Erazer P6689 - cannot boot from USB

[PK_1]

I am trying to boot my laptop using an ubuntu USB.

• I can access the BIOS/UEFI either by holding down shift when I restart, or by clicking through to advanced system settings.
• I created the flash boot drive on this PC so I know it recognises it, but in the boot order there is no option for a USB
• My bios is 'Insyde BIOS version 210'

[jackwsm]

When I started to use this PC I did not know which function key to use to access UEFI. I created a USB recovery stick which failed to boot, but booted on my friend's PC. I then discovered, thanks to Medion at Swindon, that f2 is used to get into UEFI since when the only change I have made is to disable the 'Fast boot'. I have created another USB recovery stick since disabling 'Fast Boot' but this also fails to boot.

Sadly I'm not too sure what you mean by 'Win RE mode', I guess it's something to do with recovery.

I realise that 'Brute Force' is a 'saying'. As for my hoping to have a USB recovery stick as well as a recovery Macrium image we have a saying 'belt and braces'. I'll make do with just the belt and hope I never need to use it.

I assume you are based in Germany. In 1961-64 I was based in Duisburg, 1972-3 in Wulfen. I still communicate with a family I first met in 1962.

Best regards

Jack

[daddle]

@jackwsm 

Nice to hear. I am from Düsseldorf area and have myself relatives in GB in Liverpool and in Leeds. Cousins in fact.

Your prob with the Windows USB-Stick: prepare yourself an empty USB Stick minimum 8 GB, and make use of the MediaCreationTool from Microsoft. 

 { https://www.microsoft.com/de-de/software-download/windows10 }

I assume you have to google Win 10 Iso, to get the english Microsoft Page. The link I gave leads to the german page, which might not be reachable form a british IP adress.

This stick is bootable under all circumstances, you just can boot from it to check if it boots, and go to the repair section. You do not have to go to install Windows for that. Or leave it without doing anything. Just to check the boot process.

In the further procedure before th install section appears, you will come to the partitioning section; here you can delete or create partitions as you like. So with the by the Media Creation Tool made stick you can delete complete disks, partitions or USB sticks.

But if you download the ISO to the stick, it will be completely erased anyway.

So this stick works as your Windows recovery stick, and second you can use it as a Partitioning Manager.

One more thing: I do not have your PC nor do I know your UEFI  settings.

In some UEFI Bios there is a setting to disable USB legacy mode, and the USB ports only will be detected after starting the OS, so what happens is your USB stick is not seen during Start Up, only after Windows is loaded.

You should check for this.

Best regards, daddle

Edit:   Link to your instruction manual

[jackwsm]

Hi daddle,

I have downloaded the English version of the Media creation tool and also have noted that 'Legacy USB Support' IS enabled. I guess this is correct as I am able to boot my USB stick containg recovery of Macrium Image software.

I have created a USB stick usng the media creation tool. This stick also fails to boot. It is not the only stick I have used for this purpose, but both fail to boot wheras booting worked OK on my friend's PC. The stick I have just created only takes up 4Gbyte of the disk whereas the ones I created using the recevery creation from Control Panel takes up 8.8 Gbyte. This is on account of it also copying 'settings' etc for THIS PC the smaller is used for W10 install on any PC.

You tell me that you don't have my PC or my UEFI settings. This PC was only introduced 27th August I believe. I suspect there are few owners as yet, perhaps I am the only owner, but if there are any others perhaps they haven't got around to creating recovery USB sticks yet, or even if they have they may not have tested them.

I could take photographs of the UEFI settings if you would like me to. Not sure if I can attach photos but what I could do is copy them from my camera into a Dropbox folder and copy the link onto a 'Reply' I will not be able to do this until later tomorrow.

Let me know if you would like me to do this

Regards

Jack

[daddle]

@jackwsm 

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@jackwsm  schrieb:

I have downloaded the English version of the Media creation tool 

I have created a USB stick usng the media creation tool. This stick also fails to boot. It is not the only stick I have used for this purpose, but both fail to boot wheras booting worked OK on my friend's PC.

