HELP! - Rookie USB key not in KOP [Archive]

IronBenderII

12-01-2011, 20:08

Hi guys. We need to image our classmate but the USB key didn't come w/ our KOP. I've been looking everywhere for where we can download it but can't find it.

Can somebody tell me where we can download the files and make our own USB? We put this on our list of missing parts but don't want to wait for it to arrive via snail mail.

Jack
3859

Jester

12-01-2011, 20:19

I don't believe you will be able to download it anywhere yet, unless another team uploads it. You should have reported it before today, and they would have sent you a new one.

DonRotolo

12-01-2011, 20:20

The USB stick was handed to (someone) when you received your Kit. It was checked off on the inventory sheet, and (someone) signed for it. It's not inside the black or green tote, it was on top and loose, with the signal light, secondary regulator, and sensor board. Maybe that will help you find it.

IronBenderII

13-01-2011, 00:11

Unfortunately, none of the Rookie / Sacramento kits had them, so we're all scrambling. If somebody could post it somewhere it would help a lot of teams out!

Jack Covert
3859
www.wolfpackrobotics.org

IronBenderII

13-01-2011, 00:43

Actually, the USB stick was left out of all Rookie KOPs in the Sacramento Region, so we're all scrambling to get them. If somebody could post up the files, that would really help a lot of people out!

basicxman

13-01-2011, 00:49

Actually, the USB stick was left out of all Rookie KOPs in the Sacramento Region, so we're all scrambling to get them. If somebody could post up the files, that would really help a lot of people out!

I don't have a rookie USB drive, but if anybody does and has nowhere to host - DropBox has easily shareable public hosting perfect for this (http://dropbox.com).

I also seem to remember hearing that FIRST was able to electronically distribute images for teams that mistakenly got the wrong key. I could be incorrect though.

EDIT: I would recommend calling your regional manager as it will the quickest way to help in my experience.

IronBenderII

13-01-2011, 01:15

Basicxman - good idea on the regional, I'll see if they can help!

IronBenderII

13-01-2011, 13:48

Any rookies willing/able to post the files??

IronBenderII

13-01-2011, 14:41

Called FIRST to let them know about the problem, they're telling the KOP engineer, I'll let you guys know if I can get them to host the files online...

Jon236

13-01-2011, 14:47

If you download the DS files from NI found here:
http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/2263

You should be able to run the Driver Station from your laptop.

Fletch1373

13-01-2011, 14:54

I have a rookie thumbdrive and will post an ISO image of it online shortly

IronBenderII

13-01-2011, 17:22

@Jon236, will those files install the OS and do all else that the thumb drive is intended to do?

@Fletch1373, you would be a hero to a lot of teams in Sacramento if you could do this...

Trevor1743

13-01-2011, 18:27

Can someone post the veteran image, we lost our key

IronBenderII

13-01-2011, 23:44

Update: We haven't gotten anything yet. Anybody? We have a place to host it...

@Trevor1743 - good luck!

Fletch1373

14-01-2011, 01:25

Sorry for the delay, I had to go to work.

I have been struggling for a while to get an ISO of this drive... for some reason, it's near impossible to make an ISO of a flashdrive like you would with a CD/DVD(and I have a degree in Computer Science :ahh: ). I will copy the files over and build them into an ISO file, however, I can't guarantee it will boot correctly without other modifications(but at least you'll have the files you need)

I'll keep trying to get it working though

Nadav Zingerman

14-01-2011, 06:45

Sorry, but I think that uploading an image of the drive is a violation of U.S copyright law, as well as the EULA that nearly all teams "agreed" to.

IronBenderII

14-01-2011, 10:00

Thanks Fletcher!

Fletch1373

14-01-2011, 12:11

Sorry, but I think that uploading an image of the drive is a violation of U.S copyright law, as well as the EULA that nearly all teams "agreed" to.

would you mind pointing out why you feel this way? I realize the image contains a copy of windows that may not have expressly paid for(not exactly sure which parts of the kit was paid for by the $6500), but this image will ONLY work on the Classmate PC we received in the 2011 kit(without a significant number of missing drivers at least). In the spirit of FIRST, I don't see any issues with hosting this online for other teams to use.

Fletch1373

15-01-2011, 04:00

ok here's an update:

I have the files hosted! I was having a lot of trouble(making the original ISO, then trying to get it onto my server). I was forced to split the ISO into 16MB files(:ahh: :confused: ) in order for the server to let me upload it(it likes to timeout...).

