Hi,If you could help?
I have a friends computer its a DELL XPS 410.
He pulled the sata HD because his teck told him the MOBO was DEAD.

I cleared some memory etc and up she booted.
Apparently he has all blue tooth stuff all I have is ps/2 and usb .
There is no Ps2 PORT
the usb keyboard will not pick up so I cannot get to the bios set up.

There is a "ps/2 serial connector" on the mobo.. looks to have 12 prongs.
Has a floppy connector too.. so if you cant help me I will plug in a floppy drive with necessary drivers for the usb keyboard?
(because for some daft reason it is booting to floppy first, will not boot to DVD- error stops it saying hit F1 to ignore and F2 to setup..keyboard doesnt work)

THE question is;
When he brings me the specific keyboard and the original intact HD, will the keyboard be recognized?

I have tried repeatedly to hit F2 on the DELL screen at diff times etc. No go.

IF no other option but to install the floppy drive,.. does anyone know a quick dnld of a boot disk that would include usb keyboard drivers?
Thank you.(Very much)

I byte.

Why are you messing with a mboard a tech said is no good? Some techs are incompetant, or don't put in the time to figure out what is actually wrong unless the customer pays for their time, but some actualy know what they are doing.

" I cleared some memory etc and up she booted."

Explain what you did.

A USB keyboard should work by default n this relatively recent system.
You don't ever need USB keyboard drivers to get into the bios, support for that is already built into the bios, and if you had a working hard drive with Windows on it, the USB keyboard is automatically found by Windows and built in drivers are installed for it.
The only reason you would need drivers for a USB keyboard is if it has special purpose buttons on it - everything else standard is already supported.
NOTE that some keyboards have a button you must press to activate the F keys! It does not require drivers.

I see no indication you would need a bluetooth keyboard to get into the bios - a USB keyboard should work (if it is enabled in the bios) on this recent computer, just as PS/2 keyboards are always supported to get into the bios in older bioses and most newer ones.
You could try clearing the cmos (see the service manual, below), but it probably won't help (unless the support for USB keyboards has been disabled).

If Legacy USB devices or USB keyboard is turned off in the bios, you can't get into it with a USB keyboard, but it will work in Windows in any case.
You can probably cure that problem by clearing the cmos.

DELL XPS 410

http://www.dell.com/content/product...
Including:

"Legacy:
PS/2: two 6-pin mini-DIN (with optional PS2/Serial card)
Serial: 1 (with optional PS2/Serial card)"

One PS/2 for a keyboard, the other for a mouse.
Good luck connecting up a PS/2 port without those optional cards.
I see no info about the pinouts in the Service Manual.

Service Manual - in seven pieces:
http://support.dell.com/support/edo...

One piece - System Setup
http://support.dell.com/support/edo...

Including:
"Entering System Setup
Turn on (or restart) your computer.

When the blue DELL™ logo is displayed, watch for the F2 prompt to appear.

Once the F2 prompt appears, press <F2> immediately.

NOTE: The F2 prompt indicates that the keyboard has initialized. If you press <F2> before you are prompted, the keystroke will be lost."

In other words, you do not get the prompt to press F2, and you can't get into the bios, unless the keyboard is recognized.
..
Applies if there is a hard drive that is working and has Windows on it:

"If you wait too long and the operating system logo appears, continue to wait until you see the Microsoft® Windows® desktop, then shut down your computer (see Turning Off Your Computer) and try again."
.....

The bios won't boot from the DVD drive unless an optical drive (CD or DVD drive) is in the boot order in the bios and the drive has a bootable CD or DVD in it.
If the DVD drive is recognized by the bios you may see it's model number on the first screen as you boot, if that isn't obscured by the logo screen.
Normally the floppy drive is listed first, if one is installed, then an optical drive, then a hard drive. If a floppy drive is in the boot order, and if no bootable CD or DVD and no bootable hard drive is found, you will be prompted to provide a bootable floppy if no bootable floppy is found.

Clearing the bios will probably cure the problem of an optical derive not being in the boot order - see the Service Manual.

If there is more than one optical drive, try the other one - some bioses will only boot from one optical drive - the first one detected, or the first one specified in a list of optical drive models in the bios Setup.

That's assuming the optical drive(s) is(are) correctly connected, and jumpered (if applicable, if it's IDE), of course.

"Why are you messing with a mboard a tech said is no good?"

The teck didn't say it was no good. The teck said it was dead. It would not power on or boot at all.

Why? Because I like to, and I wanted to save my friend the $ of buying a new PC.

A Usb keyboard does not work by default. I guess because it was set up for blue tooth? Eventually I will confirm that. Hopefully all I will have to do is plug in the HD and original keyboard again.

"a USB keyboard should work"
Ahuh... except its a DELL *super gag*

I have already cleared the cmos. It did not help. Im surprised it boots first to a floppy considering everything has been booting first to a cd/dvd for quite a while, you know? *s* But even if it was set to boot to the floppy the guy that worked on this before apparently uninstalled it to make room for a memory card thing.

XPS/Dimension 410/9200
http://support.dell.com/support/top...

= no ps/2 ports except the 12 prong one ON the mobo beside the floppy connection.

