Frog 2 Startup Tool

[Archie D]

Hi all - unfortunately, I fear that this post may not get very far as most Frog 2 users have completely moved on (to my knowledge), but here goes..

On my Frog 2, I wish to access the ZerOS Startup Tool. Usually, you'd keep tapping F1 while the console is booting. If I do this on my Solution XL, it works as expected. Frog 2, nope...
After the console's blue BIOS splash screen on the external monitor saying "Loading, please wait..." disappears, I keep tapping/holding F1 but the console boots straight into the main ZerOS application. The tapping/holding down of F1 is mentioned both in the online manual, and in a comment by Simon (original software developer for Frog2OS - that's ZerOS now).

One theory that I've been thinking about - usually when updating the console with a bootable USB drive (old method), a screen would appear with an 'Update Software' button, I think that is using the Startup Tool application on the console's CF card (separate from the main ZerOS application). Even when I plug in a bootable USB or use the original 7.8.2.39 software CD to try and bring that update window up, still nothing. My conclusion is that the startup tool application doesn't actually exist on the desk's CF card.

At some time, I plan to open the console and extract the CF card, pop it into my CF reader and see if the Startup Tool application exists on it. If it doesn't, I think I would be able to extract it from the Solution CF card (from memory the Startup Tool is from 2007 across all desks, so I think it should work fine) and put it on the Frog 2 one. Before I do that, are they any ideas anybody may have as to why this is happening?

Many thanks for any assistance with this.
Archie

[Edward Z88]

Hi Archie,

On 4/11/2026 at 5:59 PM, Archie D said:

On my Frog 2, I wish to access the ZerOS Startup Tool.

Why do you need to access this?

On 4/11/2026 at 5:59 PM, Archie D said:

If I do this on my Solution XL, it works as expected. Frog 2, nope...

The ZerOS Start-Up Tool was introduced in ZerOS 7.9, primarily to allow FLX S consoles to be recovered, as these do not support bootable drives. The Start-Up Tool was not present in ZerOS 7.8.

Edward

[Archie D]

Hi Edward,

Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it. That probably explains why I can't get into it.

I was looking for the Startup Tool to future-proof the desk in case I need to do a fresh software install to recover it as the desk currently isn't picking up any bootable USB sticks (have tried multiple, including the MBR method), neither is it picking up the software CD supplied with the desk.

Since it was introduced for FLX S, am I correct in thinking it will only accept .exe upgrade files instead of a whole bootable USB?

Many thanks,
Archie

[Edward Z88]

Hi Archie,

That's correct - the ZerOS Startup Tool only allows ZerOS .exe installers to be loaded.

If you have tried various USB drives of different sizes, each formatted with ZerOS 7.8.2.39, and you have tried different USB ports, but the console is refusing to boot into the installer, it may be worth checking the BIOS is configured correctly. From memory, these instructions for Orb will also apply to Frog 2...

Allowing-Orb-&-OrbXF-consoles-to-install-software-from-a-bootable-USB-drive.pdf

Edward