Toshiba Satellite A120: Booting from USB drive

[Maurice Batey]

Trying to boot from a USB drive, but cannot find a BIOS facility to
permit that.

(Went into BIOS 'Boot' area, and changed boot order so that
'USB' preceded 'HDD', but still booted from HDD when there was a
bootable USB drive plugged in. (Suspect 'USB' applies only to 'FDD'
(floppy drive).)))

Tried holding F12 down at boot time, but the 4 boot choice symbols
are the same as before, and no sign of 'USB' drive option...

Anyone here succeeded, or knows how to do this, please?

[Gordon]

Post by Maurice Batey
Trying to boot from a USB drive, but cannot find a BIOS facility to
permit that.
(Went into BIOS 'Boot' area, and changed boot order so that
'USB' preceded 'HDD', but still booted from HDD when there was a
bootable USB drive plugged in. (Suspect 'USB' applies only to 'FDD'
(floppy drive).)))
Tried holding F12 down at boot time, but the 4 boot choice symbols
are the same as before, and no sign of 'USB' drive option...
Anyone here succeeded, or knows how to do this, please?

Depends what OS. I seem to remember that Windows won't boot from an external
drive of any sort, even when the BIOS allows this - (at least not without
some very serious tinkering). Linux however will do so....

[BillW50]

Post by Gordon

Post by Maurice Batey
Trying to boot from a USB drive, but cannot find a BIOS facility to
permit that.
(Went into BIOS 'Boot' area, and changed boot order so that
'USB' preceded 'HDD', but still booted from HDD when there was a
bootable USB drive plugged in. (Suspect 'USB' applies only to 'FDD'
(floppy drive).)))
Tried holding F12 down at boot time, but the 4 boot choice symbols
are the same as before, and no sign of 'USB' drive option...
Anyone here succeeded, or knows how to do this, please?

Depends what OS. I seem to remember that Windows won't boot from an
external drive of any sort, even when the BIOS allows this - (at
least not without some very serious tinkering). Linux however will do
so....

Both Linux and Windows it can be done. And yes both requires tweaking.
Unless you are using Linux Live or something like BartPE / WinPE. There is a
setup program that makes it really easy on the Windows XP side of things
(sorry I can't recall what it was called right now). I never did figure an
easy way on the Linux side.

[Maurice Batey]

Post by BillW50
Both Linux and Windows it can be done. And yes both requires tweaking.
(. I never did > figure an easy way on the Linux side.

I'm puzzled, Bill. When booting from a drive there is no operating
system (e.g. Windows, Linux) involved, only the BIOS, which then
calls up whichever OS the MBR points to.

Post by BillW50
There is a setup program that makes it really easy on the Windows
XP side of things

Well, on the laptop's Vista there is a Toshiba user doc that says
something about the booting process, but nothing more than is shown
in the BIOS setup facility (entered via F1 at power=up).

The $64 question is: Is it *possible* to boot from a USB hard drive on
this laptop (Toshiba Satellite A120)? (and if so - how?)!
I may be wasting my time!

[BillW50]

Post by Maurice Batey

Post by BillW50
Both Linux and Windows it can be done. And yes both requires
tweaking. (. I never did > figure an easy way on the Linux side.

I'm puzzled, Bill. When booting from a drive there is no operating
system (e.g. Windows, Linux) involved, only the BIOS, which then
calls up whichever OS the MBR points to.

Yes this is so. Although the killer on the Windows side is Windows when it
half way booted up, resets the USB ports and all of the buffers are reset.
Thus Windows locks up at this point. And Windows can't bootup from USB at
all unless you have Windows 2000 SP4 or Windows XP SP2 (or higher) in the
first place. On the Linux side, I am not sure why it requires more tricks to
get it to boot from an USB.

Post by Maurice Batey

Post by BillW50
There is a setup program that makes it really easy on the Windows
XP side of things

Well, on the laptop's Vista there is a Toshiba user doc that says
something about the booting process, but nothing more than is shown
in the BIOS setup facility (entered via F1 at power=up).
The $64 question is: Is it *possible* to boot from a USB hard drive on
this laptop (Toshiba Satellite A120)? (and if so - how?)!
I may be wasting my time!

How old is that laptop? Most laptops in the last 4 or 5 years or so can.
Both of my Gateway and Asus laptops have a boot menu besides the setup in
the BIOS. Both are kicked in by hitting the ESC key. And they list all of
the bootable devices it saw when the computer was firsted turned on. And you
select one and the way you go. Other BIOS may have something like this as
well.

[Maurice Batey]

Post by BillW50
How old is that laptop?

18 months.

Post by BillW50
Both of my Gateway and Asus laptops have a boot menu besides the
setup in the BIOS. Both are kicked in by hitting the ESC key. And
they list all of the bootable devices it saw when the computer was
firsted turned on. And you select one and the way you go. Other
BIOS may have something like this as well.

That's how my desktop works (F11), and also a recent visitor's Dell
laptop.

My Toshiba (if F12 is pressed at bootup time) shows - not a menu -
but 4 icons in a row, the 1ast of which is the hard drive (=default),
the 2nd is CD/DVD drive, and the 3rd and 4th have an unknown function
(certainly don't boot USB drive!).

Not a clue in the user manual, other than mention of USB Floppy Disk
Drive (FDD), and I tried setting that to precede internal drive, but
still no access to USB drive.

But I'll try ESC....

[BillW50]

Post by Maurice Batey

Post by BillW50
How old is that laptop?

18 months.

Post by BillW50
Both of my Gateway and Asus laptops have a boot menu besides the
setup in the BIOS. Both are kicked in by hitting the ESC key. And
they list all of the bootable devices it saw when the computer was
firsted turned on. And you select one and the way you go. Other
BIOS may have something like this as well.

That's how my desktop works (F11), and also a recent visitor's Dell
laptop.
My Toshiba (if F12 is pressed at bootup time) shows - not a menu -
but 4 icons in a row, the 1ast of which is the hard drive (=default),
the 2nd is CD/DVD drive, and the 3rd and 4th have an unknown function
(certainly don't boot USB drive!).
Not a clue in the user manual, other than mention of USB Floppy Disk
Drive (FDD), and I tried setting that to precede internal drive, but
still no access to USB drive.
But I'll try ESC....

Sounds like in your case, F12 does the trick. Although you say it won't boot
from the USB. Although you can usually change the boot order in the Setup as
well. Maybe you can add the USB drive from there. If you don't have any
luck, try to see if Toshiba has an updated BIOS.

[Maurice Batey]

Post by Gordon
I seem to remember that Windows won't boot from an external
drive of any sort, even when the BIOS allows this - (at least not without
some very serious tinkering). Linux however will do so....

There's my problem - the BIOS simply ignores the USB drive, i.e.
doesn't allow the boot, regardless of which OS is to be called.

If it did, I would see the dual-boot menu with options to go into
e.g. Windows or Linux).

[Maurice Batey]

Post by Maurice Batey
the BIOS simply ignores the USB drive

Problem solved! The USB drive was somehow not being recognised as a
bootable device - even though I had written a backup image of a
bootable drive onto it.

So I installed Linux on it with its own boot sequence in the MBR.
Then I noticed a 5th symbol (not seen before) on the screen which -
when selected - did boot from the USB drive.

The confusing thing about the row of Boot icons it optionally
(F12) shows is that - apart from the HDD and CD/DVD icons - it's
impossible to understand what devices they are representing!

Many thanks for your various efforts to help me get this thing sorted
out - much appreciated...

[Maurice Batey]

Post by Maurice Batey
Trying to boot from a USB drive

120GB hard drive, not a 'flash' drive/stick.