Article ID: 000036289 Content Type: Troubleshooting Last Reviewed: 10/25/2022

USB Stick Is Not Being Recognized as a Bootable Device

Environment

Intel® Server Boards

Windows Server 2016*

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Summary

Ensure that the USB is visible and usable to install a new operating system with Intel server motherboards.

Description

The USB stick is not being recognized, or it's only recognized when the server motherboard is switched to legacy mode.

Resolution
Note Information on this page is applicable for Intel® Server Board S1200SP Family. Please check the applicable products at the bottom of this page.
If you have a current-generation Intel server product, please visit www.intel.com/support and input your product name in the search box to look for the most recent content associated with your product.

 

Verify that these are selected within the motherboard:

  • Ensure the operating system (OS) is among the validated ones for the board.
  • See to it that the USB thumb drive containing the .iso OS image is connected to any of the back-panel USB ports.
  • Make sure the BIOS/Firmware is the latest version.
  1. If the volume to install the OS on is below 2 TB, proceed as follows:
    Note 

    Ensure your USB thumb drive was previously formatted as FAT32 and made bootable. For more information

    1. Restart the system into the BIOS and proceed as indicated next:
      1. Enable the Quiet Boot option in the Main Menu.
      2. Under the Advanced menu, ensure that the Legacy USB Support option is enabled.
      3. In the Boot Options menu, make sure USB Boot Priority is enabled.
      4. Ensure the Boot Mode (also known as EFI Optimized Boot) is set to Legacy. This is found in the Boot Options menu.
      5. Save the changes and exit.
    2. As the system POSTs, press F6 to trigger the Boot Manager. Select your USB thumb drive from among the list.
  2. If the volume to install the OS on is equal to or above 2 TB, proceed as follows:
    Note

    Ensure the USB device is formatted in New Technology File System (NTFS) and Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) Partition Table (GPT) partition for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). For more information, see also How to resolve USB Optical Drive not recognized when using Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) boot mode?

    1. Restart the system into the BIOS.
    2. Ensure the Boot Mode is set to EFI (or UEFI). This is found in the Boot Options menu.
    3. Make sure that the USB Boot Priority is enabled.
    4. Save the changes and exit.

The system should boot from off the USB thumb drive.

Related Products

This article applies to 1 products