Can you boot from USB 3.0?

[wpcoe]

anyone using a 7-series Intel chipset and an Ivy Bridge CPU been able to boot to a USB3.0 flash drive or HDD?

My Gigabyte H77M-D3H with F9 BIOS (and i3-3225 processor) would not boot from a PQI USB 3.0 Win8 installation flash drive, but I since have seen there is a beta BIOS (I guess I should be saying UEFI, but Gigabyte still calls it BIOS...) with "Windows 8 compatibility," like adding Secure Boot and Quick Boot. I wonder if it now supports USB3 booting as well?

(*If* I end up reinstalling Win8 yet again, I will give it a try, but I'm not going to do that if I can avoid it.)

 

[tal.aloni]

Hi,
I'm booting XP \ 2003 From a USB 3.0 UFD connected to a USB 3.0 port (AMD A75 chipset).
To achieve this, I've created a utility that sets the necessary Windows USB components to boot-start, and integrates the necessary AMD USB 3.0 Host Controller and Hub drivers to Windows XP \ 2003 setup,
I also wrote an initialization driver that waits for the UFD to appear before proceeding with the boot.

check it out:
http://iknowu.duckdns.org/files/public/integratedrv/IntegrateDrv.htm

Good luck,
Tal Aloni

 

[Percius]

I am not sure I have ever seen so much Incorrect information in a single thread.

1. The authors questions has NOTHING to do with drivers or windows.
He stated that the BIOS didn't see the drive as a boot device. Most likely it is like my mainboard that does not attempt to boot USB 3.0 devices.
Why: 1... Many programs that are bootable load a ram payload wich then loads a native OS driver for the storage device that loads the rest of the payload. Since so much software wasn't ready for 3.0 it is possible the mainboard manufacturers didn't include this support to keep it from becoming a headache.
2... The BIOS rarely ever changes, a new board has a tweek here or there. Many probably simply didn't spend the time.

Next: This is a PC comment set, embedded devices have some different options.
A simple boot order to help people out, since MANY MANY wrong comments were made.
BIOS -->
--> Boot Device (MBR means it reads the first "spot" of the disk and does whatever that says; UEFI a more advanced firmware that has bidirectional communication with the BIOS)

--> Boot device supports a read regardless of the operating system. There are some size restrictions, but that is generally irrelevant for boards within 5 years of age.

--> The read is the start or in some limited cases (small linux version) the whole OS. In most cases the OS then remounts the drive with native drivers and continues the boot sequence. Here inlies a common problem when switching to SATA with XP, the bios booted the device but the windows kernel could not remount the device because it didn't have the drivers embedded. THE BIOS DOES NOT KNOW OR CARE WHAT DRIVERS YOUR OS MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE. IT DOES NOT KNOW OR CARE IF YOU HAVE A 32 or X64 BIT WINDOWS.


Back to the OP:
As people have pointed out, you probably don't have a board that supports USB3.0 boot. There may be a bios change or firmware option to change this.

Once you do boot from USB3.0 your boot device may not have the drivers to sustain this boot on the above switch over. As someone noted most Linux distros have issues with that, and I think i just made my PE7 image work properly with that but it didn't natively.

 

[kiriakos]

I did read all answers carefully, and there are good points, but here there are bigger problems.

ASUS P5QC lost all USB ports due a high voltage surge due bad weather, this came in due TV tuner PCI card.
My Keyboard / Mouse all USB, I had to connect old PS2 (Keyboard / Mouse) so to boot my system and get in windows or BIOS.

Then I got with out much research one Renesas/NEC USB 3.0 two ports card.
Works in windows, product packaging mentions legacy USB support, but this does not work, and I can not get to motherboard BIOS with USB devices.

Specific Renesas/NEC USB 3.0 comes with firmware Ver 4.0.0.0
This is generic and sold by Italian company, but they are simply OEM sellers.

Now I am searching to find a true USB.2.0 card with true legacy USB support for old school ASUS motherboards.
Any ideas ? Recommendations?

 

[VirtualLarry]

I find it unlikely that a third-party USB controller card, would allow usage of USB keyboard + mouse to access the BIOS. You might be able to boot an OS off of it, if the add-on card contains an option ROM for that, but that's because BIOS / OS boot handoff, is programmed to allow BIOSes to handle it. Simple USB keyboard / mouse isn't like that, as I understand it. I could be wrong.

But you are really better off getting a replacement mobo, and given that age of that one, it's high time to upgrade to something a bit newer. Even consider a Sandy Bridge-era pre-built refurb OEM box, if you don't have much of a budget.

 

[kiriakos]

I do productive work with my PC and configuration must stay unchanged.
My first attempt for replacement with identical mobo from Ebay UK, this ended with bad turn out, I got an totally dead P5QC and I am now at getting refund process.

