Other options for OSes besides Ubuntu and later versions of Windows?

ssybesma · ‎03-12-2019

Buying a couple STCK1A8LFC for a project I'm doing in my personal time (GIMPS). I'm getting them for $30 a piece and will likely buy many more as the source has nearly 2,000 of them and I can do some creative things with them. I did think about the idea of turning one of these into a DOS machine to play old DOS games on. Not a very demanding application for these. Seems perfect. I can't see any reason why this can't be made to work, can you? Plenty of USB drivers for DOS for instance and I can use a small USB hub with them to increase the ports for a keyboard and mouse. I can partition the storage to something DOS can work with. Seems very do-able!!!

Wanner_G_Intel · ‎03-12-2019

Hello ssybesma, The operating system validated for Intel® Compute Stick STCK1A8LFC is Ubuntu* 14.04 LTS* 64-bit. However, customers have reported that Linuxium also works on this unit. Supported Operating Systems for Intel® Compute Sticks https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005899/mini-pcs/intel-compute-sticks.html Hopefully, other community members may provide more information about installing other OSs on this unit. Wanner G. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

ssybesma · ‎03-13-2019

Yes, I know that. Unless disabling UEFI and Secure Boot doesn't work to allow other ways to boot the stick, I'm thinking this is very possible. I saw a video where one of the boot options in the BIOS was Legacy which is encouraging.

Being you're from Intel, you should know what is ultimately possible and what your engineers have tried or have just made impossible to do. Nobody thinks of using this for DOS 99.9% of the time, I'm sure.

I get the two I ordered next Tuesday so I will definitely be testing one of them.

ssybesma · ‎03-13-2019

For the purposes of getting DOS or older Windows versions to work, doing this first (except the part about installing Windows 10 which I would never recommend) might be a good intermediate step before disabling UEFI and Secure Boot and switching to Legacy and then attempting to boot from USB:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg9Hnz7DiH4

n_scott_pearson · ‎03-13-2019

I can find no parameters that would allow UEFI to be disabled and/or Legacy to be enabled. I have never had Secure Boot enabled, so that isn't it either

...S

ssybesma · ‎03-13-2019

OK, when I get mine I'll take a look and dig into this. Perhaps, this may be an issue with the BIOS version. I did find that on some versions of the BIOS you are allowed to select between Ubuntu and Windows. Maybe some versions don't offer the choice. I don't know if that's true on yours. Version 0035 allows the choice and there is a *.BIO file that can be used to update via the F7 method on your version of the stick (same one that I'm getting next week). I'll let you know once I get a chance to work on this. Right now, I'm flying blind. Thanks Scott! On 2019-03-13 14:12, Intel Forums wrote: Links:

n_scott_pearson · ‎03-13-2019

I always do my testing using the very latest BIOS. Yes, I can select between Ubuntu and Windows (all BIOS offer this choice), but this make absolutely no difference to the issue. I have also played with multiple flash disks, including doing the slow format to ensure I don't hit the compatibility problem caused by some bulk formatting machines used by the flash disk providers.

...S

ssybesma · ‎03-13-2019

Alright Scott, I'll let you know what happens next week. Thanks for the info. Steve On 2019-03-13 16:22, Intel Forums wrote: Links:

n_scott_pearson · ‎03-12-2019

Have you had any luck booting to DOS? You made me curious so I took a stab at it. I was unable to get my FC stick to ever include the USB device in the boot menu. I tried multiple USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 flash disks. Made no difference. These disks boot just fine on other NUCs and PCs.

...S

ssybesma · ‎03-13-2019

I haven't received them yet. But I'll keep in mind your experience. I'm wondering if it has to do with UEFI. Steve On 2019-03-12 17:08, Intel Forums wrote: Links:

ssybesma · ‎03-13-2019

I saw some videos of the Intel Compute Stick BIOS and it looks like you can disable UEFI and Secure Boot. When I get mine I'll try those things and see if I can get DOS to boot on a USB stick. If that can be done, then I believe it's just another hop to get DOS booting natively from the device. Besides the above preliminary steps, there could be an issue with needing a DOS driver to boot natively from the device's storage medium as well. I still think this is possible. I haven't found anyone yet who has made a serious effort. Steve On 2019-03-12 17:59, steve@vwebr.net wrote: Links: