Setup does not recognise keyboard input

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Jarls

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I have an issue. I was playing happily away on my computer when it had a bad crash and forced a reboot. When I tried to reboot it came up with a stop-error that windows had been stopped from loading as it might cause damage. I got into a loop that no matter how I tried to start windows (in safe mode, normal mode, normal with las settings etc etc.) I came up with this BSOD. Some browsing in this topic:

techspot.com/vb/topic8356.html

...advised that I reboot using the XP CD. Fine. I was in the process of doing that when I came upon something very unexpected.

  • Rebooted with XP CD.
  • Pressed any key to enable boot from CD.
  • Setup loads all the files etc from the CD.
  • Come with with options to set up XP, try to repair an installation or quit.
  • When I press the keyboard nothing happens.

Now, not only did going through this a couple of times not do much for my blood pressure, I fail to see how and/or why it doesn't recognise that I've pressed a button when the keyboard is clearly plugged in and recognised or I wouldn't have been able to "press any key" to start the setup in the first place.

Can anyone shed light on this infuriating mystery?
 
'tis indeed a USB, I'll try it when I get back to my pad (at a library now). But I can't figure why it would accept keyboard input before setup and not during. Ever heard of it before?
 
I've heard of USB keyboards working in some ports and not others for one reason or another, but not where it works outside of the Windows setup environment and not in it.

Somehow I doubt that it will even solve the problem, still, it's something simple you can try.
 
Ok, further steps in this comedy of errors evolve.

I borrowed an old fashioned pin keyboard and used it to enter setup and go through with the installation. But when it comes to the actual installation the computer claims that it can't find a hard disk. I plugged in my external hard drive but it spat it out and said that it wasn't good enough or wasn't enough space or some such thing. (Not enough space to install windows on a 150GB hard drive?)

Does this mean my hard disk is fried? A wire fell out (though its been sitting on my desk for a while, I've not dropped it or anything)? What would you advise?
 
At what point during the installation did/does it give you the error? Exact error messages help a lot :).

A wire fell out (though its been sitting on my desk for a while, I've not dropped it or anything)?
Click to expand...

Eh, what wire fell out of where? Can you describe the wire or find a picture?
 
Hehe, I didn't SAY a wire fell out, I was being somewhat silly. Don't worry about that.

I've done some browsing and I've found something that MIGHT work. The error message is:

Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer. Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct.Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3.

Now after some ferreting I came up with this:

http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives...-hard-disk-drives-installed-in-your-computer/

Do you think this might be the problem? Thanks for your help so far by the way.
 
Yep, sure could be if you're using a SATA HDD.

*Edit*

Haha, after reading what you said a few times I got it. :( I am slow at times...
 
Well, I tried altering it in setup and no joy. Does this sort of thing crop up if the hard is simply worn out? I've had the computer for about 3 1/2 years and used it fairly heavily in that time.

Should I get a new hard disk or is this just an error somewhere?
 
I wouldn't proclaim it dead just yet ;).

Try that site's suggestion of downloading your HDD's SATA drivers and loading them at the startup.
 
Only problem with that is that I don't have a floppy drive. Honestly, who uses floppies anymore? ><
 
Haha fair enough.

Have the brand and model of your HDD? It ought to tell you in the BIOS, if not there will be a sticker of sorts with all the information on the drive itself.
 
My system is:

Dell XPS 600 DXG051
BIOS Version: A03
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.2GHz
Memory: 2 x 512 DDR2 SDRAM
Hard Drive: Serial ATA Standard 7200rpm 160 GB, ID: WDC WD1600JS - 75NCB1

I'm assuming that WDC means it is a Western Digital Corporation, further info I guess can be googled for.

If this wasn't what you were asking for then no worries. I got that info from the Setup, but I can't find a screw driver to take the side/back off :(
 
You didn't have to go through the trouble of looking your HDD up. I only asked to make sure you had a SATA drive in your system before we started chasing after a phantom ;).

I believe these are the drivers you will be needing, however, you'll still need a means to install them. Maybe someone else will have a suggestion being that you haven't got a floppy drive.
 
You could try using a bootable USB drive or slipstreaming the drivers to your XP CD (if you'd be willing to try that).

I'd like someone to confirm that those are the drivers you need though.
 
Me too. surely there is more than one person on these boards who has an idea what to do?

Not that I'm ungrateful for your help :D
 
Haha, sure sure ;).

I can think of quite a few ways that I would get around something like this, but not too many ways that would be practical for you.

Pretty much every motherboard I've purchased came with a SATA driver floppy disk (not that it'd help you anyway :(), and I haven't had a proprietary PC since ATA was the standard interface.

I'm not sure if there are universal SATA drivers you can use or what. I'd like to know for myself though in the future. I will continue to bump this page until someone hops in with a suggestion :).
 
If I get a copy of Vista and try to install that, will it come with the necessary drivers and so forth to get around this?

I mean, if I upgrade to Vista, do you think it will install or still not find a hard drive?
 
I can't see why it wouldn't request them. I doubt they have your SATA/RAID controller drivers integrated within the installation disk.

I am pretty certain those are the drivers that you'll need. You just need a means to install them during the setup.
 
Hey Jarls, nlite will work. You can 'slipstream' your SATA drivers into your own customer Windows install CD and reburn it. It's quite a few steps though and while not terribly difficult, it could be a headache. :)

Also, a USB floppy drive will work (most will, anyway).

Also, if you go into your BIOS (tap F1 or F2 on the very first screen you see when booting up) and change your SATA from "enhanced" or "AHCI" to "Standard" or "IDE emulation"... "Normal" maybe (There's a lot of different possible terms used)... You might be able to get XP to recognize your drive without having to install drivers.

The idea is to disable AHCI/enhanced SATA mode so it looks like a 'regular' ATA disk controller to Windows. Hopefully the standard XP drivers will be able to recognize your SATA controller. The drawbacks are this disables hot swapping (not useful) and NCQ (This, for most people, makes no difference).

So... try that...
 
If you happen to decide to slipstream nLite to your XP CD as Rick mentioned, here is a page with the information you'll need to do so.
 
Ooooh, thanks for the tips guys.

The nLite business does seem something of a handful. Seeing as an external floppy that uses a USB might not be detected (setup doesn't detect my USB keyboard, but that might be a different affair, clarification required), I might try it.

Currently I'm on a university network with paranoid security and protocols on the computers. Can't install things, can't even right click on the desktop, can't even run video in media players (rofl). I got around the last one by downloading mplayer onto my external drive and using it (take THAT, system admins).

I'll try to get my hands on a floppy and an external drive before I attempt the nLite. I don't really want to bugger about with my XP CD and screw it up :p
 
You can't screw your copy of XP up. It can't be written to. If anything you'd just mess up the attempted slipstreamed copy.

Good luck with everything, and let us know how it goes :).
 
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