On Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 07:03:17PM +0100, Joe wrote: > On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:59:35 -0400 > "John A. Sullivan III" <jsulli...@opensourcedevel.com> wrote: > > > Hello, all. This is off-topic because I'm not asking how to create a > > Debian boot stick. There seem to be good how-to documents for that. > > However, we are thinking of creating a large number of Debian boot > > sticks and neither I nor may staff have any experience using them and > > we have a limited number of devices for testing. > > > > Our concern is the end user experience and how most PCs (probably > > widely varies based upon the age) react to them. Is using them > > typically as simple as plugging it in and turning on the computer or > > are we going to have a nightmare of support calls walking people > > through their BIOS settings to get their systems to boot from their > > Debian USB stick? Thanks - John > > > > > > I have one computer with every boot device disabled in BIOS except the > primary hard drive, but if I leave a USB storage device connected to > it, even a camera, it will attempt to boot from it, and will *not* fall > back to the hard drive if it doesn't find a bootloader. It's a plug > pull and three-finger salute job.
I might be wrong here, but I think that's a problem with the boot sector on the camera. I think that BIOSes assume that any storage device has a boot sector and, upon finding a disk connected to the system, will start executing the code at the start of that disk. For most 'data' disks, that will just be the equivalent of "PRINT "Insert boot disk and press any key"." Then, harking back to the days of booting from floppy drives, you're expected to change disks and either CTRL+ALT+DEL to go back to the bios or press a key to go back around the loop (hopefully booting from the new disk). I don't know if it's possible to get the BIOS to restart its scan, but if so it's almost never used. -- Darac Marjal
signature.asc
Description: Digital signature
