Isostick, the USB memory-optical drive

sygeek

Technomancer
The Isostick Makes A Mockery Of Optical Disk Hegemony
*www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/isostick-beta-348x196.jpg​

In the old days, you used to have to put something called “optical media” into a “DVD drive” to install software and operating systems. Those days are long over thanks to an odd little USB key called the Isostick.

Although the project doesn’t officially exist – it’s almost funded on Kickstarter – the IsoStick promises to allow you to load any ISO disk image from any computer just as if it were loading it from an optical disk. Why would you want to do this? Well, some computers can’t boot directly from a USB thumbdrive and the IsoStick solves this by masquerading as an optical drive first and a thumb drive second. Almost any PC will boot from an optical disk, which makes the Isostick so useful.

You can write multiple ISOs onto the FAT32 drive and a special selector lets you pick which one to load. This means you could keep multiple install images on one USB drive and install them as needed.

Write the creators:

The isostick is targeted at IT people, computer technicians, and geeks in general that are sick and tired of carrying around lots of discs that always get lost, broken, scratched, or just stop working. Often times you’ll have to update your discs with the latest patches or virus definitions or what-have-you. With isostick it’s a breeze, just drop the new iso on the flash drive and you’re ready to go!

$225 gets you a 32GB stick and some stickers while the cheapest model costs $125 for 8GB. If you’re unsure what you’d do with this, you’re probably not the target market but they’ve had $21,000 in pledges (out of a target of $25,000) so far, so it’s likely this has always been an itch that needed scratching.

Project Page


*i.imm.io/7CE3.png​
 
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Vyom

The Power of x480
Staff member
Admin
Wow... it IS too good to be true.
I would love to ditch DVD drives in favor of ISO Stick.

But I have a concern. Will this ISO stick be able to boot even if there is no option to boot from a flash drive? Theoritically, since computer would think ISO stick as a Disk Drive, it would be able to do so :S
 
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sygeek

sygeek

Technomancer
Wow... it IS too good to be true.
I would love to ditch DVD drives in favor of ISO Stick.

But I have a concern. Will this ISO stick be able to boot even if there is no option to boot from a flash drive? Theoritically, since computer would think ISO stick as a Disk Drive, it would be able to do so :S
Technically, if the computer recognizes this as an optical drive on the boot-up, it should be able to run fine with the option to boot from a CD/DVD drive. At least that's what this device is based on.
 

Neuron

Electronic.
Well its a usb device.So it can't get detected as anything else.I don't know if its much more than a normal flash drive.We already have utilities that can make usb drives boot from isos.This one has that part hardwired in it already.
 

Ishu Gupta

Manchester United
The only plus point I see is that we can store multiple OSes on a single USB stick. But its a bit expenive.

You can get a 8GB drive for 450 bucks (that's 1 tenth of this :eek:). Then use unetbootin and you get a bootable USB stick. One iso at a time though.

Edit: Damn you Neuron :D
 
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sygeek

sygeek

Technomancer
Well its a usb device.So it can't get detected as anything else.I don't know if its much more than a normal flash drive.We already have utilities that can make usb drives boot from isos.This one has that part hardwired in it already.
But it certainly doesn't make them ACT as an optical drive.
 

Neuron

Electronic.
There are hardly a few Operating Systems that can't be made to boot from usb.Things might get a bit more easier with this one.Nothing worth 100$ for 8GB.
 
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sygeek

sygeek

Technomancer
There are hardly a few Operating Systems that can't be made to boot from usb.Things might get a bit more easier with this one.Nothing worth 100$ for 8GB.
Well, I agree to that, but I guess you guys are just missing the entire point of this device. It's not this expensive just for the sake of it.
 

Ishu Gupta

Manchester United
But it certainly doesn't make them ACT as an optical drive.
Almost.
Your PC won't detect it as a CD but it still works as a CD would. And almost every computer supports USB booting.

What makes this worth 10 USB drives with the same capacity?
 

cute.bandar

Cyborg Agent
Question: is there something special about the hardware or is it all just software that makes the PC think its dealing with a optical drive and not a USB drive.

btw there already exist software like unetbootin that would allow one to use usb drive for booting
Here is list of windows software that allow adding bootable iso to USB:

* unnetbootin - for linux
* sardu - multiple iso in one
* yumi - multiple iso in one (doesn't have xp option)
* wintoflash - only for windows installation (xp - 7)

personally I have had it with unreliable dvd and dvd players. Now I only use USB sticks to boot and internet to get content.
 
