Isostick: the USB memory stick that thinks it’s an optical drive

Re:Isostick: the USB memory stick that thinks it’s an optica... by blinkingled on Thursday July 28, 2011 @03:50PM (#2818604)

I am doubtful if this is usable with all the firmware compatibility issues it will have to tackle. My Mac's firmware for example refuses to boot anything other than OS X from a regular external USB DVD drive. I had to play tricks with Parallels and Bootcamp to get my Windows installation files on my 2nd HDD to start the installation.

Plus there are also software issues - Windows XP used to send reset to the USB controller on boot for example that would need to be worked around somehow in the Isostick's firmware.

More than anything most modern OSes and hardware setups boot just fine using standard USB stick based installers - Win 7, OS X and various Linux distros.

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Re:Isostick: the USB memory stick that thinks it’s an optica... by eagan on Thursday July 28, 2011 @04:46PM (#2818855)

We're really pushing for Mac compatibility. Mac firmware is very picky, for sure, it seems to have very strict requirements for SCSI command support on optical drives.

Resetting the USB controller and such are no problem for isostick, it will come right back up in the same state it was left in.

Excellent point that modern OSes don't need the optical drive functionality. I still use my isostick to carry around lots of OSes and switch between them with ease, though.

Best Regards - Eric Agan, Elegant Invention

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Re:Isostick: the USB memory stick that thinks it’s an optica... by blinkingled on Thursday July 28, 2011 @07:10PM (#2819378)

Thanks for the reply. If you can get my 2010 MacBook Pro to boot Windows and Linux using Isostick, you already have my money :) - lack of that functionality has caused me lot of pain.

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