Yes, I have done all that because the instructions above relate to Dell 3640 when my desktop is 3460 and the layout is different. My recollection is that I have tried every USB port with a combination of bootable and non-bootable sticks but I will try again make sure it's Fat32 and bootable.

Again, you were directed to the online user manual, which tells you how to access the BIOS to change the boot order/device, and how to just change the boot device (again, from the manual you claim was 'thin', at 36 pages)
https://www.dell.com/support/manuals...05a&lang=en-us

Again, you were given a link to reset the UEFI BIOS:
https://www.isunshare.com/windows-pa...ios-setup.html

...which will allow you to do whatever you want. Not sure what the issue/problem is; that machine can (and does) boot from USB. Either follow the instructions/links you've been given or not, your choice.

rblampain,

Whilst Windows is still functioning, download both Rufus and the ISO file for Linux Mint MATE 21.1 (or whatever you wish to use):

https://rufus.ie/en/

https://linuxmint.com/download.php

Using Rufus, burn the ISO file to a USB flash drive (minimum 8GB), such as SanDisk Ultra.

Later, access the Boot Menu by tapping F12 repeatedly after switching on.

Select UEFI USB.

Install Linux Mint:
https://linuxmint-installation-guide....io/en/latest/

NB BEFORE doing the above, please note that Dell configures all Windows pre-loaded workstations, such as the Precision 3460, with Intel Rapid Storage (RST) Technology activated. This means that the system UEFI BIOS settings for SATA operation are set to Intel RST RAID as opposed to the more universally recognized Advance Host Controller Interface (AHCI).

See page 82, Table 6:
https://dl.dell.com/content/manual35...language=en-us


Apart from the usual recommendations to disable Secure Boot and turn off Fast Boot, you also need to go into the BIOS and change the BIOS SATA operation mode from RAID to AHCI:

Power on the system, press F2 repeatedly and click System Setup > Main Menu > System BIOS > SATA Settings > change from RAID to AHCI > Save & exit.

Disable Secure Boot:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...iew=windows-11

Turn off Fast Boot:
https://www.howtogeek.com/856514/how...on-windows-10/

This computer cost a good deal of money, so don't give it away, even if that is a very kind gesture.

With a little effort, I am sure that you can get it running Linux.

EDIT
I see from the thread below that you have removed the original Windows drive (drive 1). I suggest that you first replace it.
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...vd-4175718086/

1 members found this post helpful.

rblampain,

Alternatively, if you don’t wish to overwrite Windows on the original drive (#1), you could use the second drive formatted as dos and booted in Legacy mode (assuming that is still available on your 3460). Some computers only have UEFI boot these days.

In the BIOS (keep tapping F2 after switching on), you need to disable Secure Boot, set the SATA Operation to AHCI and the Boot Mode to Legacy.

Boot from a GParted USB drive:
https://gparted.org/download.php

Delete all (if any) existing partitions. Click Apply.

Click on Device > Create Partition Table > Select msdos > Click Apply.

Click on Partition → Create new Partition:

Primary > New size: 30000 MiB - File system: ext4

Click on Partition → Create new Partition:
Primary > New size: 2000 MiB - File system: linux-swap

Click on Partition → Create new Partition:
Primary > New size: Remainder of drive - File system: ext4

Click on Apply and wait for process to end.

Close GParted, shut down the computer, remove the GParted Live media.

Connect to internet and boot from Linux Mint installation media in Legacy (CSM) mode.

For Boot Menu, keep tapping the F12 key and then select the USB boot device.

Double click on Install Linux Mint.

When asked “What would you like to do?”, choose Something else > Continue.

Leave all the sizes the same. Select each partition:

Highlight the sda1 partition > click on Change > Primary partition > select Use as: root, Format the partition as ext 4 with root (/) as mount point > OK.

sda2 > Change > Primary, use as swap > OK.

sda3 > Change > Primary > use as /home > Format the partition as ext 4 > Select /home as mount point > OK.

Next, select sda and click on Install now.

1 members found this post helpful.

Suggestions made in Post 5 are for 3640 Dell and mine is 3460 (9 USB ports) and there seems to be enough difference between the 2 machines to make the info unsuitable. I have also found info from Dell taking a few pages to explain the purpose of their info which does not exist yet as they appear to rely on volunteers to fill that gap.
In other words, Dell anticipated problems for which they expected someone else to provide a solution. I have not read any manual from Dell on that specific subject but have "googled" the subject in so many ways that any of their manual should have popped up. The fact that there is something on the net does not mean that it is usefull and trying to contact them leads --> nowhere.

Accessing BIOs only allows to disable fastboot which makes no difference whatsoever. There is an option to add boot options but that option requires to submit a file and I have no idea what I am facing there which likely requires that I become at least acquainted with the basics of Windows.

