[RESOLVED] Can't get into cmos

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March 24th, 2001, 01:21 AM
Packrat

Can't get into cmos

Okay I have a Packard Bell axcel 130 plus (I know, I know, Packard Bells suck but it was given to me for free.) My problem is that when it boots up it says
shutdown failure and then beeps twice and syas
invalid configuration please run setup program press f1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility.
The only problem is that when I press F2 nothing happens and the system locks up. If I press F1 it says no boot device available Press F1 to retry or F2 to run seup program.
It says that even if I have a boot disk in the floppy drive. I have also shorted the bios jumper to reset the configuration, still no luck. Can anybody out there help me? Thanks alot in advance.

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Its all fun and games until someone loses an eye, then its just fun in the dark.
March 24th, 2001, 04:45 AM
rob_b

I suspect that your Bios is corrupt... catch 22, can't flash the Bios cause you can't boot the machine....
i hear an ARGGGGGGGGGGH maybe !!!!!!

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...we are the knights who say Ni

[This message has been edited by rob_b (edited March 24, 2001).]
March 24th, 2001, 07:54 AM
MacGyver

Probably why he got the computer for free...

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Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
March 24th, 2001, 12:23 PM
Packrat

Maybe. Hope not, I would like to use it for a dos machine.

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Its all fun and games until someone loses an eye, then its just fun in the dark.
March 24th, 2001, 12:34 PM
Packrat

anybody else who might help me save this box?

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Its all fun and games until someone loses an eye, then its just fun in the dark.
March 24th, 2001, 12:53 PM
WEST Computers

If you know anyone with the same box, you can hotflash your bios - it's a bit tricky and the person whose box you use will have to trust you completely NOT to screw their bios up as well. There are also places on the web that will sell you replacement bios chips for just about any machine - www.unicore.com is pretty good at this.
March 25th, 2001, 10:31 PM
Packrat

I found out that it has a bootblock jumper. now I need to know how to use it. i know it reads from the floppy drive, but now I need the bios. Anybody know if that will work?
March 26th, 2001, 12:56 AM
Tech666

Just out of curiosity , are you SURE that this machine doesnt have a disk based Bios setup? Alot of compaqs do , and ive even run across a couple of off brands that have in the past.
March 26th, 2001, 09:59 AM
Ruslan

Quote:

Originally posted by Packrat:
Okay I have a Packard Bell axcel 130 plus (I know, I know, Packard Bells suck but it was given to me for free.) My problem is that when it boots up it says
shutdown failure and then beeps twice and syas
invalid configuration please run setup program press f1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility.
The only problem is that when I press F2 nothing happens and the system locks up. If I press F1 it says no boot device available Press F1 to retry or F2 to run seup program.
It says that even if I have a boot disk in the floppy drive. I have also shorted the bios jumper to reset the configuration, still no luck. Can anybody out there help me? Thanks alot in advance.

For using bootblock for reflashing BIOS You should at least be able to boot from any media (floppy,HDD,CD an so on).But, as far as I understand, You cann't.
Try to find "CMOS clear" jumper - usually located near battery or BIOS chip.Clear CMOS.
March 26th, 2001, 11:05 AM
Packrat

Thanks anyway ruslan, but I already tried that. didn't work. It might have a disk based cmos setup, but the only thing I have run across is a setup utility that is called pbsetup.com, but I can't get to an a: prompt to use it. Also it won't automatically run when I use the boot block.