Flash Drive Information for CF, USB, and Other flash devices

Booting from flash is a very popular topic. There are various flash drives available: USB, Compact Flash (CF), and IDE. Below is some information on different flash devices, adapters, and duplication solutions. Please note that some of information is provided by input from different developers so data might not be accurate. Your contribution is appreciated.

Note: It has been seen that CF cards with the same model number may not boot XPe.

Note: I DO NOT SELL THESE DEVICES. THE INFORMATION IS SUPPLIED HERE AS A REFERENCE FOR DEVELOPERS, THANKS.

Boot XPe from USB Flash Disk

Windows XP Embedded SP2 Feature Pack 2007 now has support for USB Boot 2.0. Many PC systems that have USB 2.0 support only enable USB 1.1 at boot time. A switch to USB 2.0 speeds takes place once Windows has loaded the USB 2.0 driver. Also, the BIOS needs to emulate the USB flash disk as a hard drive.

A flash drive like the M-Systems uDOC has two LEDs  - Green for USB 1.1 and Orange (or red) for USB 2.0. I use this as a check to see what a system supports at boot time.

Finally, there are different USB flash manufacturers and products on the market. One complaint is that USB flash is slow. Performance will depend on the controller that is used in the USB flash device. Like the CF table, I am creating a USB flash table with USB flash devices that have been tested with XPe USB Boot 2.0.

Flash Drives that Boot XPe

The CF table has been removed. Many developers are sending feedback on problems with XP Embedded running on CF cards. It is looking like the standard off the shelf CF cards for commercial products like cameras and PC storage are no longer suitable as boot drives for XP Embedded. From various replies, industrial grade CF cards from WinSystems, Transcend, and SiliconSystems have better reliability as boot media for XP Embedded.

Please share any feedback on CF cards that you have found reliable for XP Embedded.

CF/IDE/SATA Adapters

There are times when an a unique adapter is needed to get the job done. Here are a few adapters that might be usefull for your project:

	IDE to CF Adapater - ACS offers a IDE-to-CF solution that lets your PC boot from a CF card (PN: ACS-CF-IDEToCFA).
	SATA to CF Adapter - ACS offers a SATA-to-CF solution that lets your PC boot from a CF card via SATA (PN: ACS-CF-SATAToCFA).
	Small Form Factor IDE to CF - ACS offers a SFF IDE-to-CF solution that lets your PC or laptop boot from a CF card.
	IDE to CF and SATA to CF adapters - Soarland offers a variety of off-the-shell and custom solutions.

CF to IDE Adapter (BuyExtras) - An inexpensive IDE-to-CF solutions. Provided by Bryan J. Smith

SATA to CF Adapter - Lycom offers a SATA-to-CF solution that lets your PC boot from a CF card via SATA.

IDE Exchange Kit - The ICOP IDE Exchange Kit (PN: ICOP-0094) interfaces 44-pin to 40-pin IDE devices. Ideal for use 44-pin IDE flash drives.

Flash Duplication Solutions

Manufacturing is always part of the development puzzle to solve. As an alterantive to software solutions , here are a few hardware duplication solutions for duplicating USB flash disks and CF cards for production:

	International Microsystems Incorporated's multi- flash card duplication systems.
	International Microsystems Incorporated's USB flash duplication system.

Logicube - Single and multiple target duplication systems. IDE to CF adapters can be used for CF Cards.

Note: IDE flash drives interface just like a regular IDE drive with an adapter.

Note: M-Systems uDOC comes with a software utility to turn your PC into a duplication station.