CurrentlySober

I'm trying to enter BIOS on an old P4 HP computer. Its actually a computer inside an arcade machine, and it appears access to it has been disabled, in order to stop people messing about with it...

I've tried all the usual keys etc - No joy. I need to change the boot sequence from IDE to a new SATA drive....

Its not a virus, cause its NEVER been online. I think its something the orig builder has done.

When I have the orig drive, it works fine but when I disconnect it, and plug in the SATA I get a "PXE-E61: Media Test Failure check cable" error...

Upon googling, it states hat it doesn't know it should boot from a sata, and looks for a network - Which isnt there. They say change boot sequence in BIOS, but I CANT get to the BIOS !!!!

Any ideas?






(Yes, I HAVE tried taking a poo inside the cab, but that didn't work either )

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Paul&John

Did you tried to remove the battery from the mainboard to reset the settings?

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TROLLENSTEIN

Some old HPs used to use the pressing the [F1] or [ESC] key to access the BIOS instead of the "normal" keys most use today. If a logo/splash screen pops up on booting just press [ESC] key and it'll usually clear the splash screen "image" and show you the post info behind it.

If it's still not popping up at bootup, you could try turning the machine off and pulling the CMOS battery out of the mobo, wait 10mins (Yep, 10mins really. It's to clear the mobos capacitors completely of power.), and popping it back in to reset the CMOS to default. If the BIOS is passworded you can use one of various DOS tools available like KILLCMOS (DOS only tool; so stick it on a USB stick or floppy etc) to clear/reset it to factory defaults. Finally, and probably easiest, is to just move the jumpers on the mobo located near the CMOS battery to either CLEAR CMOS, CLEAR, CLR, JCMOS1, PASSWORD, PSWD (or something similar to that depending on your mobo, check positions on manufacturer's site) positions to reset/clear CMOS and reset BIOS to default.

CurrentlySober

Thanks guys - I had thought of that, but only as a last resort... It wouldn't surprise me if the guy had 'booby trapped' it, so the only way to fix if you fuck about is to contact him for the fix...

So why dont I contact him? He is no longer in the biz, and has no website or contact info....

After all, despite my trying to get the sata to work, it now STILL displays the error at boot up - But DOES actually boot from the orig drive none the less - (With the orig drive back in place and the sata disconnected) and takes about 30 seconds longer to boot and another 30 seconds to shut down...

But thanks anyway - I may HAVE to try it later

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k0nr4d

Booby trapped it? Is it supposed to explode if you remove that battery or something?

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seeandsee

he put a shit-c4 in arcade

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CurrentlySober

lol No, but its like this. I currently have a FULLY FUNCTIONING arcade machine with over 16,000 different games on it - However, with his proprietary software and configuration, there is no way to just make a 'list' of say 20 30 games. You have to go through all of them.

Now a pal has made me a sata drive with just my 30 or so fav games, and 'Hyperspin' as the frontend...

But I'm afraid that if I fuck about to much, I wont even be able to get the orig disc to work anymore - (After all, Ive already created an error and slowed it down) - Silly, I know, but I dont wanna jump out of the frying pan into the fire...

All I really wanted to do, was to get into the BIOS and change the boot order, without interfering with things more than needed

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k0nr4d

Removing the battery won't hurt anything. Go ahead and do it. There's also often a jumper on the motherboard that lets you reset bios...

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Darkhorse

For sure, it's only a cmos battery (stores bios settings). The jumper is usually located at the bottom of the motherboard, will have two small pins. You need a cap like the ones below to reset it with.

http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v1/1...ont-font-b.jpg

CurrentlySober

OK, last question - The only button / key that has any affect is 'F2'...

But, instead of bringing up the bios screen as I would like, instead brings up a long 'segmented' white line, (At the bottom of the screen) which takes a min to fill up, and then it boots as normal - NO BIOS

Any ideas?

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k0nr4d

Just pull the battery, wait 10-15 minutes for the caps to fully discharge and put it back. Then you can get into the BIOS. Everything will be fine... don't worry about F2's and white lines.

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Marcus Aurelius

you cunt a4rd beeos

CurrentlySober

Well, I bit the bullet, and pulled the battery.... I'll wait 15 mis, pop it back in, and report back !!!

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timlover

I run a PC shop. Let me know how it goes and if you can't figure it out I can help you. Would be a good idea to know what the motherboard model is and bios type.

Here is a good sheet on how to clear the CMOS and the default bios passwords if its protected.

http://www.wikihow.com/Reset-Your-BIOS

As far as the SATA drive goes.....is the original drive an IDE or SATA?

You probably need to set it to AHCI...of course this depends on how old it is..and you said it was a p4....

It might need some SATA drivers as well for the motherboard....

What OS is this thing running?

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CurrentlySober

OK, complete fucking waste of time...

All that has done, has added an EXTRA step to prolong my boot up... Its telling me off, cause my clock and date are not correct...

(How it knows that is a mystery - Its NEVER been online EVER....)

STILL CANT GET INTO FUCKING BIOS - I GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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phypon

If the BIOS chip isn't soldered buy a replacement chip.

Harmon

Try taking a hit on the mainboard. Piss on it if you have to. Then sniff it.

Report back.

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Marcus Aurelius

Fixed

Tom_PM

I would look for that jumper and see what the white ID printing on the board says.

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signupdamnit

Ok let's start with why exactly do you think the BIOS is disabled?

Try ESC, F1, F2, F10, F12, and DELETE if you haven't already. These are common keys to get you into the BIOS.

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signupdamnit

The battery is what helps retain the date. The date and time is usually set in the BIOS. Also sometimes programs like NTP will update it automatically when connected online but initial setting on the old models is done in the BIOS.

I would be surprised if there really is no way to get into the BIOS. He may have merely disabled the message telling you which key to press to get into it. If it is locked down traditionally it would be password protected and not fully disabled. You would hit the appropriate key and then get prompted for a password.

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timlover

It's impossible to try and help people when all they do is rant about what they can't do..

instead of just answering questions so people can work the problem

1.) There is no disabling of a BIOS. You can only password protect it

2.) If you posted the motherboard model like I asked, I would be able to look up what BIOS system its running. AWARD, AMI, etc...and then we could find out how to get it to load up on POST

The only time I have ever come across something remotely like yours, is when a BIOS update failed and the BIOS only got partially rewritten..even then, I was able to get into the BIOS, even though I couldn't adjust any settings...

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JockoHomo

Holding down the F10 button when booting an HP will usually get you into the BIOS.

From there make sure you have the hard drive set as the primary drive.

Good luck and as others have suggested if that doesn't do take a huge watery dump on the POS!

CurrentlySober

OK, Im there now, kinda...

I can now get to the bootup order, but cant change anything.

However, I know why. The keyboard I have is USB, and as soon as I get to the screen, the little light on the keyboard goes off, cause its no longer getting USB power.

I'll have to get one of those adaptors, so I can plug it in to the old style PS2 round socket.

Thanks to all who assisted

@timlover - Sorry if you think I was being ungrateful. I had already arranged for the guy who provided the sata drive to call me up. Thats who discovered the solution for me. Had he been unable to help, you would have been my next port of call. So thanks - I simply didn't want to waste your time unnecessarily

.

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