virtualbox.org

On a Windows 10 Pro host with the latest version of Virtualbox, I have a Linux guest configured to boot from a live CD ISO file attached to an IDE Controller, and in the System Boot Order I have only Optical checked and placed on top of the order. In addition, I have a USB stick inserted and enabled with the filters in the USB section for Enable USB Controller. When I start this VM, expecting the ISO image to boot, it actually boots the USB stick, which does in fact have a bootable image on it although it is not my intention to boot it, just to use the other files for storage.

During boot of this VM, I have to use F12 to select the CD player. Why does it not boot the player automatically as I believe it should based on how I have the configuration set? Thanks.

macro wrote:it actually boots the USB stick

Unless you're running an unknown to the general public VirtualBox version, that is not possible. USB booting is not supported. Are you absolutely sure about that?
• What happens if you don't have the USB plugged in?
• What happens if the only thing you have is the ISO CD? No other HD, floppy or anything?
Post a VM log. See this: Minimum information needed for assistance.

It doesn't matter how sure he is: the VBox BIOS doesn't check USB for boot media, because it doesn't talk USB. You only get USB after the guest drivers have loaded, i.e. after boot.

Locating an ISO file (or other media) on a USB stick is not a USB boot. That's just booting from a host drive, like any other VM boots. By that definition you could say that Win3.1 supports SATA, because you can locate your VM on a SATA drive and boot the VM from there.

socratis,

I appreciate your response. Unfortunately (or depending on how you look at it), I cannot not reproduce this behavior. "Absolutely" is a strong word, and I suppose that I could have misunderstood what I was observing. Nevertheless, I am still doubtful that it did not occur. Perhaps, the booting was of the ISO initially and then passed on to the USB device as a result of the procedure occuring. I was shutting down, actually rebooting, the ISO environment, when it paused and said I could remove the CD, which I did, and pressed "Enter" to continue. I saw that the ISO had been removed, but the process rebooted anyway into the USB. This was unexpected, totally. I cannot test it further.

Take a look at mpack's response. What he's saying (which didn't occur to me) is that you have the ISO located in the USB, something like "BootDevice: F:\MyISO.iso", where F:\ is your USB device. Is that what you actually meant?

mpack,

If I understand you correctly, you suggested that I might have had an ISO (filename.iso) on a USB device. No, that was a good suggestion, but my USB device was itself bootable, but it did not have a file named "something.iso". Even so, this was a possibility that occured to me. The procedure I was doing was in fact upgrading the USB filesystem. Thanks.