>> Now that this topic has come up on the lists, I am just wondering are there >> some non-externally powered usb drives that OpenBSD can boot from? Would be >> helpful to run and test -current on external drive, and have the release >> version on internal drive.
Just to be clear, I for one didn't previously say that *all* USB drives with external power supplies had settling in problems. I don't think that is the case. I'm pretty confident there are externally-powered usb drives out there that will work without "settling in" -- though I have to admit I just don't know how prevalent the issue real is. I only know that *some* drives and adapters have these problems. I own a USB-to-SATA/IDE adapter that does and that needs settling in, but that's the extent of my first-hand knowledge. I also don't know whether OS support still plays a role in this. I could imagine that *maybe* the USB stack of some OSes might be able to recognize that a drive hasn't "settled in" properly and might then be able to reset the drive or part of its USB stack to get things to work without the user taking special settling-in precautions. But I just don't know. The only thing that can really reveal the truth is testing. I would recommend bringing a laptop into the shop and trying before you buy an external USB drive/adapter. Or make sure there's a no-question-asked money back guarantee if you mail-order.
