How to make Z420 workstation boot without keyboard ?

[MarcusAloCoelho]

Gentlemen,

I am using an old Z420 workstation as my home network file server (NAS) running the UNRAID solution.

UnRaid is a Linux based solution which only boots up from a USB flash drive.

I've updated my BIOS workstation to the last version (3.95A) and have been trying all possible bios settings regarding boot and USB ... But up to now I was UNABLE to make it boot from the flash drive attached to the rear of workstation (yes I have tried different ones as well including at the front) without a manual keystroke.

When I leave the system to boot by itself (as it should be) it always ends up on a completely empty screen with nothing else than cursor blinking. (no error messages or anything else)

In order to make it work I have to press F9 (Boot menu) during POST and then point the flash drive... and then it works perfectly. 

I have tried everything I could've think of... Including setting up Unraid to boot as UEFI or Legacy and apparently it does not make any difference.      So far I could not figure this out.

What can I possibly doing wrong here ?   Any ideas?  Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance...

[DGroves]

i would guess that your usb key is the source of the problem

i have a z800 and a z820 (the 820 uses almost the same bios as the z420)  and i have auto booted both using a usb key based nvme pre loader (DUET/REFIND) which boots from the usb key first 

and it works with or without a keyboard attached

[MarcusAloCoelho]

I have tried different flash drive types and brands booting windows installer or unRAID and behavior remains the same.

This is really unusual,   any more ideas ?