[Natron]

Hello,

I've been reading these forums for a while now, and just got a Dell Mini 9 to turn into a portable Hackintosh computer, but I've run into a really strange problem. I've made my USB boot disk, but my Mini will no longer recognize any USB disk or device. As far as I can tell, the computer hasn't been reformatted, is still running XP, and a few days ago the USB ports were working just fine.

I've gone into the BIOS to ensure that Legacy USB was enabled, as well as USB wake. I've even upgraded to the newest A07 BIOS, but I just can't get anything to work.

Is there anything else I can try? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[lswartz]

Are you putting it into the USB right beside the power connection?

[Natron]

Yeah, I've tried all three USB ports but the result is always the same. On the two ports nearest the power input, the light on my USB stick will flash for a quarter second or so before going off when I plug it in. I don['t know if that helps at all, but the one on the right side near the network cable input does nothing at all.

[lswartz]

The Mini 10v is the one everyone was turning into Hackintoshs I just have not paid enough attention to it to know whether the Mini 9 works as well. There is a section here devoted to various OS & a thread just for Hackintosh. You would get someone that knows more about it than me

Does your BIOS see the USB flash drive? If it does, then it should boot. Use the USB right beside the power on the left side. It is possible that the flash drive files are corrupted as well. You also might try making an Ubuntu boot flash drive & seeing if that OS will boot & work. You don't have to install Ubuntu to your SSD to find out either. It is a bit slow booting from a flash drive though.

When the Mini 9 first came out, there were some flash drives that would not work on it. I have 3 that work, USBest, Corsair, & Kingston. What kind of flash drive are you using?

[holmes4]

Actually, the Mini 9 was first in the world of Hackintoshing and the 10v followed later. They are equally capable here. This problem seems unrelated to Hackintoshing, however. I have no ideas for how to solve it.

[Natron]

I can't tell if the computer is picking up the USB at all during boot. Would the light turn on before the Windows boot screen if it were? If that's the case, it isn't, but otherwise I don't know how to tell. I'll try using a different USB stick and just installing Tiny XP, and see if I have any luck with that. Perhaps with a reformat, the problem will take care of itself. Perhaps not, though.

Thanks for the advice, I'll let you know when I know.

[Natron]

No luck on either Ubuntu or Tiny XP when trying to boot from the USB. I'm somewhat convinced this is a weird software issue, though, even if my little experiment with different USB keys and software failed.

The weird thing is that when in Windows XP, my old phone can connect through the USB ports. It's the first thing I even connected to the mini, and after I did that, it updated itself (XP did), and nothing USB based worked again. I have read somewhere, though I have no idea where, that someone else had a similar problem, where only devices that were connected before a certain time would still work, and anything else would never be recognized. Is there any way I can get rid of this little quirk?

In the meantime, I'll try installing Ubuntu from inside Windows and see how that goes. Maybe my problems will end up solved after all.

[Natron]

Well, still no luck whatsoever... I've installed Ubuntu using Wubi, and it seems as though the USB ports are simply dead. However, the phone will still take power from them. I don't understand this at all.

Any and all help is appreciated, but I think I might be fighting a losing battle here.

[lswartz]

This really doesn't make any sense to me. Seems like you have done everything right & it is enabled in the BIOS too. We need a magic wand to wave over it next. How frustrating.

[Natron]

Yeah, I think I'm going to cut my losses on this one. I even took the whole thing apart and checked for loose connections last night, but on boot the USBs are still dead.

I'll see if I can return the battery/adapter, and if the guy I bought it from gives refunds. I bet not. =)

I just bought an Asus eee PC, so that should do the trick for now, but no hackintosh for now, I suppose.