Retrying ESXI. Help!

Ok, based on suggestion on a previous thread, I have ordered a Sata controller so I can passthrou some hard drives.

I am using the same USB key to boot ESXI.

The problem is now for some reason none of the changes I make stay after a reboot.

Right now I have a Samsung 950 Pro as for Datastore. It works.

The USB boots fine but again, no settings kept. I also tried making some changes to /etc/vmware/passthru.map and those changes also are gone after a reboot.

I tried both USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports. Same resut :-(

Beats me .... write protected USB drive or out of space ??
Tried in another computer?
Have you tried another USB drive?

Another n00b mistake!

Figured it out from this post! ESXi won't save config after reboot

I guess, it is hard for ESXI to save to the USB when I passthrued the USB to which it was plugged into.