Keyboard failure Dell Inspiron 580

[jephph]

Hello again,
I've got a customer with what sounds like a memory issue. I want to run Memtest86+ on it, but there is an issue. On bootup, I get "keyboard failure" and I can't enter the BIOS to change the boot device priority so that I can load Memtest86+ from a flash drive or cd. The keyboard works fine once I'm into Windows, but I can't use it before Windows loads.
Things tried:
Reset CMOS.
Unplugged all other usb devices, including card reader internally.
Checked device manager, looks clean.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Buckshot420]

Is it a GUI BIOS? Can you unplug the keyboard and use a mouse? Is the keyboard USB or PS/2?

 

[jephph]

Couple of other things I forgot to mention... I also tried sfc /scannow, and there are no PS/2 ports on the motherboard. USB only. And no, it's not a GUI BIOS.

 

[raybay]

Sounds like you need to reset some components of your BIOS when you first boot up... or your CMOS battery is running down.
When you first start up, you can usually access the BIOS by depressing F2 or F3...
Then you may be able to see areas that need to be changed.

 

[jephph]

Hello again,
I've got a customer with what sounds like a memory issue. I want to run Memtest86+ on it, but there is an issue. On bootup, I get "keyboard failure" and I can't enter the BIOS to change the boot device priority so that I can load Memtest86+ from a flash drive or cd. The keyboard works fine once I'm into Windows, but I can't use it before Windows loads.
Things tried:
Reset CMOS.
Unplugged all other usb devices, including card reader internally.
Checked device manager, looks clean.

Thanks for any help.

 

[jephph]

As it turns out, I may be barking up the wrong tree anyway. I don't know how reliable MemTest by HCI Design (a Windows-based RAM tester) is, but it came up with 0 memory errors over the course of about an hour of running (over 100% coverage). I'm willing to concede that I'm not going to be able to run MemTest86+ as long as MemTest by HCI Design is reliable. I'll make a different post about this customer's main problem (computer shuts off randomly while running programs or trying to print). Thanks for the tips guys and gals.

 

[tonylukac]

As for keyboards, you could get a $3 one at Micro Center to test. As far as computer randomly shutting off, blow out the cpu and power supply with compressed air. It may be an overheating problem.

 

[jephph]

Switching to a different keyboard did the trick.