I pluged in a few different flash drives in my x40 and none of them work. I can plug them into different PC's and they would work. I also tryed my Ipod with a USB cord, but it works just fine. It is very strange my X40 doesn't even know anything is pluged in at all. I have tryed un-installing the drivers and re-installing, however it does nothing. I updated drivers and still nothing.

What I am trying to do is create a bootable disk so I can install linux, but I need a flash drive to boot from since the x40 doesn't have a disk tray.

Please help =(

Edit~

System Info

OS: Windows XP Professional ver. 2002; Service pack 3
Processor: 1.40GHz
Memory: 251Mhz 760mb RAM, 40GB HDD

I have heard of issues regarding the USB ports on the X40 but have never had them myself.

Plug in the key, press F12 when booting and see if it shows up in the bootable drive list (even if it's not bootable, it will still show up).

If the key doesn't show up, then you may have an issue with the ports where they aren't supplying power I think it was. Sorry that I can't remember what the exact issues were.

It's very weird an iPod works, but it might be because the iPod's internal battery is powering it up. See if the iPod charges or not when on USB.

Few things to try, hopefully I can help a little more.

The Ipod charges fine.

Is it possible to connect a cd drive to my x40 so I can run the installer from a disk?

Maybe you could give DriveCleanup a try...

http://www.uwe-sieber.de/drivetools_e.html

Cheers.

Did you try booting the computer up with the drive plugged in and pressing F12 to get the boot menu?

Trying to narrow down if it's hardware or software related.

I did that. It doesn't show that anything is there. The computer completely ignores it.

At boot time, press F1 and check in the BIOS that USB is enabled.
Once it is, you should be able to boot from an external USB drive, such as this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-External-CD ... 0705429632

There's two ways to connect a CD or DVD drive... You can connect it via the USB port or you can pair the X40 to an X4 Ultrabase.

I'm getting the ultra base ill see how that works.

They are plentiful on eBay. Just don't spend more than $20 or so for one. Suggested search string: (ibm,thinkpad) x4 (ultrabase,base)

Also, make sure it comes with a working key or is definitely "unlocked".

I just spend 37$ on one from amazon, and the man mentioned nothing about a key.

The key is used to lock the laptop to the base (for security reasons). As long as the key code label is still on the base, you can order a replacement key: http://www.itxchange.com/products/docking-station-keys If the key is not supplied and the lock is in the unlocked position, then you'll still be able to install and remove the Ultrabase without any problems.