VNG A197XP booting from diskette

[JackieCooper]

Hi,

Brand new excellent VGN A-197XP and I would like to be able to boot from the USB Sony Diskette drive I bought for it. Been into Sony Notebook Setup and changed the initial settings to Diskette followed by CD followed by Hard Drive but it does not boot from the diskette. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks

Jackie

[tellingd]

Try changing the boot order from within BIOS.

[kee-lo_]

Press F2 when you see SONY on your screen.

[JackieCooper]

Hmm. Same settings as from Sony Notebook Setup but nothing to say that a USB device can be used, so no floppy device is listed.

Can this machine boot from a USB floppy. My USB Floppy model is a Sony plugged into the USB port on the left of the keyboard. Should I use a port at the back of the machine?

Jackie

[kee-lo_]

Hi Jackie,

Normally these USB floppies from sony work, did you buy it alongside the VAIO? Or is this from an older VAIO?

These VAIOs are temprimental about the model of USB floppy drive

[VAIOspecialist]

Hi, it needs to be exactly PCGA-UFD5

[JackieCooper]

Ahhh. That might well be the problem then. This is an older Sony USB Floppy (it says March 2003 on the bottom of it). I can get round the problem with bootable CD's, it is just nice if a bootable floppy would work. Not the end of the world since my cloning of the system (using Acronis TrueImage 7) works a treat anyway.

It is just that I like to build Linux, FreeBSD and/or Solarisx86 systems on all my machines as well as Windoze, so eventually planned to install a couple of the Unix systems later. Being able to boot to floppy can be quite convenient with the various tools I have for this.

Thanks for your help in the meantime.

Jackie

[JackieCooper]

Thats the answer then. Blast what a nuisance. Looks like some more money to spend eventually.

Jackie

[kee-lo_]

Cool to see someone who's open to using more than one OS
Glad you got it sorted via a bootable CD.

I guess you could sell your old one and use the funds to buy that model VAIO Specialist suggested.