No USB Boot option for Aspire 5

I have a new Aspire 5, System BIOS v1.07. I also have a bootable Ubuntu image on a USB 3 drive, which is plugged into the front left-side USB port. I am trying to boot from this drive so I can remove Windows and install Ubuntu 18.04, but the USB drive is not being recognized as a bootable device. I press the F2 key on power-on to get the InsydeH2O Setup Utility. On the Main menu, I have enabled F12 Boot Menu, and disabled Fast Boot. Still, on the Boot menu, I see only the Windows Boot Manager. If I press F12 during boot, I see only the Windows Boot Manager. How can I get the system to recognize my bootable USB?

Accepted answers

zeggman

I finally got the system to recognize the USB drive by burning it with Balena Etcher (other methods of burning the .iso file to the USB drive made a drive that the boot menu didn't recognize). That allowed me to boot into a live Ubuntu, but the hard drive I wanted to install on didn't show up. I used gparted to find and mount the hard drive, then clicked "install Ubuntu", and everything went as expected from there. Thank you for your suggestions!

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brummyfan2

Hi,
could you please post the full model name of the laptop, like A515-xx, however, please try the solutions in this thread and see whether any of them helps you.
https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/526858/aspire-3-a315-31-coa7-bios-has-not-option-to-boot-using-usb/p1

zeggman

It's A515-54-51DJ. I tried two different Acer representatives at the Acer chat, and both told me that they don't support the BIOS -- it came configured to run Windows, and Windows it shall run.

brummyfan2

Hi,
Go to Settings, click Apps tile, select Apps and Features, click Programs and features, click Turn Windows features on and off, tick the box for Windows Subsystem for Linux, reboot and try again, I think you can install Linux OS in your model because of this:https://forum.linuxfoundation.org/discussion/856303/wifi-driver-acer-aspire-a515-54

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/s9/1p52k3sklr09.jpg

zeggman

I was actually hoping to install Linux without ever booting Windows, because Windows asks for 3 forms of ID and a stool sample before it can be bothered to boot for the first time. I see from your link that someone has installed Linux on this model of laptop, but it isn't clear how they did it. If I can't make it recognize the USB drive in the BIOS I'll try going through with the Windows boot, but I'm skeptical that a Windows setting can reach back and affect the BIOS.

brummyfan2

Hi,
Did you try any of the method worked for some in my previous link? Please try methods posted by @IronFly and @nafees but make sure that you make a note of any Supervisor password you create.

zeggman

I finally got the system to recognize the USB drive by burning it with Balena Etcher (other methods of burning the .iso file to the USB drive made a drive that the boot menu didn't recognize). That allowed me to boot into a live Ubuntu, but the hard drive I wanted to install on didn't show up. I used gparted to find and mount the hard drive, then clicked "install Ubuntu", and everything went as expected from there. Thank you for your suggestions!

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