Boot from USB not showing up, cant install ubuntu

So, I want to install Ubuntu on my new laptop, and it does not let me boot from usb, its not in the options. All I get is Hard drive and cdrom. I went into the bios options, and enabled every device that it let me. I got 2 extra boot options, network adapter and floppy usb. I select the floppy Usb, and it goes to a screen that says something along the lines of "SYSLINUX 4.03 2010-10-22 EDD Copyright (c) 1994-2010, H. Peter Anvin et al" (that was copied from another site, im not sure if the numbers are the same for what I get, but the words and structure are the same). It stays at that sentence, and does nothing. My laptop is a dv6-6128ca, so if you google it any needed specs can be found, but if anyone asks ill post them anyway. Can anyone help me fix this problem? any help is appreciated.

 

When it is booting up, try looking for 'boot menu' options (disabling the splash screen, if you can, might show it up). Otherwise try holding "Esc" or "F12" during startup, they are the keys that are usually mapped to the boot menu.

SYSLINUX is a boot manager that is often used for usb boots, so something must be happening. Have you tried reflashing the usb stick?

 

why not just boot an ubuntu cd, and install it from that?

 

keeperofdakeys: I have gone there. Thats where boot from USB should be, but its not. Also, the USB works perfectly on my other laptop, so the USB is not the problem.

S.Prime: I would rather fix the problem than avoid it.

Edit: I'm going to update the bios, and see if that helps. my version is f.20, but there is f.21. Ill see if that fixes it when i get home.

 

I once had an issue with a particular USB thumbdrive running Unetbootin that wasn't recognized as a bootable. Had the same issue on multiple PCs, so I assumed that there was a problem with drive itself, and after multiple formats, with multiple programs in both Windows and Linux, nothing seemed to work.

I solved the issue by reformatting to FAT32 with this very old fashioned HP reformatting tool:

Download HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool 2.2.3 Free - Windows-based Format Utility for HP Drive Key or DiskOnKey USB Device - Softpedia

Not sure what the problem was, or why this very old, very simple HP program did the trick?

 

@SemiExpert, I've seen that problem too. sometimes unetbootin just wouldn't work on certain computers for me.

@MetaParadox, what program did you use to make your USB? If you used unetbootin, i would suggest trying linuxliveusb. It has rarely failed me, and with ubutnu you can run it with persistence.

 

So I did the BIOS update, and I tried the linuxliveusb, neither worked. I still cant boot from usb.

Here's the menu that i get, and the message

 

Did you try another USB thumbdrive or reformat the current thumbdrive with the suggested program?

 

wow that program worked! I have no clue how. thank you very much!

 

Hey, thanks a lot! I had the same problem, and this HP Format tool solved it!

Funny how I still get this stupid bug with the newest computer, latest windows version and usb stick, and this old freeware tool beats them all.

 

I've had this problem years ago, couldn't boot from a flash drive larger than 2GB. Formatting a 16GB drive to 2GB is such a waste....