Get into BIOS with USB keyboard?

[Geek-9pm]

Do you have the manual?
It will give you more information about how to get the BIOS to find the USB keyboard.

[jwfilion]

I'll check it out tomorrow.

[jwfilion]

[quote
It will give you more information about how to get the BIOS to find the USB keyboard.
[/quote]

Little good that info will do if I can't get into the BIOS in the first place! I need into the BIOS when I install a new hard drive, in case the drive is not recognized on reboot.
I have considered replacing the original ps2 ports, somehow, but I fear the task is beyond my talents.
Is there a way to force the computer into BIOS?

[Geek-9pm]

Is there a way to force the computer into BIOS?

Yes.
The information is in the documentation. Your motherboard is one that not everyone here knows .
If it was an Intel, Asus or Gigabyte we could find the answer quickly.
The forum wants to help you, but finding the manhole for your model  is like looki8ng for a needle in a haystack.

If it was an Intel board, it would find the USB keyboard somehow. If the keyboard was not present, it would boot from the default device.
 If the hard drive was not set as a boot device, the motherboard would boot from the network and the thing would be controlled one the network.
We scan not promise you that is how you board works, because we don't have the details.

Does it boot from a CD?
Does it boot from a floppy?
In either case, you can get into the BIOS by using a suitable program that boots from a CD or floppy. But these programs are specific to motherboards. You flash the BIOS with an updated version that finds the USB keyboard.

But before you flash the BIOS, you should see the documentation. We don;t know if you model has the built-in stuff that prevents a BIOS flash disaster. If the BIOS is so old that it can not find a USB keyboard, we can't say for sure.

That's why I asked about the Motherboard User's Manual. It should also have details about how to Flash the BIOS, if that is the solution.

Your Motherboard is
P4VMM2 V1.X - ECS Elitegroup
It has an award BIOS and it looks like something made in the past five ten years. So It should allow USB keyboards.

EDIT: This link is for a BIOS update that is for a different revision level.Please verify the model number. We do not assume responsibility.
http://www.ecsusa.com/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Detail.aspx?DetailID=46&CategoryID=1&MenuID=18&LanID=9

[jwfilion]

Thanks for your response. I now understand what you meant about the BIOS recognizing the USB keyboard AT start-up.

I don't know if the computer will boot from a floppy or CD. I have been lucky not to have had any start-up problems. I made a floppy boot disk a few years ago after discovering my XP disk and several program installation disks were stolen, but I have never tried it.

I read through the mo/bo manual and can not find any reference to forcing the computer into BIOS. It simply states that you must press "Delete" at start-up.

I went to the website and looked at the BIOS upgrades, but there are several, each one having a different fix for certain past problems. As I haven't had these problems, I don't know which to choose and it states that you should not try any if my system is still working fine. It is working fine except for the ps2 ports.

I read somewhere that one guy forced his way into BIOS by inserting a "non system" floppy disk. What does "non system" mean and is that dangerous?

[truenorth]

jwfilion,Reviewing this thread i note your question in post 28. Have you tried any of the "F' keys. F2,F8,(one computer i had i got there via F5). Usually it can be necessary to repeatedly tap the key very quickly and sometimes for a fairly long time IE; more than a minute.truenorth

[Geek-9pm]

You  may have one of four problems.
The CMOS settings are not correct.
The USB keyboard does not work well with older USB hardware.
The motherboard has a defective I.O chip.
The BIOS is corrupt.

Remove the CMOS battery, wait a bit, replace it. This makes the BIOS reset on the first or second restart. (May vary.)

The Award BIOS will usually look for at least one IDE device. If not found it can hang. But If a CD  drive is attached to the PC with or without a disc, the BIOS will continue.
So you can  disconnect  all IDE or SATA devices except a CD-Rom drive with no disk. It will try to boot from the floppy.

Yes, there is a little known program to setup BIOS from a floppy. It forces data into the BIOS setup. It is NOT a normal program. It is a 'hack'. But it can not make it use non-complaisant USB keyboard nor can it repair a damaged circuit on the motherboard.

You best choice is to either find a USB keyboard the BIOS can recognize, or repair the PS/2 connector on the motherboard.

Flashing the BIOS is a lost chance effort. This BIOS may be corrupt.
If the PS/2 co9nnector  is bad, you can repair it. But you have to remove the motherboard from the case to do a good job.

[jwfilion]

Thanks guys, I have some serious thinking to do over the next few days.

truenorth, I can press all the keys till the cows come home, but it will not go into BIOS. It is obvious, now, that at start-up, the computer only recognized a keyboard in the original ps2 port. The drivers for the USB, and I presume the PCI cards' ps2 and USB ports, don't load at start-up, but only after the welcome screen, and of course, the original ps2 ports are fried.