My afterthought was if there is a working solution with add-on USB card and even if this worth max 20 EUR, I would go for it.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Although this is a 3 year old necro thread, I am responding anyway.

I did read all answers carefully, and there are good points, but here there are bigger problems.

ASUS P5QC lost all USB ports due a high voltage surge due bad weather, this came in due TV tuner PCI card.

I do productive work with my PC and configuration must stay unchanged.

Your board has likely suffered more damage then that. I wouldn't trust it at all, especially for anything work related you make money off.

Any particular reason for keeping your configuration unchanged? Socket 775 boards will only get harder to find going forward, and finding a particular model even more so.

 

[kiriakos]

USB port damage happened because APC SUA1000XL backfired surge that came from earth ground, due lightning at the top of my building.
Lesson No1: never trust UPS with out electrically isolated USB port.
http://www.ittsb.eu/forum/index.php?topic=952.0

I have RAID configuration for data safety, all other drives CD/DVD them matching the age of this motherboard speaking of conectivity, and everything else working super stable.
I have paid backup software, other workstation next to me this working as external backup.
In conclusion my main PC this is part of one well developed network this include communications and external devices (printers, scanner, HD camera etc).

 

[vailr]

USB port damage happened because APC SUA1000XL backfired surge that came from earth ground, due lightning at the top of my building.
Lesson No1: never trust UPS with out electrically isolated USB port.

To be better protected from lightning sourced electrical surges, you may want to consider adding an isolation transformer, between the UPS and the PC.
Something like (although: this one is designed for U.S. power outlet standards):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/252629617227

 

[kiriakos]

To be better protected from lightning sourced electrical surges, you may want to consider adding an isolation transformer, between the UPS and the PC.
Something like (although: this one is designed for U.S. power outlet standards):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/252629617227

I am industrial electrician but thanks for the suggestion
But please realize that isolation transformer will never protect you for lightning surge.
Many people use false advertising so them to cash out other people fears.

lightning surge this is so powerful that nothing in this planet can truly protect us from it.
Now if for example this lightning surge some how it is distributed to many homes at the same time due Mains voltage, and this energy comes to your home somewhat powerless 3~6 Kilo Volts, then it is possible isolation transformer or other ( diodes based protection - telephone line), them to withstand the strike with cost their own life.

Surge that came from earth ground it is the trickiest and we are all defenseless.
Neither is safe to operate any computer system with out ground to earth connection.

Now speaking of my case, I did win one auction in Germany and a third (and true healthy) P5QC will be soon shipped to Greece.

Speaking of original topic, as long none of those USB cards can truly replace functionality offered by on-board motherboard USB controller, them my question it is now answered.

 

[PingSpike]

I find it unlikely that a third-party USB controller card, would allow usage of USB keyboard + mouse to access the BIOS. You might be able to boot an OS off of it, if the add-on card contains an option ROM for that, but that's because BIOS / OS boot handoff, is programmed to allow BIOSes to handle it. Simple USB keyboard / mouse isn't like that, as I understand it. I could be wrong.

I thought the same thing, but I left a mouse plugging into a USB3 add-on card by accident and found it worked in the bios on at least one of my motherboards.

It seems like few if any add-on USB cards (2 or 3) actually have an option rom for booting. I've never seen one. Sometimes a 3rd party chipset is installed directly onto the motherboard and I think I've heard of some bioses have code that allowed them to boot but not with an actual card. There are some combo SATA/USB3 cards which might have an option rom, but given how those are implemented I doubt they work with the USB portion.

However! Plop boot manager might get you out of the jam if you really need to do it. https://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager/download.html This thing is amazing. It will allow systems that do not support USB booting at all to boot from USB, although I wouldn't expect it to do things very fast. I've used it get vmware ESXI virtual machines to boot from a USB thumbdrive. The caveat here is that you need to first boot plop before it can do its magic and then hand off the USB device, so you'd need a CD drive or another hard disk or...a bootable USB device just to get started.

 

[kiriakos]

It seems like few if any add-on USB cards (2 or 3) actually have an option rom for booting. I've never seen one. Sometimes a 3rd party chipset is installed directly onto the motherboard and I think I've heard of some bioses have code that allowed them to boot but not with an actual card. There are some combo SATA/USB3 cards which might have an option rom, but given how those are implemented I doubt they work with the USB portion.

I would expect USB legacy compatibility this to be there 100% when a card comes with such a specification.
Bottom line, all that cards they should meet compatibility with older motherboards, because new motherboards does not need such cards.
This is the one which I got, and does not do the trick.
http://www.atlantisland.it/pub/prodotti.php?famiglia=2&l1=22&l2=0&articolo=UDAwMS1VU0IzMC1QQ1g=