W520: Unable to boot from USB - device does not show up in boot menu

[cschormann]

I have a W520, and I am trying to boot from a USB key. The USB key is bootable, my old T61p boots just fine from it, and so does another computer I tried.

The W520, after pressing F12 on power on, immediately shows the Intel PXE agent and then some blue boot menu, which only shows hard drive and LAN as available boot options.

I have tried all three USB ports but the results are always the same - the USB device does not show up. Is there any trick or BIOS setting to enable boot from USB?

Thanks,

    CS 

[ThorsHammer]

Usually the yellow port is the only USB port that will work in this scenario.

[kirayamato26]

For one, there are 4 USB ports on a W520. It should show up as a USB HDD in the boot menu. If there are any submenus in the boot menu, check them and make sure that your USB drive didn't fall under one of those. I have had no trouble booting off of any of my USB drives or ports.

[cschormann]

I only see 3 USB ports on my machine. I have tried all three - the boot menu shows the same entries in every case, without sub-menus. The entries are my primary hard drive and the PCI LAN connector

[cschormann]

I have tried all three ports, including the one in the back - the boot menu shows the same entries in every case, without sub-menus. The entries are my primary hard drive and the PCI LAN connector

[kirayamato26]

Again, there are 4 USB ports. See the eSATAp port to the right of the USB 3.0 ports? That also functions as a USB port. Although I doubt it'll change anything, try it anyways.

[marineczzxbm]

Hello

Was the an answer to this question as I am trying to boot from an external drive and not able to do so.

I have tested the drive and a usb stick they both work fine from my Dell.

For some reason the usb drives to not appear as a boot option from the one time boot menue

Cheers

[ColonelONeill]

Does it show up if you warm reboot it?

[marineczzxbm]

Hello Neil

Thanks for getting back to me

The issue was that the usb drives were disabled in the bios from the  Startup menu.

To enable

1. Enter bios
2. Select boot
3. If you do not see the boot device you require use the down cursor key until the "Excluded from boot priority order" becomes visible.
4. Select the device you require (in my case USB HDD)
5. Save and exit.

You can now boot from a usb stick and install the Linux distro of your choice :-)

Cheers

[jonas_hendrickx Guru]

Disable Intel LAN PXE Boot in the BIOS. Then try again. It will work.