Asus P8Z77 can't boot consistantly from USB

[rikketyrik]

I have an Asus P8Z77-V with an Intel 3770 i7 CPU and a Gigabyte\ati 7870 Graphics card. Latest Bios on the motherboard. I'm using GED's guide for installation and configurations: http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...deluxe-16gb-2400mhz-ram-ga-radeon-hd6870.html

I am having an issue with an installation of 10.8. I've built the USB stick with the guides here. I can get it to boot off the USB drive the first time I try (with no options -v -x etc). I can do a fully functional install. However, while I'm troubleshooting or trying to do a reinstallation I can no longer boot off the USB stick.

If I wipe the drive, I'm able to boot off the stick again (no other changes), but once it's installed I can't boot off the USB drive. I am unable to boot off my hard drive once the OS is installed, however, that may be to misconfig with MultiBeast. Those issues will be meant for other threads.

My biggest concern is that I can't boot off the USB stick after the OS is installed. The drive is partitioned with GUID not MBR.

Any thoughts?

 

[peeturr]

After a clean install and running MultiBeast to install your kext/patches, reboot with -v flag only. Look at the log and see what the last messages are in your boot sequence. That will help to see if a kernel panic is stopping your system from booting, or if it is a whole other issue. If it's a kext problem, you can easily see what is causing it to not boot and remove/patch it. Another tip is to make sure you install with the USB plugged into the back of the motherboard, and not to the case peripherals. That will often cause boot issues.

Edit: Also make sure you don't have another USB storage device attached during boot, other than the one with the bootloader/install application.

 

[rikketyrik]

That all makes sense...but the issue is if I want to boot off of the USB to do a reinstall, or run some utilities from the USB\Image (Terminal, disk utilities, etc) I can't.....same ports as when I did the original install successfully. Is there some mechanism that is confusing the boot sequence? It almost seems as if it is trying to boot off the HD even if I select the USB stick.

 

[peeturr]

If you haven't already, try pressing the DEL key when your computer first powers on to go into BIOS. Then, manually select the USB drive from BOOT OPTIONS.

 

[rikketyrik]

Turns out the problem is my video card is not compatible. I have a 7870 from AMD\Gigabyte. I was able to get things stabilized when I actually pulled the card from my system. However, once I put it back in the problems returned even though I was using the onboard video. Learned a few lessons. I will try again "IF" there is any support for that video card.

I did get the system built, but would hit a black screen when I booted with the onboard video chip. I believe it's an Intel 4000.