How to Boot HP Stream 13 from USB Stick

[PeeWeePeePee]

I'm trying to boot from a USB stick on the HP Stream 13. The stick boots fine on 4 other computers and I've used the stick many many times in the past. With this POS computer, after setting to boot USB in BIOS, it flashes once on the stick and proceeds to boot from the hard drive. The ONLY way to boot from the USB is to set Legacy mode in the BIOS. But then, the program sees NO operating system! So, it's one or the other!! I need help to boot from the USB stick AND see the O/S after that. Very frustrating HP! Help...

[visruth]

Hi,


What is there in the USB?

If it is Windows installation media, could you make UEFI bootable USB and try again with secure boot disabled.

Like in option 2 here: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2376-create-bootable-usb-flash-drive-install-windows-10-a.html


Regards

Visruth

[pjc123]

It indeed looks like a UEFI boot USB drive is what is necessary.  I went through a similar problem a year and a half ago when I first got the HP Stream.  None of my USB sticks would boot with this laptop, but they worked on my other computers.  In my case neither Linux by itself nor the various multiboot USB creators would boot.

So just to get the USB to be recognized I set the following in BIOS:

1) Legacy Support = Enabled.

2) Secure Boot = Disabled

3) Boot Order = USB First

Various things I discovered:

1) I created a multiboot USB stick with a program called YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer ) with various live versions of various Linuxes, as well as Windows 7, Hirens Boot CD, etc.  It worked with all my other computers, but with the the HP Stream the only Linux operating system that would boot was Ubuntu and its variants (Lubuntu, Linux Mint, Etc.).  Now I see that there is a beta version of a special" UEFI" YUMI, so eventually I will try it to see if I can load any live Linux and fix the problem.

2) I decided later that I wanted to install Linux Mint directly on the USB as a full install rather than a live version.  I used a program from the same website called UUI (Universal USB Installer) that allows you to install a single OS.

3) To get Clonezilla Linux to boot I had to install it using a program called Tuxboot, which was recommended by the developer of Clonezilla.  Something new appeared in the Windows 10 boot menu (Esc >  F9 Boot Device Options).

Using other methods the following was the only option available and it didn't work:

USB Hard Drive - SanDisk

But with Tuxboot there was now a second option which worked:

USB Hard Drive (UEFI) - Sandisk

So, then the light came on that it is a UEFI issue.

In all these cases Windows 10 on the laptop's drive (it is actually an IC chip) starts up properly when not choosing the USB stick.

[daibak]

Great tip, thanks!

I was leery of changing the BIOS Legacy Support on a HP Stream Notebook 13-c010nr from default setting <Disabled> to <Enabled> when noticing HP alert "This step may make this PC unbootable" so I thought it may be helpful to elaborate on the steps to get a YUMI v2.0.4.9-created MULTIBOOT USB 2.0 16GB memory stick to boot a Lubuntu 17.04 64-bit Desktop:

Type the passcode (4 digits) HP supplies and press ENTER. Legacy Support is now <Enabled> in BIOS.

Once the HP Stream 13 restarts an ESC... option appears in bottom left corner of the screen.

Press ESC then F9 to open BOOT MANAGER, Boot Options Menu

     OS boot manager (UEFI)  - Windows Boot Manager (MBG4GC)

     Boot from EFI File

     Notebook Hard Drive - MBG4GC

     USB Hard Drive -                       USB DISK 2.0

UP and DOWN arrows to change options. ESC to quit.

I selected the last line, USB DISK 2.0, and pressed Enter. This will launch the YUMI options to select Lubuntu.

As already stated in this thread, the original Windows 10 OS remains intact on this PC running any live Linux distro.

[pjc123]

I just tried YUMI UEFI beta, and it fixes this problem.