Some guidence would be great - have opened the case to add memory etc before but have not touched the mother board.
hello Grumpy Graeme, This <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed / replaced from this post by Dell> will take you to the Dell Manual site where you can find the information you need to rest the BIOS.
Just schroll down to the section on reset the BIOS.
The Password and CMOS jumper pins should be close to the onboard battery.
If you have been into the system before, this will be very easy for you to do.
Just be sure you have the power cable disconnected before opening the case.
If you have trouble, just come back and let us know, and we can go from there.
If this works, please let us know as it may be helpful to others.
My Dimension E520 hard drive crashed a few months ago and after the replacement HD was installed by Dell on site I had to rebuild OS etc, during which I applied a BIOS update to 2.4.0 (DM061). When I reboot now it states - Keyboard Failure - and I can't access the BIOS. System/Windows loads correctly and my system is working. From doing a bit of Goggling it appears the keyboard failure message is due to a USB keyboard not being accessible/useable until windows loads. The solutions offered involved using PS2 connector. Unfortunately there is not PS2 port on this PC. Any ideas on how to get into the BIOS?
Hello Grumpy Graeme, Have you considered resetting the BIOS via the pin jumper method.
This would set it back to the original defaults, which would enable the USB Buss.
If you are not sure about how to do this, or feel you are not technically qualified, please let us know and some of the members here can assist in this.
I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AS YOU BUT I SOLVED IT EASY I had to upgrade the bios FROM DELL SUPPORT CENTER (DRIVERS AND DOWNLOADS) my bios was version 1.1.4 and now my bios is 1.1.11.
Your link takes the user to the Manual, however it does NOT tell him HOW TO GET IN TO THE BIOS, it only covers 'Flashing the Bios' . these are two totally different things. I can easily get into 'System Setup" yet this is not what I need as well. My need is to be able to get into the bios itself, and you cannot from system setup. I have to make changes to the bios, but ca't get into it. Double instances of F2 does not work either.
Afraid I don't follow you. System setup is the place to alter those BIOS settings that can be changed. If you don't see it in System Setup, it can't be changed.
Hanspuppa
799 Posts
0
December 19th, 2008 09:00
hello Grumpy Graeme, This <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed / replaced from this post by Dell> will take you to the Dell Manual site where you can find the information you need to rest the BIOS.
Just schroll down to the section on reset the BIOS.
The Password and CMOS jumper pins should be close to the onboard battery.
If you have been into the system before, this will be very easy for you to do.
Just be sure you have the power cable disconnected before opening the case.
If you have trouble, just come back and let us know, and we can go from there.
If this works, please let us know as it may be helpful to others.
Hope this helps.
Hanspuppa
799 Posts
1
December 19th, 2008 08:00
Hello Grumpy Graeme, Have you considered resetting the BIOS via the pin jumper method.
This would set it back to the original defaults, which would enable the USB Buss.
If you are not sure about how to do this, or feel you are not technically qualified, please let us know and some of the members here can assist in this.
Hope this helps.
Grumpy Graeme
3 Posts
1
December 19th, 2008 09:00
thanks for the prompt response.
Some guidence would be great - have opened the case to add memory etc before but have not touched the mother board.
Cheers
Graeme
Grumpy Graeme
3 Posts
1
December 19th, 2008 18:00
Thanks very much - all sorted. Had to change the bios to ignore the non existant floopy drive - but appart from that the default settings appear OK.
pizza12
7 Posts
1
January 17th, 2009 14:00
I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AS YOU BUT I SOLVED IT EASY I had to upgrade the bios FROM DELL SUPPORT CENTER (DRIVERS AND DOWNLOADS) my bios was version 1.1.4 and now my bios is 1.1.11.
colkurtz
1 Message
0
June 1st, 2011 17:00
Your link takes the user to the Manual, however it does NOT tell him HOW TO GET IN TO THE BIOS, it only covers 'Flashing the Bios' . these are two totally different things. I can easily get into 'System Setup" yet this is not what I need as well. My need is to be able to get into the bios itself, and you cannot from system setup. I have to make changes to the bios, but ca't get into it. Double instances of F2 does not work either.
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
June 1st, 2011 18:00
Afraid I don't follow you. System setup is the place to alter those BIOS settings that can be changed. If you don't see it in System Setup, it can't be changed.
wmayer1020
1 Message
0
August 17th, 2011 20:00
I have the same problem, has anyone told you how to get in, like if you wanted to change the front side bus number in the bios for the CPU.