config% == FROMCD goto CDBOOT

goto FAILED

:FLPYBOOT
echo Insert Ghost boot disk 2 (containing Ghost.exe)
pause
if exist a:\ghost\ghost.exe goto GHOSTFND
goto FLPYBOOT

:CDBOOT
echo Insert Ghost boot disk 2 (containing Ghost.exe)
pause
if not exist b:\ghost\ghost.exe goto CDBOOT
b:
goto GHOSTFND

:GHOSTFND
cd \ghost
echo Loading...
GHOST.EXE
goto END

:FAILED
echo Unknown boot menu selection
goto END

:END

config.sys

[menu]
menuitem=FROMFLPY, This computer was started from a Ghost boot disk
menuitem=FROMCD, This computer was started from a Ghost bootable CD

[FROMFLPY]

[FROMCD]

[COMMON]
DEVICE = HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE = USBASPI.SYS /E /V
rem :DEVICE = usb\aspiehci.sys /int /all
DEVICE = DI1000DD.SYS
DOS = HIGH,UMB
LASTDRIVE = Z

Title: Re: Help! - Ghost 2003 USN 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by TheShadow on Sep 16th, 2007 at 8:10pm
Many or even most of the problems I've seen people complain of, with Ghost 2003 are just because it's old and out of date with current hardware.  The complaints are answered in Ghost 8.3 (2005) Build 1331.
NO...not on the HD, but run from any boot media you choose.

I use it and have NO USB or SATA issues at all.
Many others that I've talked to experience the same things.

Ghost 8.3 is too big to fit on a floppy disk with the OS and support files.
But hey, it works great on a boot CD or Flash Drive.
I even have it on a bootable SD memory card.

I use it with every USB device you can imagine and never have to load any special drivers.

Get it....you'll love it.

Cheers Mates!

Shadow  8-)

Title: Re: Help! - Ghost 2003 USN 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by DonZ on Sep 17th, 2007 at 7:20am
Just an update on the Panasonic USB driver. I ran the boot script with the /e switch removed which causes the driver to search for all USB attached drives; 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0. It found none so I guess this USB driver is not compatiable at all with my WD MyBook USB 2.0 drive.

I am starting to believe that since the SATA drive is the non-boot drive, when Ghost sees a non-boot SATA and a non-boot USB drive are attached and the Iomega USB driver, aspiehci.sys, is loaded, it defaults to only showing the boot and USB drives?

Title: Re: Help! - Ghost 2003 USN 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by DonZ on Sep 17th, 2007 at 7:33am
I didn't see these questions, so I guess I should reply:

Does your motherboard have *built-in* USB support for storage devices?  If you can select a USB flash drive to boot from would suggest that it does.  Or, if you can boot with any DOS boot disk or disc, and *see* a USB external storage device without loading any other DOS driver would also confirm the *built-in* support.  After booting to a DOS prompt, can you find the HDD--the HDD has to have a FAT partition in order for DOS to assign a drive letter to a USB HDD!  

Yes, this motherboard board has built-in support for USB HDDs. In fact, the "MAGIC" splash screen at boot time actually shows the USB drive and model no.

As far as finding the USB drive in DOS, the drive has one NTFS partition defined. So most DOS programs cann't use the drive. This might be the reason the Panasonic USB DOS driver does not work?  

Title: Re: Help! - Ghost 2003 USN 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by NightOwl on Sep 17th, 2007 at 9:15am
DonZ

[edit]Yes, this motherboard board has built-in support for USB HDDs. In fact, the "MAGIC" splash screen at boot time actually shows the USB drive and model no.[/edit]
Well, if the USB HDD is detected and shown during *normal* boot, it sure sounds like the BIOS is supporting access to the USB HDD.


Quote:
As far as finding the USB drive in DOS, the drive has one NTFS partition defined. So most DOS programs cann't use the drive. This might be the reason the Panasonic USB DOS driver does not work?

But, Ghost can!  But it will only show NTFS partition inside the Ghost interface after you load Ghost--no drive letters will be assigned--they will be reported as 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, or .....

Because the BIOS is supporting access to the USB HDD, I would try simply booting with a std Ghost boot disk with the USB HDD hooked up.  Load Ghost and see if the HDD shows up!

If the USB HDD is just for test purposes for now and/or you have PartitionMagic which can make new partitions on a HDD without destroying data on an existing partition, I would also add a FAT32 partition at the end of the drive so if DOS does see the HDD, there will be a drive letter assigned.  Shrink the present NTFS partition maybe by a 100 MB, and then create a logical FAT32 partition inside an extended partition (this avoids drive letter shifts in DOS--at least for the primary partitions).  Now any DOS boot disk will assign a DOS drive letter to that partition if it is being seen!

Bottom line, you can not have multiple DOS drivers attempting to support the same hardware controller and device--creates conflicts!


