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General Category => Off the Record => Computer Affairs => Topic started by: Admiral Yi on November 11, 2013, 05:23:58 AM

Title: Help!
Post by: Admiral Yi on November 11, 2013, 05:23:58 AM
I keep getting intermittent black screen with a white box that says "Searching."  Another message comes on less frequently that says something like "Can not find USDB something."

I already tried rebooting.

Cable loose or something like that?
Title: Re: Help!
Post by: Admiral Yi on November 11, 2013, 08:01:29 AM
It seems to have stopped.  :)
Title: Re: Help!
Post by: Caliga on November 11, 2013, 08:05:56 AM
You're welcome.
Title: Re: Help!
Post by: DontSayBanana on November 11, 2013, 09:13:42 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on November 11, 2013, 05:23:58 AM
I keep getting intermittent black screen with a white box that says "Searching."  Another message comes on less frequently that says something like "Can not find USDB something."

I already tried rebooting.

Cable loose or something like that?

Sounds like it's trying to boot from USB, which can occasionally throw a monkey wrench in the boot process.

Just go into the BIOS and disable "Boot from USB" (unless you need it because you're running a live USB of Linux or something).  Also, if you've got a card reader that you don't use often, I'd disable/unplug that from the motherboard- I've seen several hijack the boot sequence, even after being moved way down in priority.
Title: Re: Help!
Post by: Admiral Yi on November 11, 2013, 09:44:12 AM
Quote from: DontSayBanana on November 11, 2013, 09:13:42 AM
Sounds like it's trying to boot from USB, which can occasionally throw a monkey wrench in the boot process.

What would have caused that to happen?
Title: Re: Help!
Post by: DontSayBanana on November 11, 2013, 10:38:23 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on November 11, 2013, 09:44:12 AM
Quote from: DontSayBanana on November 11, 2013, 09:13:42 AM
Sounds like it's trying to boot from USB, which can occasionally throw a monkey wrench in the boot process.

What would have caused that to happen?

I'm honestly not sure.  It's definitely not the designed behavior, but it seems like several BIOS developers have coded boot-from-USB and boot-from-card options that are extremely flaky- I have witnessed this in person on several machines.  In fact, card readers are so bad about it that at our shop, SOP is to disable and unplug card readers as a first step in diagnosing a boot issue.