So, my brand new NUC arrived today but unfortunately, once again I'm frustrated. Below are the steps I've taken so far. Any help on what to do next would be welcome.
0) I installed the RAM: Crucial CT51264BF160BJ (4 GB RAM, from the supported list) and plugged in a generic USB mouse and Microsoft Comfort Curve USB keyboard.
1) I tried booting up with a Windows 8.1 64-bit bootable USB drive. This doesn't work, the NUC says there's no bootable media.
2) I tried booting with an OpenElec bootable USB drive. Same error, no bootable media.
3) I tried getting into the BIOS by pressing F2 at startup. Doesn't work, the presses are not registered.
4) I tried the 'emergency boot' by pressing the power button for 3 seconds. Hurrah, this is the first thing that works! I press F2 to enter the BIOS, and on this screen, the keyboard does work.
5) So, I can enter the BIOS (which I didn't manage even once with the previous NUC, so I was happy for a few moments). It's still on BIOS 0015, even though the unit was produced on March 27th 2014. Strangely, while the keyboard worked for getting into the BIOS, within the BIOS only the mouse works, the keyboard doesn't work, no presses are registered.
6) I read about issues using UEFI in BIOS 0015, so I selected legacy boot. Then I tried booting from the Windows 8.1 USB drive again. This time it does boot, I see the first blue Windows logo, but after a few seconds I get the message that my computer has run into a problem and needs to reboot. This then becomes a boot loop, with the same Windows error screen every time.
7) I switched off the NUC, and then tried booting with the OpenElec bootable USB drive. This leads to another boot loop, this time without any information on the screen.
8) I went back to the BIOS (still can only access the BIOS using the emergency boot, though) and tried to update the BIOS. As Sylvia has recommended not updating immediately to the newest version, I downloaded version 0021, put it on a third USB drive and tried to update through the update function in the BIOS. I can select the file, followed by the 'confirm BIOS Update' screen, asking me 'Do you wish to update to BIOS version FYBYT10H.86A.0021.2014.0116.1801 now?'. If I press 'yes', I see the button being 'pressed down', but at that point the NUC freezes. Mouse doesn't move anymore, NUC doesn't do anything. I hoped it was updating the BIOS in the background, so I left it like that for a while, but after an hour I realized it was just stuck. I switched off the NUC again.
9) I tried the BIOS update to version 0021 again with a newly downloaded file and a different USB drive, but the same thing happens. I then tried versions 0025 and 0028, same thing happens. Finally, I tried version 0032, the newest one. With this version, when pressing 'yes', the screen immediately went black, so I thought it was working. However, it wasn't - the NUC had just shut down. After restarting, it turns out I was still on 0015.
10) Well, updating the BIOS through the BIOS interface doesn't work, so I decided to try the F7 method. However, just like in the BIOS, in the F7 Update screen, my keyboard doesn't work. It does work when I press F7 in the emergency boot menu, but it doesn't work on the F7 Update screen. This screen is keyboard only, no mouse input possible, so I can't press enter to start the update.
11) One last way to update the BIOS: remove the jumper (which this time was included, luckily). Unfortunately, this doesn't work either. When booting with the USB drive containing the .BIO-file inserted, the screen stays black and the NUC doesn't seem to do anything, won't even shut down normally. When booting without the USB drive inserted, I get the familiar screen saying the security jumper was removed, press 1 or 2.
I'm out of ideas now. I was very happy when I at least managed to get into the BIOS, but even so I have no luck either booting to an OS or updating the BIOS. What am I doing wrong??
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