# ps2 port dead - cannot enter bios setup

## playahater

greetingz folks ..  :Smile: 

my friend`s ps2 port on his motherboard died a couple of days ago .. he`s using now usb keyboard which is working fine under linux but he can`t access bios in any way cause he`s usb keyboard is not recognized upon boot (usb legacy is probably turned off).

Also, only hdd is set up as a boot device so no chance booting from cd/dvd.

Is there any way to enter and change the bios settings under these circumstances ??

any thoughts are appreciated ..

10x in advance .. 

cheers ..

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## xaviermiller

Hello,

Try clear CMOS and hope that USB keyboard will be enabled by default CMOS setup.

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## playahater

 *XavierMiller wrote:*   

> Hello,
> 
> Try clear CMOS and hope that USB keyboard will be enabled by default CMOS setup.

 

yeah .. that crossed my mind .. but settings for the usb legacy is off by default

i could clear cmos, hopefully get the cd boot option but what then? .. any chance of accessing bios from some cd-dvd-bios-thingy-utility? .. is there a such thing?

in that case, i could maybe even flash with new bios version but how to enable usb legacy without entering bios setup ?

can`t believe there`s no plan b for these kind of situations ..  :Sad: 

cheers ..

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## NeddySeagoon

playahater,

You can manipulate the CMOS settings from within Linux. There are 16 bytes predefined and the rest of the 128 (or 256) bytes is up to BIOS vendor to determine.

As far as I know, BIOS vendors don't publish what each address is used for.

If you have another working motherboard with the same BIOS you could copy the binary settings from it to the broken board after you set it up the way you wanted.

Otherwise its a lot of trial and error and some settings will stop the system booting.

You could poke at the BIOS with a DOS debugger. Its entry point is at 0xffff0 or some segment/offset that gets you that address.

Lastly, a long time ago the were PCI cards that provided PS/2 ports. You might get lucky and find one of them.

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## Simba7

 *NeddySeagoon wrote:*   

> Lastly, a long time ago the were PCI cards that provided PS/2 ports. You might get lucky and find one of them.

 

There's a bunch of them on eBay. Here's one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/270564271712?cmd=ViewItem&hash=item3efee32660

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## DirtyHairy

If you're adventurous you can also look on the mainboard if there is a SMD fuse near the port (it would be labeled something F?? , with the "?" being numbers obviously). If there is, chances are that it has blown, and shorting it might get the PS/2 back (with the obvious caveat that the next overcurrent will fry the board). I once revived an old board this way, but of course, the procedure comes with a risk...  :Smile: 

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## playahater

hey guys .. 10x for advices ..

i found another mobo same as my friend has .. so i`ll try to dump bios with legacy enabled and apply it to my friend`s one

i`ll be back with results ..  :Smile:  ..

cheers ..

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