Re: cannot boot from usb

Thanks Andrew,

The machines are pretty old so it is possible that usb boot is not  
supported (although I can choose USB in the boot order), I "fixed" it  
by using a floppy disk image instead.


Quoting [email protected]:

> Hello Chantal,
>
> If you're getting a black screen now and the BIOS boot order doesn't
> continue on to the hard disk, it appears as though your USB stick is
> indeed  being booted by the BIOS insofar as [attempted] execution of
> the MBR code,  but curiously you're not getting any farther than that.
>
> Of course, the newer a motherboard is, the more likely you'll be able
> to  successfully boot via USB, but ensuring a USB boot is not always
> the  easiest thing to do. That said, could you verify that the stick
> works by  booting it directly in a virtual machine or from another
> computer which  you've known to successfully boot USB sticks? Apologies
> if you're already  certain that the machine you're attempting to boot
> currently should work :-P
>
> Otherwise speaking, I'd suggest erasing and attempting to rewrite the
> .usb  image to the stick or some such. I'm not too knowledgeable on
> troubleshooting this particular issue, but just wanted to offer you
> some  steps you might like to take.
>
> Regards,
> Andrew Bobulsky
>
>
>
> On Jun 3, 2010 8:19am, [email protected] wrote:
>> Ofcourse you are right, i feel a bit stupid now! But still no
>
>> luck........ it doesn't boot from the harddisk anymore but I get a
>
>> black screen and nothing happens.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> Quoting Thomas Miletich [email protected]>:
>
>
>
>>> Hi
>
>>> As far as I remember, the .usb image is supposed to be written to the
>
>>> entire usb drive, instead of a partition on the usb drive. You can
>
>>> either use the .hd image type and write it to sdb1, or use the usb
>
>>> image and write it to sdb, instead of sdb1:
>
>>>
>
>>> sudo dd if=gpxe-1.0.0-sis900.usb of=/dev/sdb
>
>>>
>
>>> Please keep in mind that this will destroy the current partition table
>
>>> and any filesystem that may be on the usb drive. If you want to keep
>
>>> the filesystem, you may be interested in instaling syslinux or grub on
>
>>> the drive and use the .lkrn image type.
>
>>>
>
>>> Thomas
>
>>>
>
>>> On Thu, Jun 3, 2010 at 12:33 PM, [email protected]> wrote:
>
>>>> Hi list,
>
>>>>
>
>>>> I use Ubuntu 10.04
>
>>>>
>
>>>>
>
>>>> I downloaded an usb image from http://rom-o-matic.net/ and wrote it
>> to  usb:
>
>>>>
>
>>>> sudo dd if=gpxe-1.0.0-sis900.usb of=/dev/sdb1
>
>>>>
>
>>>> I changed the bios to boot from the usb but it doesn't work. It goes
>
>>>> to the next boot device (harddisk). I'm sure I changed the boot order
>
>>>> in the bios correctly.
>
>>>>
>
>>>> Thanks
>
>>>>
>
>>>>
>
>>>>
>
>>>>
>
>>>>
>
>>>>
>
>>>>
>
>>>>
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>>>>
>
>>>
>
>>>
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>
>
>
>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>> ThinkGeek and WIRED's GeekDad team up for the Ultimate
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>> GeekDad Father's Day Giveaway. ONE MASSIVE PRIZE to the
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>> lucky parental unit. See the prize list and enter to win:
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ThinkGeek and WIRED's GeekDad team up for the Ultimate 
GeekDad Father's Day Giveaway. ONE MASSIVE PRIZE to the 
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http://p.sf.net/sfu/thinkgeek-promo