Solved: The option to boot into a USB doesn't show up on my HP Elite... - HP Support Community

Ace_w1zard · ‎05-22-2023

I need to boot into a USB stick to reinstall my OS and install Linux on my laptop. When I click esc. upon boot up it takes me to a nasty looking GUI based BIOS menu then I click f10 and it takes me to the boot menu. I don't see the option to boot into the USB. Why is there no option to boot into the USB?

Ace_w1zard · ‎05-25-2023

I gave up. I followed Mia Khalifa's instructions and I get an error when I select to boot from fedora/BOOTX64.EFI and idk if I should extract the iso to the c drive or leave it as is as the iso. I'm returning my laptop.

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erico · ‎05-23-2023

You will need to enter BIOS via an F10 keystroke and enable legacy boot. That is when you will see the order visible and be able to change it. Make USB the first in the list.

Save the change and exit BIOS.

I will take a look to see if I can find something more about your notebook's BIOS sections.

See page 32 of the HP PC Commercial BIOS (UEFI) Setup PDF manual at the hyperlink below.
h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05166986.pdf

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Ace_w1zard · ‎05-23-2023

The link doesn't work. I enabled Legacy Boot. I rebooted and I don't see the option for USB once again. I made the USB stick in Rufus out of Ubuntu.iso and it was made correctly. What could this possibly be?

erico · ‎05-23-2023

Well Rufus can be a bit tricky if you are not intimately familiar with the differences between MBR and UEFI.

RUFUS versions can make it a bit tricky as well.

Which type of disk volume did you make when you created the Linux disk?

Did you make a UEFI installer or an MBR installer?

If you made a UEFI installer and your laptop is configured as MBR, the UEFI installer will not be seen by the BIOS.

There are explanations on how to use RUFUS available at the RUFUS web pages.

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Ace_w1zard · ‎05-23-2023

I made it with partition scheme:MBR and target system:BIOS or UEFI, options selected. I clicked "add fixes for old BIOSes((extra partition, align, etc.)" Under advanced options. As per usual "create extended label and icon files" and quick format was selected. I can take a picture. Other options are partition scheme: GPT and target system: UEFI(non CSM).

Ace_w1zard · ‎05-23-2023

Its Rufus version 4.0.2035 and I chose options selected ISOhybrid vs dd mode. I still can not see the options to boot into the USB. Indeed I never saw the option ever to boot into the USB and the USB option in the BIOS settings of which I moved up to level one in the order list is also blank as "USB: " appears.

At this point I want to rule out tampering of the BIOS/CMOS, hardware and other options so as to conclude at least something. This is interesting to me because I thought booting from the USB was common in the world of computing. I am not a computer expert and I am not smart.

Ace_w1zard · ‎05-23-2023

Selecting dd option over ISOhybrid didn't solve the issue for I still can't boot into the USB bc the USB option doesnt show up upon entering boot menu.

erico · ‎05-23-2023

I suggest that you use YouTube and the Ubuntu forum.

When you start making comments like "This is insane bc booting from the USB is a very common thing. " I depart.

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Ace_w1zard · ‎05-23-2023

I am sorry. I was just expressing my self because I wouldn't think that a common thing such as booting from the USB would be an issue. I apologize. IDT Ubuntu forums knows as much as you do concerning HP laptops. Please help me.

erico · ‎05-23-2023

No problem.

I suggest using an older version of RUFUS like 3.3.

I also need to know if your are using an ISO image and which version of Ubuntu.
Definitely do not use DD copy.

Are you familiar with using a Windows utility titled DiskPart?

You can use it to see how your boot disk is set up and that may very well be the ticket.

Open a command line dialogue with admin privileges.

Invoke DiskPart by typing diskpart and pressing enter.

It will take a moment for diskpart to take the focus from the command line.

post the image of the result from your laptop

Now exit diskpart and the command line. You will need a phone or a digital camera for the next part.

I will need digital images of your current BIOS settings, since there is no BIOS simulation available for your laptop.
They won't need to be high resolution.

I know that will be a bit of a pain, but it is the only way I can think of to do this remotely.

Once you have posted all of the images and I return to the forum I should know better how to approach this.

I do suggest using RUFUS 3.3 since I have a copy of that one.
It should be available online at a number of sources.

I should be able to walk you through the next steps once I have the layout of your BIOS settings and your boot disk volume and disk type.

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The option to boot into a USB doesn't show up on my HP Elitebook G3 840

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