up dating BIOS to boot from USB

[itachis.eyes]

so i inherited an old sony VAIO PCV-RX260DS from a friend...now im not a big fan of sony when it comes to things i want to customize because they tend to remind me of apple, XD

anyhow its older and obviously doesn't support booting from jump drive so i asked sony via email if they could help me out...apperently they didn't want to answer me and said "sony does not support booting" ...moving on. is there even such a thing as third party BIOS...if so enlighten me. can i get my BIOS up to date and have it allow me to boot from my USB jump drive (i love knoppix on a stick, XD)

i'm new to BIOS up dating...but hey we all have to start somewhere (just a heads up)

btw i ran a BIOS test and this is what i got, just in case it helps you help me

BIOS CAPABILITIES TEST REPORT

===============================

Generated by: BIOS Wizard 2.10

Date: June 16, 2009

Time: 21:10

PnP Version : BIOS currently supports latest version 1.0

PCI Version : BIOS currently supports latest version 2.1

PCI IRQ Routing Table : BIOS currently supports this feature

Enhanced Disk Drive

Specification : BIOS currently supports this feature

DMI Version : BIOS currently supports latest version 2.3

ACPI Version : BIOS currently supports latest version 1.0

APM Version : BIOS currently supports latest version 1.2

Booting From CD-ROM : BIOS currently supports this feature

Supports ESCD : BIOS currently supports this feature

Can be Updated (flashed) : BIOS currently supports this feature

Can be Shadowed : BIOS currently supports this feature

BIOS Chip in Socket : BIOS currently supports this feature

Supports Selective Booting : BIOS currently supports this feature

Supports LS-120 Booting : BIOS doesn't support this feature

Supports ZIP Booting : BIOS doesn't support this feature

Supports Network Booting : BIOS currently supports this feature

BIOS Manufacturer : Award Modular BIOS v6.0

BIOS ID : 08/17/2000-i810-CUW-AV

BIOS Date : 08/17/00

BIOS OEM Signon : ACPI BIOS Revision 1001

BIOS ROM Size : 512K

Chipset : Intel Whitney 82810E rev 3

Super I/O Chip : Winbond 83627F/HF found at port 2Eh

[DigeratiPrime]

Well what are you trying to boot off the USB drive?

Does your BIOS detect your USB drive?

You probably just need to format the drive with the correct boot sector, and if you can point the BIOS to it, then it should boot.

[edit] I modified the topic title to add "to boot from USB".

[Ponch]

BIOS ID : 08/17/2000-i810-CUW-AV

BIOS Date : 08/17/00

I've seen computers booting from USB starting 2004, I'd be surprised if that one does. Bios updates usually don't appear more than 2 years after the PC is out.

You could try "Plop boot manager" on a cd but I don't think it'll work.

[itachis.eyes]

Well what are you trying to boot off the USB drive?

Does your BIOS detect your USB drive?

You probably just need to format the drive with the correct boot sector, and if you can point the BIOS to it, then it should boot.

[edit] I modified the topic title to add "to boot from USB".

well i'm booting knoppix from my jump drive, the USB is boot able, i've been using it on my laptop and other computers and it works fine

and no the BIOS doesn't detect USB

i just thought since the BIOS was close enough to the date when USB was introduced as a booting option they might have had and up date to include that kind of booting

[itachis.eyes]

BIOS ID : 08/17/2000-i810-CUW-AV

BIOS Date : 08/17/00

I've seen computers booting from USB starting 2004, I'd be surprised if that one does. Bios updates usually don't appear more than 2 years after the PC is out.

You could try "Plop boot manager" on a cd but I don't think it'll work.

XD yeah i though it might be an imposable venture.

but i'll check out plop boot manager...it sounds like a good tool to have in the arsenal even if it doesn't work for this