New computer woes

Factual Questions
1

Ahem…argh. I finally broke down and got a new computer this weekend, and already I seem to have rendered it inoperable. I thought while I go through the rigamarole of getting the Dell service thing all arranged, I’d tap the Teeming Millions for any stray suggestions they might have. So here goes:

I’ve got a brand new Dell Dimension 4550 pc w/2.0 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB memory, 120 GB HD, running Windows XP Home. I had it up and running Saturday night, but got fiddling with it on Sunday afternoon and it has become most recalcitrant. I was in the Display Properties (right clicking on the desktop), and was trying out different screen resolutions, when I evidently set it higher than the monitor (M782) was happy about. I got a message on the now otherwise blank monitor that the frequency was out of range.

Looking through the monitor’s documentation (helpfully on a cd-rom :rolleyes: which I luckily had another old computer to view), I found a solution: reboot the pc while holding down the F8 key, select ‘Safe Mode’ on the resulting menu, go into the control panel and lowering the resolution, then restart the pc so the new settings would take effect.

I did this. Instead of taking effect, however, I got the same ‘Frequency Out of Range’ message again, even though the resolution I set it to (1024x768, I think) had worked before. No problem, I think; I’ll try it again, and set it further down.

Shut everything down, reboot pc, hold down F8 key…I now get KEYBOARD FAILURE, and it tries to boot up normally, once again hitting the “Frequency Out of Range” message. My keyboard is a Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse setup from Dell. I troubleshoot it (check battery insertion, connections, reset the transmitter thing), but am still not getting any discernable response from it.

HOWEVER, a couple of times when I’ve tried this, it seems as if the F8 key is registering, as I will get the Windows Advanced Options Menu (the one that allows you to select Safe Mode). Unfortunately, the keyboard seems to die at this point, as I cannot “use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlight to the selected option”. Indeed, I can’t use any keys at all.

So either the keyboard seems to be doing nothing at all, or it seems to be transmitting the F8 key and then dying. Since it had been working fine before, I find it quite a coincidence that the keyboard should quit working right when I’m restarting to correct a monitor problem. The keyboard doesn’t have any LEDs on it (to conserve battery power), so if the batteries are defective, it isn’t obvious. They came with the keyboard, and the mouse seems lively; so one thing I haven’t done yet is replace the keyboard batteries.

So what might I have done, and how might I fix it? I’ve got $1800 worth of computer that didn’t even survive 24 hours out of the box, and that just ain’t right. I blame the media; but it’s most likely my fault.

Thanks for any help you might be able to give this particular klutz.

2

Since it’s new and hopefully you haven’t stored any needed data, just pop in the System Restore CD and start anew.

3

I don’t think you want to hold down the F8 key, you want to quickly tap it over and over again.

4

I haven’t stored anything on it yet, so I’ll try the system restore cd when I get home. I just couldn’t figure out why the keyboard didn’t seem to be working, or almost didn’t seem to be.

I’ve tried the F8 key both ways, and if I remember correctly, the tapping may have been what resulted in my getting the menu. I still don’t know why it wouldn’t work after that, though.

Will putting the System Restore CD in just make the entire “new computer” initializing process start over (it had me put in time zone, name the computer so it could be found on a network, etc)? There are absolutely no instructions with this thing except where to plug everything in.

Thanks again. My chagrin burbles with the methane of a thousand backwater swamps…

5

After you had changed the resolution in ‘safe mode’, did you click ‘apply’? When I perform that operation on my PC, the ‘apply’ button is almost completely out of view at the bottom of the screen. You wouldn’t know it was the ‘apply’ button without prior knowledge because it’s almost totally off the screen.

6

Try turning the machine on, then while you see it doing the memory test start tapping F8 like once every second or two. Machine might beep at you; ignore it. Now you’re at the boot menu. Choose Safe mode. This should get your machine loading Windows.

Once Windows is loaded, go to Display Properties again and choose a resolution that you would like. It should have defaulted to 640x480 (16 colour). I’d suggest trying 1024x768 (32 bit colour).

This should fix your problem. If you still have problems with the keyboard not responding at the boot menu, post again and try to describe any messages that you see when the machine’s booting.

7

Mr. Duality: I actually did click “Apply”, but it had no effect. I figured that was because Safe Mode would only use the lowest resolution available, and that the settings would take effect when I restarted.

Melraidin: The problem is, once I get to the boot menu, it won’t let me choose Safe Mode. “Boot Windows Normally” is highlighted, but I can’t move the highlight to any other selection. The keyboard quits responding at that point. It had worked fine before this.

The only message I get is after the blue DELL logo with the white bar under it. Something pops up on the next screen that says how much memory the system has (I’m not certain of this; will have to look), and below that it says KEYBOARD FAILURE. That’s why I was surprised to actually get to the boot menu; I thought my keyboard had quit working altogether. The fact that I can get to the boot menu sometimes tells me the keyboard isn’t entirely dead, but it sure isn’t doing much.