I've tried to make the process fairly easy, but if you have any questions please send me a message or post here.

download this executable (http://thefletcher.net/rookie/FRC2011Rookie.exe)
Run it. It will unzip a few files into a directory of your choosing.
Open the folder you chose and run the "RUNME.bat" file. It will handle the downloading of the various parts of the ISO as well as start an application that joins them back together.
When a prompt pops up asking you for file locations(titlebar should read "The File Splitter"), simply click the "OK" button
Your ISO file should now reside in the folder you originally unzipped everything in. It should be called "FRC2011Rookie.iso"
Move the ISO to a location of your choosing and delete the folder and it's remaining contents

If the download freezes, or breaks somehow, most of the way through, don't waste your time rerunning the application as it will re-download everything. There is a file called "files.txt" that contains a list of all the necessary files. Simply download the rest of the files manually and run the "Create_FRC2011Rookie.exe" file to join the parts together.

Please note that there are 206 parts, each being 15.5MB. This means you will be downloading over 3GB, which WILL take a while. Testing on my laptop shows that it took a little over an hour at ~800KB/s

Nadav Zingerman

15-01-2011, 06:29

would you mind pointing out why you feel this way? I realize the image contains a copy of windows that may not have expressly paid for(not exactly sure which parts of the kit was paid for by the $6500), but this image will ONLY work on the Classmate PC we received in the 2011 kit(without a significant number of missing drivers at least). In the spirit of FIRST, I don't see any issues with hosting this online for other teams to use.

The issue is not a GP one. It is in the spirit of FIRST to help teams get missing software. However, the issue is a legal one, because it basically contains expensive software for free, in violation of copyright laws.

The proper procedure for obtaining a missing USB key is through FIRST. If they had reported the missing key immediately (did they?) they would probably already have a replacement.

winglerw28

15-01-2011, 07:36

The issue is not a GP one. It is in the spirit of FIRST to help teams get missing software. However, the issue is a legal one, because it basically contains expensive software for free, in violation of copyright laws.

The proper procedure for obtaining a missing USB key is through FIRST. If they had reported the missing key immediately (did they?) they would probably already have a replacement.

This is, unfortunately, correct. It is a violation of U.S. copyright laws and is the same reason the RIAA has filed major lawsuits against several individuals for upwards of a million dollars for a few MP3s.

It is also worth noting that the image inside the .WIN file can be applied to any PC through a little work, seeing as it still has the general x86 and drivers.

Mike Betts

15-01-2011, 08:35

would you mind pointing out why you feel this way? I realize the image contains a copy of windows that may not have expressly paid for(not exactly sure which parts of the kit was paid for by the $6500), but this image will ONLY work on the Classmate PC we received in the 2011 kit(without a significant number of missing drivers at least). In the spirit of FIRST, I don't see any issues with hosting this online for other teams to use.

I'll answer a question with a question... Why didn't FIRST post the downloadable image with instructions to make your own key? Beyond the minimal cost of the key, there is a significant logistical expense that they incurred to make and distribute the usb keys.

Answer: They were forced to...

JMHO,

Mike

Daiane

15-01-2011, 10:52

Hi,

I'm from team 1772 from Brasil, our kit has not arrived yet and our classmate was stolen.
I need to use other computer for Drive Station, bur i don't have the drive station software to put in the computer.
I want to know:
if the software that Fletch1373 posted here to download will work in my 2010 robot or i need to have the 2010 drive station for my 2010 robot run?
if i need the 2010 drive station, someone can help us posting the 2010 drive station for i use in a other computer??

thanks

Daiane

Fletch1373

17-01-2011, 01:10

While I do agree with all your points, I am opposed to paying for software. This occasionally leads to software piracy, however I try to avoid that to the best of my ability. In an effort to try to avoid legal issues for ChiefDelphi, FIRST, and myself, I will remove the files from my server. I believe I was right in trying to help, and I'm sure there are many people that would agree, however I'm sure Microsoft's lawyers wouldn't be in that group haha

Hi,

I'm from team 1772 from Brasil, our kit has not arrived yet and our classmate was stolen.
I need to use other computer for Drive Station, bur i don't have the drive station software to put in the computer.
I want to know:
if the software that Fletch1373 posted here to download will work in my 2010 robot or i need to have the 2010 drive station for my 2010 robot run?
if i need the 2010 drive station, someone can help us posting the 2010 drive station for i use in a other computer??

thanks

Daiane

hi Daiane,

No, the files I had posted will not help you with that specific issue. Instead, you only need to install the driver station application. Instructions are posted by username TanyaV here (http://decibel.ni.com/content/thread/8794?tstart=0)

IronBenderII

17-01-2011, 10:27

Fletch. You did help us! We finished the download last night and are trying to update our site. If anybody else needs the software, please IM me and I will host it and password protect it to keep the copyright complaints down.

