Solved UEFI does not recognize DVD drive but it works in Windows

[alphanumeric]

Alphanumeric - by "works in Windows" I mean that I can write and read DVDs normally with the drive. In spite of that, it never shows up anywhere in the UEFI/Bios, whether it has a bootable disk in it or not.

OK, I asked because sometimes people assume that because the disk auto runs in Windows and the program starts from the disk that its bootable. That's not always the case though. It can autorun and still not actually be bootable from the BIOS. I see now what you meant, your optical drive works in windows and can read DVD's OK. Do you have another bootable DVD to try. A Windows 8 install DVD would be a good disk to try at this point.

 

[stringjunky]

Alphanumeric - by "works in Windows" I mean that I can write and read DVDs normally with the drive. In spite of that, it never shows up anywhere in the UEFI/Bios, whether it has a bootable disk in it or not.

Scroll down to "Disable Secure Boot on a Desktop"

 

[Elizabeth]

Ok alphanumeric - here is what I did.

1. Inserted Windows 8 Pro 64-bit startup disk into the drive
2. Restarted system and brought up the UEFI/Bios screen during restart
3. DVD drive now showed as a boot option. Selected it.
4. Result - Black screen with blue box reading "Boot Device not Found. Please install an OS on your hard disk (3F0)
5. Removed Windows 8 startup disk from drive and restarted system with the power button
6. As before - no DVD in the UEFI/bios, DVD drive works normally in Windows 8.1

 

[alphanumeric]

Ok alphanumeric - here is what I did.

1. Inserted Windows 8 Pro 64-bit startup disk into the drive
2. Restarted system and brought up the UEFI/Bios screen during restart
3. DVD drive now showed as a boot option. Selected it.
4. Result - Black screen with blue box reading "Boot Device not Found. Please install an OS on your hard disk (3F0)
5. Removed Windows 8 startup disk from drive and restarted system with the power button
6. As before - no DVD in the UEFI/bios, DVD drive works normally in Windows 8.1

OK, it works like I thought it would. It looks like if there is no "BOOTABLE" media in the drive, it doesn't show up as a boot option. I have no idea why you got the boot error though in step 4? Either your DVD isn't bootable, or you have to change some BIOS settings. How did you create the DVD your trying to boot from?

 

[Elizabeth]

Alph - the DVD used was one I purchased for use in upgrading another system from Windows 7.

 

[alphanumeric]

No I mean the Acronis TrueImage Rescue DVD, the one you were originally tying to boot from? How was that one created? At this point I'm leaning towards it being a BIOS setting issue but I just want to make sure the disk in question is actually bootable. Do you have another PC with normal BIOS to test that Acronis CD in?

 

[SaggyMaggyPoo]

Apologies if this is introducing red herrings, but I had a (possibly) similar situation where I was trying to boot direct from a usb instead of having to access the boot menu to do this.

I contacted my laptop manufacturer (Dell) and was told that my only solution was to change to legacy boot, which has already been suggested above. It seems that some peoples' BIOSes have more options than others.

I was also told that the usb needed to have a GPT partition on it in order to be recognised by UEFI. As you are trying to boot a dvd this may be irrelevant??

 

[Elizabeth]

Everybody is really being helpful here - thank you. Yes, alpha, the TrueImage disk boots properly in my other Windows 8.1 64-bit system.. I am thinking I will call HP and get a new drive under warranty and see if the issue persists. That is one weird error I got at step 4. last time.

 

[genet]

I was also told that the usb needed to have a GPT partition on it in order to be recognised by UEFI.

FAT32 file system only required, if you want UEFI boot mode compatible Windows 8/8.1 64-bit USB flash drive.

Quote from this post:

1. How to create UEFI Boot Mode compatible Windows 8 64-bit USB flash drive, which is only bootable in UEFI Boot Mode.

Format your USB flash drive (see screenshot below). Note: You need to choose the FAT32 file system.

When formatting is complete.
- In Windows 8, right click on the Windows 8 64-bit ISO image file and choose either Mount or Open with > Windows Explorer.
- Copy all files to USB flash drive.

View attachment 53854

 

[alphanumeric]

I was also told that the usb needed to have a GPT partition on it in order to be recognised by UEFI.

FAT32 file system only required, if you want UEFI boot mode compatible Windows 8/8.1 64-bit USB flash drive.

Quote from this post:

1. How to create UEFI Boot Mode compatible Windows 8 64-bit USB flash drive, which is only bootable in UEFI Boot Mode.

Format your USB flash drive (see screenshot below). Note: You need to choose the FAT32 file system.

When formatting is complete.
- In Windows 8, right click on the Windows 8 64-bit ISO image file and choose either Mount or Open with > Windows Explorer.
- Copy all files to USB flash drive.

View attachment 53854

That is true in most cases, there are exceptions though. My ASUS laptop that has UEFI BIOS will let me install in UEFI even if the thumb drive is formatted in NTFS. My Wife's Acer though is very picky as to how the thumb drive is created for it to work. I think as UEFI matures it will less of an issue as to how you create the drive. Using FAT 32 is probably the best option for now though.

 

[alphanumeric]

Everybody is really being helpful here - thank you. Yes, alpha, the TrueImage disk boots properly in my other Windows 8.1 64-bit system.. I am thinking I will call HP and get a new drive under warranty and see if the issue persists. That is one weird error I got at step 4. last time.

Is the other PC also UEFI? Yeah something weird is going on. What make is the other PC? Just curious.

 

[Elizabeth]

Also and HP, alpha - not UEFI though..

 

[alphanumeric]

OK, it could still be a BIOS setting issue then. You might have to turn off UEFI and put it in legacy mode.

 

[KYHI]

Secure Boot is a UEFI option - before it allows anything to boot before Windows, it checks for an approval signature in the firmware.. (Firmware Keys)

View attachment 56731

Turning Secure boot off - you are basically bypassing the security check..

If the disk or usb is uefi bootable it will have the following folder "EFI" and following file "bootmgr.efi"

View attachment 56730

Also UEFI boots in Fat32 format..

I can also tell you this, from experience - acronis is a big issue.. there are so may threads of restore failures using acronis..

 

[Elizabeth]

Thanks for your help everyone. Disabling Secure Boot and enabling legacy mode as suggested above solved the problem (of course I re-enabled secure boot after the "fire drill". I am switching from Acronis to Macrium since it seems to suit my needs better. Also getting a new DVD drive under warranty since this one started to intermittently fail the HP diagnostics and makes a high pitched whining sound on occasion too. Hope I get the opportunity to help someone out on this forum like you guys help me.

 

[alphanumeric]

Glad you got it sorted. It looks like that optical drive does have issues. are they shipping you a new drive or do you have to send the PC in for repair? It should be an easy swap to replace the drive. All the ones I worked on it was just one screw to take out on the bottom of the laptop. Pull the drive out, slide in the new one and put the screw back in.

 

[Elizabeth]

Alpha I am doing a swap out. Have done them before with towers - this is an all-in-one. Shouldn't be a problem. Thanks again. E.

 

[alphanumeric]

I haven't worked on an all in one but if the drive is like a laptop optical drive it will easier to replace than a desktop drive. Likely just the one screw instead of several. Looks like you have it all under control now.