Question Laptop seems to be looking for another boot device

[Eric422]

I was given a Dell lattitude xt2 xfr. The dell screen comes up for a few seconds, then the screen goes blank and I get a flashing cursor in the upper left corner for 60+ seconds. After that the laptop will boot into windows 10.
I reloaded windows 7 (fresh install) and I had the same issue. I should say the hard drive is an SSD. I removed the hard drive and booted to linux with a thumb drive. All 3 operating systems booted .... just slowly.
I tried to change settings in the bios....anything that I could think of...still no luck.
It seems like the laptop is looking for a different boot device and causing the delay in the boot process.

Anybody have an idea for a course of action to get this fixed?

 

[Colif]

do you have USB drive as 1st option in boot order? that can cause the flashing cursor. I assume you installed off USB.

only results I find are all you asking about it on Dell forums. Or the post is from 2013 and unlikely to apply

 

[Eric422]

When I was booting to the ssd (win 7 &10), I unchecked everything and made the hard drive the only boot drive....I also disabled the usb devices too.

When I was booting to linux, the ssd was removed. USB boot device was the only device checked in the bios.

 

[Colif]

laptop bios are normally restrictive so not sure what you can do. I see Dell responded 2 days ago, did you edit the post or did they?

https://www.dell.com/community/Lati...ing-cursor-windows-linux-looking/td-p/8064134

you may need to wait for them to reply

not a lot here on the bios - http://pdfstream.manualsonline.com/2/23e0382e-2254-4bf4-bcb4-b745161e1fdf.pdf

i didn't know age of pc so its possible the older results might help
is boot drive set as ata?
that won't answer the why it happens on USB though = https://www.dell.com/community/Lapt...-cursor-all-since-windows-update/td-p/3516822

 

[USAFRet]

Anybody have an idea for a course of action to get this fixed?

The Win 10 was on there when you got it?

Full wipe and reinstall.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Eric422]

Dell won't reply because it is not under warranty. I have been through the service manual. Could the cellular card be the problem?

 

[Eric422]

The Win 10 was on there when you got it?

Full wipe and reinstall.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

I did a clean install of win10 and win 7 ....I rolled back the Bios too. I removed the hard drive (ssd) and ran linux from a thumb drive.....delay in each case.

 

[Colif]

its a laptop that came with vista on it, amazed it still works.

card could be problem, finding drivers that work with win 10 would be a problem

if it happens on 2 different OS, its a hardware problem.

 

[Eric422]

its a laptop that came with vista on it, amazed it still works.

card could be problem, finding drivers that work with win 10 would be a problem

if it happens on 2 different OS, its a hardware problem.

It was pretty peppy with win 10 and linux. The only drivers that I couldn't get were the ones to make the tablet work. There is a win 7 key in the battery compartment so it must have come with win 7.

 

[Colif]

oh, i just saw the other os mentioned in manual. I didn't read much from it. Looking for bios instructions but they were basic. How to get in, not what did what. That is normal for laptops though. Most users don't know what the BIOS is.

 

[USAFRet]

Replace the CMOS battery.

 

[Eric422]

Replace the CMOS battery.

I did replace the cmos battery