Can't boot from USB - Debian only

Tearing my hair out over this one...

I'm trying to install a clean Debian on my dual-boot PC and failing.  Burn USB, open bios, and select the USB in 'boot override.'

When I select the USB drive, nothing happens when I press enter.  The PC blinks and returns to the boot-override bios screen.  No error message, but PC does not recognize the USB as bootable.

Changing the boot order to make USB first also fails - USB gets ignored and it boots to grub.

When I do the exact same process with Mint (19, 21) and MX21 there are no problems.  Burn a USB with Rufus and it boots from USB fine. OS loads or installs with no issues.

I've D/L'd every version of Debian (10, 11, 12, non-free, net install, etc.) I can find and burned bootable USB using Rufus.  Tried MBR, GPT, every option in Rufus to see if something works.  No joy.

Secure boot is off, fast boot is off.

What is different about Debian from Mint and MX that makes my PC hate it?

Not sure what the problem is but your mention of options in Rufus (which I've never used) makes me a bit suspicious. Whatever program you use shouldn't have any options for the writing, it should just write the image byte-by-byte to the stick without touching anything. (Make sure you write the image directly to the device and not to some already-existing partition on the device.)

Rufus is the Win program identified in the Debian Install wiki as the preferred method of creating a bootable USB.

(from Debian wiki)
To create a bootable USB drive from Microsoft Windows or Mac OS a usable choice is  Rufus .

The wiki mentions ISO and DD mode - I've tried both.  Multiple USB drives, tried all USB ports.  Same result...

Thanks Tommy.  I'll try that soon as I get home and report back.

No dice - same behavior.  I can see the USB stick in bios and can select it for boot override - but nothing happens.  Press enter, screen blinks, and it's on the same bios page.

I ran Balena Etcher but didn't see an option for md5sum... is this something in Etcher, or do I have to do it elsewhere?  (on a Win PC)

Thanks.  I can't figure out the MD5 thing, but I downloaded the iso(s) from the debian site.

I'll try again with the full ISO and not the net version.
 

Good idea.  I've got Mint running on it now, maybe I'll try downloading it on the target machine.

Just doesn't make sense since Mint and MX work fine.  It's like Debian is missing some function/feature/file that my PC requires.

EDIT - no dice.  I'm stumped.