I removed Windows 11 and installed Nobara successfully, but my Lenovo laptop now refuses to boot when my USB mouse receiver and laptop cooler are connected. It gets stuck before showing the Lenovo logo or the GRUB menu. If I unplug both USB devices, it starts normally. Oddly, leaving only the USB installer drive connected also allows it to boot. Everything works fine once Nobara is running, so I'm wondering whether this is caused by the BIOS boot order, UEFI settings, or some other USB-related boot issue.
2 Answers
This sounds like the firmware is trying to treat one of the connected USB devices as a boot target, or it is getting confused while checking the USB ports. Enter the BIOS/UEFI settings and confirm that the internal drive’s Nobara boot entry is above USB storage in the boot order. Also check whether there is a setting such as USB boot, boot from external devices, or legacy/CSM mode that can be disabled or adjusted.
The fact that the installer stick makes the laptop boot points even more strongly toward a firmware boot-order or device-detection issue. The BIOS may be checking the mouse receiver or cooler first and failing instead of falling back to the internal drive. Reset the boot order to defaults, then place the internal SSD or its Linux UEFI entry first. If that does not help, try a BIOS update and test each USB device separately to identify whether one particular device triggers the problem.
A USB device does not always appear as an obvious “USB boot” entry in the BIOS. Look for the internal drive’s UEFI or Nobara/GRUB entry specifically, save the changes, and test again with the receiver and cooler connected.