Geek-9pm, I think this old motherboard is crippling my attemps to fix this. If there is a function for enabling a USB keyboard at start-up, I can not find it. The manual only mentions enabling USB legacy. I now remember that I did enable this a few years ago. At the time, I thought my USB external hard drives wouldn't work without this.
If I remove the battery to reset the BIOS and the default for the USB legasy is "off", will I not be worse off?
I think now, that my next attempt to remedy this is to try to fix the ps2 ports. Do you know of anyone who sells these? I googled, but only got that play station stuff.

BTW...I decided to try the floppy XP boot disk I made. Inserted it and booted the computer. I got the following error: "Disk I/O Error...replace disk and press any key" Did I do it wrong or is this more BIOS bull?

[Geek-9pm]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS/2_connector
The most common cause of failure on the standard mouse and keyboard ports is bent pins and broken solder connections. Take a look at this link which describes the construction of the PS2 connectors. My experience is that most often the keyboard connector becomes M*A*S*H or bent up and when that happens stops functioning. The remedy is to either put the pins back in place with a small tool or just go get another keyboard. The connector on the motherboard is rather rugged but what happens is the solder connections can break loose from the motherboard. To remedy this the technician has to remove the board and flip it over and carefully examine the solder connections on the PS2 connector. An experienced technician will recognize a broken solder joints by its coloration and a fine hairline crack around the metal tab. He then will apply a small amount of solder  with flux and a hot iron and he can heal the bad  connection in about 20 seconds. In some cases you can get the thing to work by gently putting pressure on the connector and make contact.
Again, let me emphasize, the most common problem is the keyboard connector itself has been banged up with bent pins. As for the mouse connector, almost always the mouse is been burnt out. PS2 mice just cannot live very long.
Here is some additional information about the AWARD  BIOS. As mentioned earlier, if the hard drive is disconnected and there is no media in eitherdCD  drive or the floppy, the system cannot boot, but it will display a message and expect you to respond with the keyboard. This is one way to check to see the keyboard is working if you hit any key on the keyboard it comes back and repeats the message about boot media not found or sector not found or something to that effect. So if you get to that point, it must be reading the keyboard. Another trick that's not fully documented is you can get the  pause key on your computer keyboard. It is in  group of three keys right after the function keys and they oftentimes are labeled for print screen scroll lock and pause. The pause can actually freeze the POST display. That's another way to confirm that the keyboard is working. In some versions of the Award BIOS you can TAB and get into another screen that gives more information about what it found during the start up procedure.
As for the legacy USB feature, I don't think that makes much difference. As far as I know all modern versions of the BIOS do search for a USB keyboard. Unfortunately, I don't have a way of being sure about your particular motherboard because the manufacturers can make modifications to the standard BIOS.
Again, before you do something rash, experiment with booting with the hard drive disconnected. It will not boot into Windows but it will boot into some kind of error message and would give you an opportunity to try the keyboard. All you have to start over again as hit  power or reset button and you have another chance to bang on your keyboard and see if you can get into the BIOS.
Pardon my grimmer. It  is late and I have a hard time with the keyboard. Most of this was dictation.
EDIT: Yes, legacy USB must be on to detect the USB keyboard.
EDIT: Remove CMOS cell. Start PC without the CMOS cell. The will FORCE a CMOS error and you will  see  a menu asking you to do something. At this point  it DOES fiend the USB keyboard if there is a good one connected.

[jwfilion]

Thank you kindly Geek. You can imagine the sleep I'm losing. I've decided to experiment with this over the next little while.
One thing I forgot to mention. I have never turned off the PC when connecting or disconnecting the keyboard to that, now defunct, ps2 port. I read somewhere recently that the PC should be turned OFF! I did not know this, so some of the blame is mine.

[patio]

One thing I forgot to mention. I have never turned off the PC when connecting or disconnecting the keyboard to that, now defunct, ps2 port

Herein lies the true issue...

[Salmon Trout]

PS/2 ports are designed to connect the digital I/O lines of the microcontroller in the external device directly to the digital lines of the microcontroller on the motherboard. They are not designed to be hot swappable. Hot swapping PS/2 devices usually does not cause damage due to the fact that more modern microcontrollers tend to have more robust I/O lines built into them which are harder to damage than those of older controllers; however, hot swapping can still potentially cause damage on older machines, or machines with less robust port implementations.

If they are hotswapped, the devices must be similar enough that the driver running on the host system recognizes, and can be used with, the new device. Otherwise, the new device will not function properly. While this is seldom an issue with standard keyboard devices, the host system rarely recognizes the new device attached to the PS/2 mouse port. In practice most keyboards can be hotswapped but this should be avoided.

[jwfilion]

Could this be why I got a "Disk I/O Error" when I tried booting the PC with the floppy boot disk?

[Geek-9pm]

Salmon Trout is right.
Keyboards do well.
Mice fail.

Google.com
"PS/2 Mouse not working !"
   Advanced search
About 17,400 results (0.25 seconds)

SO, are you a Keyboard or a Mouse?
If you are a Keyboard you will keep trying!

[jwfilion]

I are a keyboard!