Determining if a USB Flash Drive is Compatible with ATIH 2014 Media Builder
I'm looking to buy a USB flash drive to use with the ATIH 2014 Media Builder.
A Sandisk Extreme USB 3.0 flash drive is not recognized by the Media Builder even after removing all data from the drive.
How can you tell if a USB flash drive, prior to purchase, will be compatible with the Media Builder ?


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Enchantech,
Thanks for the quick reply.
So Acronis does not support USB 3.0 flash drives for media builder or is it just hit and miss when you attempt to use USB 3.0 ?
Perhaps Acronis should bundle an 8 GB USB flash drive that is compatible with ATIH instead of having users repeatedly buy multiple USB flash drives in an attempt to find one that works.
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This is not an Ancronis TI issue. It is a limitation of the 32 bit specification under which the boot media runs. Acronis True Image by itself can not perform any functions whatsoever unless it is installed in an underlying Operation System. When you install it on your PC it depends on Windows to operate and perform its functions. When installed on boot media it depends on a 32 bit Linux install to operate and perform its functions thus the limitation on a maximum partition size of 32GB and FAT32 file system.
USB 3.0 as stated previously by specification is primarily targeted as storage device or data transfer type connection. As such using the USB port on your PC will deliver mixed results when used for other than data transfer. This simply means that in most cases devices attached to the port will function correctly. If such device is USB 3.0 enabled then the speed at which the device operates can be increased up to the maximum allowable limit of the USB 3.0 specification.
Bootable USB 3.0 drives are a hit and miss scenario for Acronis TI but not because of Acronis TI, it is because of the 32 bit Linux OS that Acronis TI relies on to operate when installed on boot media.
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Enchantech,
Thanks for the detailed response.
So if a manufacturer of a USB 3.0 flash drive specifies support for Linux Ubuntu 10+, Red Hat 5+ and Open SUSE11, it should be compatible with ATIH Media Builder ?
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It is not a compatibility issue, it is a version/filesystem limitation. A USB flash drive larger than 32GB will not work. A USB flash drive not formatted as FAT32 will not work. There are some drives that report themselves as Removable Media rather than as Removable Drives to the True Image application. If the drive reports that it is a Removable Media device, that drive will not work either.
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SanDisk support states their Extreme USB 3.0 32GB flash drive reports as a "removable drive".
However, it is not recognized by Media Builder when formatted with FAT32 with a cleaned, single partition.
What else would disqualify this flash drive as being recognized by Media Builder ?
With USB 2.0 flash drives on the decline, Acronis needs to pick an OS that supports USB 3.0 drives and greater capacities.
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Nothing that I know of. I have read in these pages that SanDisk drives have issues, not sure why, but every so often will see that mentioned.
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The only solution I've seen is the following:
"... a simple workaround, i.e. use Media Builder to write to another USB drive which it can find, then just copy all the files to the Sandisk drive."
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That workaround should work however what you end up with is 2 boot media USB drives when you only need 1.
I am attaching a ZIP file for you that will allow you to install the Win7 DVD/USB Boot Tool. Thus tool will allow you to create a boot disk from any ISO boot file on a USB drive. Download the file, unzip it and run the install file as administrator. When install is finished you will find an icon on your desktop to start the tool. With the SanDisk drive attached to your PC, run the tool, Select the ScanDisk drive as the destination and point to the boot media .iso file as the source. You might get a warning that all data will be erased on the disk, just accept that action. The result should be a usable USB drive. I have used this tool on SanDisk drives successfully myself so should work for you as well.
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
176422-113365.zip | 2.54 MB |
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Enchantech,
You've provided better support than Acronis and Sandisk combined times two !
Thanks for the help.
This might actually work !
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When asked if the SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 32 GB flash drive reports as a "removable drive" or "removable media" under Windows 8.1 64-bit, SanDisk support sent the following response.
"In mid-2013 SanDisk changed production of its USB Drives configured as fixed disk to meet a perceived certification requirement. SanDisk USB Drives with either removable or fixed disk configuration will work the same when used for data storage on Windows PC and Mac computers. SanDisk is in the process of reverting back to producing USB Drives configured as removable disk.
NOTE: There is no tool available to change SanDisk USB Drives between fixed and removable disk configuration.
Unfortunately, SanDisk Technical support has no way to identify by the packaging or reseller stock whether the drive will show up as fixed or removable disk."
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