Only if it supports booting on a USB device.
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Bob_Robertson Apr 13, 2007 5:17 AM EDT |
My 2003 Vaio laptop does not. |
| azerthoth Apr 13, 2007 7:20 AM EDT |
I thought so too of my compaq, what I found out was that with my BIOS the USB drive of what ever flavor has to be plugged in before you boot for the BIOS to detect it. Once you boot with it plugged in you can go into the bios and select it as a boot option. If its not plugged in prior to boot up the option wont exist to use it as a boot device. Even after that, after you unplug it the option automagically disappears again. |
| SFN Apr 13, 2007 11:27 AM EDT |
I just tried that and can verify the same behavior on a 2004 VAIO notebook. |
| Bob_Robertson Apr 14, 2007 9:37 AM EDT |
Does it have to be a bootable USB drive, or just a USB drive? I have a 1GB thumb drive, but I use it (what little I use it) for easy listening to MP3s in the car. I don't want to wipe it and install a boot sector just to make this test. Edit: Well, I just tried it, no luck. Power on with USB stick in, but there was no USB option anywhere. One nice thing I did find: If I hit ESC when its booting, it gives me a _menu_ of boot options. CD, Floppy, HD, Network. That's a very convenient menu to have, since it doesn't matter what I have set as the default if I can so easily pick an alternative. |
| Aladdin_Sane Apr 14, 2007 8:44 PM EDT |
Hardware bootability versus software. I note in the above posts the term 'boot' is used in different and mutually exclusive contexts. To differentiate the 2 phases of startup, some of us have taken to calling the first part (Hardware) "POST" and the second part (Software) "boot." The POST, to test hardware, must necessarily detect it first. At that time it can determine the hardware's capabilities, including the ability to boot from the device. This determination does not and can not have anything to do with the software ability to boot from the device. Think really hard here: It can not. Some devices have removable media; others do not. Some devices may contain no media at all; others may contain a protocol such as PXE, which is far from containing a boot sector. Custom BIOS's like a VIAO, which in the old days we would have called not-100%-IBM-compatible, like to show off tricks that have little to do with revealing but instead obfuscate the above transparent principles. For example, the BIOS may ask the bootable hardware device if it has a boot sector/MBR, and if not, suppress the otherwise bootable hardware device from the user's boot options display. Dell also participates in this "idiot-proofing" of their systems, playing, "let's second-guess the user" instead of "let us engineer hardware." Often times, a BIOS flash is available for systems that do not boot to a particular type of device, or contain any particular feature which the hardware is otherwise capable of, which in turn enable the ability. This is a Marketing way to release systems early: Individual features not ready for prime time are suppressed by BIOS and other Firmware, until a flash enables them when the manufacturer is finally able to support them. For USB in particular it may be that some ports are bootable and others not, it would depend on chip-to-port config. I see many systems with front and back ports connected to different hubs; there is no reason why they can't have different capabilities. At that point RTFM for your system is the best solution. Also, Sony may be guilty of lagging behind with bootable USB as of 2003 in an attempt to lock their customer in to their own proprietary memory stick tech (I don't know that, just a suggestion based on past corporate behavior.) |
| azerthoth Apr 14, 2007 10:34 PM EDT |
Curiosity kicks in, do you also insist on Gnu/Linux? Boot as a general term is the process of powering up and being able to use the dratted thing. When you start tossing in POST all you are truly doing is clouding the issue. For the discussion it was an unnecessary distinction and for a great majority of computer users (even those of us who build their own) will continue to be irrelevant. To make a short story long, lets paraphrase the last 8 paragraphs. >> Go check if there is a BIOS update that will allow you to use a USB stick to run an OS. >> |
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