Inspiron 8100 Pointing device, PCMCIA, and speakers

sounds to me like your cmos reserve battery is dead!

you can't solve the usb2 "issue" with a bios update unless you get an usb2 pcmcia card as your usb ports are usb 1.1 and cannot be upgraded.

for bios revision A08 check the link below.

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/previousversions.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&releasetype=BIOS&vercnt=10&deviceid=1329&typecnt=1&osl=en&SystemID=INS_PNT_P3CT_8100&os=WW1

Message Edited by yumigator on 04-02-2006 01:55 PM

Message Edited by yumigator on 04-02-2006 01:57 PM

I've checked everything, and everything seems to be fine. How can I restore the BIOS to the state it was when the computer shipped? It seems like everything with direct contact with the motherboard (excluding the I/O ports) have stopped working.

Dell doesnt have bios recovery/restore.
Nor do they list the bios version installed on units in the cofiguration details.

Bios Restore is NOT OS restore.

The reserve battery should be replaced if its dead.

Its not a bios problem. Its a reserve battery is now a dead short and so it keeps the system dead. If you remove the dead reserve battery it will likely work again as long as it hasnt leaked acid into the system and shorted other things out. "Dead reserve batterys do this. Its white stuff looks like soap flakes.

Yeah, I know BIOS restore is different from OS restore. The version of the BIOS isn't that important to me, but the actual settings are. There seems to be more to the BIOS than it's letting me see.

It can't be a software-level problem because I've tried numerous operating systems, Windows XP Pro, Windows XP Home, Windows 2000, Windows 98SE, Ubuntu GNU/Linux, Knoppix GNU/Linux LiveCD, Knoppix GNU/Linux HD-install, and I've had the same problem that wasn't an issue before with the same OS (excluding Windows 98SE and Knoppix HD-install, which I just tried for the first time).

If I take this to a Dell certified technician, will they be able to solve my problem? I KNOW it's a BIOS problem because everything worked until I left the battery and A/C out while the reserve battery was dead (I was replacing the hard drive), and at the next boot, all my BIOS settings were defaulted, and I had this problem.

OK, I see now.

But why would a bad reserve battery keep the system dead, if I have both the main battery installed and the A/C adapter plugged in?

OK, I opened up the computer to change the battery, when I found that the cable that connects all the devices on the palmrest to the motherboard had come loose. That explained it. The PCMCIA problem turned out to be a matter of using the other slot.

Thanks for your help.

I have a similar problem with my dell inspiron 8100 (just like yummigator)..my problem started when I removed the batteries, my touchpad pointing devices and my speaker wont work anymore, I check the BIOS using F2 key, the date is not set properly and some devices was disabled, so I boot the system and change the date and time in windows but still I can't use by mouse and no sounds..
What puzzles me is that in BIOS it clearly say to change the values press the left and right arrow but It won't work the up and down arrow only seems to function. The left and right arrow is working properly inside windows. Anyone can help me? I need to change the BIOS settings so that my touchpad mouse will work and rest of the devices.

I did solve my issue, as I stated in my previous post.

When you take the laptop apart, there will be two plugs with pins. One of those plugs controls the keyboard, and the other controls PCMCIA, speakers, touchpad, and everything else you're having problems with. When you take the computer apart, it's easy to be careless and leave the second one out (which you and I did). Just find anything that's not plugged in and plug it into whatever fits.