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  • #1

    boot from USB CD/DVD drive

    Hello,

    I'm considering the purchase of a Fujitsu Siemens P1510 subnote. It has no internal optical drive, but there is an optional USB DVD drive. Given the price of this device, and features (or lack thereof ), I would prefer the Plextor PX-608U as a removable USB drive.

    Will the system be able to boot from this USB drive?
    (I suspect this is possible with the Siemens USB drive, but is there any reason it wouldn't work with the Plextor?)

    Thanks!


    Jörg
    pixar
    Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die tomorrow. (James Dean)
    Tags: None
  • #2
    I'm going to go with a big maybe. A lot of these external drives have an extra bit to them. With the Dell subnotebooks the end has a normal usb plug and stacked on top of that is a half usb plug. It only has one spot on the side of the laptop it can plug into and another couple usb ports located somewhere else. My assumption is that this is a 'happy' medium between a proprietary plug like we've seen in the past and a straight usb plug. Whether this means it can't boot from a normal external usb drive on the laptop I don't know. Until a couple of bios revisions ago dell systems were TERRIBLE for booting from usb and didn't even have the option. I know the Fujitsu isn't a Dell but I'm assuming there might be similar reasonings. If you can find out the specifics of that drive it would be useful.
    Wikipedia and Google.... the needles to my tangent habit.
    ________________________________________________

    That special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, Or maybe below the cockles, Maybe in the sub-cockle area, Maybe in the liver, Maybe in the kidneys, Maybe even in the colon, We don't know.

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    • #3
      just looked at the laptop. The usb ports are standard and don't have the half port above either. My assumption would be any usb cdrom SHOULD be bootable. This is probably like Ram. If you buy it from the dealer it's twice as expensive as if you bought it yourself.
      Wikipedia and Google.... the needles to my tangent habit.
      ________________________________________________

      That special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, Or maybe below the cockles, Maybe in the sub-cockle area, Maybe in the liver, Maybe in the kidneys, Maybe even in the colon, We don't know.

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      • #4
        Yes, I als think it should work but I wanted to see other opinions.

        Any chance that Siemens blocks it in bios? Or will this most likely not be the case (esp. given the fact that the drive has no internal optical drive)?
        Does the DVD drive need other special specifiations (I remember for instance that not all USB memory was bootable)?



        Jörg
        pixar
        Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die tomorrow. (James Dean)

        Comment

        • #5
          I doubt they'd block it in bios. As for the models being bootable or not I think the best bet is to take a model number your thinking about and googleing it and 'boot' and see what people say. If it's not brand new and you get nothing it's probably ok. I'd be more concerned wiht results that say 'I can't boot from model 4j6t 48x jabba drive." The older the model (or model line) and the less you see of it on the net the better in mind. Actually that's a thought, if you want a new model, find the version or two before that the company made and research them as well.
          Wikipedia and Google.... the needles to my tangent habit.
          ________________________________________________

          That special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, Or maybe below the cockles, Maybe in the sub-cockle area, Maybe in the liver, Maybe in the kidneys, Maybe even in the colon, We don't know.

          Comment

          • #6
            another thought. You should be able to download the manual for the laptop and the bios configuration pages and boot info should tell you if it has a basic "boot from usb cdrom/dvd" option. The two locations to check are "boot order" and the manual boot screen, which is often associated with the F12 key.
            Wikipedia and Google.... the needles to my tangent habit.
            ________________________________________________

            That special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, Or maybe below the cockles, Maybe in the sub-cockle area, Maybe in the liver, Maybe in the kidneys, Maybe even in the colon, We don't know.

            Comment

            • #7
              Might not help much, but my company has an exclusive deal with Fujitsu Siemens for supplying workstations and laptops to us, and so far I haven't seen one model that didn't have the option to boot from USB. I haven't tried lots of peripherals but they boot from a TEAC USB floppy, a no-name USB key and a 2.5" HDD in a USB enclosure. Haven't tried a CD/DVD-rom though.
              They might not be subnotes but I can't imagine FSC would break an apparent tradition for that exact model you want to buy.
              _____________________________
              BOINC stats

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              • #8
                I just finished evaluating a Fujitsu 1510D for work: All USB CD/DVD-ROMS and CD-RW/DVD-RWs I tried worked great (Fujitsu, Targus, Plextor and a Sony). I specifically plugged a Plextor PX-504UF/SW and it was able to boot Windows Setup Disks, WinPE 2005 and a DOS CD without issues.

                I really liked it: I wouldn't mind having one as my "take home" laptop/tablet simply because it is so compact. I don't do much work from home as I live so close to work, so it makes sense that I would not need a very large machine for those times I did work from home.

                The only things I was disappointed with I were the extremely high price of a 1GB RAM upgrade (~800USD), and the lack of a firewire port.
                Hey, Donny! We got us a German who wants to die for his country... Oblige him. - Lt. Aldo Raine

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by MultimediaMan
                  I just finished evaluating a Fujitsu 1510D for work: All USB CD/DVD-ROMS and CD-RW/DVD-RWs I tried worked great (Fujitsu, Targus, Plextor and a Sony). I specifically plugged a Plextor PX-504UF/SW and it was able to boot Windows Setup Disks, WinPE 2005 and a DOS CD without issues.
                  Great news!
                  Thanks!

                  The only things I was disappointed with I were the extremely high price of a 1GB RAM upgrade (~800USD), and the lack of a firewire port.
                  Yes, I asked for a 1GB version, and apparently it is only ment for large orders (not possible for a single machine/end user). Is there a free memory slot in the 512 MB version? (the store suggests to get 3rd party memory, they have shown one alternative)

                  Which OS does/did it run ? (Tablet PC or regular XP)

                  Yes, the lack of firewire is rather odd, as is the absence of a PCMCIA slot (sizewise I feel it would have been possible when subsituting the CF and SD slot). Still, despite this, I think it is the laptop for me...
                  Great to hear positive comments of it.


                  Jörg
                  pixar
                  Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die tomorrow. (James Dean)

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    The Fujitsu uses Ultra Low profile RAM, and has only a single RAM Slot.

                    There are some aftermarket sticks of RAM that work, apparently, but I have yet to find a 1GB module.

                    As Laptop DDR2 becomes more mainstream it will likely be easier to find by the middle of the year.

                    I tested both Tablet and XP-Professional: We went with Professional because our existing laptop image loaded without issues on it. All we needed to do was add some drivers for the fingerprint reader, and the Modem. The rest of the drivers we already had imbedded.
                    Hey, Donny! We got us a German who wants to die for his country... Oblige him. - Lt. Aldo Raine

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                    • #11
                      Ha, we weren't sure if it had 1 slot, or 1 slot available in 512 MB configuration.
                      Guess I'll go for the 512MB (don't have a choice), and look to upgrade in the future (when it becomes more affordable ).

                      I take it a screen protector is interesting to have?

                      I'm considering the some options as well (not immediately, but when needed): the car/air adapter (if I decide to use it for inflight navigation) and the 6-cell battery. But now I'm just waiting for the store to confirm if I can order it with TabletPC instead of XP (more interesting for me). If so, I'll order it with the Plextor 608U as dvd drive.


                      Jörg
                      pixar
                      Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die tomorrow. (James Dean)

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Yes there is an option for Tablet PC: it was about 50USD more for Tablet PC, than XP Pro.
                        Hey, Donny! We got us a German who wants to die for his country... Oblige him. - Lt. Aldo Raine

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                        • #13
                          Cool, thanks!


                          Jörg
                          pixar
                          Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die tomorrow. (James Dean)

                          Comment

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