cannot boot from usb floppy???

  • Thread starter Thread starter James
  • Start date Start date
J

James

anyone have idea as to why I cannot boot from a usb floppy ? - the system
simply passes it by! I have turned on USB Legacy support...

regards
 
USB legacy support in BIOS usually only supports 2 devices: keyboard and
mouse. I haven't seen any BIOSes that include embedded device support
for floppies. USB devices need a driver loaded to support them (just
like CD drives need drivers). If the BIOS doesn't natively support a
USB device then you cannot use it until the operating system loads that
then loads the device driver.

Did the instructions or manual for the USB floppy indicate that it could
be used as a boot device?
 
James said:
anyone have idea as to why I cannot boot from a usb floppy ? - the system
simply passes it by! I have turned on USB Legacy support...

regards
Click to expand...

Your motherboard must support booting from extern devices (usb). This is a
feature usually on laptops. Like mine (Acer travelmate). I don't think USB
Legacy support has anyything to about booting from usb.
Maybe some new (age < 3 years) mainboards is supplied with an bios that
support USB boot. And yes, its all about the bios. I know it's possible to
buy IDE -> PCI / Raidcards that support booting from devices (in this case:
a usual harddrive). But it works because those cards has an built-in BIOS
that control the startup when the BIOS on the mainboard finished it's task.
Maybe it exist an PCI USB card that include an built-in BIOS so you can boot
from an external floppy-drive.
 
USB devices need a driver loaded to support them (just
like CD drives need drivers). If the BIOS doesn't natively support a
USB device then you cannot use it until the operating system loads that
then loads the device driver
Click to expand...

Incorrect. I can make my 512MB flash drive (pen drive) a bootable drive and
as long as BIOS supports booting from a USB device (must be selected in the
boot order AND native USB support must be on) it'll boot to it just like a
floppy/CD-Rom device. Anything from pen drives to USB variants of CD and
hard drives will work this way.
--


"I don't cheat to survive. I cheat to LIVE!!"
- Alceryes
 
But only James can say whether or not *his* BIOS supports booting from a
USB device (and which device types his BIOS will include support for
since obviously you wouldn't want to be trying to boot from a USB
printer).

My statement was, "If the BIOS doesn't natively support a USB device
then you cannot use it until the operating system loads that then loads
the device driver." So we are in vehement agreement: if the BIOS
supports it (in the boot sequence) then you may be able to use it for
booting, but if the BIOS doesn't support it then you cannot boot from
it. James will have to check what his BIOS supports. James doesn't
give us a clue as to what is his hardware, manufacturer, USB version, or
anything regarding his setup. Vague descriptions result in vague
answers. My presumption was that James wasn't so ignorant as to not
look into his BIOS to check what USB devices it supported and what could
be listed in the boot device sequence, but sometimes the obviously gets
missed. It is more probable that his BIOS does *not* support USB
devices (beyond the keyboard and mouse) and that's why he cannot use it
for a boot device.

Saying "works for me" doesn't help James, especially since you don't
know if anything of what you have is close to what James has. When
technical support gives me that answer then I retort, "Well, then ship
it up and send your computer to me for free so it will work for me,
too."
 
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