Oh, for the days of the Commodore 64…

8

A USB keyboard can do this if support for legacy USB isn’t selected in the bios. try to find that in the bios. mine is set for key/mouse/floppy.

9

Dijon,

On another note, changing the resolution alone may not give you the desired result. Notice the monitor is not complaining about the resolution being out of range. It is complaining about frequency (commonly referred to as Refresh Rate).

Most monitors support refresh rates of 60Hz, 70Hz and 72Hz. My suggestion to you is to drop the resolution to 800x600 @ 60Hz. You may have to do a bit of searching to find the refresh rate dialog box.

Clicking the Settings button (in video display properties), then Advanced, Monitor - change the refresh rate to 60Hz. You may also wish to click Adapter, then “List all modes”, at which point you can select the resolution and frequency setting.

As for the keyboard problem - it comes across like a stuck key problem. Holding the F8 key down during boot will generally result in a BIOS-generated keyboard failure error. The trick is to hit it just as the BIOS is handing over to the operating system - ie when the BIOS screen goes to black before the Windows XP splash screen. Hit it a few times repeatedly at this point. You should get the boot menu.

Hope this helps,
Max. :slight_smile:

10

My roommate, who still has problems with certain windows functions and has no idea what DOS even IS, has just installed SuSE Linux 8.0 on his computer, in an apparent psychotic delusion. Now, his computer woes are my computer foes, as I am bombarded with questions like:

“WHY THE HELL WON’T MY INTERNET ACCESS WORK?”

“How do you mount a drive?”

“Umm… what’s this mean?” (That’s the worst one so far, it’s always bad)

“FSCK YOU!” Ok, I made that one up.

So you see, this is going to be fun.

11

da_pope: It is a USB keyboard/mouse set up, at least one of the plugs goes into a USB port on the back of the machine. It was working when I first got the machine up and running, and I haven’t changed anything in the BIOS since I got it (not sure even how to do that), so I’m not sure how anything could have gotten messed up from that angle. Still, I’m taking all suggestions, so I’ll note that one and look into it.

Maxxxie:

That would be great if I could get that far. :slight_smile:

So far, I’ve been just holding down the F8 or giving it rapid fire stacatto attacks until something happens, so I’ll try this less…intense approach. Problem is, once I get to the boot menu (which I’ve gotten to a few times), I can’t go anywhere from there. The keyboard seems to die at that point.

12

Do this: go into safe mode and change the display adaptor to “Standard VGA.” Reboot.

13

That’s just it: I can’t get into safe mode anymore. The keyboard dies when I get to that menu, and it won’t let me select any options on that menu, Safe Mode included.

14

Can you enter into BIOS upon bootup?

15
      • Try a regular (non-USB) keyboard and a standard, generic 2-button non-USB mouse.
        ~
16

I happen to have a Dell 4550 on the workbench behind me, but I don’t have a USB keyboard. However, with a standard PS/2 keyboard I was able to duplicate your exact problem. If you hit the F8 key too soon, you will get the keyboard failure error, but the PC will continue to boot, and the keyboard will be inoperable. Make sure you do not hit the F8 key until the Dell logo appears on the screen, but before it flashes off. This is a very small window of opportunity and a big pain in the ass, but it will work. Once you get that far, you may want to try choosing “Last Known Good Configuration” from the menu instead of safe mode. If that fails as well, then follow Maxxxie’s advice and make sure to set the refresh at the lowest setting. I would tell you how to do this, but my XP is currently blue screening when I attempt to access the video settings. (Not to worry, it’s a known issue with SP1. MS should have a fix any year now.)

17

I got one of those 5440s…

“hold down F8 key…I now get KEYBOARD FAILURE,”

Not surprising, since the computer thinks the keyboard is stuck cause you are holding down a key.

Here is what I would do. Disconnect everything, the keyboard, mouse, monitor, any & all power plugs for a full minute. Plug everything back in. See if that does it. I believe these things can boot from that restore CD if you set the bios to do so. YOu should look at your manual.

18

Want to get the menu to come up without dicking with the keyboard? Punch the reset button when Windows XP is booting.

Then, next time, it goes “I didn’t finish booting” and gives you the safe-mode-menu choice button automatically.

I figured this out when an evil evil program went “Oh, I’ll just jam the refresh rate up as far as I want!”

19

SUCCESS!!!

I wrestled with it some more today, and tried going easier on the F8 key per Maxxxie’s advice (I had been overzealous, as I wasn’t sure just when it needed to be hit, and wasn’t sure if it was connecting). Tourbot nailed my keyboard problem. I was not only able to get to the boot menu this time, but I also eliminated the keyboard failure so I could navigate the menu. Going through the Safe Mode option still didn’t clear the Out of Range problem, so I tried “Last Known Good Configuration”, and all is right with the world at last. Thanks to everyone. I have a feeling my frustrations are just beginning…

Next time I’m jonesing for some technology, I’m buying a Clapper. :smiley:

20

Argh someone please thank me cuz my post (it was the second reply) told the OP to “tap” not “hold down” F8.

:frowning:

please???

I’m only right so often…