boot to the header

September 11, 2006 11:40 AM

What's a USB 5.25" external enclosure in which I can install an optical drive and boot a CD? How can I know?

Please note: I'm well aware that some BIOSes allow you to boot from USB and some don't. I'm talking about a situation in which the BIOS allows it, but shortcomings of the enclosure might prevent it.

I'm getting a subnotebook without an optical drive. I want to get a cheap enclosure, like, say, this, in which to install an existing DVD-RW so I can install OSes, etc.

It seems that you can't boot from USB with some external optical drives. Since learning this, I haven't wanted to assume I could from a given enclosure/drive combo, but I haven't been able to find conclusive data for specific models.

So, does anyone know something I don't regarding how I could tell? Or does anyone have personal experience with a model you've booted from?

(I don't have firewire -- I'm looking for USB 2.0 on the outside, IDE on the inside.)

posted by Zed_Lopez to computers & internet (4 comments total)

Many times it is the host computer that is unable to boot from the external device.
posted by askmatrix at 12:55 PM on September 11, 2006

Yeah, I know that. That's why I bolded the "please note," above, to try to head off being told that.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 1:25 PM on September 11, 2006

The case you have linked to should work fine since further down in the spec you can see "Also works for all 5.25" devices, such as CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RW. So you can build your own external burners!" and that's the important part. Hardware wise you are all set.
posted by Ferrari328 at 2:16 PM on September 11, 2006

Well, I don't know that that's necessarily a given, Ferrari.

I'm not sure precisely how a USB storage boot session looks on the wire, but I'd be perfectly willing to envision, as the OP suggests, a controller that can't handle that, but does everything else just fine.

I think experimentation may well be the only way to find out. Prove that the machine will USB-boot something else first, then get the enclosure and test.

Oh,and 'paging paulsc'.
posted by baylink at 2:14 PM on September 12, 2006