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February 25th, 2019 11:00
XPS 8900, boot loop
I have a dell xs8900. I was working one day and then all of a sudden the computer went to a black screen and turned off. It then did not start for the next few hours until I tried again. I was able to start up the computer and soon found out that it was in a perpetual boot loop. The Dell logo would pop up like usual, then a bios screen popped up saying "Alert! Keyboard not found". I tried this with 2 different keyboards and mice and I was not able to move the cursor or select an option. I am not able to get to the login screen and I can only see the alert for a few brief seconds before it restarts. The bios is 2.2.1 and I have read on other forums and posts that this bios has caused a lot of issues and I hope to resolve this issue as soon as possible.
thank you
Felix
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FelixNavidad
6 Posts
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February 25th, 2019 13:00
I have tried multiple know nice and keyboards in all of the USB ports in the device. Nothing. I am not able to use the mouse or keyboard in the brief seconds that the device is on. I Am not able to get to bios or the ePSA diagnostics
Tesla1856
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February 25th, 2019 13:00
Connect a (very plain and known good) WIRED USB keyboard and mouse to the USB ports on the back of machine.
Do the keyboard and mouse work in BIOS and ePSA Diagnostics?
68cutlass
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February 25th, 2019 13:00
I'd start by disconnecting everything except a known good mouse, keyboard and monitor. Unplug the machine and hold the power button in for 30-60 seconds. Plug power back in and try booting. If still doesn't start take a good look at the mobo for any burnt spots, bulging capacitors etc.
Tesla1856
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February 25th, 2019 14:00
Then it sounds like a bad motherboard. This includes the BIOS (and many other things).
68cutlass
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February 25th, 2019 15:00
One other thing I forgot to mention was to check the usb ports the old keyboard/mouse were plugged into and make sure nothing broke off in there. Had a machine once that after removing a thumbdrive the thumbdrive broke and wasn't noticed. It was shorting the port and causing power issues. Weird because it didn't devlop until about 1 week after being removed..
FelixNavidad
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February 26th, 2019 01:00
What do you suggest as a solution? New motherboard? or is it better to get a new computer? or can I swap the motherboard from an older pc onto it?
RoHe
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February 27th, 2019 19:00
Try clearing BIOS:
1. Power off and unplug
2. Press/hold power button for ~15 sec
3. Open case and remove motherboard battery (See Service Manual for details)
4. Press/hold power button for ~30 sec
5. Reinstall battery (Time for a fresh CR2032 3-volt battery?)
6. Close up and connect only mouse, monitor and key
Reboot
Does that help?
FelixNavidad
6 Posts
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February 28th, 2019 10:00
I followed you steps. I held the power button. Then changed the battery. Then held the power button again. Then plugged in mouse, keyboard and I now have an error message that says "time-of-day not set - please run SETUP program
Imvalid configuration information - please run SETUP program.
Alert! Keyboard not found.
I am still not able to use my mouse and keyboard. My keyboard led's are on but no response. Mouse led's don't show and the mouse doesn't work
RoHe
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February 28th, 2019 11:00
That date/time message is not unexpected when trying to clear BIOS. You just have to be able to get into BIOS to reset them now.
Did you do things in the right order? You should have (1) held power button, (2) removed old battery, (3) held power button, (4) replaced battery last. The object is to try to clear the keyboard error by pressing/holding the power button with no battery installed, old or new.
Have you tried a different rear USB2 port(s) for the keyboard?
Do you have a USB2 hub with its own external power brick? Turn PC off and plug the hub into a rear USB2 port. Connect the hub's power brick to a working wall outlet. Connect mouse and keyboard to the USB hub and then boot the PC. If you're lucky things will work. And a powered hub will be a lot cheaper than a new motherboard.
If you don't have a powered USB2 hub, maybe you can borrow one or buy one that can be easily returned if it doesn't help with this problem. :Wink:
RoHe
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February 28th, 2019 11:00
And what about these questions:
What color is power button and is it steady or blinking when PC won't boot?
Is the PSU LED on the back of the PC near the mains socket green, and steady or blinking?
FelixNavidad
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February 28th, 2019 12:00
RoHe
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February 28th, 2019 15:00
Try the powered USB hub...
karielo
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October 26th, 2019 06:00
Has this problem been resolved?
I started to have similar problem a week or two ago. During boot BIOS alerts "Keyboard not found!". In the beginning there was just one retry, but number of retries seem to increase.
I still haven't changed the motherboard battery. Moving the keyboard to a powered USB hub does not solve theproblem.
Dell XPS 8900 System BIOS is 2.6.1.
RoHe
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October 26th, 2019 13:00
@karielo - Change the motherboard battery, if nothing else than to rule it out. It's only ~$2 for a CR2032 3-volt coin cell battery.