Start 9 Server Pure, but Half the Price

Bitcoin
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I published the first of a series of YouTube video tutorials I am working on, related to Bitcoin. For this one, I demonstrate how to set up an alternative to the Start 9 Server Pure, but for half the price. I explain trade-offs, and the differences between the two devices, then walk you through the process step-by-step.

Hopefully you find it useful. Let me know if you have and questions or feedback that I might apply to my future video tutorials.

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I’m going to use the 1Tb nvme that came with the device. It feels a bit strange overwriting the windows 11 that came with it, because I’m sure I paid for it. Is there a way to salvage the windows 11 that came with the device? I have only mac computers so I’m not sure how it works with windows.

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You should be able to make a backup of the Windows license before you erase the NVMe drive during installation.

Step 1: Check Your Windows License Type

First, determine if your Windows license is a digital license or a product key.

  1. Digital License: Linked to the hardware itself. You don’t need a product key.
  2. Product Key: A 25-character code that you need to back up.

To Check:

  1. Open Settings > System > About > Activation.
  2. Look for the message:
  • “Windows is activated with a digital license.”
  • “Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account.”

Step 2: Save Your Product Key (if available)

Even if you have a digital license, it’s a good idea to back up your product key.

  1. Open Command Prompt or PowerShell as Administrator.
  2. Run this command:
wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey
  1. If it returns a key, save it in a safe location.

Step 3: Link to Your Microsoft Account (if not already linked)

If your license is not yet linked to a Microsoft account:

  1. Go to Settings > Accounts > Your info.
  2. Sign in with your Microsoft account.
  3. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Activation, and check if it says your license is now linked to your account.

This ensures you can reactivate Windows later on the same hardware without a product key.

Restoring Windows

Now you can install StartOS onto the NVMe. If you ever want to return to Windows:

  1. Reinstall Windows from a USB installation media (downloadable from Microsoft’s website).
  2. During installation:
  • If prompted for a product key, choose “I don’t have a product key” if your license is digital.
  • Log in with your Microsoft account to activate Windows automatically.
  • If required, re-enter your product key.
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Thanks Paul.
So this means I have to hook this device up to the internet and go through the Windows setup. And create a microsoft account I suppose?

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Yes. Another option (more complex) would be to make a clone of the NVMe if you have another hard drive and an adapter for connecting it to the MiniPC (plus a USB stick that you can install Linux on, to do the clone from).

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I do, I have a collection of old hard drives and ssds. Even have a toaster to read them. looks like flashing a program called clonezilla to a usb might work.

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You won’t be able to clone the drive from Windows while it is in use. You’ll need a bootable USB thumb drive. I’m not familiar with clonezilla, does it boot from a USB thumb drive? If not, any Linux distro (such as Ubuntu) could be used. I can give you instructions if you go the Linux route.

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According to what I am reading the clonezilla is running on linux and can therefor use a bootable usb. I’ll know in a few minutes…

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Well that clonezilla program seemed to work. It felt like I was trying to load a game on a commodore 64 or something, but I think it did it’s job. Now onto the start 9 install. I anticipate the rest going smoothly.

When booting from USB with Start9 I got the error: " Verifying shim SBAT data failed: Security Policy ViolationSomething has gone seriously wrong: SBAT self-check failed: Security policy violation." But, disabling the secure boot in the bios fixed that.

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Because I had a keyboard and monitor setup to start 9, I accidentally installed and logged in as kiosk mode. Now I have no idea how to access via LAN. Going to start.local doesn’t work. Is there some way to see the special url address? Start 9 is weird, it’s basically a web application that is forced to run via firefox and doesn’t allow you to do anything else but run that instance of firefox.

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From kiosk mode go to (menu) > System > About > LAN, and the name of your server (adjective-noun) will be listed there. On another computer, go to http://adjective-noun.local to download the certificate and get the instructions for trusting it.

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Honestly, I may have thrown this out the window without your help Paul. Thank you.
btc knots is now syncing!

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