USB flash drives

[Bluebear]

Hi all,

Having just become a novice Genos owner I have a question regarding the capacity of the pen drives. My memory (such as it is) tells me that most of the files I would probably want to save/download in due course are fairly small in size so you can fit many onto a single flash drive. However, knowing that this is a very advanced arranger keyboard does this make the file sizes much bigger?
As a home user only, with the hope in due course to download new styles, MIDI files, songs etc., what size pen drive would you suggest as an initial purchase. 2Gb - 500Gb??
Any advice appreciated thank you.

[JohnS (Ugawoga)]

Hi
For home use of midi files and styles etc, I would get a 64 gig pen drive for this purpose.
Another 64gig pen drive underneath the Genos in the expansion compartment.

I would also get a 1 terrabyte or 2 terrabyte drive  to make a system image of your computers and also these are good for backing up the content also from your pen drives.
I do this to keep fully covered and the "what If situation"!!

[Bluebear]

Many thanks for your help Ugawoga, I couldn't find any guidance elsewhere but knew someone on the forum would come up trumps.

[overover]

Hi Bluebear,

Genos2 officially supports USB sticks up to 256 GB. But I have also heard that users have used 512 GB sticks without any problems. To start, like John, I recommend 64 GB sticks, maximum 128 GB.

But you can also use any existing, older sticks. If it's not about audio files, 1 - 2 GB would be enough. Newer sticks (USB 3.x) have the advantage over older USB 2.0 sticks that you can copy data to/from the computer very quickly.

New USB 3.x sticks are also a little faster on the keyboard (although USB 2.0 is still used here).


Best regards,
Chris

[Bluebear]

Thank you Chris, I'll pick up a couple of 64Gb's soon. I have some older sticks much smaller, probably USB1, but knowing they're old & need re-formatting on the Genos I reckon I'll go for new.

Kind regards

[usaraiya]

An interesting thing I noticed that when I installed the USB flash drive underneath the Genos 2 first, and then I tried to update the OS with a flash drive attached to the Right side of the instrument, it could not find the files because it only looks to USB1, which was the first installed drive beneath the KB, and the upper drive was automatically named USB2 by the system, so it did not find the files as those files were not in USB1(beneath the KB).
Upon removing the drive beneath, it immediately recognized the upper drive as USB1 and found the files!!
I haven't tried installing the upper one, USB1, first, and then the lower one, USB2, so I don't have to do this exercise every time I need to update the OS!!



Uday

[Bluebear]

Very useful info Uday, many thanks.

Knowing that upgrading the firmware is one of my first tasks when I setup the keyboard (still awaiting delivery of Genos speakers), I'll make sure to use the front usb port 

[overover]

An interesting thing I noticed that when I installed the USB flash drive underneath the Genos 2 first, and then I tried to update the OS with a flash drive attached to the Right side of the instrument, it could not find the files because it only looks to USB1, which was the first installed drive beneath the KB, and the upper drive was automatically named USB2 by the system, so it did not find the files as those files were not in USB1(beneath the KB).
Upon removing the drive beneath, it immediately recognized the upper drive as USB1 and found the files!!
I haven't tried installing the upper one, USB1, first, and then the lower one, USB2, so I don't have to do this exercise every time I need to update the OS!!



Uday

Hi Uday,

The Genos/Genos2 operating system basically treats all USB ports the same, i.e. the first/only connected USB stick is always recognized as "USB 1" (internal drive letter "I:/"). If more than one USB sticks are connected at startup, their drive letters are assigned RANDOMLY (I:/, J:/ or K:/ for USB 1, USB 2, USB 3). It is therefore not recommended to have more than one USB stick connected when starting.

If a USB stick is installed in the lower compartment of the Genos/Genos2 and no other stick is connected, the lower stick will always be correctly recognized/displayed as "USB 1" and all registrations and playlists will always work. This is exactly how it works if there is NO stick installed in the bottom compartment, then the first/only stick connected at the TOP becomes "USB 1".

If a stick is installed at the lower compartment and you want a stick connected TOP to become "USB 1" (e.g. to install a Firmware update), BOTH sticks would have to be connected when starting and you might have to restart the Genos several times until the UPPER stick "randomly" shows up as "USB 1".

When updating Firmware, I recommend removing a stick installed BELOW beforehand to ensure that the UPPER stick with the update file is definitely recognized as "USB 1".


Hope this helps!

Best regards,
Chris

[Gunnar Jonny]

... If a stick is installed at the lower compartment and you want a stick connected TOP to become "USB 1" (e.g. to install a Firmware update),

Hi Chris.
Long time ago I did read somewhere that if perform an firmwareupdate Genos would find it regardless of if you have an other USB connected in bottom or not as long as the update file was in rooth of the stick used for the task.
I seem to remember it said that Genos will search through the USB ports when perform update startup procedure. I had 64GB USB connected permanently in bottom and never opened the cover as long as I had G1.  Updates via USB at top went perfect every time. 

