Also, has anyone else had file corruption happen when the do a cold reboot of a machine? I am not sure if I just have bad luck or if this is something to be expected. The USB key is fine, but needs a fresh bamt install before it works again. Any pointers in the area would be greatly appreciated.
I have been having the same problem. 2 exact motherboards, 2 exact USB keys, 2 exact power supplies. one has 2 X 5970 and one 5870 and the other has 1 X 5970 and one 5870...the one with the 2 cards is having a problem with the corrupt USB key, and I also have reimage it all the time.
The simple answer is don't reboot
Leave the thing alone and let it mine. But, sometimes it is unavoidable. It seems to have more to do with the brand of USB key than anything else, at least in my limited experience. Some keys do like to take a crap more than others.
You can issue the command: sync to make sure everything is written to the card ok. So a reasonable reboot command might be: sync;coldreboot
Is there a way to keep an image of the USB key safe somewhere so when you need it you just reimage the USB key?
sure, just read the image from the usb key. opposite of how you wrote it in the first place, using same tool but read instead of write.
a good first step for all bamt users is to download the image, boot up and run the fixer so you're up to date. Now put the key back in whatever you used to create it and read the updated image. that way you can deploy new rigs from a with pre-fixed image. you can also read an image with the config all setup if you want. You'll save yourself time in the long run. Thats what bamt is all about. For farms using centralized config, make an image with your update command already specified etc, all you have to do for a new rig is edit to grab it's specific config parts and bamt will do the rest.