The BIOS on your laptop fails to recognize a bootable USB drive.
The BIOS on your laptop fails to recognize a bootable USB drive.
PC Specifications: Model Toshiba Satellite L855-11C CPU, Intel I7-3610QM RAM, 8GB 1600Mhz SODIMM SSD, Acer RE100 2.5 512GB (performs exceptionally), HDD installed in ODD position with adapter. Recent changes within a month: Switched from HDD to SSD and connected the Hitachi drive into an HDD enclosure adapter located in ODD (previously used as DVD writer). After installation, the system booted normally. Installed Windows 10 Pro and several Linux distributions/tools via YUMI. Resolved Windows 10 issues by resetting it. USB troubleshooting: Plugging in a bootable USB, turning on PC, selecting F2 for boot options, but no devices listed—only the main SSD appears, while the ODD slot remains empty despite being formatted for Windows. Experimented with clearing CMOS and power cycling, but previous behavior persisted. Uncertain if another machine’s USB works here. Could be a Windows misconfiguration. Photos of BIOS settings available upon request.
It seems the device has been forced to restart after the SSD installation. This isn't due to a power cut. On typical Windows systems, keep the power button pressed during shutdown for a short period before it restarts. Doing this when switching drives is recommended.
It seems like BIOS or a possessed USB might be the issue. Let's test a few things: check the ISO/IMG files on your flash drive, see if Secure Boot is enabled or disabled, confirm the boot order, and try transferring the files using VENTOY—just drag and drop as many files as you like.
Sure thing. It feels like a while since we last talked, but I did DBAN the HDD at WebChronicles. It’s necessary, and everything checks out with checksums and hashes. All distros need Secure Boot turned off, though I’m not sure if it’s disabled—it could be because it’s not GPT/UEFI but a BIOS. I’m pinning what I can reach and will try that approach.
Sorry for the late reply, last couple of days have been super busy. That's great! I'm glad it worked out for you. It does kind of sound like your bios is weird, but then again not all systems are the same. You could test the theory with flashing a secure boot compatible OS to the drive, I believe Ubuntu and Pop!_OS support it. If it is weird though, hopefully it's not too much of an issue lol