topic Re: MP4 player as usb boot device? in Tech Help - Software/Hardware etc

MP4 player as usb boot device?

shutter — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 20:52:37 GMT

I have an MP4 player, that I can download files and folders to, as if it were a usb hard drive. It is 8GB so quite a bit of storage space. I would like to use it as a USB drive and boot Linux or even a windows os.
I have formatted it, yet it still shows the original user interface. with sections for Video, Photo, Ebook, Radio, Other fun, Explorer, Settings, and Record, which are accessed via touch screen. The radio still seems to be functioning... although I have never used it... and the "other fun"... shows Stopwatch, Calender, Game, Calculator , which all work correctly.!..The Settings option also functions,... as does the Record. On the Video , Photo, Ebook, and Explorer, I can access the folders containing Linux mint15 that I copied direct from a working USB stick....
However. When I plug in this MP4 player, to act as a USB drive.. it is not found as such on boot up, ( I temp remove my HDD from the laptop) ... No matter what setting I choose on the screen, or what folder I select,... it is still not recognised as a USB drive...
Do I need to do anything to make it into a bootable usb drive?
( The usb stick I copied it from boots automatically, when inserted in the usb port, and the laptop is booted up with no hdd fitted.. This was, again, copied from a DVD , in the normal "send to..... E:/ Drive " process )...

Re: MP4 player as usb boot device?

rongtw — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 22:56:57 GMT

i can say for sure , but have a try with with Universal USB installer

Re: MP4 player as usb boot device?

VileReynard — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 00:03:23 GMT

I've been working on my backup drive - which is also not recognised as a bootable drive!
So I use a copy of Mint copied to a USB stick (with Unetbootin) to boot my PC.
Same process will work using a CD as a boot medium.
This then allows me recognise the backup drive and mount the first partition in a normal way.
I've configured the bulk of the drive as a giant LVM partition.
I then run some BASH scripts from the first partition, so that they copy my hard disk data to the LVM data area...
(Using rsync).
All done as an in memory task - so no locks etc on any of my Linux (or Windows) hard disk files.
I've just got to work on how the restore might work!!!!
BTW USB 3 (on a slow computer) seems to be no faster than USB 2 (on a fast computer).

Re: MP4 player as usb boot device?

shutter — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 09:10:43 GMT

Have downloaded the USB installer, late last night.. so have yet to see how that works...
@ foxy... The drive ( MP4 player) is "recognised" and shows as an extra hard drive... so I have no problems with transferring file and folders from/to it... I don`t use it as a MP4 player anymore, because I have to convert the videos to another format before they will play on it.... ( It is an I-phone type format ).. which, obviously means a lot of work, so I bought myself a newer one that will play MP4 directly....
It is really only an experiment, to see if I can make use of it instead of just binning it ....

Re: MP4 player as usb boot device?

VileReynard — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 12:30:06 GMT

Given the chance I convert videos into mp4 format.
I use the "handbrake" program.
Gives excellent results - but is time consuming.

Re: MP4 player as usb boot device?

shutter — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 14:10:24 GMT

Well,... doesn`t seem to be working...
have downloaded the Mint 16 .iso and also the USB installer... directed it at the Mint 16 .iso... and it loaded both onto the MP4 player... However.. having tried several "cold boot up" i.e removing the hdd from the laptop, and then trying to boot from the mp4 player, it doesn`t recognise it... says there is no internal hdd... or bootable devices... press F1 to retry or F2 for setup.... it is set to boot from 1st USB 2nd CD/DVD drive 3rd internal HDD..
When the laptop fires up, it shows the dell logo and the moving bar at the bottom of screen.. then the screen goes black, with a cursor flashing in top left corner... then the mp4 player screen flashes, as though it is being "read"... after a few seconds.. it stops. a few seconds later the "no internal hdd" message appears..
As mentioned , I have bought another MP4 player that plays MP4 files without conversion, ( also many other formats ).. so this one is redundant... mainly because the battery is failing... and not holding charge for very long... that was the reason for buying a new one !..
Anyway... it was only an idea.. and something to try and do... I can use it for storing files and folders if needed...
Cheers