Quote:
However, when I connect the USB 2.0 drive and then boot with the Ghost floppy, drive [1] remains my IDE boot drive and drive [2] is now the USB 2.0 drive and the SATA drive does not appear at all.

Another thought occurred--how many partitions are you working with on the IDE boot drive?  DOS Ghost 2003 has a *bug* in its drop-down menu box--if there are more partitions than will fit on the drop-down list, the scroll slider and its down arrow do not function--so any partitions listed further down will appear not to exist!  But you can use your down-arrow key on the keyboard once the drop down box is highlighted to access any partitions that are further down the list!


Quote:
autoexec.bat

@echo off
SET TZ=GHO+05:00
GUEST.EXE
MOUSE.COM
echo Loading...
cls

if %config% == FROMFLPY goto FLPYBOOT
if %config% == FROMCD goto CDBOOT

goto FAILED

:FLPYBOOT
echo Insert Ghost boot disk 2 (containing Ghost.exe)
pause
if exist a:\ghost\ghost.exe goto GHOSTFND
goto FLPYBOOT

:CDBOOT
echo Insert Ghost boot disk 2 (containing Ghost.exe)
pause
if not exist b:\ghost\ghost.exe goto CDBOOT
b:
goto GHOSTFND

:GHOSTFND
cd \ghost
echo Loading...
GHOST.EXE  
goto END

:FAILED
echo Unknown boot menu selection
goto END

:END

config.sys

[menu]
menuitem=FROMFLPY, This computer was started from a Ghost boot disk
menuitem=FROMCD, This computer was started from a Ghost bootable CD

[FROMFLPY]

[FROMCD]

[COMMON]
DEVICE = HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE = USBASPI.SYS /E /V
rem :DEVICE = usb\aspiehci.sys /int /all
DEVICE = DI1000DD.SYS
DOS = HIGH,UMB
LASTDRIVE = Z

Regarding your startup files--you need to remove *guest.exe* from autoexec.bat if you are using the Panasonic USB DOS drivers.  *Guest.exe* performs the same function that *DI1000DD.SYS* is performing in config.sys--so you will have a software conflict there.

Title: Re: Help! - Ghost 2003 USN 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by DonZ on Sep 17th, 2007 at 11:23am
The IDE boot drive has 1 primary active NTFS partition.

The SATA drive has 2 primary NTFS partition.

The USB has 1 prirmary NTFS partition.

There are DVD reader and a DVD-RW drives.

There is one 1.44MB floppy drive.

All the above show up fine when I boot from a Ghost 2003 std boot w/o USB support. The problem is that without the USB driver loaded, Ghost takes forever to run.

Title: Re: Help! - Ghost 2003 USN 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by DonZ on Sep 22nd, 2007 at 1:19pm
Well, I did some further testing to no avail I might add and thought I would summarize my findings and opinions.

1. The only USB driver that will work with Ghost 2003 and the WD MyBook USB 2.0 250GB drive I have is the one provided by Ghost; the iOmega one. No other driver I tried will recognize the drive in DOS.

2. When the iOmega driver is loaded, my internal SATA II 250GB is not recognized by Ghost 2003. If I boot with a std. Ghost boot floppy w/o USB support, all drives are recognized. Of course, Ghost runs slow when imaging to the USB drive since it's not using the iOmega driver. What it is using is beyond me but it does write to the drive OK.

My theory on this is that the iOmega driver is somehow conflicting with SATA drive. Like I stated in my original post, this Epox 9ND3AI motherboard seems to treat the SATA drive as a USB drive for WINXP id puposes. It does create a task bar icon for it just like it would for any external USB drive. Unfortunately, I can't discuss this with Epox since they are out of business and their sucessor, SUPOX, isn't supporting their previous EPOX products.

I have search the web for any similiar cases like this and haven't been able to find anything. At least this was an interesting exercise.

I will be building a new PC soon and I will be using a Seagate Barracuda SATA II as my boot drive. Since Seagate offers a free stripped version of Acronis in their Maxblast/Disk Wizard software that is free as long as you have a Seagate/Maxtor drive, I will be giving that a shot at doing my drive imagining. From what I have read about Ghost 12, it is not "ready for primetime" yet.

Thanks to everyone for their assistance!

Title: Re: Help! - Ghost 2003 USN 2.0 boot floppy + SATA
Post by TheShadow on Sep 22nd, 2007 at 4:54pm
I built me a new PC this spring, using an MSI AM2 mobo and an AMD X2, dual Core 64 bit CPU.

I'm running two SATA 2 Seagate/Maxtor HD's and I regularly back up one drive to the other using Ghost 2003, 793 or Ghost 8.3, 2005.  Both versions work just great and the only driver I ever load is Mouse.com, so I can use my mice, PS2 and Wireless USB, to run Ghost.

I can also do backups to an external USB drive or 6 gig Flash Drive.  NO Problemo!!!

Good Luck,
The Shadow  8-)


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