[mythtv-users] ZOTAC IONITX-B-E installation/configuration...

[Andrew Close]

hi all,

i'm having some issues getting my ZOTAC IONITX-B-E frontend to work.
i've installed my distro of choice (LinHES) as a FE on two different
USB sticks.  installation goes fine and everything appears to be
happy; however, when rebooting the system, it just hangs when
initializing the kernel.  and on top of that it appears to shut off
the USB ports because my mouse and keyboard go dead at that point.  so
i'm guessing the USB key is dead as well (it doesn't have any sort of
indicator led on in).  i've also tried MythBuntu with the same
results, so i don't believe it's a distro specific issue (the kernel
hasn't even loaded so how could distro matter?).
i'm fairly certain there is a BIOS setting i'm missing or have
misconfigured.  in my BIOS i have the USB key selected as the primary
boot device.  under the 'Advanced'->'USB Configuration' menu in the
BIOS i've tried setting both HiSpeed and FullSpeed settings, Legacy
USB Support is enabled, and under the 'USB Mass Storage Device Config'
i've tried setting the 'USB Mass Storage Reset Delay' to 10, 20 & 30
seconds and tried setting the 'Emulation Type' to both 'Auto' & "Hard
Disk'.  the majority of the BIOS settings have been left to their
default values, or reset to their defaults.  i've played around with
other settings with no luck.  it seems crazy that the BIOS has a boot
from USB option and then shuts off USB as it is starting up...  this
board (ZOTAC IONITX-B-E) has an AMI BIOS (v02.61) onboard.  i didn't
find any info on American Megatrends site to indicate that i needed a
BIOS update.
unfortunately when booting i don't get far enough into the boot cycle
to switch the display from the splash screen to rolling output to see
what's going on and then the keyboard locks up/goes away.  and since
booting locks i don't have any logs to look at. :)
this board does have a PXE Boot option in the BIOS and i'm tempted to
try it.  but i figured the USB key setup would be easier to manage for
a novice/intermediate Linux user.
any suggestions/configurations welcome.  :)

-- 
Andrew Close