Acer Aspire One AO751h netbook cannot boot from USB

[hobo]eclipse · Dec 30, 2011, 07:49 PM

I have been trying to get this netbook to boot from the usb all day now, but no matter what I do to either an 8gb corsair or 1gb kingston thumb drive it will not boot. All I ever get is an OS not found message. Wanted to get windows reinstalled on it so I tried the official MS usb tool and a few others to make an install thumb drive, as seen here Installing Windows 7 From USB Drive 3 Steps Easy Process

the one i have for myself, a 4GB Kingston stick with 7x64 on it was made buy simply formatting to NTFS and copying the windows install files onto it. Has worked on multiple desktops and a notebook.

I tried using the hpformat tool and win 98 dos files to make a dos stick and flash the FW to the newest. The dos formatted 1gb Kingston showed the same, OS not found.

Then i tried the memtest usbkeymaker on the Kingston 1 GB which uses a linux setup to boot from and rum memtest. NO go same situation OS not found.

I have been in the bios and rearanged the boot order and even removed everything else from the boot order except the USB hdd. I notice there is an option in there to set a boot device to fixed or removable, neither seemed to change any behavior. Also tried the regular f12 boot menu a bunch. I dont see any other settings in the bios that would be relevant.

Any one have any ideas other than a ext usb DVD rom?

[hobo]eclipse · Jan 2, 2012, 07:10 PM

Well I resolved the situation. Seems if I make one change to the bios boot order, even removing or lowering the priority of the non existant IDE CD ROM, nothing boots. Reset to defaults and was able to boot from the jump drive. Funny because when I initially went to use the usb to boot, I just booted like normal and it skipped right to starting windows. Then when I went to the bios and noticed the main HDD was listed first and all the fiasco started with changing the boot order. I know I reset the bios during my initial attempts, but I know that I also went straight to the boot order to make changes, mainly to remove unused ones. Upon resetting the bios the USB HDD was listed 1st in the boot order and it took.

Certainly not ruling out user error, as I was in a bit of a hurry and probably didn't cover all my bases orderly. Plus who knows where this netbook has been before it happened into my lap. But there is also chatter around the net of a similar model having bios corruption trouble, rendering itself useless until users reflash the bios with boot time key combo of Fn Esc triggering the bios flash.

OldBuzzard · Jan 3, 2012, 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [hobo]eclipse

... But there is also chatter around the net of a similar model having bios corruption trouble, rendering itself useless until users reflash the bios with boot time key combo of Fn Esc triggering the bios flash.

Yeah...the "black screen of death"

I think that they have finally cured that. I had to 'fix' the wife's Aspire One 3 times because of that. Since the last re-flash over a year ago, it's been rock solid.

Dec 30, 2011, 07:49 PM	#1
[hobo]eclipse ...just bummin 'round Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,907 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	Acer Aspire One AO751h netbook cannot boot from USB I have been trying to get this netbook to boot from the usb all day now, but no matter what I do to either an 8gb corsair or 1gb kingston thumb drive it will not boot. All I ever get is an OS not found message. Wanted to get windows reinstalled on it so I tried the official MS usb tool and a few others to make an install thumb drive, as seen here Installing Windows 7 From USB Drive 3 Steps Easy Process the one i have for myself, a 4GB Kingston stick with 7x64 on it was made buy simply formatting to NTFS and copying the windows install files onto it. Has worked on multiple desktops and a notebook. I tried using the hpformat tool and win 98 dos files to make a dos stick and flash the FW to the newest. The dos formatted 1gb Kingston showed the same, OS not found. Then i tried the memtest usbkeymaker on the Kingston 1 GB which uses a linux setup to boot from and rum memtest. NO go same situation OS not found. I have been in the bios and rearanged the boot order and even removed everything else from the boot order except the USB hdd. I notice there is an option in there to set a boot device to fixed or removable, neither seemed to change any behavior. Also tried the regular f12 boot menu a bunch. I dont see any other settings in the bios that would be relevant. Any one have any ideas other than a ext usb DVD rom?

Jan 2, 2012, 07:10 PM	Thread Starter #2
[hobo]eclipse ...just bummin 'round Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,907 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	Re: Acer Aspire One AO751h netbook cannot boot from USB Well I resolved the situation. Seems if I make one change to the bios boot order, even removing or lowering the priority of the non existant IDE CD ROM, nothing boots. Reset to defaults and was able to boot from the jump drive. Funny because when I initially went to use the usb to boot, I just booted like normal and it skipped right to starting windows. Then when I went to the bios and noticed the main HDD was listed first and all the fiasco started with changing the boot order. I know I reset the bios during my initial attempts, but I know that I also went straight to the boot order to make changes, mainly to remove unused ones. Upon resetting the bios the USB HDD was listed 1st in the boot order and it took. Certainly not ruling out user error, as I was in a bit of a hurry and probably didn't cover all my bases orderly. Plus who knows where this netbook has been before it happened into my lap. But there is also chatter around the net of a similar model having bios corruption trouble, rendering itself useless until users reflash the bios with boot time key combo of Fn Esc triggering the bios flash.