And as you say, as long as no other sticks than the one at bottom is connected at startup, that one will always stay as USB1.
Worked flawless for me all the time since I bought G1 early 2018. 

[overover]

Hi Chris.
Long time ago I did read somewhere that if perform an firmwareupdate Genos would find it regardless of if you have an other USB connected in bottom or not as long as the update file was in rooth of the stick used for the task.
I seem to remember it said that Genos will search through the USB ports when perform update startup procedure. I had 64GB USB connected permanently in bottom and never opened the cover as long as I had G1.  Updates via USB at top went perfect every time. 

And as you say, as long as no other sticks than the one at bottom is connected at startup, that one will always stay as USB1.
Worked flawless for me all the time since I bought G1 early 2018. 

Thanks for your feedback, Gunnar Jonny!

I can't currently say for sure whether the Firmware update boot loader actually only looks for the update file on USB 1 or searches ALL USB ports one after the other. If the .PRG file was properly copied into the root directory of the stick and it does NOT work, you can still remove the stick installed in the lower compartment. Then it should definitely work. 

By the way, if a Firmware update unexpectedly doesn't work even though you supposedly did everything right, it could be due to the Type of the USB stick used: Normally a USB stick is displayed on the computer as a "Removable Disk". However, occasionally a stick can be displayed as a "Local Disk". Such a stick (provided it is correctly formatted in FAT32) can be used normally on the keyboard, just NOT for Firmware updates. 


Best regards,
Chris

[Christophermoment]

Hi Chris.
Long time ago I did read somewhere that if perform an firmwareupdate Genos would find it regardless of if you have an other USB connected in bottom or not as long as the update file was in rooth of the stick used for the task.
I seem to remember it said that Genos will search through the USB ports when perform update startup procedure. I had 64GB USB connected permanently in bottom and never opened the cover as long as I had G1.  Updates via USB at top went perfect every time. 

And as you say, as long as no other sticks than the one at bottom is connected at startup, that one will always stay as USB1.
Worked flawless for me all the time since I bought G1 early 2018. 

Has always worked that way for me as well.
Maybe the G2 is different?? Seems like having to take out the bottom USB is a unnecessary hassle. If indeed updates now have to reside on USB1, then the easiest way surely is just to copy the file from the one top USB to the bottom USB1. 

[overover]

Has always worked that way for me as well.
Maybe the G2 is different?? Seems like having to take out the bottom USB is a unnecessary hassle. If indeed updates now have to reside on USB1, then the easiest way surely is just to copy the file from the one top USB to the bottom USB1. 

Hi Christopher,

I'm afraid that wouldn't work because, as far as I remember, .PRG Firmware update files are not visible on the keyboard ...


Best regards,
Chris

[usaraiya]

I can vouch for the fact that the Firmware update boot loader only looks for the update file on USB 1, as it did not find it when I had the lower USB drive, USB1 installed with no update file, but did actually find it when I removed the lower drive and installed the upper drive with the update file, and quickly updated the OS. So, I will use only the upper drive for everything, including storage and all updates. Using the lower drive may not be required for me, making life easier!


Uday

[overover]

I can vouch for the fact that the Firmware update boot loader only looks for the update file on USB 1, as it did not find it when I had the lower USB drive, USB1 installed with no update file, but did actually find it when I removed the lower drive and installed the upper drive with the update file, and quickly updated the OS. So, I will use only the upper drive for everything, including storage and all updates. Using the lower drive may not be required for me, making life easier!


Uday

Thank you for your confirmation, Uday!

I think the lower USB port was introduced primarily at the insistence of users so that the USB stick couldn't be stolen (easily) during live performances. For home players, it is definitely recommended to only use the upper USB port on the panel. Like you said: This makes life easier ... 


Best regards,
Chris

[Gunnar Jonny]

I can vouch for the fact that the Firmware update boot loader only looks for the update file on USB 1

In the upgrade installation manual it says that the 'update USB stick' has to be connected to USB to Device. There is USB to Device both on top, bottom and rear.
However, if (as I always have / had) the bottom USB is connected permanently, the stick that  is being connected to 'upper' when startup G, will always show up as USB1, and bottom as USB2.

I'm pretty sure I did read somewhere that when start up in 'update mode' Genos will search the USB to Device ports for the file. In the beginning I had the understandig that all other than the top USB that should be used had to be disconnected. After reading this years ago, I never unplugged the bottom one, and never had any problem at all running the updates.
Hope I manage to find where I did read that information so I can post it.

Anyway, people must do as they like. As long as it works out well everything is OK, whatever method used.