To the others. I don't agree with your assumptions and your reverse engineering. It very well could be that FIRST didn't put it on their site for download because getting 3k teams to download 3 gigs of data at the same time and then supporting the ability to join 206 15 meg files together to create one 3 gig file would have been difficult to support.

Once again Fletcher - thank you for the support, you've shaved several days off of our timeline.

Good luck teams!

Fletch1373

17-01-2011, 21:00

Thanks for your support IronBenderII. I'm glad that you were able to complete the download. I was forced to split the file into 206 parts because of a restriction on my web server disallowing me from continuing an upload after a timeout. I believe FIRST wouldn't have that restriction. However, having hundreds, if not thousands, of teams downloading 3GB each would cause some mild bandwidth issues. They can't even keep the site online after kickoff without the 3GB, what would they do with it? haha

vimota

21-01-2011, 16:38

LMD3130

21-01-2011, 17:56

DropBox is a great software you could use to give the files to the team in need so if any rookie team abides by the rule of gracious professionalism then you should make a DropBox to give them the necessary info it would be great.

Fletch1373

22-01-2011, 01:51

Fletch, I applaud your attempt to help others, I was unable to download it in time but we appreciate it!

Also, what should the final USB drive look like? We received the files on a CD and we are trying to make the USB now, do we just copy the files onto the USB or must we make a bootable USB?

We have 2010 Classmate, but it's been formatted.

If you have an external USB DVD drive, you could use that and boot to the DVD. Otherwise I would just put a blank USB drive into a computer(min 4GB) and copy the files over from the DVD you have. I can't promise it will work, you may have to make it bootable, but it's worth a shot.

DropBox is a great software you could use to give the files to the team in need so if any rookie team abides by the rule of gracious professionalism then you should make a DropBox to give them the necessary info it would be great.

I use dropbox frequently, however, although I have the 3.12GB of free space required by the files, new users won't, so I wouldn't be able to share the folder with them. Thanks for the suggestion anyway

scienceguy22

28-01-2011, 18:49

Fletch1373

28-01-2011, 21:34

Hey Fletch,
I'm a member of a rookie team in Michigan. There was a mix-up and we didn't get our rookie kit right away (we still got the parts veteran teams get). Later we got the rookie kit , and, to our dismay, there was no USB key. We still don't have it and I decided to be proactive and look on here. I saw your link and just lit up, and then error 404. My computer couldn't find your webpage with the downloads and if there is any other way for you to post it I would be eternally grateful.

I would love to help you, however for reasons explained previously in this thread, I have chosen to remove the files from my server. I'm sorry I can't help too much with that. My only suggestion would be to install the driver station software on another computer for testing(possibly the one used for programming), and wait for FIRST to send you your missing drive.

If I can help you with anything else, feel free to Private Message me, and I'll be glad to.

Fletch

P.S. - I'm sorry to hear you guys have been missing your rookie kit for 3 weeks now. I'm not sure how you're doing it haha

Mark McLeod

28-01-2011, 21:39

The rookie Classmate should not need to be imaged. It does come with an operating system doesn't it?
I would think that the image stick you get is only for system recovery.

Veterans need it only to upgrade their Classmate operating system from XP to Windows 7.

Hey Fletch,
I'm a member of a rookie team in Michigan. There was a mix-up and we didn't get our rookie kit right away (we still got the parts veteran teams get). Later we got the rookie kit , and, to our dismay, there was no USB key. We still don't have it and I decided to be proactive and look on here. I saw your link and just lit up, and then error 404. My computer couldn't find your webpage with the downloads and if there is any other way for you to post it I would be eternally grateful.

Fletch1373

29-01-2011, 00:08

The rookie Classmate should not need to be imaged. It does come with an operating system doesn't it?
I would think that the image stick you get is only for system recovery.

Veterans need it only to upgrade their Classmate operating system from XP to Windows 7.

yes it did come with an OS preinstalled, however, following FIRST's instructions includes imaging the classmate(even the rookie instructions stated so). It is easier to just reimage it than to try to find out what software is missing and install it all manually(LabView runtime, DS software, etc.)

Mark McLeod

29-01-2011, 00:30

yes it did come with an OS preinstalled, however, following FIRST's instructions includes imaging the classmate(even the rookie instructions stated so). It is easier to just reimage it than to try to find out what software is missing and install it all manually(LabView runtime, DS software, etc.)
We received all the software necessary, that's why we can use any laptop we desire to run the Driver Station, the Classmates are optional this year.