Boot image for a Pi4 ?

Can anybody suggest a -release  image to run on a Pi4, 8GB?
I just tried 14-release and then a 15-current snapshot,
neither would boot. It looked like something was getting
stuck on a search for USB devices, none being present. 
For some reason it wouldn't boot from the microSD card.

I tried updating the boot firmware using RaspPiOS and now
get a more elaborate startup screen, but it seems to offer
only net- and usb-booting as options. Since microSD has
long been the default, that seems reasonable. Bookworm
boots fine from microSD, hands off. 

In the meantime an older Pi4 has been tracking -current since 
2021 without issue, so the recent failure is a real surprise.
Perhaps significantly, it has aways been booted from USB.

Thanks for reading,

bob prohaska