Unsolved
1 Rookie
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2 Posts
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33255
September 14th, 2020 13:00
how I SOLVED: "selected boot device failed" message displayed by supportassist usb drive created by os recovery tool
I wanted to wipe then reinstall as new a dell E5470
I went to the support site on downloads and all I was offered instead of regular ISO windows file is Dell OS Recovery tool. There are some direct ISO links as well when I browse from a Linux or a Mac but I wanted to go with the recommended option.
The usb key creation finished on an empty brand new kingston 32GB model (on a second E5470) but when attempting to boot it I am shown the VGA mode text only screen with message "Selected boot device failed".
No matter how I tried - legacy bios, uefi secure boot disable, uefi with secure boot - the same message would appear.
I also had a second usb flashdrive loaded with bootable tools which always booted. Luckly the drive was made with "easy2boot" utility which contains an uefi loader called a1ive afgm which in turn was basically a tweaked version of the well known grub boot loader.
I booted one last try with both flash drives connected, selected the bootable one, and from agfm I was able to browse up the menu tree until I was presented with choosing the flash drives to select to boot. Then I selected the flashdrive containing the supportassist files made by Os recovery, and surprise, it booted.
So dear Dell you might want to check your os recovery tool as it creates a broken unbootable key!
I hope this helps anyone trying to do the same...



ml35
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2 Posts
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September 14th, 2020 13:00
oh and the cool thing I noticed, the resulting supportassist usb drive included my wifi ssid and password so it automatically joined my wifi.
GreekGodofDATA
1 Message
0
November 3rd, 2020 21:00
I cant agree less. I spent 5 whole days, stayed up late at nights trying to follow the instructions, but nothing would work, and here is the exact reason why - dells boot devices are bugged. i thought that buying a fancy computer with a couple of extra sized screen monitors would make my life easier. Apparently, I had to learn to become a TI expert to get this expensive computer working because it isn`t the luxury in my life I thought it would have been. I honestly don`t know how I got things right, how I endend up fixing it all up, but I definitely know that I`ve tried so many things right, andnone of them worked...
Kam090
1 Message
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February 1st, 2021 08:00
Thanks, this did work for me but it was a bit confusing to follow, in any case I figured it out! Anyone else needing help with this download Easy2Boot and install to another USB drive and you will be able to boot to it and use the tools to load the other drive from there. I can remember the steps exactly but I just poked around a bit and it wasn't hard once you get that far.
But yeah Dell, you need to get on this. The bootable repair drives should be able to boot, most people won't be able to figure this out.
simogere
1 Message
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February 10th, 2021 08:00
Hi @ml35 can you please explain all the process step by step please?
Thanks in advance, Simone.
drmbayram
6 Posts
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April 24th, 2021 15:00
Kazz2000
2 Posts
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May 31st, 2023 20:00
This worked for me, but I'm not sure how...
I Downloaded Easy2Boot and set it up boot to a USB stick
I then booted the Dell to this and checked out the various options but I didn't know what I was doing
I restarted and tried picking the Dell Recovery USB but got the same error
I restarted several times, and then there was a different USB drive option in the boot menu
I selected this and it booted to the Recovery USB
I now have Windows 10 on my new internal SSD 🤷🏻
IUNGO
1 Rookie
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2 Posts
1
September 21st, 2023 14:12
ok, not sure what I've done exactly, because I have done too many trials, but more or less:
- created an easy2boot usb drive
- inserted both usb drive on DELL notebook
- enter the bios and
-- security - ptt security - uncheck PTT On
-- secure boot - uncheck "secure boot enabled"
-- general - advanced boot options - check "Enable legacy boot roms"
- booted from E2B (use F12 key)
- select "Enable UEFI-Booting from partition2"
- restart the notebook, use F12 and select "UEFI: SOMETHING partition 2" (SOMETHING is the PENDRIVE HW NAME)
- select the "alive grub2 file manager"
- select the "WINDOWS INSTALL" option
- walk up to the disks list and choose the DELLRESTORE
- go to efi - Boot - bootx64.efi
- DELL OS Recovery should START
- Complete the recovery, restart when asked (before remove ALL PENDRIVES), enter the BIOS and restore to the previous values
- Now Windows should load to complete the first installation
Edwin Jacobs
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2 Posts
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September 28th, 2024 14:51
OMG, so 4 years later and this issue still in't fixed !?
DELL , this is a joke or what?
First I had to order a new usb flashdrive, because your tool says that I need at least a 16GB model...
Then when the bootable pendrive is ready, I see it is formated to 2GB (fat32) and has 1.08 GB free !?
To top it off , when I try to boot my dell laptop from this expensive 2GB pendrive , I get:
"selected boot device failed"
Go figure...
Edwin Jacobs
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2 Posts
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September 28th, 2024 15:49
never mind, I had selected the option to create the bootable drive without the windows install image...
So a user error , not Dell's error. My apologies.
TechA1
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1 Message
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December 28th, 2024 00:34
This is still an issue. I had a hard drive fail on a Inspiron 15 3000. Replaced drive, downloaded Dell OS Recovery tool and created the image on a fresh Sandisk 64gb drive. Luckily I picked up a 2nd 64gb drive today while at the store - because I definitely needed it so I could install easy2boot software. @DellSupport you should really look at why your boot Dell OS Recovery boot media fails for your customers... Anyone reading this... follow IUNGO's steps above. And don't be scared when the easy2boot is creating the bootable image on your flash drive. Whoever wrote that program truly knows what they are doing. Fair warning though the easy2boot will ask you which drive NUMBER to erase and install to. I only knew what drive LETTER my usb disk was called. To find out what drive number (in windows 10) click START then type Disk Management ("Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions"). At the bottom of the dialogue window it will show you a list of your drives with corresponding drive number. Exame Disk 0 Disk 1 Disk 2, etc.. THANK YOU ML35 from almost 5 years ago for this post. I can't believe this is still an issue. Cheers
hexhamhoyden
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10 Posts
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April 13th, 2025 00:22
Dell XPS 13 9630. I followed IUNGO's and TechA1's steps, although with two changes.
1. There was no PTT option in the BIOS so I ignored it.
2. Choosing afgm didn't work further down the line so I tried again and used Ventoy. It worked first time.
It's complicated, there's no getting around it, and took ages. But it does work.