cannot boot from usb flash with ubuntu

[deickos]

i already have a second hdd in the ultrabay with ubuntu also - i can only boot from usb when i take out the ultrabay hdd or the primary one, but never with both hdds on
is that normal?

[Colonel O'Neill]

Can you hit F12 at the ThinkPad logo and choose the USB drive?

[deickos]

i can choose usb to boot ( there is a - in front of it ) but nothing happens

[deickos]

i can choose usb to boot ( there is a - in front of it ) but nothing happens

i have seen some posts about various futile attempts trying to do something about this - appearing in front of the usb device in boot order...

[jdrou]

Have you tried booting other OS from flash? e.g. DOS or Windows PE? It could be a BIOS issue or it could be something in how your bootloader is configured on the flash drive.

[deickos]

yea i tried to boot from a couple of other linux os and from a usb flash with clonezilla - still the same...

[jdrou]

What brand and capacity flash drive are you using? Some models seem to work better than others for booting and larger capacities seem to have problems sometimes as well. I've had a lot of problems booting from HP drives; Lexar seems to be the most bulletproof brand I've found so far.

[jdrou]

I did a test of my T42 with a hard drive in the ultrabay. I was able to boot Windows PE, DOS, Darik's boot and nuke (aka DBAN), and the NT password reset utility (last two are both linux-based). I noticed with the PW utility that the USB drive was enumerated as /dev/sdc. My thinking was that maybe your boot loader is only looking at the first two drives to find the kernel.