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It is a miracle assuming the stick was created for the right version of Windows, says 32- or 64-bit.

To compare it here in the forum with a friends PC, on which the Stick is bootable is not worthwhile mentioning it.

Without having correct informations about the system this friends PC is running on, which version Windows,

Win7 or Win 8 until Win 10, it doesn't help to understand.

Maybe even the Multimedia Creation Tool is faulty, and isn't complete  compatible with your PC (Proc, Chipset, etc), but on the other side it's well functioning with the  setup of your friends PC.

Is this one  still on Windows 7?

Well, I outlined the problems as far as I can think of, I am not further responsible for your problem. You should ask a moderator, e.g. @Gehringer , if Medion has some more background information. They keep a hotline, most people with problems phone with Medion Hotline, and never post anything here in the forum.

Best regards, daddle

[jackwsm]

Hi daddle, I regret to say that I am unfamiliar with the protocol of the Forum. I will make an attempt to explain what is happening to the UK HQ of Medion at Swindon, fully expecting to be told to use the BIOS/UEFI to change the FIXED boot order. But just as a matter of interest I created another Macrium Reflect USB recovery stick using this PC. IT FAILED TO BOOT! From this I have concluded that any bootable USB stick I create using this PC will fail to boot on this PC, although its content will be readable. If you click this link you will see two pages showing the content of the USB which does boot and the latest, which does not. https://www.dropbox.com/s/yr3fabst25hsryp/Recovery%20USB.odt?dl=0

I am unable to see any reason why one should boot and the other fail unless there is a problem with the BIOS/UEFI

I am sorry to have taken up so much of your time on this matter and I am extremely grateful for the effort you have put in to solve my problem.

Regards

Jack

[daddle]

@jackwsm 

Hi, by mentioning the Medion Moderators name @Gehringer  in my last post , he is already informed, and should answer here. But indeed  it might not be sufficient, so may be you will have to contact MedionSupport to send  your PC in for Checkup and Service.

@jackwsm  schrieb:

Hi daddle, I regret to say that I am unfamiliar with the protocol of the Forum. I will make an attempt to explain what is happening to the UK HQ of Medion at Swindon, fully expecting to be told to use the BIOS/UEFI to change the FIXED boot order.

This I name a preconceived opinion. 😉   In fact calling during start with the F10 tab (on some machines it is the F8 Tab) the boot option menü on your screen, and make your selection there, overrides the Boot order settings in UEFI. 

Second to take advantage of warranty has nothing to do with the forum protocol.

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@jackwsm  schrieb:

Having been told to change the 'FIXED' boot order in BIOS/EFI I was unsuccessful .....

The Macrium recovery stick I created long ago on a different PC

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You didn't answer my question which Windows is installed on your friends PC?

Second, the Macrium Stick you said was created "long ago on a different PC" Which   PC and which Windows was installed on this PC? Windows 10 or older?

But taking all together, in your place I would reinstall the original  version and setup which came with  PC  and is saved in the recover folder.

Or in Windows you make use of the App Cyberlink Power Recover, or you press during start up immediately after the power button the F 11 button, and reinstall your system as it came from factory; important without saving DATA and Settings. 

Save your Data before to an external disk, just your "documents" (papers, fotos,videos, music files)  folder by folder. Then after Recover  redownload the Media Creation Tool, make a new stick and test again.

I am a bit confused; you said your USB Stick only made use of 4 GB only, actually it should be nearly 5 GB.

Did you choose the right version, the 64-bit Windows??

regards, daddle

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[Gehringer]

Hi @jackwsm ,

I think @daddle was pointing you towards the right direction.

I would perform a backup from your data and then try to restore factory settings via F11 key as explained in the previous post.

If it does not work then I would recommend you to contact Medion Support team.

Regards,

Gehringer

[jackwsm]

I've just spent considerable time creating a reply to daddle, just before posting it failed authentication. I'll paste what I composed in the hope thatyou might read it and also pass it on to him.

Hi daddle,

First let me tell you that I also have a message from Gehringer who has offerred suggestions.

I should like to now give a history of this problem thus far.

