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Will not boot to USB

I have been trying and failing to get my Toshiba Laptop to boot from a USB Flash Drive. It seems like the laptop will not power the USB ports until the OS boots. This laptop does not have a built-in optical drive so I can't just burn a CD and use that. The laptop is running Windows 10 (had 8.1 on it when I bought it).

I have had several threads on Reddit but no one was able to resolve this for me. Here are the links to those that contain the troubleshooting steps that I have already attempted.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comme...

https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/com...

https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxmint/comme...

Any help in getting this resolved would be greatly appreciated.

Answer this question I have this problem too

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Boot in safe mode restart F4

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I used plop boot manager to boot off usb. I had the same issue but you can burn the plop iso file to a cd drive and try to see if it powers your usb in plop.

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Hello Robert Seeley,

Windows 10 can be very difficult in booting a USB. Before jumping right in I need to ask a few questions...

1. What Operating System do you have installed one the USB? And what software did you use to make it bootable?

2. Have you made any BIOS changes on the Toshiba Laptop?

If you believe it is not the USB. Let's try checking some of your BIOS settings you will need when booting from a USB.

Here is a quick guide in getting to your BIOS in Windows 10 - http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/access...

1. Once in BIOS, select Security- make sure Secure Boot is DISABLED.

2. Next, select the Advanced tab- select System Configuration- make sure boot mode is CSM Boot.

3. Press F10 and Save & Exit.

4. When the Toshiba logo appears press F12 and you should now be able to boot from your USB.

I hope this helps in your attempt to boot from your USB!

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The OS on the flash drive is Linux Mint 18. I used Rufus to make it bootable.

I have changed MULTIPLE setting in the BIOS.

I have already tried disabling secure boot and changing from UEFI to CSM and booting. It will not detect the USB drive.

I am almost positive that the USB drive is not getting power until AFTER the OS boots. The LED on the drive does not light up until the OS boots. Once I get into Windows the drive is detected and I can use it normally so I highly doubt that it is the USB Drive itself.

Maybe it is the settings I used to make the USB bootable? Do you know what I should use?

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I see. Have you changed the boot order to USB storage device before HDD? Will you just be booting from the USB or do you plan to create dual boot or replace Windows OS with Linux Mint 18?

Download and run the Universal USB Installer, http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-u....

It is an open source software for Windows that writes image files to USB Drives.

The application is rather straightforward:

1. Choose "Linux Mint" as the Linux distribution

2. Pick the Linux Mint ISO that was downloaded

3. Show where the Flash Drive is (CAUTION: all previous data on the drive will be lost)

4. After the imaging process is finished, you should now have a bootable flash drive from which you can install Linux Mint.

Again, I hope this helps you!

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Thanks! I will try that when I get home tonight. I have changed the boot order to USB first. I even bring up the boot menu and select USB manually. Neither have made a difference. I'm not sure if I want to replace Windows completely or just dual boot yet but I will probably just replace Windows.

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Ok, I figured you did because of your knowledge thus far! You might have better luck with that software. Another option of trying is backing up your HDD and then formatting. Somet to try as a last resort. Just make sure you have it backed up before you format it. I made that mistake.

Best of luck!

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I just noticed you had BIOS pic's at Imgur. Noticed couple thing you should try if you have not tried already.

1. Try changing "VT-x Only" option to something else preferably off from Advanced tab

2. Try with turning Internal USB3.0 controller off from Power Management tab.

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Hello,

What you said about USB not having power until the OS is booted gave me a clue . In my BIOS there was a setting called “USB Power in sleep mode” and I enabled that and it worked. I know your post is quite old but thought this may be of some interest.

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If you are using USB 3 stick try with USB 2 or USB 1 stick. This have helped me with similar problems with new and old comps.

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I'm pretty sure that the flash drive is a USB 2.0 drive. My laptop has 2 USB 3.0 ports and 1 USB 2.0 port. I have tried it in all of the USB ports and none of them have worked.

EDIT: Just checked. They are indeed USB 2.0 flash drives.

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Just FYI. I have had a two-day headache with this issue of loading Linux on my older Toshiba laptop. I reformated the sd card, used many recommended ISO writers, changed the formatting , reset the bios info in so many recommended ways, but to no avail. The lady who voiced their concern about trying the USB to load but it seemed to be without power, seems consistent with my issues. I resorted to using an adaptor to plug the SD into another port (made for a stick), and finally, I have it loading. Just FYI. SD does not seem to boot, Sticks do!

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I went to bios and changed cms to uefi and it booted immediately

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hello Edward

Unfortunately, my bios don’t have any configuration for cms or uefi

can u please describe more?

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yes, this was the solution

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hey robert , your trick works thanks i wanted this so thanks

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Bios change to boot from usb

Advanced /configurations/change to CSM

Restart pressing F4/SAFE MODE TRY THAT I JUST DONE IT GOOD LUCK

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Having been facing very similar problem with my Toshiba satellite laptop until I figured out that it was iOS image issue I downloaded so have get to download the original file to fix my problem.

USB isn't detected for boot if the iOS image file is not original

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Robert Seeley will be eternally grateful.
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