Can't Access BIOS

I have an old, but working Dell Optiplex GX280 with XP SP3.
Lately it has been taking too long (like 2-3 minutes) to boot up.
I thought to look at the BIOS to see if anything there could be
causing trouble, and have discovered that I cannot enter the BIOS. I
have tried F2 and Delete. Nothing. I also have tried F8 to
come up in Safe Mode. Again nothing. I changed keyboards and USB
connections. Again nothing.

Any ideas?

Tarzan

Op 26/09/2013 13:06, schreef:
I have an old, but working Dell Optiplex GX280 with XP SP3.
Lately it has been taking too long (like 2-3 minutes) to boot up.
I thought to look at the BIOS to see if anything there could be
causing trouble, and have discovered that I cannot enter the BIOS. I
have tried F2 and Delete. Nothing. I also have tried F8 to
come up in Safe Mode. Again nothing. I changed keyboards and USB
connections. Again nothing.

Any ideas?

Tarzan

Is the keyboard USB or PS/2?
If usb, try a PS/2.

"Carpe_Diem" wrote in message
...
Op 26/09/2013 13:06, schreef:
I have an old, but working Dell Optiplex GX280 with XP SP3.
Lately it has been taking too long (like 2-3 minutes) to boot up.
I thought to look at the BIOS to see if anything there could be
causing trouble, and have discovered that I cannot enter the BIOS. I
have tried F2 and Delete. Nothing. I also have tried F8 to
come up in Safe Mode. Again nothing. I changed keyboards and USB
connections. Again nothing.

Any ideas?

Tarzan

Is the keyboard USB or PS/2?
If usb, try a PS/2.

Try this approach if no success with changing keyboards works.
Open the computer and disconnect the hard drive cable.
The computer might allow for a keystroke to open into the bios at that point


--
Jan Alter

On Thu, 26 Sep 2013 13:29:45 +0200, Carpe_Diem
wrote:


Is the keyboard USB or PS/2?
If usb, try a PS/2.


It is USB. I tried a second keyboard - same. The Dell has no PS/2.

Tarzan

wrote:
I have an old, but working Dell Optiplex GX280 with XP SP3.
Lately it has been taking too long (like 2-3 minutes) to boot up.
I thought to look at the BIOS to see if anything there could be
causing trouble, and have discovered that I cannot enter the BIOS. I
have tried F2 and Delete. Nothing. I also have tried F8 to
come up in Safe Mode. Again nothing. I changed keyboards and USB
connections. Again nothing.

Any ideas?

Tarzan

Is there an "F Lock" key ?

Lower left hand corner says "Fn" and you could try that plus "F2".

http://imageshack.us/a/img32/6369/tlj.gif

Paul

wrote:

I have an old, but working Dell Optiplex GX280 with XP SP3.
Lately it has been taking too long (like 2-3 minutes) to boot up.
I thought to look at the BIOS to see if anything there could be
causing trouble, and have discovered that I cannot enter the BIOS. I
have tried F2 and Delete. Nothing. I also have tried F8 to
come up in Safe Mode. Again nothing. I changed keyboards and USB
connections. Again nothing.

Any ideas?

Tarzan

According to the online manual at:

ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-produ...uide_en-us.pdf

you need to hit the F2 key while the Dell logo is still displayed. Do
you see the logo splash screen when you do a *cold* boot of the
computer? If you have a CRT monitor, it might be taking longer to warm
up to show anything but which is too late; i.e., it's warming up and may
not display anything until after the logo screen has passed.

If you aren't seeing the logo screen during which you have to hit F2 to
go into the BIOS, insert a non-bootable floppy or CD into its drive. If
the BIOS is configured in its boot priority order to first boot from
removable media (floppy, CD, USB)

Make sure ALL other USB devices are disconnected. This computer has no
PS/2 ports so you're stuck having to use USB keyboard and mouse. Unplug
any USB-attached printers, scanners, cameras,

Whose brand and model of keyboard are you using? Some have an F-lock
key which, if off, means you get the alternate function of the F keys,
and that means NOT issuing the F-key scan code but the alternate
function. Make sure the F-lock key has its LED lit so the F-keys
actually issue F-key scan codes when pressed.

If it's an undersized (e.g., laptop style) keyboard then maybe it has a
Fn key to switch functions of a set of keys in the alpha section of the
keyboard.

When you cold boot (power off and then power on), do you see the LED
lights on the keyboard flash? On a cold boot, the CPU issues a clear
(reset) signal to all devices to initialize them so they are in a known
starting state. Make sure you are doing a cold boot. Some computers'
Power button actually goes into low-power mode instead of powering off
the computer. Power off using the button and then yank the power cord
from the back of the case. Wait a minute, plug the cord back in, and
then power up using the button.

