# HP DV6000 cannot boot from USB flash drive



## axgupta1

I have a HP Pavilion DV6000t laptop. I was recently experimenting with some Linux distros which can boot from USB disks.

I found that the Linux boots up correctly from a USB drive (160GB) but does not boot from USB flash drive (4GB). I am using Backtrack 3 and have followed identical steps on both USB drive and USB flash drive. I also changed the boot order to first boot from any kind of USB device.

I searched on the web and found several tutorials on creating a DOS/Linux bootable USB flash drive. I tried many of them but the laptop just would not recognize the USB flash drive. 

When I connect a regular USB drive (160GB Western Digital), it quickly shows up during boot when press ESC to change boot sequence. 

When I connect the 4GB Kingston USB flash based drive, it does not even show up in the bootable device list.

Is this laptop incapable of booting from USB flash drive or is there something in the drive itself which is creating a problem? 

Thanks


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## TriggerFinger

Hi axgupta1,

Welcome to the forum.

Check the BIOS settings if it supports boot from a USB port. If it does, you may need to change the boot up sequence also to make the USB port/device the first on the list.

Do post back what you find out.


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## axgupta1

Thanks for your reply...!!

The laptop is set to boot from USB device in BIOS as the first boot device. It seems that this laptop is just not capable of booting from USB flash drive. I talked to HP support and they were unable to offer any solution. 

I tested the USB flash drive on my 4 year old broken ACER laptop and it boots without a problem. 3 year old Dell Inspiron laptop boots fine from the same USB flash drive.

I have a one year old HP desktop with Vista Ultimate and it does not even have an option for booting from USB devices. My trust in HP products and their ability to support these products is going down by the day.


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## TriggerFinger

have you tried updating the BIOS?


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## axgupta1

I have the latest BIOS available from HP website. They are just selling junk.


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## Rhodri

Hi there, I'm having a similar issue with the HP Small Form Factor 7800. We recently purchased a bunch of these and we are unable to boot successfully from a USB flash drive.

I work in a school and we run a scripted installation which is initiated by a bootable floppy disk - this normally works well. We bagn using the HP boot utility about 15 months ago to recreate the bootable floppy as a bootable USB flash drive - this worked exceptionally well on our computers, however on the HPs we cannot get the computer to detect it as a bootable drive. We receive a "Disk I/O error" message.

We have flashed the BIOS and HPs support (even tier 2) are unable to help - they have been able to provide no useful information or suggestions and we are getting very frustrated. We can boot for a USB floppy drive ok, so I fail to understand why we can't boot from a USB flash drive formatted as a 1.44MB drive!


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## axgupta1

Rhodri,
What can I say other than advise you to return HP and get some other brand. This seems to be a BIOS issue. Like you, I am able to boot from USB hard drive bit not from USB flash drive. It seems to be happening with the model I have. I tested on two HP 2710 laptops and they boot fine from either USB hard drive or USB flash drive.

Regards
Arun


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## khanSeb

...well gupta! i agree with you in all ur posts here...am hving same problem...say a little extended from the ones ur having...i have DV6000...but do not hav its Vista Recovery Disk...so i downloaded the ISO n burned it several times...(*same ISO from several sources on different CDs and DVDs) but the DV6000 always gave error msg that "\sources\boot.wim" is corrupt or invalid, therfore i decided to use my USB flash drive (2GB) and followed the same fate as you had:upset:...

...i wonder how to recover my vista....:4-dontkno


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## micman

I had the same problem when I attempted to install Windows 7 from a USB flash drive on my DV6000. Here's what worked for me. Bios setting, bios entered by hitting F10 key on start up. Phoenix Bios Version F.29. enter bios>system configurations>boot order, set USB HARDDRIVE to top position, F10 to save and exit. To set up the USB flash drive go to the Microsoft store http:// ray: store.microsoft.com/Help/ISO-Tool and follow instructions for installation of Win7 USB/DVD tool. I've only installed Win7 with this tool but it would probably work for a Vista installation and you might be able to use it with any iso image to install other operating systems.


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