In my frustration, I ended up turning power off many times at the power socket in the middle of Windows reloading itself with a CD holding Debian 9 in the CD drive thinking that it should do the same than trying a bootable USB.
To my surprise, in one of those power-down, the screen flashed a few times and the "Graphical Install" option (of the inserted CD) came up and allowed me to select the first option and proceed following my pressing "Enter", but then the screen flashed a few more times and went black. This could have been due to the fact that Debian 9 is not downloadable/netinst anymore as I only expected the OS to acknowledge the presence of the CD in the drive. Had I inserted a Debian 11 bootable distro in the DVD drive, I could have learned a bit more or possibly even succeeded at installing it.

I have tried to do the same power treatment with a properly bootable netinst DVD of Debian 11 in the drive but have had no repeat of that apparent success. That is Debian 11 with firmware because I was installing it through WIFI as I do not have a "proper" internet connection.
The fact that the DVD drive was able to read the options presented by the bootable Debian 9 ISO CD shows that there is a way to read and boot from CD/DVD and probably USB.

I still have to try bootable USB but as Mr Murphy said, that's the time my only Wifi modem gave up and installing a new one was not as straightforward as it was claimed to be (in .au).

I also have to replace two old machines and will try to build Debian 11 on a spare (new) SSD I have and then install it as drive no 2 in the Dell machine if that looks like one of the rare and possible solutions.

Then why did you start off by saying it was a 3460 (post #1)???
...except, again, for the users manual, which came with the machine:
https://dl.dell.com/content/manual35...language=en-us
Wrong, because (again) you can access the boot menu by pressing F12, which allows ANY boot device to be selected.
...and Debian 9 is a bit old, and may not work well/at all with newer hardware.
You're just not paying attention; F12 pulls up a boot menu. If you claim to have disabled fast-boot in UEFI following the Windows instructions, there is *NOTHING* preventing you from booting from whatever bootable device you have. Not sure of why you'd install from a slow DVD versus a USB stick either.

Debian 12 was released on the 12th June 2023:
https://www.debian.org/News/2023/20230610

Download from:
https://www.debian.org/CD/http-ftp/

1 members found this post helpful.

Thanks to TBOne for clarifying what PLOP is for, I won't try it.
My feeling is that despite the fact that I ordered a machine without RAID, Dell has set it up for RAID. I'll check that
I still have to try beachboy2's suggestions. The PC has 2 NVM SSD plugging directly into the MOBO and again, its Windows 11 is working as expected.

Hardware RAID doesn't matter, at all; if it's set up, it can have a bunch of drives, and they'll show up as one to the installer/OS. And since you've now changed the model number of the system, gone from external CD drive to a DVD drive, and now thrown in that you're trying to use NVMe drives, this changes suggestions. Providing correct details up front is a good thing. How does NVMe fit in to what you're trying to do here???

AGAIN:

• You were handed a link to the Dell manual that tells you specifically how to get into BIOS, which you claim you can't do.
• You can press F12 to access the boot menu; pick what you want from there, since any functional device will show up.
• Don't use old Debian, but new, since you have new hardware, right??

I have never, EVER, had problems booting from USB except for very old hardware. All of this points to a PEBCAK error.

I am amazed to see how my explanations could be misinterpreted but I think it is fruitless to engage in arguments about it since I draw happiness from any proposition that I could be an idiot which could be true since I cannot prove that I am not. As long as everybody contributing to these posts is also happy, everything is fine.

What I have found:
1) Trying a newly formatted USB stick FAT32 (a 1TB "external" SSD) and having "dd" Debian 11 on it and trying it in every USB slot did not succeed but, having found something else, I did not expect success.
2) Getting into BIOs (again) confirmed that the option to select booting from USB or CD does not exist but I did not expect it to work either.
3) It seems the problem is that (as suggested in one of the answers) RAID is activated with no option to deactivate it and the following description is what I found from the BIOS under "Storage":
Just in case it's necessary to mention, I know very little on the subject.
It appears to me that all storage devices including the USB slots and the DVD drive are under the RAID controller.
It also appear to me that the sequence of events is to install the "RST driver" under Windows and then boot Linux.
I know even less about Windows and had to "google" to find how to restart the PC without turning power off to try booting from each of 9 USB ports in an option that did not require power off at the power point.
So, if what I understand to be the solution is correct, I need clear instructions about how to install that driver and boot since I have no idea whatsoever but then, anybody else facing this same issue probably does too.

In the end, if the storage devices remains a RAID system, it's not that important.
It's also important to remember that the description mentioned above may be a free google translation and, consequently, may not perfectly describe the solution although it can not be wrong.

The post was initially about booting from an external drive but answers only came about other possibilities... which were welcome.
The post simply developed in the wrong place.

There is absolutely no boot option giving the opportunity to change RAID to AHCI, no UEFI USB option. I have investigated Google a bit more and found instructions on how to install Ubuntu - with some risk.
Loosing Windows does not worry me as long as I do not need it to reboot.
It seems that RST driver could be the roadblock.
It also appears that RST is itself useless in Linux and only used to allow small size SSD as a "cache".

