Make use of rear USB Port instead of onboard motherboard port for ESXi?

[Socrates]

My ESXi install is busted after 3 years of run. I guess the USB flash drive crapped out after its lifecycle has ended. I am using a X10 line of Supermicro mother to be exact this one X10DRi

I have the USB plugged into the motherboard, and right now to replace it i will have to pull apart the entire rack, and few servers on top of it, i do not have the server on a rail. In short it will be kind of hard for me to get to the motherboard. Is there any way i can use the external USB port in the rear instead of the onboard usb port for the ESXi install media? I have tried plugging a new usb drive to the rear port with a freshly installed exsi on it, and wont read it from there, instead tries to boot from the corrupt on-board usb media.

Can i disable the onboard USB port and force the external/real usb port to use the bootup process? Can this be done in BIOS?

 

[Netwerkz101]

You should be able to have multiple USB drives installed and select the one you wish to boot from.
Yes...should be selectable in BIOS.
To make identification easier .. maybe use a different brand drive in the external USB port.

 

[Rand__]

You usually can create a boot order in Bios to have it boot your desired device, sometimes its a bit hidden or a two phase approach (ie select USB as primary device first, then order USB devices as desired)

 

[Socrates]

Thank you guys for your tips. I was able to disable the onboard USB drive and prioritze the rear(external) usb drive to be the first boot device.. this fixes my issue. thank you again.