Boot from USB stick Vaio SZ1

[Naujoks]

Does anyone know if it is possible to boot an OS from an USB stick (Vaio SZ1)?

[Blencogo]

Hi Naujoks,

No - it's not possible.

All Vaios will only boot from two external sources:

1. A USB floppy disc drive (1.44MB)
2. Some Vaios will boot from an external drive connected via an adapter in the the PC Slot

[Naujoks]

Well, I'm pleased to report that the opposite is in fact true!
I made my USB stick bootable (FAT32) with a Linux distro, selected the following boot options (in this order) in BIOS:
1. USB Hard Disk Drive
2. USB Optical Drive
etc

then enabled External Drive Boot,
and - viola! - it's booting from the stick like a dream!

Hi Naujoks,

No - it's not possible.

All Vaios will only boot from two external sources:

1. A USB floppy disc drive (1.44MB)
2. Some Vaios will boot from an external drive connected via an adapter in the the PC Slot

 

[Blencogo]

That's interesting - Sony have come to their senses at last.

Which BIOS version are you using?

[Naujoks]

I'm using the latest BIOS that they provided us to make the SZ Vista ready...

I think I saw the same boot options in the old style BIOS as well though.

[kee-lo_]

I think this has been added for Vista Readyboot support.

[benste]

On my Vaio (FE) you can boot from USB too,
Also with the older Version of Phoenix Bios which was preinstalled in December

I tried to boot Win 95 from my 512 MB USb stick -> alright
" linux is also OK for USB boot