I've been unable to install Arch on my system so far, would like help.

Question

My laptop is a Toshiba Satellite L755D-S5164 and try as I might, I simply cannot get the Linux on here. Here's the specs:
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.110622-1506)
System Manufacturer: TOSHIBA
       System Model: Satellite L755D
               BIOS: InsydeH2O Version CCB.03.61.111.50
          Processor: AMD A6-3420M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics (4 CPUs), ~1.5GHz
             Memory: 6144MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 5606MB RAM
I'm trying this with a USB drive because I've had success with this method in the past, except now.  I've tried using Image Writer, Live Linux USB Creator, Universal USB Installer, UNetBootin, and booting the .iso from RAM to create the USB drive, formatting to FAT32 each time.  None of that has worked.  When I enter the boot menu, this is what I get: http://i.imgur.com/gvzRS.jpg. SanDisk is my USB drive, but it shows up as connected to a floppy disk drive, which my computer does not have.  When I select the FDD option, it loops back the screen where I can select the boot menu or the BIOS menu.  When I select the USB option, which should work, the computer just boots Windows.  I've tried the same methods with Debian, with the same results.  The BIOS is up to date.  Does this mean my computer is forever screwed out of running alternate operating systems?  Help, Linux is so fun.

Answer 1

/dev/zero wrote:Have you tested whether other computers will boot off your USB? Until you do a bit of logical troubleshooting, it's a bit premature to blame your hardware. I wouldn't mind betting that you haven't set up the USB correctly. In particular, it seems a bit odd to me that you would specify FAT32.
Yes, I've tried it on an HP laptop and got to the starting point of installation just fine.  I mentioned the format type because I figured someone would ask me if I had formatted the drive as FAT32.  Figured I'd just cover my bases.
a7 wrote:
picklemaster246 wrote:Does this mean my computer is forever screwed out of running alternate operating systems?  Help, Linux is so fun.
Not at all, just got to work out the kinks.  Have you tried explicitly specifying the boot device with a "Select boot from device" option generally mentioned at boot?
Just to be sure.  When you say USB drive do you mean a USB memory stick or a USB drive enclosure?  Also there are some BIOS that will reset the preferred boot order when a USB device has been removed/inserted prior to boot (compared to the previous boot) so keep that in mind as well.
If you select your boot medium but Windows ends up loading this means the BIOS failed to see where to pass control to on that device specified.  So double check your are actually writing a Master Boot Record (MBR) to the USB device.  The BIOS really isn't all that concerned with what you can or cannot do so long as it finds the next device to take over.
Yep.  In fact, if I rearrange the boot order as:
1. USB
2. FDD
3. HDD
I get stuck in a loop that goes from the "hit F2 to enter setup, F9 to change boot order, etc." screen to a black screen, and then repeats.  I'm talking about a USB flash stick here.  How would I write this MBR to the drive?