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sygeek

sygeek

Technomancer
Almost.
Your PC won't detect it as a CD but it still works as a CD would. And almost every computer supports USB booting.

What makes this worth 10 USB drives with the same capacity?
Read the context dude, the PC will SEE it both as an CD/DVD and a USB.

Question: is there something special about the hardware or is it all just software that makes the PC think its dealing with a optical drive and not a USB drive.

btw there already exist software like unetbootin that would allow one to use usb drive as an optical drive.
No, those softwares just write the ISO image to the USB, installs it's bootloader and marks it as bootable.

Due to multiple misconceptions, I've updated the article's context and I'm summing up this device's features:
  1. IsoStick is a USB key that allows you to booting into multiple ISO images.
  2. It acts both as an CD/DVD and an USB, so whatever your hardware supports booting from, it will be 100% compatible with it's BIOS
  3. You can write multiple images into this device just by copy-pasting an ISO image, regardless of their quantity.
  4. You can lock the device as readable so as to mark the operating system persistent/non-persistent with just a simple lock switch on the device.
  5. The isostick is targeted at IT people, computer technicians, and geeks in general that are sick and tired of carrying around lots of discs that always get lost, broken, scratched, or just stop working.
  6. If you're an average user, please don't bother using it, it will be nothing more than a expensive USB to you.
  7. In short, it's a device that acts both as an optical drive and USB while increasing the efficiency by a HUGE extent (and at the same time, it is expensive).

It is not possible for a software like unetbootin (and it's likes) to make a USB, function as the above. If you're not distro hopper like some people, you won't be able to respect it's features (which doesn't include the price).
 
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Ishu Gupta

Manchester United
  1. IsoStick is a USB key that allows you to booting into multiple ISO images. Or you can buy 10 USB stick and attach them to a keyring(Get the tiny ones). You get 10x the storage and its geekier:-D.
  2. It acts both as an CD/DVD and an USB, so whatever your hardware supports booting from, it will be 100% compatible with it's BIOS If your BIOS doesn't support USB booting, this won't work AFAIK. Externel DVD drives don't work.
  3. You can write multiple images into this device just by copy-pasting an ISO image, regardless of their quantity. See point 1
  4. You can lock the device as readable so as to mark the operating system persistent/non-persistent with just a simple lock switch on the device. On the hardware level,this IS possible on some USB drives.
  5. The isostick is targeted at IT people, computer technicians, and geeks in general that are sick and tired of carrying around lots of discs that always get lost, broken, scratched, or just stop working.See point 1
  6. If you're an average user, please don't bother using it, it will be nothing more than a expensive USB to you.Its expensive to everyone
  7. In short, it's a device that acts both as an optical drive and USB while increasing the efficiency by a HUGE extent (and at the same time, it is expensive).

It is not possible for a software like unetbootin (and it's likes) to make a USB, function as the above. If you're not distro hopper like some people, you won't be able to respect it's features (which doesn't include the price).I've installed 3 distros and windows in the last month all using the same 4GB USB drive.
This is not worth the money. If it was $20 for the 8GB, I would say its good but at $100 its taking the ****.
 
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sygeek

sygeek

Technomancer
This is not worth the money. If it was $20 for the 8GB, I would say its good but at $100 its taking the ****.
This is not for your everyday picture storage device, yes it is costly, but it certainly can't beat a usual USB feature-wise.
Or you can buy 10 USB stick and attach them to a keyring(Get the tiny ones). You get 10x the storage and its geekier
As I said, that's NOT the point of this device.

If your BIOS doesn't support USB booting, this won't work AFAIK. Externel DVD drives don't work.
I don't know how you are so sure. It is certainly not true, try reading the project page and some of the reviews.
 

Ishu Gupta

Manchester United
This is not for your everyday picture storage device, yes it is costly, but it certainly can't beat a usual USB feature-wise.
XBOOT – Multiboot ISO USB Creator (Windows) | USB Pen Drive Linux
YUMI - Multiboot USB Creator (Windows) | USB Pen Drive Linux

iodd2511 This is dead and has been overtaken by someone else.

As I said, that's NOT the point of this device.
Isn't the point of this to allow you to boot isos. :x

Any PC less than 5 year old can boot from USB. Those PCs are worth less than this USB.
And Admins don't need this either. They can simply use PXE.

sygeek said:
I don't know how you are so sure. It is certainly not true, try reading the project page and some of the reviews.
Where does it explicitly say that "It doesn't need USB boot support"
Only BIOS' that support USB booting but are not able to boot into flash drives need something like this.

