How to access BIOS when keyboard wont respond and the MOBO is pre-UEFI

nitro101 · 09 Apr 2019

Long story short. friends PC isn't loading up certain drivers following the replacement of a bad GFX card that was causing his PC to power cycle at random. there are no network adapters showing up in the network adapter menu even though device manager shows them which results in no internet connection at all and i can't get to the BIOS to fix it because:

1. the keyboard and mouse aren't responding during POST or the initial "select keyboard layout" when i start up recovery mode. there are no PS/2 ports i can use, only USB 2.0 ports. I have tried a different keyboard with the same results. the keyboard works fine at login/desktop.

2. the motherboard is an older pre-UEFI model so that option does not appear when i boot to the recovery menu from the desktop (oddly enough, the keyboard and mouse work in that specific instance until i say, select startup repair which puts me back at "select keyboard layout" after a reboot with a non responsive keyboard).

motherboard replacement is not possible at the moment so does anyone know what i can do to fix this?

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Update: the pc is a dell studio XPS 7100 which seems to use the AMD 785G SB710 motherboard.

i took the battery out to reset the CMOS and now it boots to the CMOS error screen where it asks to load defualt settings or run setup utility. keyboards still wont respond on this screen although it still detects whether it is plugged in or not regardless of which USB port i plug it in. I have no idea what to do next. i have zero way to interface with this machine.

Caledon Ken · 11 Apr 2019

Long shot.

Please remove the graphics card and everything else not required to boot. I would remove CMOS battery again, disconnect power supply from board, press power switch for 25 seconds, reconnect and try boot ( you may need to install old graphics card if there is no integrated graphics).

If that works power down and re-install new graphics card but as part of boot enter BIOS again and reload defaults.

Are you sure PSU is good, you said the graphics cards was causing random power downs.

nitro101 · 11 Apr 2019

The PSU was replaced as it needed an upgrade anyway for the new GPU.

i'll try this stuff tomorrow.

zbook · 11 Apr 2019

In case the above fails find a flash drive that you can format.

Create a bootable Ubuntu iso.
Create a bootable USB stick on Windows | Ubuntu tutorials

Report into the thread whether the keyboard and mouse work or do not work using Ubuntu.

spunk · 11 Apr 2019

USB devices may take a few minutes to load at bootup.
At bootup, press F2 to enter Setup (Bios) if that works, then the keyboard is working correctly. In the Bios, go to Integrated Peripherals look for Legacy USB, if disabled, using your Enter and Arrow key, Enable it. While there, make sure LAN/Ethernet is enabled as well.

there are no network adapters showing up in the network adapter menu even though device manager shows them

In the Device Manager, are there any devices with Yellow Flags? If so, they need drivers installed.
On an internet computer Go to the Dell Support/Download Drivers site. The most recent drivers for this model computer are for Windows 7. Download the Chipset and Network Adapters drivers for this model and save them to a USB Flash Drive.
Plug the flash drive into the troubled computer. Double click the Chipset driver first. It will Unzip to a place on the HDD. Usually C:\Dell\Drivers take note of where it unzips to. When the driver fails, browse to this unzipped location and open this folder, Right click Setup.exe and choose Properties/Compatibility make this driver compatible with Windows 7. Put a check box in Run AS Administrator. Apply and OK double click to run in Compatibility Mode. Restart after install and install the Network Adapter drivers. Once you have internet, if there are any other devices with yellow flags, return to this Dell Page on this computer and download those drivers directly.
If all fails, do a Clean Install of Windows 10