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September 7th, 2006 20:00

Dell Optiplex GX200 problems

I loaded XP Home on the neighbor's pc and looked into all functions and noticed a couple of things I'd like to bring up here.

First, upon startup, comes the Dell Logo screen which takes about a minute then comes another screen which lists the Phoenix ROM BIOS and other Copyright stuff on top and under that it lists

"Primary Hard Disk drive 1 not found
Secondary Hard disk drive 1 not found
Alert! Cover was previously removed"

After some seconds on this same screen this appears:

Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility

When I press F1, the next screen lists a choice of 4 OS's to choose from or it will auto-load the one that's highlighted after some seconds when it's finished counting down THEN it finally goes to windows.

Can anyone tell me why all these screens and options or more importantly, how I can simply get the pc to bypass these screens and go straight to windows? Thanks.

42 Posts

September 7th, 2006 21:00

What version is the BIOS that is running on this machine?

The cover open is just a Chassis intrusion warning.  You can reset it or disable it all together from inside the BIOS. 

I am curious as to what version your running though.

Message Edited by MorJo15 on 09-07-200605:51 PM

302 Posts

September 7th, 2006 22:00

Bios Revision A02.
 
While we're at it, how can I disable the "Cover intrusion" message from the BIOS?

42 Posts

September 8th, 2006 00:00

The latest bios is A05.  An upgrade will probably take care of the BIOS load being slow.  You can get that upgrade at this link
 
For the cover intrusion message, this is from the manual.  See the portion highlighted.  You need to press F2 to enter the BIOS to reset this.
 
 
 
===============================================================================================

Chassis Intrusion displays the status of the system chassis intrusion monitor and can be set to Enabled, Enabled-Silent, or Disabled. The default is Enabled.

If the computer cover is removed while the intrusion monitor is set to Enabled, a Desktop Management Interface (DMI) event is generated, the setting changes to Detected, and the following message appears during the boot routine at the next system start-up:

Alert! Cover was previously removed.

If the computer cover is removed while the intrusion monitor is set to Enabled-Silent, a DMI event is generated and the setting changes to Detected, but the alert message does not appear during the boot sequence at the next system start-up.

If the intrusion monitor is set to Disabled, no intrusion monitoring occurs and no messages appear.

To reset the Detected setting, enter System Setup during the system's POST. In the Chassis Intrusion option, press the left- or right-arrow key to select Reset, and then choose Enabled, Enabled-Silent, or Disabled.

 

 

As for the Booting slow, what operating system are you using 98, 2000, XP???

September 8th, 2006 06:00

The bios is looking for drives that don't exist - the drives are numbered from 0 so drive 1 is the second drive.  If the machine has just a single CDROM and single hard drive, all you need to do is reset the NVRAM to redetect all the devices and it will fix the problems.

302 Posts

September 8th, 2006 11:00

MorJo15 wrote:
To reset the Detected setting, enter System Setup during the system's POST. In the Chassis Intrusion option, press the left- or right-arrow key to select Reset, and then choose Enabled, Enabled-Silent, or Disabled.

As for the Booting slow, what operating system are you using 98, 2000, XP???



I don't see the "Chassis Intrusion" option anywhere is the Bios Jon? BTW, I am using XP Home.

42 Posts

September 8th, 2006 12:00

I would upgrade the BIOS first, then see if the Option for resetting the intrusion shows up.  It should be there already.  Depending if the BIOS you have the type that lists the items or has them on multiple pages.  I believe that yours is in the listing style it would be under security settings.   Here is a link for the page in the manual for the BIOS settings.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx200/en/ug/setupopt.htm#system_security 

302 Posts

September 8th, 2006 12:00

I resettted the NVRAM and disabled the options in Startup/Recovery, this got rid of everything, pc boots faster now so no need to update the BIOS and only problem left is that Alert warning screen?

42 Posts

September 8th, 2006 13:00

As far as making XP boot faster.  This is a simple change that I make on all the XP machines that I manage.

Open regedit and find this location

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

On the right side look for a key named: EnablePrefetcher

Change the EnablePrefetcher key value to 5

Delete the contence of folder C:\Windows\Prefetch

And then reboot. 


THIS SHOULD ONLY BE CHANGED ON XP MACHINES. 

Enjoy the speed increase.

302 Posts

September 8th, 2006 13:00

This Bios does not have the "Security" listing so I guess I will have no choice but to update the BIOS to get rid of that Alert? If so, I will attempt it a little later on when I get the time. Appreciate the help with the faster boot time tutorial, will do that too, report back here, thanks.

