Boot to BIOS

J

James Harris

This may be the wrong group to address this issue, but I have a family
member who has requested help--his computer is in a semi-paralyzed state. He
has a Dell Dimension E521 with Phoenix Award BIOS. The problem is that he
cannot enter anything from the keyboard. I suggested a first attempt at a
repair reinstall from his Windows XP installation disk. He needs to set the
boot sequence to boot from his CD/DVD drive so he can boot from the
installation disk. He says he cannot get the computer to enter the BIOS
System Setup from boot. He has tried pressing F2 before the Dell splash
screen, which should be the correct key to press to interrupt the normal
Windows boot process. Any other suggestions as to how to get the computer
into the System Setup or a more relevant group to address this issue? Could
the USB keyboard and/or drivers be at fault and not even accepting the F2
keystroke during boot?

Thanks,
JamesH
 
S

smlunatick

What type of keyboard is connected? Some BIOSes can not be accessed by USB
(square) keyboards unless the BIOS is set up for "use legacy USB..." / 'Use
USB keyboard..." If the PC has a PS/2 (round) connector in the back, then you
may have to get a compatible keyboard for this.
 
H

HEMI-Powered

James Harris added these comments in the current discussion du jour
....
This may be the wrong group to address this issue, but I have a
family member who has requested help--his computer is in a
semi-paralyzed state. He has a Dell Dimension E521 with Phoenix
Award BIOS. The problem is that he cannot enter anything from the
keyboard. I suggested a first attempt at a repair reinstall from
his Windows XP installation disk. He needs to set the boot
sequence to boot from his CD/DVD drive so he can boot from the
installation disk. He says he cannot get the computer to enter the
BIOS System Setup from boot. He has tried pressing F2 before the
Dell splash screen, which should be the correct key to press to
interrupt the normal Windows boot process. Any other suggestions
as to how to get the computer into the System Setup or a more
relevant group to address this issue? Could the USB keyboard
and/or drivers be at fault and not even accepting the F2 keystroke
during boot?
Click to expand...
On my PC, I have to press "Del" during a POST to get to BIOS setup.
 
L

Lem

James said:
This may be the wrong group to address this issue, but I have a family
member who has requested help--his computer is in a semi-paralyzed state. He
has a Dell Dimension E521 with Phoenix Award BIOS. The problem is that he
cannot enter anything from the keyboard. I suggested a first attempt at a
repair reinstall from his Windows XP installation disk. He needs to set the
boot sequence to boot from his CD/DVD drive so he can boot from the
installation disk. He says he cannot get the computer to enter the BIOS
System Setup from boot. He has tried pressing F2 before the Dell splash
screen, which should be the correct key to press to interrupt the normal
Windows boot process. Any other suggestions as to how to get the computer
into the System Setup or a more relevant group to address this issue? Could
the USB keyboard and/or drivers be at fault and not even accepting the F2
keystroke during boot?

Thanks,
JamesH
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "semi-paralyzed state"? Does it boot up normally
and permit mouse operations, but not accept *any* keyboard input?

Does he see the F2 prompt *after* the Dell logo is displayed and then
press F2 quickly? Note that this prompt may only appear on a cold start
(from power off), not on a warm re-boot.

If he "cannot enter anything from the keyboard" including the F2 needed
to get to the BIOS setup, that sounds like a bad keyboard or cable
(assuming nothing else of note has happened recently).

• Visually inspect the keyboard's connector and the jack on the computer
case for physical damage.
• Ensure that the keyboard cable is firmly connected to the computer.
• Shut down the computer, reconnect the keyboard cable and then restart
the computer.
• Try using different a USB jack (front vs. back of case)
• Remove keyboard extension cables and connect the keyboard directly to
the computer.

and finally,

• Connect a known working keyboard to the computer, and try using the
keyboard.


--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm
 
J

James Harris

Thanks for the initial suggestions. This is a Dell E521, and <F2> should
boot to BIOS, according to the manual which I found at the Dell Tech Support
site. This is an awkward discussion as I must call the computer owner by
phone and try to address all the troubleshooting suggestions and questions
offered. I will check if he can connect an old PS2 keyboard to the box as an
alternative keyboard and to do all the checks suggested on the current USB
keyboard. I believe he is using a Dell USB keyboard that shipped with the
system. He can boot normally into Windows, but can only input to the system
with the mouse. He can connect to the internet, but then cannot do any
interaction using the keyboard, so that is why I got involved as an
intermediary.

