Boot disk with USB keyboard support? (trying to reinstall winXP)

[Per Magnus L?vold]

Hi!
I bought an Dell Optiplex SX280 with win XP pro. I wanted to use it as
a server, so I descided to install Fedora Core 3 on it (the new RedHat
distribution).
Now I changed my mind, and want to reinstall win XP on it, so I can
use it for media (sound recording, video editing and perhaps windows
TomCat)
*
But I can't reinstall windows XP! When inserting the Dell
Reinstallation CD, I get the message "Setup is inspecting your
hardware specifications..." and the screen goes blank. No response.
I've searched for this matter, and beleive it's got something to do
with the "master boot record" (mbr) created by Fedora Core.
So, I've found out that with a win98 boot disk I can run "fdisk /mbr"
and this will fix the problem. BUT: The optiplex SX280 has no floppy,
and it has no PS/2 ports for keyboard. It only has a bunch of USB
ports for USB keyboard and mouse and DVD drive.
I've tried creating several boot CD's with Nero (win98 boot cd, winXP
boot cd, "DR-DOS 7.03"...), but none of them has support for USB
keyboard, so I can't type anything. I even tried downloading Mandrake
5.01 CD1 and ran "rescue mode". Someone tip'ed me that there was an
option there to fix the mbr for windows support (or something like
that), but that wasn't the case.
*
Anyone got an idea how to get out of this mess? Is there an easy way
to fix the master boot record so I can re-install winXP?
I am thinking perhaps a bootable usb key can do the trick (I guess USB
keyboard must be supported when booting from USB key?)
But I have no idea how to create bootable USB key. I tried copying the
files from a boot disk to a USB pen, but I recon it must be formatted
correctly, and I need a program to write to the key in a spescial
way...

Hope someone can help me!

Regards, Per Magnus

 

[mark]

Mind you, I am not an authority on this. But on the following Dell link,
scroll down to the Key Combinations. Maybe embedded setup or ability to run
hard drive system diagnostics may help.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opsx280/en/ug/specs.htm

You may also want to check out fixing the MBR from Microsofts site. Sounds
like you know this though....

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkd_tro_gwoj.asp

Finally, Acronis True Image allows you to create a boot CD that loads usb
drivers for detecting external drive sources. May work for allowing your
usb keyboard to work?

mark

 

[Admiral Q]

The WinXP CD is bootable, it contains all the utilities to delete, create
and format partitions (yes even the DELL recovery CD for that model can do
this). As far as USB keyboard/mouse support before an OS loads, you should
be able to turn on "Legacy USB" support - how you do that without a keyboard
to start with though, is beyond me - you may need to consult Dell for
details - maybe this is the default BIOS setup and opening the case and
setting a jumper will reset the BIOS back to its default?

 

[D.Currie]

Hi!
I bought an Dell Optiplex SX280 with win XP pro. I wanted to use it as
a server, so I descided to install Fedora Core 3 on it (the new RedHat
distribution).
Now I changed my mind, and want to reinstall win XP on it, so I can
use it for media (sound recording, video editing and perhaps windows
TomCat)
*
But I can't reinstall windows XP! When inserting the Dell
Reinstallation CD, I get the message "Setup is inspecting your
hardware specifications..." and the screen goes blank. No response.
I've searched for this matter, and beleive it's got something to do
with the "master boot record" (mbr) created by Fedora Core.
So, I've found out that with a win98 boot disk I can run "fdisk /mbr"
and this will fix the problem. BUT: The optiplex SX280 has no floppy,
and it has no PS/2 ports for keyboard. It only has a bunch of USB
ports for USB keyboard and mouse and DVD drive.
I've tried creating several boot CD's with Nero (win98 boot cd, winXP
boot cd, "DR-DOS 7.03"...), but none of them has support for USB
keyboard, so I can't type anything. I even tried downloading Mandrake
5.01 CD1 and ran "rescue mode". Someone tip'ed me that there was an
option there to fix the mbr for windows support (or something like
that), but that wasn't the case.
*
Anyone got an idea how to get out of this mess? Is there an easy way
to fix the master boot record so I can re-install winXP?
I am thinking perhaps a bootable usb key can do the trick (I guess USB
keyboard must be supported when booting from USB key?)
But I have no idea how to create bootable USB key. I tried copying the
files from a boot disk to a USB pen, but I recon it must be formatted
correctly, and I need a program to write to the key in a spescial
way...

Hope someone can help me!

Regards, Per Magnus

I have a feeling it's something other than the keyboard. Any computer that
has USB only is going to have native support for a usb keyboard on boot.

And FWIW, I ran a new setup on a computer that had a wireless USB keyboard
and never had a problem getting it recognized.