Boot Lenovo ThinkPad x240 using Micro SD Card

[cttan]

I was trying to boot a Lenovo ThinkPad x240 laptop using a micro SD card. But it failed to be detected in the boot devices selection option.

It would be extremely useful if this is possible as the laptop only has 2 USB ports. The SD card also is flush in and would become not visible and I would not need to plug in and plug out the USB thumb drive.

I have called the Lenovo hotline and the reply is Lenovo laptop cannot be booted up using the micro SD slot.

[beny]

but if you have a card reader single slot via usb you can boot it ,the microsd is the new sdxc? single sd or microsd slot because in bios every slot is like a device and isn't good for booting

[cttan]

Hi beny,

I do not want to boot from USB. The Lenovo x240 only has 2 USB ports.
If I boot it from USB, the other port I use to connect a mouse. So I am not able to connect my external hardisk.

[beny]

maybe an usb hub can do the task? or i have seen a pcmcia usb hub,if thinkpad have one pcmcia slot......

[brokenman]

Whether you can boot from the device will come down to the hardware/bios relationship. It will depend what bus the card is attached to and then on if the bios supports booting from that. You may be able to boot strap it from some other media first but I don't think this is what you are after. Check out the Lenovo forums because without a doubt many people have asked or attempted this.

[fanthom]

if booting from SD card is not an option (BIOS limitation) then i see only two solutions for not occupying the USB port:
a) install Porteus on the hd alongside other OS (but then SD card is useless)
b) boot Porteus with copy2ram and remove usb hub after boot (bit of hassle)
both are not perfect ...

[tome]

another option is to add new entry to hd bootloader - boot from sd card or launch Porteus from sd card

[beny]

hi, as cttan say thinkpad sd slot don't have communication with bios so it is only for data transfer,only the usb can make the difference.. i have read that thinkpad have the express card slot maybe i think you can connect all you want,or i am wrong?

[cttan]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the suggestions given.

[cttan]

Thanks brokenman,

I have tried bootstrap from a USB drive with only boot folder. I just copy the boot folder and left out the porteus folder during creation.

The new USB drive is able to boot the micro SD card without problem. When the system is running I can unplug the USB drive and plug in other devices.

Cheers!

[brokenman]

Great. I use this technique on my wife's machine. The only way to boot Porteus is with the USB drive (it acts as a security key which loads Porteus from the HD) so that she doesn't find herself accidentally booting into linux.

[katerwhite]

if you want to boot Lenovo from a SD card, you need to enter bios of Lenovo, then in bios, go to boot mode to change its boot priority.

[cttan]

Hi katerwhite,

Thank you for the suggestion but as it's title implied it is to boot from the USB.
Set BIOS to Boot from the USB Flash Drive