I posted about this before....

[spuddyt]

however I never really did anything about the suggestions, and what was generally reckoned to be the problem.
Basically, I became unable to access the bios on my MSI P35 Neo2-fr mobo (there was no reason for it insofar as I could tell).

Generally when I posted about this it was thought that this was something to do with the fact I was using a USB keyboard (which is not native to the bios), and that I should get the old PS/2(? is that what they're called? ) keyboards and try that - well, months went by and because I was happy with everything set up the way it was, I just sort of forgot about it.

Recently however I FINALLY got the motivation to get round to it this week, since I was thinking of maybe upgrading from my e2160 @2.8 to an e5200 or 7200. Ergo I got an old keyboard from a dell, plugged it in, and promptly failed to get into the bios again: as a result, I am sort of curious as to what would stop me from accessing my bios like this? I could try clearing the CMOS, but then I might lose my OC settings and STILL not be able to access the bios.

 

[taskforcetiny]

Hey mate,
Just read your post, and was wondering, surely your BIOS has the option to save your OC profile?

You may find that you have OC'd too far and you are freezing in BIOS due to voltages for your RAM and CPU being too high. You will need to clear CMOS because this sounds like an issue with BIOS freezing rather than a problem with your keyboard.

If you can't save your OC settings, then maybe you can write them down? Just lower the over voltages so you don't cook your gear ;-)

 

[evilshuriken]

Will it really take you that long to re-evaluate your settings to regain your current overclock? I don't think it will, and even if it does take a bit of time I think it will be worth it to have access to BIOS again. Don't you think?

 

[Zorg]

You guys didn't see the part of his post that indicates his concern of not being able to get into BIOS after the CMOS clear?

I can't think of any reason a PS2 keyboard wouldn't be able to access the BIOS. I guess you will have to flip a coin.

It is plugged into the keyboard jack and not the mouse jack, right?

 

[taskforcetiny]

Don't mean to be rude, but he didn't say that he did the CMOS clear, he said he didn't want to CLR CMOS because he didn't want to lose all his OC settings.

Out of curiosity, do you get an 'Entering Setup' message or something similiar, or does your machine just boot straight to your OS? Maybe it is something as simple as a combination of keys you need to press to enter BIOS - I've heard some mobos are wierd like that.

 

[mtyermom]

I'm assuming that if he has an OC that he's comfortable with, that he was able to get into the BIOS at some and then *something?* happened that is now preventing it.

As to what may have caused it... I'm at a loss.

 

[Zorg]

Don't mean to be rude, but he didn't say that he did the CMOS clear, he said he didn't want to CLR CMOS because he didn't want to lose all his OC settings.

Exactly, he is afraid that if he defaults the the BIOS, then he will be stuck with a default BIOS, because it's not clear whether the OC is the cause of no BIOS access or it is something else.

I also suspect that if the keyboard isn't registering during POST then no save or restore of the profile is possible, assuming it even has the feature. Setting the BIOS to the previous settings manually will only take a few minutes anyway, if he can get into the BIOS after the default.

 

[taskforcetiny]

Yeah good point.

 

[dokk2]

"not native to the bios",,what the hell does that mean???,,
either you have usb or you do not,,i had one of those MSI P35 Neo2 FR mobo's,,no such thing as not native to the bios,actually i got rid of it because of the limited o'clocking..but i did like the built in sound best i have ever encountered so far,really good multichannel positioning.
all versions of XP have usb as standard,,hells bells i can't count the number of usb toys i have,and they all work..
even though you will lose your "oclock" settings you might have to go back to basics to get it all together,if it is worth doing it is worth doing right,otherwise it is nothing but a P I T Ass..

 

[Zorg]

I have dealt with mobos in the past, one Dell I remember in particular, that couldn't be accessed with a USB, unless a setting in the BIOS was changed. to allow it. I always keep a PS2 keyboard handy for such a problem. Screwy that the Dell shipped with a USB Keyboard and had a default that wouldn't work. It was an older 1Ghz machine, I think the newer mobos aren't really a problem.

At any rate, the point is moot, because the PS2 keyboard doesn't work either.

 

[spuddyt]

well Zorg seems to have read my post - but no ideas? I may just have to chance it

 

[jitpublisher]

Your BIOS does have a setting called "Enable USB Legacy Support" that must be turned on for a USB keyboard to work during POST. On my old MSI board, when you reset the BIOS to default, this setting was disabled, (so stupid) meaning I HAD to have a standard PS/2 keyboard to get into the BIOS.

Now, even with the legacy support enabled, I have found that the only time the USB keyboard will let you into the BIOS is from a hard-boot. Simply restarting Windows, or doing a soft-boot, the USB keyboard will not get you into the BIOS.

As someone mentioned, you do have it plugged into the correct port?

You are not using a USB-PS/2 adapter and pluggin it right back into a USB port are you (sorry I had to ask, I have actually seen people do this and then state they still could not get into the BIOS with the PS/2 keyboard!)

 

[Zorg]

Like I said, you will have to flip a coin.

There is no logical reason for it to not let you into BIOS on the PS2, except the BIOS being partially corrupt. This assumes a working keyboard in the keyboard jack, of course.

Let us know how you fair.

 

[spuddyt]

well, no money so no upgrade just yet, I think i'll leave it for a bit longer....

 

[Zorg]

Better safe than sorry if you will get stuck.

 

[spuddyt]

interestingly, my brother's computer (on the same mobo, but different ram cpu and gfx) just got the same issue the other day - he doesn't really care cos he's a noob who doesn't OC , but should I try testing on his? I can't imagine it even being possible to break it by just clearing the CMOS....