Everything else failing, I will try to put one SSD (the only thing that looks standard in this machine) in another machine (which I still have to get), install Linux on it and see if that helps to get the Dell working.

...and yet you somehow don't consider the stick may have been made incorrectly, and your story changes *AGAIN* to now booting to a USB stick, when the subject of this thread was external CD drive, and you changed THAT to external DVD drive. And the model number of your system magically changed too from your first post to here. Remarkable that you had a thread last year (that you didn't follow up in) for a 3460 Dell (same as you started this thread with), that wouldn't boot from DVD:
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...vd-4175718086/
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ce-4175716688/

...look familiar??
...and you ignore the fact that pressing F12, that you've been told about MANY times, brings up a *DEDICATED BOOT MENU* allowing you to pick devices to boot from. Which goes back to "is the device you're trying to boot from ACTUALLY BOOTABLE AND MADE CORRECTLY????
No, most people would look at the manual and notice that F12 (mentioned many times) brings up not only the boot menu, but allows you to get into BIOS an disable RAID (page 82 of the manual you haven't read, bolded for emphasis):
https://dl.dell.com/content/manual35...language=en-us

QUOTE: "SATA Operation: Enable or disable the operating mode of the integrated SATA hard drive controller"

That means, you CAN disable it...and it's only available for SATA drives. You still don't tell us what components are in the machine in a clear manner, but mention things haphazardly. We somehow should figure out it's a CD/DVD/USB/NVMe/SATA/RAID/SOMETHING system, right??? So we can give you 'clear instructions'???
Why, what language do you need?? The Dell manuals are available in several.

This is much like your email threads (which were merged), where you have solutions and somehow they don't work.
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...er-4175717148/
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...4/#post6432601

You seem to just open new threads that are similar and don't follow up or take any advice. Why open them???

I would hope that TBOne would stop flooding the posts with his own criticisms and consider that I am not intellectually able to understand them although I think that I have checked them, found perhaps erroneously they did not solve my problem and said so.

I have found the BIOS option to change from RAID to AHCI does exist but it's called "SATA Status" which I saw, erroneously assumed to mean "enabled" or "disabled" but option nowhere to be found in the "36" page manual which shows all the parts very well.
Although it warns that Windows may not be able to reboot following its use, I have tried "SATA Status" and Windows quickly erases the changes I made but IS unable to reboot. I suppose I will have to reverse the "registry" change I made through BIOS following the solution given by Windows users but I am getting fed up wasting my time in this Dell brick.
There appears to be a specific Ubuntu distro that takes care of this particular problem but it's not a simple solution either.

The problem I have has a fair bit of coverage under Windows forums and the solution appears to be that a configuration in the Windows "registry" is necessary for the BIOS to boot in RAID mode that takes all storage devices but needs to be removed to make devices including DVD and USB visible to Linux.
The solution, which I still have to try, is given by Windows users who have tried to install a Linux distro for dual boot but as seen by experienced Windows users which I am not.

I will try that when I have a bit more time but, unless a better solution emerges, my real priority will be to take out one SSD card and install Linux on it from another machine before reinserting it in its Dell Mobo.

No, you didn't say so, and have changed your story several times:

• 3460? No...3640
• Boot from CD? No...DVD, then USB
• Can't get in to BIOS? Yes, but somehow can't change things (even though the BIOS and manual say you can)
• Describe your hardware? Nope; vague bits about NVMe/SATA/USB/whatever...don't actually tell us.
• Debian 9 (post #20)? Nope...now it's Debian 11

Can you *CLEARLY* tell us what drive(s) you have in your computer?? And you used dd??? When the Debian docs specifically TELL YOU how to do this?
https://www.debian.org/releases/stab...h04s03.en.html
https://www.debian.org/releases/stab...tml#bios-setup

Did you read THAT documentation?? Clear steps, clear language.
Wrong; page 82 of the manual (which you haven't read/understood).
If you bothered to tell us what kind of storage device(s) you're talking about, we may be able to help. What "SSD card" are you talking about??? But you don't, haven't followed up in your other two threads about the same/similar (who knows? You won't tell us) Dell machine from last year.

AGAIN: you don't need Windows to disable Windows fast-boot, which is the ONLY thing that would prevent things from working. If you truly don't understand what you're being told then stop asking, take your machine to someone who DOES know, and tell them what you want. No point in asking for help if you don't understand the answers.

rblampain,

The Dell Precision 3460 manual has 98 pages, not 36:
https://dl.dell.com/content/manual35...language=en-us

Forgetting about Legacy mode, surely this blooming desktop PC will boot in UEFI mode from a USB drive after SATA has been changed to AHCI and other mods (disabling Secure Boot and Fast Boot) have been carried out, as per post #18?