Unable to Boot from USB(AN515-52-50VR)

JackE

OK, keep forgetting there are no 64-bit installation boot files on the stick. So at this point the safest option still seems to be VMWare. And the unsafest option seems to be earlier BIOS firmware. Jack E/NJ

Commodore_1995#

I agree! I think doing a downgrade of bios is not worth it and it's very risky!

JackE

I'd likely try a BIOS downgrade if the warranty hadn't ended yet. Jack E/NJ

Commodore_1995#

And which of the bios of this notebook have the legacy mode?

JackE

Unfortunately, unless a backup was made, looks like the earlier version that likely had legacy available was already on the machine but was apparently overwritten. Jack E/NJ

LarryD

Can it be proven that an earlier version allowed Legacy mode to work?

If that is the case then it's either a flaw - which Acer should fix -  or I have a good case against Acer, in that they have effectively disabled a laptop without warning.

JackE

@LarryD >>>Can it be proven that an earlier version allowed Legacy mode to work?>>>

No. Only a suggestion that a version earlier than 1.05 did. Unless the machine exhibited a problem that a BIOS update explicitly claimed to fix, then the update should not be tried due to potential for bricking or otherwise disabling a perfectly functional machine. At this point, other options for trying to re-enable the legacy mode switch might be possible but all seem even riskier than trying to downgrade to the earliest version available on the ACER site. Jack E/NJ

LarryD

I went back to the store I purchased it from. I asked if they could check if their demo model would allow Legacy Mode.

No way. They would not even allow themselves to do it. Gave some ***** and bull story that 'it has a different Bios and software to the one I bought'.

I think I need to deal with Acer support direct on this. But I just know this is going to take weeks to resolve.

JackE

@LarryD>>>I went back to the store I purchased it from. >>>

What's store's refund/exchange policy? If it were mine, I'd try hard to get a refund cuz it doesn't meet my partitioning needs. And ACER support isn't likely to be quicker or of much help if all currently available firmware versions have the same partitioning limitations as 1.19. Jack E/NJ

LarryD

Main highstreet store dealer in UK. No way will they will take it back seeing as I installed an NVME in it.

All I need is for Acer to answer a simple question: Have they disabled legacy mode Yes or No.

The answer to that will determine the next step.

JackE

Just take the card out. Then take it back. Try to get a refund.  Jack E/NJ

LarryD

OK I downgraded the BIOS using the instructions in the link posted by JackE.

Versons 1.05, 1.09 and 1.15 all do not allow Legacy mode either. There is just no option for selecting when you press Enter / F5 / F6 on Boot Mode:

Clearly - right at the start - Acer had decided to totally remove 32bit and / or Legacy support from this range of laptop.

That's not good at all. We are not all gamers wanting to run 64bit apps / Steam!

If they do not wish to allow us to run 32bit O/S it should have been stated so in the product specification!

JackE

@LarryD>>>Clearly - right at the start - Acer had decided to totally remove 32bit and / or Legacy support from this range of laptop.>>>

I don't think it's so clear. Check the release date on the earliest version 1.05. As noted earlier, your machine's original firmware version must've been earlier than v1.05. Jack E/NJ

LarryD

I have received a reply from Acer Support (UK)

"Thank you for contacting Acer regarding your query

So in your case you can not change UEFI to Legacy, your unit does not support that figure."

I presume that is a statement and not a question, which means that my laptop does not support Legacy mode.

So I am left with a laptop that is not much use to me. I can not return it to the store because it has been used. I will have to sell this and take a loss on it.

Thanks Acer!

Valkyrie69

Hello , i had the same problem . So , let me tell you what i did (if it will count for you right now ) : I enabled the boot from network and i used serva to boot from ipv4 . This worked fine . Now i am trying to boot from usb any kind of windows (x64 , x32 ) and the uefi can't see the usb drive i plugged in.  In conclusion, i can't boot from usb any windows .

Commodore_1995#

did you convert the pendrive to gpt or mbr? the pendrive be formatted in fat32?

LarryD

Valkyrie69 said:

I enabled the boot from network and i used serva to boot from ipv4 . This worked fine .

How do you enable "boot from network"?

JackE

You must first install a program to essentially activate your network adapter so that your system can boot Windows system files that are stored on a remote computer instead of on your HDD. Intel PXE and MS WinPE may allow you to do this. You don't appear to be set up to use this option. Jack E/NJ 

jGecko

I'm not trying to load Win32 OS.
All I want is to control my own system and be able to boot from an external device: USB attached CD/DVD drive or USB stick. I'm using an Acer Nitro 5 AN515-53-55G9 and it looks like I have the same problem.

There are diagnostics and partition managers that need to boot from an external drive. There are backup recovery services that need to boot externally. There are standalone linux distributions that can be RUN from an external DVD or USB stick.

All this seems to be driven by INTEL.
Does that mean if I bought a Ryzen-CPU-based system instead of an Intel-CPU I wouldn't have this problem?

Bottom line. It should not matter with WHAT software someone wants to boot...they should be able to set the Nitro 5 to boot from an external device. It should be simple to do so.

Commodore_1995#

@jGecko Have you already created a password in setsupervisorpassword? Did you check if the boot mode section has legacy mode?

In notebooks, you will only be able to install the 32-bit operating system in legacy mode, because uefi mode only supports 64bit! The only exception is on tablets, where it is allowed to install the operating system in 32bit mode in uefi mode!