I dnld'd and read all the manuals and service manuals *s* I would not have asked for help if I wasn't already bug eyed *s~~~

Thank you , I hope I have answered your questions and I hope that when i get the rest of the pc she will fire up ok.

I byte.

"...except its a DELL *super gag* ..."

Dell does not make the mboards in their systems. They are supplied to them by major mboard makers and merely have a Dell bios version on them. They may be identical to retail versions made by the mboard maker, or OEM only versions supplied only to Dell, or only to them and other brand name system builders, that are very close to but not identical to similar retail versions.

"A Usb keyboard does not work by default. I guess because it was set up for blue tooth?"

As I said above, even if the bios is presently set up with a USB keyboard being disabled in the bios, it is quite certain in this case it should be enabled after you clear the cmos. If it doesn't the bios is damaged or the mboard is otherwise damaged.

Did you remember to move the cmos jumper back to it's default position?

Going by this mboard is relatively recent and PS/2 keyboard and PS2 mouse support is optional, it should recognize a USB keyboard fine after clearing the cmos in any case since a USB keyboard would need to be turned on in default settings in the bios Setup.

".... Im surprised it boots first to a floppy..."

I explained that.
Clearing the cmos should have cured that problem if the DVD drive is working and is properly connected.

It would be a good idea to check the Power Supply. e.g. If it isn't working properly and isn't putting out 5v, that would certainly cause a USB or PS/2 keyboard to not be recognized.
See response 4 in this:
http://www.computing.net/hardware/w...
If you can't check the voltages because you can't get into the bios, temporarily connect it to another computer.

I did a little searching using: XPS 410 motherboard.

Review
http://www.anandtech.com/systems/sh...
- says a very similar mboard is Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 (Note: Not a BTX board!)

- apparently the mboard has a BTX form factor - based on ATX but it's much larger.
So it is an OEM only mboard, made for Dell.

- the article says the PS is standard ATX, so if it needs to be replaced any standard ATX PS will do, 375 watts or more.

It would be cheap to fix this system if the mboard is no good - there is probably nothing wrong with the installed components otherwise.

E.g.

Entire computer on ebay, for bid, presently $.99
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-XPS-410-In...

mboard on ebay, for bid, presently ~$70, model 9200, but not much time left:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Dimension-...

mboard on ebay Buy Now, ~$100, model 9200
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-CT017-Moth...

hi

you could give dell a phone call and see if this fits the ps2 serial 12 pin port youve found;

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sn...

may be able to access the bios through this,

im suprised the rear panel usb ports dont work with a usb keyboard ,as they should, maybe thats what the tech meant by its 'dead'

:)

Thank You *s*
the Serial PS2 Port Adapter Card may be the answer in the long run.

No.. the teck could not get this board to power on or boot at all.

This teck also made a few other mistakes in upgrades so I think its possible that a good clean install and once over may be all it needs.

At the least it should make one of my friend's kids very happy and maybe he can use it to bribe them to clean out the garage *soft grin*
Thanks for your post*s*
and
Tubesandwires thank you for your posts too.

I byte. :D

RESOLVED
Apparently this mobo has a reputation for having all USB's quit working.
Some people say pressing the power button for 30 seconds dumps the built up power??? And then they work.
I tried that too, but no joy.
DELL does advise that this mobo has legacy USB keyboard drivers built in and recommends trying it with a Logitech keyboard which I did. Again, no joy.
This mobo is the strangest I have seen yet only being a couple years old and having no on board video or ethernet and no ps2 ports.

I h ope this post saves someone else allot of troubleshooting time.

I byte. :D

Thanks for the update, but...

- you didn't actually say whether you have given up on it, or got it to work
- did you get it to work with a PS/2 / serial adapter to the mboard header fot that?

Did you check the power supply?
E.g. the current voltages in your bios Setup?
If it ain't putting out what is supposed to be an accurate 5v, the USB cannot work. If the 5v is no good, your PS/2 ports won't work either.

It's many times more likely your problem was caused by that, or by a voltage surge or spike damaging the mboard if you don't have the computer plugged into something that protects you from that, than it is the USB would spontaneously quit working.

No I gave up. The owner said TOAST IT. SO I salvaged what I could.
No I couldn't find a PS2 adapter anywhere.
It may be the power supply but without being able to get into bios setup I cant tell, and the only time I have had problems with Power supplies is when they are dirt cheap ones.

As for power surges, not as far as he could figure. However when I stripped the box I found that someone had left a screw flying around in there. Im sure that didnt help at all :(

Bottom line (IMO) if its a Dell Its a DELL its a DELL.

I byte. :D

The power supply probably has standard ATX wiring.
You could try connecting it to another computer.
See the info in this, including about the wiring of the main connector from the PS
See response 4 in this:
http://www.computing.net/hardware/w...

Brand name systems sometimes DO have el-cheapo PSs in them that malfunction and fail.
As is the case with most brand name system brands, Dell did not make the mboard - it was made by a major mboard manufacturer and supplied to them.

Thank you I value your input and yes I'm aware that Dell doesnt actually make the mobo.

I gave the owner all the options.
it was the OWNERS choice to drop kick the dell.

S~

I byte. :D