302 Posts

September 8th, 2006 14:00

Ran into a stumbling block here at number 14:
 
7. Click “Setup”.
A DOS Window appears.
8. Press the “Enter” key.
9. Insert the floppy disk into the floppy disk drive and press the “Enter” key.
10. Press the “Y” key to begin copying files.
An End of the disk set prompt appears.
11. Press the “Enter” key.
12. Click the “Start” button, click “Run”, and then type a: in the Open box. Click “OK’.
The list of files on the floppy disk appears.
13. If there is a readme file in the list, double-click it for additional instructions.
14. Close all open windows and leave the disk in the floppy drive. Skip to the section Flashing the BIOS below
 
Nothing happens at this point so I try double-clicking on the setup file and this does not work.
 
Flashing the BIOS:
NOTICE: Changing the system BIOS may result in unintended side affects, such as incompatibility of the new BIOS with installed hardware. If problems arise after a BIOS change, it may be necessary to return the system to the original version of the BIOS.
1. If you are flashing the BIOS on a portable computer, be sure that the AC adapter is plugged in and the computer is not operating on battery power.
2. Ensure that the Flash BIOS disk is inserted into the floppy disk drive.
3. Click the “Start” button, click “Shut Down”, click “Restart”, and then click “Ok”.
The computer should restart and boot to the floppy disk.

NOTE: If the flash BIOS program does not start, and you see only an A:\ prompt, refer to the instructions from the Dell File Library page for the BIOS update or to the Readme.txt instructions. Generally, you will type the name of the executable flash BIOS file such as BGX1_A10.exe for BIOS version A10 on the OptiPlex™ series system.

I don't see an A:\ prompt  and don't understand

"refer to the instructions from the Dell File Library page, just where are these instructions please?

 

 

302 Posts

September 8th, 2006 16:00

ok, found something and did it, now the BIOS reads A05 but there still isn't any "security" listing in the BIOS, the BIOS's listing is exactly the same, next please?

302 Posts

September 8th, 2006 19:00

Now this really bites! Tried removing the Intrusion cable entirely out of the pc,

http://nees.umn.edu/facilities/specifications/control_room/prod_doc/dell_optiplex_gx240/serv_man/chsintr.htm

rebooted, Alert still there then cleared/resetted the NVRAM, no change.

 

9 Legend

 • 

47K Posts

September 9th, 2006 13:00

You have to put the cable back.  Removing is the same as having the cover off all the time.

You need to go to ALT P for the security page and change detected to silent or disabled.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx200/

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx200/en/ug/setup.htm#chassis_intrusion

Chassis Intrusion
An integrated chassis intrusion alert displays the status of the system chassis intrusion monitor. If the chassis has been opened, the setting changes to Detected and the following message appears during the boot sequence at system start-up:

Alert! Cover was previously removed.

Use System Setup to reset the alarm so that future intrusions are detected.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx200/en/ug/ssprog.htm

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx200/en/ug/setupopt.htm#system_security

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx200/en/ug/setupopt.htm#chassis_intrusion

Chassis Intrusion
Chassis Intrusion displays the status of the system chassis intrusion monitor and can be set to Enabled, Enabled-Silent, or Disabled. The default is Enabled.

If the computer cover is removed while the intrusion monitor is set to Enabled, a Desktop Management Interface (DMI) event is generated, the setting changes to Detected, and the following message appears during the boot routine at the next system start-up:

Alert! Cover was previously removed.

If the computer cover is removed while the intrusion monitor is set to Enabled-Silent, a DMI event is generated and the setting changes to Detected, but the alert message does not appear during the boot sequence at the next system start-up.

If the intrusion monitor is set to Disabled, no intrusion monitoring occurs and no messages appear.

To reset the Detected setting, enter System Setup during the system's POST. In the Chassis Intrusion option, press the left- or right-arrow key to select Reset, and then choose Enabled, Enabled-Silent, or Disabled.

 NOTE: When the setup password is enabled, you must know the setup password before you can reset the Chassis Intrusion option.


 

302 Posts

September 11th, 2006 11:00

Thank you very much, this worked!

302 Posts

September 11th, 2006 12:00

Oh, one final issue with this pc please, when I got rid of the Alert warning, the now blank screen between the Dell logo screen and the XP screen is still there for a second or two, how can I get rid of that bank screen please?
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