BIOS -- Getting into the damned thing.

Subhuman, I think that for getting into a Compaq Deskpro's bios you have to reset the CMOS first, by taking out the CMOS battery and waiting for some time. Plug it back in and then while the bios is loading up press delete.

Sandman

Huh.. whoa.

I'll talk to my friend (he's better with hardware than me) and find out what this means. :)

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll see what else comes up before I try anything this (I think it is) drastic.

Usual it display the Key to enter BIOS, mostly "Del", some machine use F2, try different key in keyboard.

I've been doing this.

My computer doesn't actually display anything except the RAM until it gets to autoexec.bat, so it doesn't tell me what key to press.

Try pressing F10 after the two short beeps. Is it worked?

As commented by vipat, the key to access bios on compaq is F10 key after the memory count (press the key several times after memory count).
A good thing to know on some Compaq computer (and old IBM PC and Dell too) is that when you acces the bios, you don't access bios in motherboard but in a system partition (usually 30 Mb on hard drive). If this partition has been deleted, you won't get acces to the bios and you will need to reinstall that partition (ROMPAQ in Compaq "terms") or create a diskette from another identical workstation.
Consult http://www.compaq.com/support/files/desktops/us/index.html to download the right one

Deskpro's works like this.

After the Beeps, you SHOULD see a flashing cursor in the top right corner of the display. Press F10 when that happens.

If that cursor does NOT appear, the diagnostics partition is not installed / working. (Remember that Compaq does not have a BIOS setup tool, it is loaded from disk.)

If that is the case you can either rebuild the diagnostics partition, or boot from the compaq floppies.

GO here http://www.compaq.com/support/files/desktops/us/index.html

select your model, and select "ROMPaqs and system software"

and download the "Computer Setup/VP and PC Diagnostics" (or similar) then build the floppies and boot from them.


Once again, Deskpro  Does not have a BIOS based setup tool

i am subhumans friend >>

this is a very stupid way of doing things. why was it done this way???

If you look at the diagnostic tools on the compaq, yo uwill see they are much more advanced then anything that fit in a 256K FlashROM.

But, i do agree that not even having _basic_ tools on board is a tad annoying at times.

I am downloading this file now. I'll be back later after I've tested. :)

According to the INSPECT utility, I've actually got a Deskpro 5100. What is the difference? My case says 590.

Diagnostic Partition Setup says I need to free at least 2mb at the start of my hard disk.

How do I free space at the *start* of my hard disk? I defraged recently so everything is nicely packed up at the start of the disk. :(

I'm currently downloading files for Deskpro 5100 (as opposed to 590). I'll check back in later...

According to the INSPECT utility, I've actually got a Deskpro 5100. What is the difference? My case says 590.

Diagnostic Partition Setup says I need to free at least 2mb at the start of my hard disk.

How do I free space at the *start* of my hard disk? I defraged recently so everything is nicely packed up at the start of the disk. :(

I'm currently downloading files for Deskpro 5100 (as opposed to 590). I'll check back in later...

I like the j2 answer because it's exactly what i've said in my comment !!!!!!!!

For the difference between 590 and 5100, as i can remember it's only the processor that changed so the bios/diag tools should be the same for the 2 models.

For freeing space at the start of your disk, you could use a tool like partition magic. But i think there is a less dangerous solution : create a system diskette. The only annoying thing is that you can create this diskette only from system partition !! So you must have access to another 5100/590 to do this.
You can get more info on http://web14.compaq.com/falco/detail.asp?FAQnum=FAQ2096

I got the files for 5100. They seem pretty much the same, I still need to free 2mb from the beginning of the disk.

How do I do this?

You either have to use a partition splitter, or yo ucan boot from floppies _without_ installing the tools. They can run from floppy.

Hdevaux: wierd.. i wouldnt have entered that as a answer if i had seen you comment.. Hmm, must have had the question opened over lunch or something and then answering it.

I'll withdraw my answer. it really is the same as hdv's comment.

But looking at the times, the only solution is that i must have read the question, gone to lunch, and answering it when i came back. Sorry about that.

that's ok j2 ;-)

if there is a way to use compaq tools on diskettes without having access to a hard drive system partition, i don't know it ... but i will be glad to learn how to do.

Uhm, all the diag tools runs from floppies.. atleast for all the Prosignias / Deskpros / Prolineas / Proliants / Armada's i administer.

OK, I've misunderstand Compaq support ...

>So you must have access to another 5100/590 to do this.
Unfortunately, I don't...

Now I'm confused. What am I supposed to do?

I have the disks that I was supposed to create, both fo 590 and 5100. I don't have access to Partition Magic or any other partitioning tools.

I cannot get into a bios with the F10 key yet for whoever it was that asked.

boot from the "setup" floppy. you should get a "run diagnostics / setup" option.

ok, now i dont get this. when it asks for 2 mb free disk space at the "start of the disk" does it want a partition, or what??

why cant computers just be all the same :)

>boot from the "setup" floppy. you should get a "run diagnostics / setup" option.

I've been doing this. This is where it asks for the 2mb free space. :)

I think I have been able to get into the bios off the floppy though. It looks like WIndows 3.x. Is this it?

Yep.

So until such time as I can create this beginning-of-disk partition, I can just access the bios off the floppy disk?

Thanks j2.

Thanks a lot.

Although your original post was pretty much the same as the other dudes, you've given far more help overall. :)

Many times it some combo of del, F2, ctrl , alt, enter, esc (just try simultaniously pressing them)

I would just like to thank the helpfull guys out  there.
The URL for Bios downloads has changed since of course to HP....

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/support/files/desktops/us/download/303.html

I can't remember when I was on this site last but it was good to revisit.

Cheers
Tom