Re: [tlug] In the beginning there is GRUB... or is there another?

[Mattia Dongili <malattia@example.com>]

On Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 09:37:09AM +0900, Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
> Dave M G writes:
> 
>  > Does this mean there is something screwy with the USB HD itself?
> 
> AFAIK, no.  The BIOS probably doesn't handle it very well, that's all.
> It's possible the external port you have it connected to might be low
> priority, so it checks for a zillion USB devices that don't exist
> first, each with a short time out.
> 
> There are 4 hardware based ways to get around the time out that I can
> think of based on the BIOSes I have seen.
> 
> 1.  Physically disconnect the drive.
> 2.  Remove the drive from the boot sequence (eg, set USB devices to
>     noboot) in the BIOS.
> 3.  Change the order of the boot sequence so USB devices come after
>     internal hard drives in the BIOS.
> 4.  Change a timeout in the BIOS.

a bit less hardware based:
5. check for BIOS updates (install them if available)
6. report the issue to the BIOS writer/PC manufacturer.

There is a decent reference about an issue similar to yours here:
http://www.geek.com/forums/topic/win-xp-slow-boot-40because-of-usb-drive41
Someone suggests turning off legacy usb support here:
http://www.computing.net/answers/hardware/usb-device-causes-slow-boot/42545.html
more refs here:
http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19343276.aspx
etc etc.

-- 
mattia, who told you about usb drives first! ^^
:wq!