Intel NUC (Skylake and Broadwell)
WARNING: These are directions to configure a NUC machine to load and boot an experimental, in-development OS.
NUC Setup & Configuration
These instructions configure the NUC machine to boot from a USB flash drive. This is a necessary step for network boot, where the bootloader on your USB drive pulls your freshly-built OS across the network, from host machine to NUC.
- Install memory (and optional SSD)
- Remove four bottom plate screws and bottom plate
- Install memory in the DIMM slot(s)
- (Optional) Install SSD in M.2 slot (SATA support only; NVMe lacks a driver)
- Boot the machine into Visual BIOS
- Reinstall the bottom plate, attach power, and start the machine
- Press F2 during startup to enter Visual BIOS setup
- Mouse will be required, due to the wonders of Visual BIOS
- Disable BIOS updates from internet (setting may not be present in newer NUCs)
- Select the Wrench menu (upper right), then Visual Bios Settings
- Deselect Internet Updates
- Verify that your memory (and SSD) are correctly installed and detected
- Select Advanced settings, then Main section
- Right-side Memory Information pane shoudl list your memory
- Switch to Devices section
- Select PCI tab, verify that M.2 Slot is enabled
- Select SATA tab, verify that Chipset SATA is enabled
- Both tabs (PCI and SATA) should show your SSD
- Disable USB legacy and legacy boot
- Still in Devices section, select USB tab
- Deselect USB Legacy support
- In Boot section, select Priority tab
- Deselect Legacy Boot (in right-side Legacy Boot Priority pane)
- Configure boot ordering
- Select Boot Configuration tab
- Enable Boot USB Devices First, Boot Network Devices Last, and Unlimited Boot to Network Attempts
- Network Boot (bottom left pane) should display UEFI PXE & iSCSI. Note: DO NOT disable netbooting here or netbooting from Gigaboot and Zedboot may not work.
- Save BIOS changes
- Press F10 (or click the top right (x) button) to Save and Exit, Y to confirm
- Device will automatically reboot and begin looking for a USB or network boot
- Power down the NUC
- Continue to Bootloader setup with USB flash drive
Important: network booting only works with the NUC's built-in ethernet
Net-boot via USB-ethernet dongle is unsupported