• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Cannot edit BIOS data

nimzov

Unregistered
N
Joined
Apr 12, 2004
Messages
954
A friend gave me a laptop, a DELL Latitude CPi PII366Mhz,
128 Meg of RAM.

I formated the hard drive and want now to install Ubuntu.

Problem is that when I boot and press F2 to edit the BIOS
all the information is there but I cannot edit any fields. I
can navigate through the fields (up and down arrow)
and change page (Alt F9) but cannot edit the fields (right and
left arrow), to make it boot from the CDROM. I have tried an
external keyboard in case some keyboard keys were defective
but I still cannot edit the fields from the external keyboard.

So I cannot boot from the CDROM nor from the hard drive
and the laptop has no floppy drive.

Any advices ?

Thanks
 
Try resetting the BIOS, that's a possible solution.

Also, unplug the charger and remove the battery. Press the power button for about 30 seconds.

See if that helps.
 
Last edited:
Thanks.

I have removed the battery, and press for a length of time the power button but the problem is still there.

The + or - keys have no effect.
 
Last edited:
Could there be a jumper that makes the BIOS data read-only ?

I cannot even change the date or time. But I can navigate the fields.
 
Last edited:
Lets see if we can find the manual.
What is the full model number?
Should be on the sticker on the bottom.

-MrQ
 
MrQhuest said:
Lets see if we can find the manual.
What is the full model number?
Should be on the sticker on the bottom.

-MrQ
Click to expand...
DELL
Model No: PPL
Latitude CPi A-Series
Ref number: 99050

And then some codebar stickers with numbers :
DP/N 0006692D-12800-9CK-0754
VP4V2
532-497-98

Thanks
 
Did you try the 'Enter' key?

That is what I have to press to edit a field in my BIOS.

Left and right arrows select the page. Then up and down arrows to select a field. Then Enter to edit the selected field.
 
I have 6 pages and I can navigate between the pages with Alt-P.

In any page the only keys that are active are

1) Alt-P (next page)
2) Esc (terminates the BIOS screen)
3) Up and Down arrow (navigation between the fields)

But there is an exception for the page for the passwords

In this page there are 3 password fields :

1) Primary password is Disabled (but here I can use the right and left arrows and then enter a password (all keys are ok to enter a password))

2) Admin password is Enable (here I cannot use the right and left arrows) Cannot edit anything here.

3) Configure setup is Disabled (but I can use the right and left arrows to enter a password (all keys are ok to enter a password))

I'm stuck. :confused:

Add: I was never asked for a password while navigating the screens of the BIOS or entering the BIOS.

nimzo
 
Last edited:
Admin Password, that's the issue. You will need to turn that off.
If you dont know what it is, you are going to have to reset the bios back to factory default.
Easy to do on a PC, harder to do on a notebook.
I'll see what i can find.

MrQ
 
nimzov said:
I have an another question.

Is it possible to connect the dell hard drive to a desktop computer and format it there ?

Can a drive from a portable computer be read on a desktop ? I see no power supply line on the Toshiba 20Gig (HDD2164)
Click to expand...

Yes, the power is supplied via the data cable.

The adapter in your edit would also work.

You can either use a USB/IDE adapter (pic1) or a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter (pic2).
 

Attachments

  • usb_ide.jpg
    usb_ide.jpg
    15.8 KB · Views: 54
  • laptopide.jpg
    laptopide.jpg
    4.9 KB · Views: 54
Last edited:
Anotehr solution that I used sucessfuly in the past (I dunno if it is still valid) was to use IN and OUT asm command to put random data in the bios. It automatically failed the checksum, and reset everything to factory default including password. Not sure if this is valid anymore.
 
It's entirely possible that a machine that old is not capable of booting from optical.

I don't remember *when* it was, exactly, but I do remember a time when booting from a CD without the need for a boot floppy was new and amazing.

ETA:

Not to mention the fact that Ubuntu is vastly too huge for such a machine. You'll want Puppy.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom