Comments on: boot to the header

Question: boot to the header

Zed_Lopez — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:40:50 -0800

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.)

By: askmatrix

askmatrix — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:55:34 -0800

Many times it is the host computer that is unable to boot from the external device.

By: Zed_Lopez

Zed_Lopez — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:25:33 -0800

Yeah, I know that. That's why I bolded the "please note," above, to try to head off being told that.

By: Ferrari328

Ferrari328 — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:16:33 -0800

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.

By: baylink

baylink — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 14:14:04 -0800

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'.