I have spoken to my friend who kindly tested the DVD I use for recovering the Macrium Image, the USB stick I use for for Macrium Recovery and the USB stick used for recovering Windows 10 which I created using the USB creation facilty which appears in Control Panel. This offers the option of backing up the system files by ticking a box and is probably the reason why the USB stick(s) I have been creating take up more space than the procedure you suggested I use.

My friend tells me that his PC runs Windows 10 version 2004. It is a PC he built himself using a GA78LMT-USB3 R2 motherboard with a 64 bit AMD PhenomX4 processor. Each of my bootable recovery devices successfully boot on his PC, but not mine at this time, but this situation improved once I had disabled the 'Fast Boot' option in UEFI/BIOS.

Even before I disabled the 'Fast Boot' option I was able to 'see' that the boot order was correct. With a bootable USB stick insered and a bootable DVD mounted in the drive I was able to see the LEDs on both of these devices flickering after executing a 'Restart'.

Please accept that using the UEFI/BIOS at the boot tab it clearly states the boot order is FIXED which to me means 'unchangeable'.

I then disabled 'Fast Boot' resulting in me being able to boot the Macrium Recovery USB stick which I believe was created in 2018 on the Windows 10 PC I was using at the time which has sadly broken down, and the reason I've bought the Medion PC, and the Macrium Recovery DVD. But it will NOT boot the W10 recovery sticks which I have recently created. I have also created a 'new' recovery USB stick for Macrium Reflect using this PC, but this fails to boot in the same way as the W10 recovery sticks. This I think proves that there is nothing wrong with the boot order.

Now you may be thinking why I'm bothering about this, I have the means of recovery using Macrium. I am old and may be considered cynical but I have developed my thinking on the lines that if something can go wrong it will go wrong. If my Macrium Reflect fails I SHOULD be able to recover using a W10 USB stick, but I can't, it won't boot.

So why is this? It boots some media, but not others. Might this be a problem with the UEFI/BIOS or might it be a problem with the software used to create USB sticks? Please bear in mind that the recently created Macrium Recovery stick, using Macrium sotware, fails to boot as does any W10 recovery USB stick. Perhaps, as two sticks created with differing software both fail, this might point to a UEFI/BIOS problem.

Disabling Fast Boot improved matters, but might it still be too fast?

The mother board is Medion B550A4-EM 1.0

The UEFI is American Megatrends Inc. 550A4WOX.105 11/13/2019

I have referred to the provided user manual regarding PowerRecover. I see I have the app available BUT this user manual seems to have been written for PCs using Windows 8. Do yoiu think it will be safe to use this in order to 'Create driver and tool rescue USB disk'? I don't have a USB disk suitable, perhaps the author means USB stick?

You suggest I should revert to the system as it came out of the factory which was W10 1909. Are you thinking on the lines that the Media Creation facility in the 1909 version could be different from what is now available in 2004? Remember tha Macrium Media Creation also build a USB stick which fails to boot.

You ask about the 4 Gbyte USB stick, all I recall is that it was greater than 4Gbyte, the stick I create from Control Panel uses 8.8Gbyte.

I realise that this PC, MD 34280 was only launched onto the market late in August. Unless I've bought a 'Lemon' I suspect there may be others out there with similar problems especially as they may not be aware of how to access UEFI/BIOS to change the 'Fast Boot' setting. Perhaps, like many PC and Laptop owners do, they think their PC will never go wrong. They may have created a USB recovery stick but whether they check it is another matter.

[daddle]

@jackwsm 

I am getting a bit fed up with your problem and the way you deal with it.

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@jackwsm  schrieb:

I've just spent considerable time creating a reply to daddle, just before posting it failed authentication.

This happens  if you take too long to create your answer. Then the flaming red  flag"Failure", comes up. You then just have to make use of your backward button in your browser, and your text will be restored, ready to go on with it for another period of time.  

Or your text contains some HTML errors, which mostly will be automatically fixed so you just can repeat the "Send" command.

In your latest post you only repeat all the things you told already twice or three times before, and you do not answer all my questions That is annoying. Sounds a bit stubborn, sorry to say so.

