Tag Archives: Biostar

Boot from USB Stick on Biostar TF8200 A2+

Posted on May 2, 2009 by Jeff Fitzsimons

I was tired of burning perfectly good DVDs repeatedly for Windows 7 beta testing. Instead, I decided to follow these excellent instructions and copy the contents of the ISO image onto a USB stick and boot from that.

My Biostar TF8200 A2+ motherboard has an American Megatrends BIOS. Configuring it to boot from a thumb drive is a bit tricky. Here are the steps:

  1. Insert the USB thumb drive.
  2. Enter BIOS setup.
  3. Go to Advanced, then USB Configuration, then USB Mass Storage Device Configuration, then select CDROM for Emulation Type.
  4. Press F10 to save BIOS changes and reboot. You must reboot for the BIOS to view the thumb drive as a CD-ROM drive.
  5. Enter BIOS Setup.
  6. Go to Boot, then CD/DVD Drives. Select “USB: USB DISK 2.0″ as your 1st CD drive (assuming you have a real CD/DVD-ROM drive).
  7. Go back to Boot Settings Configuration, go to Boot Device Priority, and select USB: USB DISK 2.0 as the 1st boot device.
  8. Save BIOS changes and reboot.
  9. When prompted, press any key to boot from the “CD-ROM” (really the USB stick).

In the end, I wasn’t able to get the system to boot from the USB drive as a virtual CD-ROM drive. It would only boot from the USB drive if I changed the emulation to “Hard disk”.

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Biostar TF7050-M2 S/PDIF Digital Audio

Posted on February 13, 2008 by Jeff Fitzsimons

As boxed, the Biostar TF7050 supports multi-channel analog audio, and HDMI audio, which is digital but encrypted. In order to pass-through AC3 streams (for Dolby Digital and DTS), I needed a standard digital audio output.

The motherboard has headers for digital audio input and output, but Biostar doesn’t supply the necessary cable or bracket. Searching the Internets suggests that just about any manufacturer’s bracket will work, though it appears that all the discount sellers are perpetually out of stock, and many sellers are charging upwards of $30.

The Biostar website lists a “MB S/PDIF Cable” for $15. A call to Biostar tech support (626-581-1055) revealed that this is a full bracket, providing both optical and coaxial outputs. The actual cost, including California tax, actually comes to just under $11.

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