Dell appliance unable to find SA USB Buildstick in order to boot from it

Issue

Attempting to reboot the SA Dell appliance with the RSA SA buildstick USB, and the bios boot options doesn't show the USB as a bootable device.

Have followed RSA Knowlegebase article to create and use a SA Buildstick .

Hint: when using a USB stick make sure it is read by the computer as a Removable disk not as hard disk.

When trying to create RSA SA buildstick USB using the UNetbootin program, no USB is found, even though the USB is connected to the PC and is assigned a drive letter.

Cause

There are several USB vendors making USB drives that support Microsoft's Windows to Go concept.

Newer USB flash drives, that have been built to be compatible with the Microsoft's Windows to Go feature of Windows 8, have to be set as Fixed drives rather than Removable disk.

This feature cannot be disabled.

Workaround

Check the SA Buildstick USB by inserting it into a Windows PC.

Open Windows Disk Management, diskmgmt.msc



When the USB is discovered confirm it shows with status of "Removable".  In this case the USB can be made to be bootable.
If instead the USB shows as a Basic or Dynamic disk, this USB cannot be made to be bootable.

Note: The UNetbootin program, will not detect a USB, even though the USB is connected to the PC and is assigned a drive letter, when it is a non-bootable USB.

Check with the vendor of the USB you are using to make sure the USB can be bootable.
If necessary use a different bootable USB brand.

Product Details

NetWitness

Summary

Dell appliance can't find SA USB Buildstick in order to boot from it

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