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bootable USB issue

T

TitusTroy

Senior member
can someone explain to me how to locate a file directory after booting from a USB stick...I'm trying to update the firmware on my SSD and the only way to do it is by booting through the USB but I have no idea how to do it...here are the instructions provided by G.Skill:

1. Download and extract the new firmware to an bootable USB stick

2. Boot from that USB and go to the path where your firmware files are located

I've created a bootable USB, saved the firmware file to it and gone into the BIOS and selected it as the first boot device but every time I reboot it starts the Windows install load screen...how do I get to the path where my firmware is located (F: Falcon)

here is a screenshot proved by G.Skill...how do I get to this screen?

 
it is bootable as I'm getting the Windows installation screen...I just have no idea how to navigate to my firmware file from within the Command Prompt
 
Oh, I missed the "install load screen" part and just saw Windows. You need to make it DOS bootable, not a Windows installer.
 
Nothinman said:
Oh, I missed the "install load screen" part and just saw Windows. You need to make it DOS bootable, not a Windows installer.
Click to expand...

yup that's was my mistake...I copied the entire Windows disc over to the USB and that's why I got the Windows load screen

any easy instructions on how to make a USB stick DOS bootable?
 
Or, since you are doing a firmware upgrade on a expensive SSD drive, which can be a bit dicey (with live linux), you could use the old reliable 'been around forever" HP utility
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/7E0612D6C15BE1AD8625723B005E579E
The instructs are a bit muddled

Basically you download the zip which contains 3 new zips
Extract the sp27608 from the usbmemkey zip and install it - it will create a "drive key" folder with 2 .exe's
Next you need the Win 98 DOS IO.Sys and MSDos and command com on a floppy or folder somewhere.
You can make a win 98 startup floppy and point to it, or use the boot98.exe in the other zip to make a very complete startup floppy, but when you use HPUSBFW.exe all it will load (with the boot image) is the 3 files I mentioned
Once you have those files somewhere, you insert your USB stick and then run the HPUSBFW. Then ciick Fat32 and "create startup disk" and point to folder or floppy that has IOsys MSDos and command.com
Thats it.
That puts your boot image and the 3 dos files in the root of USB flash drive

(They also include a virtual floppy drive so you can run it in Win, but thats a bit advanced)

Then you can, when still in Windows, highlight your now bootable USB drive and at top menu click file-new folder in your USB naming folder "FALCON". IT WILL BE IN WINDOWS YOUR USB F LETTER, but will boot dos as "C"!!, Next dump your ASSOCIATED .exe flasher(s) in there. There are 6 files for 3 dif sizes of SSD HDD and you have to use the right one(s)
Unless you get all this right, you have a good chance of bricking your drive.
Next boot to USB and it should default to C:>
(It wont be on "F" - it is the booter so it will become "C")
C:>
C:>cd FALCON [enter]
C:>FALCON
C:>FALCON 128GB-1.exe [enter]

On their forum they seem to be using a second drive IN WINDOWS to flash from other HDD IN IDE (not SATA) to SSD target which makes sense, cant have a firmware update while O/S drive is running, so I guess thats also why you are using a bootable flash stick
http://gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=6260

You really should slave this drive onto someone elses PC SATA drive in IDE mode and do it in Windows

I'm looking at the full compliment Win 98 startup disk and looks like for this situation I might even throw on some other files in the USB root
mmr4t0oe2jvn2ks0si0.jpg


Like findramdrive, setramdrive and ramdrive and extract.exe and drivespace etc.
 
Last edited:
I actually ended up putting the firmware on a floppy and flashing that way...much simpler...created the MS-DOS startup disk, put the firmware file on it, booted up and flashed...I thought that the USB method was required but I guess they only say that because a lot of people no longer have floppy drives anymore
 
Good to know, wasnt as complicated as its made out to be, just run the flash from a win 98 floppy
The G-skill forum with all its big red lettered warnings and preconditions is enough to scare anyone trying this for the first time - heh
Good job

😀
 
bankster55 said:
Good to know, wasnt as complicated as its made out to be, just run the flash from a win 98 floppy
The G-skill forum with all its big red lettered warnings and preconditions is enough to scare anyone trying this for the first time - heh
Good job

😀
Click to expand...

the weird thing is that I've updated the firmware on my G.Skill SSD a few times before but G.Skill keeps changing the flash method...with previous firmware upgrades all that was needed was setting up another computer as a slave drive, putting a jumper over a slot on the SSD and running the installer...but with this latest firmware they decided to completely change the procedure

abaez said:
Doesn't Windows have a built in function to create a dos boot disk?
Click to expand...

that method did not work when using a USB stick...I think that's only for creating it with a floppy disk
 
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