BrennanBB1@googlegroup? and USB problems

[Gordon Risius]

As a new BB1 owner who has managed to upgrade his SD card and, with your help, to import many CDs and YouTube videos, may I ask two questions?

First, is there a dedicated BrennanBB1 Googlegroup?  I ask because the answers on this Forum relate primarily not to BB1s, but to B2s and JB7s, and occasionally this is not immediately obvious..

Second, nothing I plug into the BB1's USB socket seems to work.   USB sticks (both loaded and empty)simply  fail to register, and when I try the USB upgrade, with or without a USB in the socket, the answer is invariably "Failed".  Can you help, please?

Gordon Risius

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Gordon,

Q1.  No, there is not a separate BB1 Googlegroup, others have asked the same question.

Q2.  If USB devices are not being recognised by the BB1, the reason is possibly that they need to be re-formatted to 'FAT32' format.  Many USB devices nowadays are formatted to 'exFAT' which the BB1 (and B2) cannot recognise.

Regards,

Peter.

[Daniel Taylor]

If I understand it, the BB1 does not have the command to format a USB disk.  Since the FAT32 format is such a rock solid requirement, I think the format command should be added to the BB1's command set.  If I have that wrong, someone please add correction.

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Daniel,

You are correct in saying that the BB1does not have a 'Format USB A' function.  It would be useful to have it added in, especially as the BB1 already has the capability in the 'Advanced' --> 'Create P3' function for the SD card.

Regards,

Peter.

[PMB]

Hi Gordon,

If you select on of the BB1 options in the list of 'Labels', left hand side of the Group page, it will show BB1 related posts.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Peter Lowham]

Update from Gordon via PM

I have tried many times to reformat various USB memory sticks from exFAT32 to FAT32, but without success.  My latest attempt, using MiniTool Partition Wizard, simply assures me that my exFAT32 64GB memory stick is in fact FAT32, so I am no further forward!   My BB1 still won't read it, and perhaps unsurprisingly every attempt to use the BB1 USB upgrade option fails.  Any help gratefully received.  

Gordon Risius

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Gordon,

The problem might be that, although the partition format is 'FAT32', the partition type is 'GPT'.  There are two partition types, 'GPT' (GUID Partition Table) and 'MBR' (Master Boot Record).

For the Brennans to 'see' the USB device, it needs to be partition type 'MBR'.

I have attached a screenshot of an example of one of my USB sticks, shwn in Acronis Disk Director.  The yellow highlighted field shows 'MBR'.  The screen will be different to yours, but the principle is the same.

Let us know if this helps.

Regards,

Peter.

[Peter Lowham]

Update from Gordon.

Thank you for responding so promptly.  I have done some research into GPT and MGR, but am reluctant to attempt to change anything I don't understand thoroughly.  I think I will just have to ignore my BB1's USB port (which also means I cannot perform a USB upgrade) and not attempt any BB1 backups for the time being.

Many thanks, Gordon

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Gordon,

The GPT and MBR partition types relate mainly to the type of BIOS that is fitted to your PC/Mac/Linux, etc. motherboard.  The motherboards from the inception of the PC had a BIOS which requires the MBR type.  But the BIOS had many limitations (e.g. max 2TB partition size).  More recently, since about 2006, the BIOS chip has been superceded by the UEFI chip which requires a GPT partition type.

The Brennans don't boot from these devices, but they do require the MBR type sector which contains all of the partition table information which the Brennan needs to manage the files on the USB device.  So reformatting the USB disk is not anything 'traumatic'.  Disks can be re-formatted either way, backwards and forwards as the need arises.

Regarding the USB 'Upgrade', is there something that is preventing you from using 'Settings & Tools' --> 'Maintenance' --> 'Web Upgrade' ?  It's much more convenient.

Regards,

Peter.