No Keys during boot sequence, A8V-MX mobo

Hi, I have an Asus A8V-MX motherboard with A8V-MX BIOS version 0503 (0210), and sometimes during the boot sequence I cannot select which operating system I wish to boot. Dead keyboard(ps2)

Details?....

I'm dual booting winxp-sp2 (32bit) and Mandriva linux 2007.0 (64bit)

I have 2 sticks of 512mb ddr, (runs dual channel)
a nVidia fx 7600 gt agp graphics card with 256mb ddr3
onboard network chip, and sound (no problems here)
2 sata drives,
a dvd rw and cdrw.
oh, and the cpu is an amd64 3700+
ps2 mouse and ps2 keyboard

Has anyone experienced a similar problem?

Any ideas how to rectify this sometime frustrating nag?

Could it be lilo blocking the keyboard(i get no num-lock LED status when pressing the num-lock key)

tia, Glenn

 

who's in charge of booting XP or Mandy, if XP the recovery console would be a good place to start, Recovery Console Commands & very brief description

 

Mandy, with lilo coming up first, enabling me to choose, when the keyboard works.

Sometimes the boot sequence locks/pauses during the usb stage of the Drive detection, requiring a hard reboot.

Thank you, glenn

 

does it get past POST ? (beep)[ot]i'm not familiar with LILO as i use GRUB[/ot]

 

Yes, well, I get the post info on screen then it sometimes locks up. and

I have to turn it off to get it to boot.

And then sometimes it won't let me move the selected operating system and

it boots the default OS, namely winxp in this instance.

I could load grub and see if it still occurs, but I'm fairly certain that it's a

motherboard problem, as the system works almost flawlessly otherwise no

matter which OS is running.

Thank you, Glenn

 

if no, try reseting the BIOS

 

Yes, it beeps, just once, the post seems ok.

It locks up during the usb scan.

The HD scan usually comes next.

If I don't see the HD(all drives) scan in progress, I know it has locked up.

I generally(from my memory) always get the beep

 

the definition of hard (cold) and soft (walm) reboot


so the problem is with the USB, disconnect all USB devices and disable the USB in the BIOS & try it[ot]this will eliminate the USB, if it works your onboard USB is faulty so you'll need to purchase a PCI USB adapter[/ot]

yes, correct

 

A hard/cold boot is required because there is no responce form any other method i know.

The momentary reset button does not respond to depression.

Nor the keyboard for that matter.

I will give your suggestion a try and post back here with the outcome.

Thank you for the fast responses, I appreciate your input. Glenn

 

is the reset button cable disconnected or the reset button may be malfunctioning

what kind of keyboard, hopefully not USB

no problem

 

Hi, I just rebooted with the usb ports turned off in the bios.

No lock up at the hardware boot stage but I could not make a selection in the boot manager.

Keeping in mind that the Lock up does not occur all the time.

Glenn

 

The connectors are all fine, the buttons work as normal when the PC boots all the way.

It's an old and reliable Dell PS2 KB. 104 keys, and just 4 extra keys for sleep, on mail, home and find. Though I have never used them.

 

Ah, I've misled you....

The reset button does work but the boot process always gets stuck in the same place.

What I should have said is that the PC is turned off for a few seconds before switching it back on, usually this clears the fault and the boot manager comes up.

Sorry for that, I came across it while testing.

After I turned off the usb in bios, the PC refused to boot at all.

Turning it off for a few seconds cleared the fault and then the keyboard froze when the boot manager came up. (like before)

I have now replaced my keyboard with a back-up. Same, same.

I'm lost and am thinking I may have to reflash the bios, but how will I know that it has changed?

Also, I have tried this before and this is the result. (no change)

That was back before the beginning of the year.

Talk to you soon, Thanks again, Regards Glenn

 

so, is it detecting HDD correctly, & if IDE are master / slave on both the primary & secondary channels set correctly, and what other devices are also connected to IDE

 

The two HDs are sata, one a maxtor and the other a seagate.

The cdrw and dvdrw are IDE

 

are ALL bootable devices recognized ?[ot]it may be worth trying a SATA - IDE converter (if you have one)[/ot]

 

Sorry I took sooooo long, been a bit busy with uni.

All boot devices are generally recognised, when it boots.

The primary master is dvd-rw
the secondary slave is cd-rw
the third ide master (sata) is a maxtor hd
the fourth master (also sata) is a seagate hd

Un-used connections not listed for clarity.

I have usb turned back on now because I need access to my memory stick for study purposes.

But I have left the usb-legacy off and I have not had the problem since(touch wood).

Does this point to anything?

Thank you, Glenn

 

i have had that problem with a usb keyboard all i did was turned it on as normal and while it starts up quickly unplug the keyboard and plug it back in and it worked from then for me, maybe it will for you. it was annoying when my comp couldnt boot and i couldnt get into bios either lol

 

Well, I have the legacy usb system turned off in bios and I haven't had a problem since.

Regarding what you did, did you only have to do that once?

Thanks for the reply, also.

Regards, Glenn

 

yes just once while the pc is turned on and then i could shut down/restart without the problem, i know its not the most professional solution but it worked for me lol