unable to create a USB rescue media
All attempts to create a USB rescue media have failed with "Invalid Partition Table". I have tried a few USB thumb drives and have tried both the Windows and Linux versions.
I would provide the log but I don't remember the name of the program.
BTW, the bootable CD works just fine. Just a bit slow.
The drive has to be formatted FAT32 and the formatting for some reason is stopping the process hence the error message.
You could try doing a full (not quick) format of the drive using FAT32.
Alternatively you could run Windows chkdsk utilityon the drive with the appropriate switches: see this knowledge base article
It was formatted as FAT32. But I did it again just incase I was mistaken. It still fails. Is there a log that I should send. I have attached a screenshot of the 1st block.
I'm using Windows 10 and I'm selected Simple and Win-RE-based media, 64bit.
I didn't get a response. Does anyone know what could be going wrong?
Eddy, what size USB stick are you trying to use here?
For the rescue media this needs to be 32GB max size but any stick of 2GB up to 32GB should be fine.
You can prepare the USB stick using the following Diskpart commands run from an Administrator command prompt window.
diskpart
list disk (to identify USB drive, i.e. 1)
select disk 1
clean
create partition primary
active
format fs=fat32 quick
assign
exit
EddyQ,
I would provide the log but I don't remember the name of the program.
First, what tool are you using to create the drive? Acronis should be used natively here as it has its own rescue media builder option.
Second, let's make sure the thumb drive has a fresh start to be 100% confident.
Use diskpart and "clean" the drive first. This will de-initialize the drive. After that, go into computer management >>> disk management (from control panel >>> administrative tools) and initialize the thumb drive as MBR and let it do a full format as Fat32 (as Ian suggested). After that, try to rebuild again, making sure to use the native Acronis Rescue Media builder
The problem you may be experiencing could be hidden partitions under the hood. Windows can only see one partition on a removable drive. However, if it was ever built with another tool or formatted with something like Rufus or Iso2USB, it could have other hidden partitions causing the trouble.
By using diskpart /clean on the drive, that wipes it to factory (no initialization) and a full format with FAT32 will doubley ensure that nothing is hanging around after it's initialized again.
Eddy,
The easiest way to prepare a thumb/flash drive for use as a media drive is to use Windows Disk Management.
- Attach the drive to your PC
- Once Windows has initialized the drive open Disk Management
- Locate the drive in Disk Management in the lower pane (should be the last disk drive shown)
- Right click on the drive and select Delete Volume, you will be prompted for confirmation.
- Once Disk Management deletes the volume the drive will show as Unallocated.
- Right click on the drive again and select New Simple Volume.
- Follow the wizard to format the drive as Fat32 and give the Volume a name while your there.
- Once complete you can now create your media using the ATI Media Creation tool
:)
Enchantech's method is what I was using. I'm using a 2Gig thumb drive and I have tried a 32Gig thumb drive. Now I'm trying the diskpart method. If that doesn't work I'll try Bobbo_3C0X1's method.
Eddy, how exactly are you trying to create the Acronis rescue media?
See KB 61632: Acronis True Image 2019: how to create bootable media - for the official documented process.
If using the above process, then using the MVP Log Viewer tool (Link below) you should also be able to check the Log Type: TI_media_builder log for any error messages being reported by the tool.
Steve Smith's method worked. I'm not sure why a Disk Manager full format didn't work. If you look at the screen shots I provided you can see there is only 1 partition. I'll take a look at the boot code (out of curiosity) and see why it is giving the error.
Ok, still a problem. It works just fine on my e6440 but it doesn't work on my e6400. Do I have to make it on the computer where I'm going to use it?
More info. On my e6400 it makes it all the way to the Backup/Recovery/Log/Tools screen but at that point it hangs.
Eddy, if you take the rescue media made on your e6440 system, can you boot successfully from this on the e6400 system?
Yes. On my e6400 it makes it all the way to the Backup/Recovery/Log/Tools screen but at that point it hangs.
Ok, thanks for confirming Eddy, which actual type of rescue media have you made here?
Which options did you take in the rescue media builder program?
Are there any significant differences between the e6400 compared to the e6440 system, i.e. types of disk drive, format of drives etc?
Eddy,
This may sound dumb but do you have an NAS device attached to your local network?