I'll respond more when I can get a response back from the computer owner.

Thanks again,
JamesH
 
D

Daave

James said:
This may be the wrong group to address this issue, but I have a family
member who has requested help--his computer is in a semi-paralyzed
state. He has a Dell Dimension E521 with Phoenix Award BIOS. The
problem is that he cannot enter anything from the keyboard. I
suggested a first attempt at a repair reinstall from his Windows XP
installation disk. He needs to set the boot sequence to boot from his
CD/DVD drive so he can boot from the installation disk. He says he
cannot get the computer to enter the BIOS System Setup from boot. He
has tried pressing F2 before the Dell splash screen, which should be
the correct key to press to interrupt the normal Windows boot
process. Any other suggestions as to how to get the computer into the
System Setup or a more relevant group to address this issue? Could
the USB keyboard and/or drivers be at fault and not even accepting
the F2 keystroke during boot?
Click to expand...

I assume your family member is named Rob. :)

According to the Owner's Manual, you need to press F12:

"When the DELLT logo appears, press <F12> immediately."

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dime521/en/index.htm
 
L

Lem

Daave said:
I assume your family member is named Rob. :)

According to the Owner's Manual, you need to press F12:

"When the DELLT logo appears, press <F12> immediately."

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dime521/en/index.htm
Click to expand...

Actually, F12 gives the boot menu (not a bad suggestion, because one
could select the CD drive to boot from by this technique, rather than
having to go into the BIOS), while F2 will enter the BIOS setup utility
(which was what the OP was suggesting his friend do).

In either case the user has to turn off the computer; turn it on; wait
until "F2 = Setup, F12 = Boot Menu" appears; and then press the
appropriate key.

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm
 
J

John

I get the feeling either USB keyboard is broken or the USB port where KB is
connected to is faulty. Try a different USB port or different keyboard.
 
H

HEMI-Powered

PD43 added these comments in the current discussion du jour ...
Is your PC a Dell? I believe Dell computers do it differently.
Click to expand...
Nope, I just made the comment in case the OP's PC used other than F2
seeing how they said they thought the keyboard wasn't working.
 
J

James Harris

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions. It turned out to be a hardware
problem, as the USB keyboard had failed and a new keyboard solved the
problem. Now he can go into System Setup with the <F2> key with no problem,
though there is no longer the need for that at this time.

We appreciate the helpful resource and inputs.

Best regards,
JamesH
 
C

Calab

| Thanks for all your helpful suggestions. It turned out to be a hardware
| problem, as the USB keyboard had failed and a new keyboard solved the
| problem. Now he can go into System Setup with the <F2> key with no
problem,
| though there is no longer the need for that at this time.

What are you talking about?
 
L

Lil' Dave

Odd. Award bios by nature won't go any further in the bios routine if a
keyboard failure is detected... Unless, of course if someone set the bios
to do otherwise...

--
Dave

How about a tax to support any military conflict/police action over 3 months
old?

An actual war, we can do what's been done in the past.
 
B

Bill in Co.

I think there was a selectable option (in at least some of these Award
BIOS's) to halt except on keyboard error (OR on ALL errors). But I may be
misremembering it. Perhaps that's related to some of this.
 
O

Onsokumaru

Lil' Dave said:
Odd. Award bios by nature won't go any further in the bios routine if a
keyboard failure is detected... Unless, of course if someone set the bios
to do otherwise...
Click to expand...

I'm not sure USB devices are counted in that.

Same as if you have a USB mouse you can't use the mouse to start the PC like
you can with a PS2 mouse.

I hope the OP has learned a troubleshooting lesson.
Not being able to get into the BIOS should have been a give away. Saved a
lot of messing about installing XP under what sounds like difficult
circumstances.
 
M

monkey_cartman

PD43 said:
Is your PC a Dell? I believe Dell computers do it differently.
Click to expand...

Generally, if one pays attention there is a quick, howto get into bios
flash on a screen while booting.
 
B

Bill in Co.

You can also get into BIOS by tapping the <DEL> key on some Dells. Or you
can wait for the initial bootup screen and press <F2> (at least on some
recent models).
 
P

PD43

I think there was a selectable option (in at least some of these Award
BIOS's) to halt except on keyboard error (OR on ALL errors).    But I may be
misremembering it.    Perhaps that's related to some of this.
Click to expand...

"misremembering".... that's a good one.

I think Hillary used a similar term recently ;-)
 

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