No Bootable Device Screen; Tried Everything

So I have scoured this forum and many others online trying to find a solution before posting this, but since nothing has worked I am officially stumped and desparate now. I also apologize if this is in the wrong section, I wasn't sure whether to put this in the Imac support or here in the bootcamp support.

I attempted to install Windows 8.1 via bootcamp from a USB stick on my late 2011 Imac 27". I have read multiple times online that Imacs with super drives are unable to recognize bootable USB drives, and I hope I haven't screwed myself over in that sense.

Now for the steps I took:

-Editted my info.plist file so I had th "USB install" check option in bootcamp

-Correctly formatted drive and placed windows 8.1 onto said 8gb USB without any issues that I was aware of.

-Partitioned my hardrive and created a 60gb partition for windows.

-Began the install process from within bootcamp, which lead to the inevidable restart of my Imac.

It has since then brought me to the black screen displaying "No Bootable Device -- blah blah press any key to continue"; it never even began the windows installation, and now no matter what command I try, it seems to override it and bring me to that screen.

-I have used a wired windows keyboard

-I have tried my wireless alum apple keyboard that came with the Imac

Commands I have used:

-Option(alt) key

-X

-C

-D

-N

-Command-S

-Command-Option-R

-Command-Option-P-R

I have disconnected and re-connected my wired keyboard, and tried different ports.

I have also created a bootable Maverick USB and tried to force it to boot from that but still no luck.

Am I missing something? Did I mess up somewhere in the process? And most importantly, is my harddrive still salvagable? I have too much important information on there to lose. I would of never attempted this had I known this could happen, but **** happens I guess.