I have found issue with some builds hanging when an NAS is involved.
Also, the method I described for using Disk Management to prepare a thumb drive for recovery media creation use is not the same as a full format. It is the equivalent of Bobbo's diskpart method. It clears all formatting and partitionind information from the drive first then, it creates anew the partitioning and formatting of the drive.
Steve Smith, I made a Linux version. I used Rescue Media Builder; Advanced; Linux Based Media; USB Drive and had used the diskpart procedure. The DELL 6400 is a Core2Duo (I5) and the DELL 6440 is an I7 with 2 cores and two virtual. Otherwise I think the display, keyboard, network, CD and USB's are the same. Probably different memory. They are both 2.5" disk drives both SATA interface. The 6440 has an SSD.
Enchantech: On the 6440 I'm hard wired and on the 6400 I am wireless. Both go to a standard NAT supplied by AT&T and through a switch on the way to the NAT.
Eddy,
It is possible that your 6400 is hanging on your wireless connection. Can you hook it up hardwired to see if that solves your hang problem?
Since you are able to get as far as the Main TI application screen then the media is booting fine so something else is causing this hang you describe.
Is one legacy and the other uefi? The 6400s we're the first to offer uefi bios but the firmware was terrible on them and Dell recommends running legacy OS on them. I have a 6440 with current bios in UEFI mode and rescue media boots fine.
Keep in mind you should disable secure boot and use the F12 one time boot menu to specifically boot your rescue media to match how the OS was installed (if legacy, boot it legacy, if UEFI boot it as UEFI).
However, I would recommend skipping the Linux media on these and build with the WinRE method in the Acronis rescue media builder.
Also, have you verified you have the most current bios firmware on both systems? This is especially important on the E6400.
Bobbo_3C0X1: There is no mention of Legacy or UEFI in the BIOS settings. It boots fine on my e6440. I'm looking at the BIOS settings for the e6400. Where did you find the UEFI mentioned on your e6440? I already tried the WinRE method and that hangs too. That is why I'm trying the Linux version. I will check the BIOS version.
Enchantech: I connected it up wired and disabled the wireless. This worked. Please explain why, especially since they both use NAT ... the bootable USB should not be trying to use the network. Now even if I return to the same method (Wireless and no hardware). It works. My wife also has a 6400 and hers hangs too. Maybe the BIOS. I'll try hers hard wired.
I spoke too soon, the latest test went one step further before it hung.
Eddy,
The best I can tell you is that the Linux media lacks driver support for you wireless network card installed in the device. So because the True Image application is unable to initialize the wireless card it hangs.
So it sounds like there may also be the same issue with the wired connection as well if I understand your last post correctly.
I would suggest at this point that you create WinRE media and try that. The WinRE media will have better driver support for your device than the Linux version of media. Hopefully this will fix your issue.
I think you are correct because I found that at Ubuntu and Mint (Linux systems) won't talk through the wireless. I'll go back to the WinPE version and give that a shot. But since your method got me going it will be a few days before I try thiat.
Eddy, what is your firmware version on the E6400? Looks like A34 was the last, but I am about 90% sure that I remember it supporting UEFI mode as we were using them when we first tried to migrate to UEFI. I may be wrong though - it could have been the E6410 that had it. Either way, make sure you have the most current.
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/latitude-e6400/drivers
If you're using the Linux rescue media, scrap it and build the WinRE rescue media with the Acronis rescue media builder in the application. Because it's using WinRE it will include the system drivers of the system IT IS BUILT ON. The dells use pretty standard drivers in the E6400 series so I would normally expect that WinRE rescue media built on the 6440 would also work in the 6400, but not necessarily the other way around. Worse case, build the WinRE on either one and add the Dell Win10 driver pack to it when prompted if you want to add drivers (make sure to extract the .cab file first and only include the drivers that match the OS of the system you're building it on).
I made a WinPE USB stick. But when I try to boot it on another computer it just sits there with a windows logo with a spinning dots.
Note, my 2015 Rescue DVD works just fine. It is the USB that doesn't.
Eddy,
In my experience if you build WinRE based media on one machine and then try to use it on another, you are likely to run into issues unless both machines have identical hardware. Sounds like this may be the case for you.
Media built using WinPE which requires the download and installation of MS ADK has a much broader driver support so works much better between multiple machines.