Hardware-wise, the Isostick is basically a MicroSD card (non-removable) that’s capable of 12.5MB/sec read (81x and 9.5x in CD/DVD parlance) and 4-6MB/sec write.
12.5MB/sec? That's slow
How about a Normal USB3 drive that can finih installing your distro in 1/10th the time this thing takes?
 
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sygeek

sygeek

Technomancer
XBOOT – Multiboot ISO USB Creator (Windows) | USB Pen Drive Linux
YUMI - Multiboot USB Creator (Windows) | USB Pen Drive Linux

iodd2511 This is dead and has been overtaken by someone else.
Link me a software which has the exact features as stated in the above post, and I'm not talking about alternatives with limited features.

Where does it explicitly say that "It doesn't need USB boot support"
The site's main project page..

Isn't the point of this to allow you to boot isos. :x
A lot more than that, if you read the context.

Read the Project page and come back with valid arguments.
 
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Ishu Gupta

Manchester United
Can you quote whatever from that article? So I know specifically what you are talking about.

And thanks for skipping over most of the post. ;)
 
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sygeek

sygeek

Technomancer
Can you quote whatever from that article? So I know specifically what you are talking about.
You don't want me to spoonfeed you, do you? Please the read the project page carefully, it is stated in BOLD letters.

And thanks for skipping over most of the post. ;)
Probably because they weren't valid arguments and I couldn't care less.

What exactly are you trying to say?
That the features can be easily overcome with the above mentioned softwares, if you care for it features, it isn't true. If are you saying that it's expensive? Well yes it is! Are you saying that 10 USB drives are better than this? Not at all (i'm excluding the price factor here)! Or if you're saying that it's a worthless device, well, then that statement doesn't follow for everyone.
 
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Ishu Gupta

Manchester United
Link me a software which has the exact features as stated in the above post, and I'm not talking about alternatives with limited features.
XBOOT – Multiboot ISO USB Creator (Windows) | USB Pen Drive Linux

If you can see the first screenie, he is copying BT, Ubuntu, Slax. That's 3 ISOs/Distros.
In the second image you can choose the bootloader. It will allow you to choose an ISO when you boot from your USB.
You can also store your data along with the OSes.
Buy a 32GB external USB for 2k/$40. It will be 2x faster with 4x the space and still cost 60% less.

If you want to use ISO inside your OS, use Daemon Tools. It will be even faster.


Only limitation I see is this won't boot if your PC doesn't support USB booting (And I am still don't think that ISOUSB will boot in that case either. Very few BIOS' support USB booting but can't boot into flash drives (In this case normal USB won't work but isousb will work).).

AND I can't see anything that says that it'll boot even without the USB booting capabilty. Either you are missing something or I am.
 

Neuron

Electronic.
Even if it does boot in that case someone having a non-usb booting PC is sure not to have enough fortune to buy an 'isostick'.
 
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sygeek

sygeek

Technomancer
XBOOT – Multiboot ISO USB Creator (Windows) | USB Pen Drive Linux

If you can see the first screenie, he is copying BT, Ubuntu, Slax. That's 3 ISOs/Distros.
In the second image you can choose the bootloader. It will allow you to choose an ISO when you boot from your USB.
You can also store your data along with the OSes.
Buy a 32GB external USB for 2k/$40. It will be 2x faster with 4x the space and still cost 60% less.

If you want to use ISO inside your OS, use Daemon Tools. It will be even faster.


Only limitation I see is this won't boot if your PC doesn't support USB booting (And I am still don't think that ISOUSB will boot in that case either. Very few BIOS' support USB booting but can't boot into flash drives (In this case normal USB won't work but isousb will work).).

AND I can't see anything that says that it'll boot even without the USB booting capabilty. Either you are missing something or I am.
Very well carried out. Yes, you're missing something, these ISO images don't just apply for operating systems, it goes for ANY CD/DVD ISO image. These features are not software-wise but they are built into the hardware, thus even more compatible. You don't have to install tonnes of bloatwares.

Even many windows functions can be replaced by tonnes of other softwares, that doesn't mean you shouldn't use it in the first place.

Let's say a case where you have to use something as a CD/DVD to make it work and you want to customize the contents without re-writing the whole CD/DVD, the USB comes in here too.

Even if it does boot in that case someone having a non-usb booting PC is sure not to have enough fortune to buy an 'isostick'.
What if the other person is a computer administrator who wants to fix someone's sh1thole computer? That's where it comes in, IT IS NOT FOR THE AVERAGE USER.

I'm tired of this, let's move on guys :/
 
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