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@jackwsm  schrieb:

Please accept that using the UEFI/BIOS at the boot tab it clearly states the boot order is FIXED which to me means 'unchangeable'.

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No, it is different. Because you have only 1 (one) valid entry on the page  Boot in UEFI, called "Window Boot Manager", you can not shift it.

With a bootable USB stick and the UEFI Boot Menu  called with the F10 Tab onto the screen, your USB stick will be listed twice if it is UEFI bootable, with one time with the addendum UEFI, and the other time with the hardware name of  the USB-stick

There in the 'Boot option menu' displayed on the screen, you can choose therein each of the listed hardware, but only the ones with the name Windows Boot Manager or the addendum UEFI will boot.

Did you  check this?  Did you try the F10 Tab at start?

I gave you considering your given MSN 10023662 in Post 12 a link to the manual for your PC. On page 38 is Power Recover explained. Indeed there is a print error, it should say Win 10 there.

But Power Recover does not function  depending on what is written in the manual (which does not matter anyway), but because it restores the Image saved in the folder Recover on your disk on your PC for your model.  

So please  just do it. 

If afterwards booting from a newly created USB stick (created with a newly downloaded MediaCreationTool)

works,  then every thing will be OK. If not you still have full warranty on your PC  to send it to Medion Support.   

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@jackwsm  schrieb:

...USB stick used for recovering Windows 10 which I created using the USB creation facilty which appears in Control Panel. but I can't use , it won't boot.

This you tell us for the third or fourth time. I am old too, but still fit and have a goot memory. But if you persist any furthrer it is no fun anymore. Windows itself  is a bit tricky with its recovery options.

In fact the only stick which interests and you should concentrate on ist the one you created with the Media CreationTool.

And you have one booting Macrium stick, to restore the Macrium-Image. So far so good.

Perhaps, as two sticks created with differing software both fail, this might point to a UEFI/BIOS problem.

No, it rather is a software or human problem!

Do you think it will be safe to use this in order to 'Create driver and tool rescue USB disk'? 

It just saves drivers and Tools, it's normally not really worthwhile. OK, but I do not think this stick is meant to be a boot stick.

You suggest I should revert to the system as it came out of the factory which was W10 1909. Are you thinking on the lines that the Media Creation facility in the 1909 version could be different from what is now available in 2004?

Yes, and it is OK to test 

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regards , daddle

[jackwsm]

Reply to daddle.

I’m so sorry I’m taking up so much of your time.

I’m also sorry I’m a slow typist. I’ve typed this reply as a text document which I will hopefully be able to paste into the reply field of the ‘community’ which will be faster.

I regret that I appear to be stubborn, it’s just that I am terrified of doing something wrong.

So now I will go back to my post 18 to check on the questions I raised and read the answers you have provided which I will then state what it appears you wish me to do and ask for confirmation.

1) You tell me that I must revert to version 1909 of Windows 10 by using the f11 key which will enable me to activate the Recovery Partition which is on my disk. Is this correct?

2) If so does this mean that my PC is not suitable for 2004 version and subsequent versions of Windows 10?

3) I understand that Microsoft insist on the latest version of Windows 10 being used, am I mistaken?

Shortly after my PC was delivered the ‘Update and Security’ section of ‘Settings’ suggested that version 2004 should be installed, presumably Microsoft have assessed my PC is suitable for 2004.

4) I only ask about this as reverting to version 1909 means quite a lot of work on my part, for instance I have to establish Firefox as my browser, ensure I have the passwords which have been saved to my current Firefox are available should they not be available in the new 1909.

I will need to install my Dropbox, my mail handler eM Client, Libre Office and various other apps.

Having done all that I then use the media creation tool you suggested to create another USB recovery disk which will take up 4-5 Gbyte rather than the media creation tool available via Control Panel. Then I should be able to boot this newly created USB stick having restarted with operation of the f10 key. Is this correct?

Regards

Jack

PS I've had a warning that my post was changed on account of invalid HTML was found. I've re-read the post and it seems that the removal of whatever it was has not made any significant change to my initial post. Post again and hope for the best.