If it's a really old computer then its CMOS battery is dead. They only
last about 5 years. With a dead battery, the copy of the BIOS settings
in the CMOS table may be corrupt. You may need to get inside to short
the 2-pin CMOS header to clear the CMOS table and reload it from default
BIOS settings. First replace the CMOS battery (typically a coin cell
type, like CR-2032) and then jumper the 2-pin reset header for about 10
seconds, remove the jumper, and reboot to see if you can get into BIOS.

Just at what point are you measuring the time it takes for the hardware
to "boot up"? Are you waiting until the POST screen appears but before
the OS loads? Or are you including the time for the OS to load? If so,
are you counting until the logon screen appears or until you've been
logged in (automatically) and the desktop settles and the computer
becomes usable? "boot up" doesn't say to what point you are measuring.
2-3 minutes to start the hardware, load the OS, and logon and let
startup process load is not a long wait.

On 09/26/2013 09:03 AM, Jan Alter wrote:
"Carpe_Diem" wrote in message
...
Op 26/09/2013 13:06, schreef:
I have an old, but working Dell Optiplex GX280 with XP SP3.
Lately it has been taking too long (like 2-3 minutes) to boot up.
I thought to look at the BIOS to see if anything there could be
causing trouble, and have discovered that I cannot enter the BIOS. I
have tried F2 and Delete. Nothing. I also have tried F8 to
come up in Safe Mode. Again nothing. I changed keyboards and USB
connections. Again nothing.

Any ideas?

Tarzan

Is the keyboard USB or PS/2?
If usb, try a PS/2.

Try this approach if no success with changing keyboards works.
Open the computer and disconnect the hard drive cable.
The computer might allow for a keystroke to open into the bios at that point




Yep. That's an old trick the usually works in stubborn cases,
OTOH: Having a 2 -3 minute boot time is quite normal. I don't know if
I've ever seen an XP machine bootup much faster

On Thu, 26 Sep 2013 10:54:14 -0400, Paul wrote:



Is there an "F Lock" key ?

Lower left hand corner says "Fn" and you could try that plus "F2".

http://imageshack.us/a/img32/6369/tlj.gif

Paul


Hi Paul

Yes there is a Fn key. I tried holding it down while pressing F2 (and
then F12). Neither had any effect.

I also tried disconnecting the hard drive and re-booting. Pressing
the keyboard keys still do nothing.

Strange huh?

Thanks

Tarzan

philo wrote:
On 09/26/2013 09:03 AM, Jan Alter wrote:
"Carpe_Diem" wrote in message
...
Op 26/09/2013 13:06, schreef:
I have an old, but working Dell Optiplex GX280 with XP SP3.
Lately it has been taking too long (like 2-3 minutes) to boot up.
I thought to look at the BIOS to see if anything there could be
causing trouble, and have discovered that I cannot enter the BIOS. I
have tried F2 and Delete. Nothing. I also have tried F8 to
come up in Safe Mode. Again nothing. I changed keyboards and USB
connections. Again nothing.

Any ideas?

Tarzan

Is the keyboard USB or PS/2?
If usb, try a PS/2.

Try this approach if no success with changing keyboards works.
Open the computer and disconnect the hard drive cable.
The computer might allow for a keystroke to open into the bios at that
point




Yep. That's an old trick the usually works in stubborn cases,
OTOH: Having a 2 -3 minute boot time is quite normal. I don't know if
I've ever seen an XP machine bootup much faster

They fool around with the CMOS battery here. But this doesn't
reliably fix it. It's just a possibility.

http://commweb-ps3.us.dell.com/suppo.../19262492.aspx

Also on that page, a poster contributes a picture of an adapter. With PS/2.
So you can have PS/2 on a GX280 - it just requires an adapter with a
ribbon cable that mates to the motherboard.

http://media.community.dell.com/en/c...87076265171688

http://media.community.dell.com/en/c...87079926176660

Still listed as $16.

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/prod...sku=3 10-5496

There is a connector on the motherboard for that. Item #17, PDF page 98.
It's a 2x12 with one keying pin (23 working pins).

http://downloads.dell.com/Manuals/al...en&cs=04&s=bsd

Paul

tarzan wrote:

Carpe_Diem wrote:

Is the keyboard USB or PS/2? If usb, try a PS/2.

It is USB. I tried a second keyboard - same. The Dell has no PS/2.

Tried using a different USB port? There are USB ports on the front and
back. Don't just switch to a paired USB port (they come in pairs both
going to the same controller). Switch to a different set of USB ports,
like moving from the back to the front ports, or visa versa.

Have you disconnected *all* other USB devices (printers, cameras,
scanners, thumb flash drives) so only the USB keyboard is connected?