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    VAIO FZ31Z BIOS R2110J7 - Cannot boot from usb

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by carlcash, Nov 22, 2009.

  1. carlcash

    carlcash Newbie

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    Hello.

    I have a VAIO FZ31Z (BIOS R2110J7) and wanted to boot with a bootable usb stick, however all I get is a blank black screen and a blinking underscore in the left top corner. :(

    I have enabled my bios to boot from external drives - it recognises the usb stick fine.

    My bootable usb stick has the win98 system files on it (so basically DOS). I tried it on a Dell computer the other day and it booted fine. :eek2:

    Basically, I'm confused.... :confused:

    Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

    cheers, ca$h
     
    carlcash, Nov 22, 2009
    #1
  2. ScuderiaConchiglia

    ScuderiaConchiglia NBR Vaio Team Curmudgeon

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    I had a similar issue the first time I tried to do this on an FZ190. If I remember correctly I had to format the USB stick as FAT not FAT32 to get it to boot.

    Gary
     
    ScuderiaConchiglia, Nov 23, 2009
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  3. carlcash

    carlcash Newbie

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    Thanks for your reply... I tried to do what you said and reformatted to FAT, however with no change - still doesn't boot properly. A Win 98 CD boots like a charm though... weird....
     
    carlcash, Nov 23, 2009
    #3
  4. coolguy

    coolguy Notebook Prophet

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    Make sure you have set the USB external hard disk too in the upper boot priority in the BIOS. My FZ booted off the USB stick this way.
     
    coolguy, Nov 23, 2009
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  5. carlcash

    carlcash Newbie

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    Still not working - don't know what's wrong. I tried the USB on a random Dell computer and it booted fine there. Don't know what the issue is with the Vaio. I've enabled it to boot from USB, it chooses the USB for booting, but after that all I get is a blinking underscore in the left upper corner. :(

    This sucks - can't get to run symcmos and store the register values on the usb like this.
     
    carlcash, Nov 24, 2009
    #5
  6. ScuderiaConchiglia

    ScuderiaConchiglia NBR Vaio Team Curmudgeon

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    Do you have another stick you might try? I am at a loss here. It sounds like you have jumped through all the proper hoops.

    Gary
     
    ScuderiaConchiglia, Nov 24, 2009
    #6