Dell Studio / POST / Keyboard / Battery

[atlanticjim]

It must be ghosts ... Or a bad joke.

I'm refurbishing a Dell Studio 1555. Replaced the failing HD and updated to Win 10 and now have the oddest problem.

With the battery in it will get stuck at 3/4 POST and then require a combination of ESC and the ENTER key to proceed to the MS WIN 10 splash. All good from then on.

With the battery out, flea power discharged and on external power it will speed through the POST and load Windows but the KEYBOARD won't work. Touchpad will work fine.

Tried so far:
Dell onboard extended diagnostics. No errors.
BIOS set to default and saved.
Updated to the Win7 drivers although Dell will not claim they will work with Win 10.

I've ordered a new battery and hope that will solve it.

Any ideas?

 

[Computer Bloke]

Any ideas?

Can I be the first of about fifteen people who'll recommend that you try booting with a Linux CD before assuming that it's a hardware fault? From what you've said it's perfectly possible that the problem is with your Windows 10 installation.

Actually, with no Windows 10 driver support and only a Core2 processor I'd be strongly tempted either to reinstall Windows 7 or switch to Mint/MATE anyway - the Dell Studios were very pretty computers but not awfully quick or reliable, and they need all the help they can get.

 

[atlanticjim]

Tried with a Linux boot
Same issue
Battery out, no keyboard.

 

[Larry Sabo]

BIOS update?

 

[coffee]

Tried with a Linux boot
Same issue
Battery out, no keyboard.

Motherboard.

 

[Computer Bloke]

Definitely ghosts.

Tried with a Linux boot
Same issue
Battery out, no keyboard.

That's only half the test. When you tried booting from the Linux CD with the battery in did you have to do the Esc and Enter dance to get it to boot? Either way, does the keyboard work under Linux when the battery is in?

I'm curious as to what the Esc/Enter combination is doing to make Windows 10 boot normally. Could there be some invisible prompt that needs to be answered before Windows will continue to boot, and if so what is it and why does it only appear when the battery is in?

And why do other people get all the interesting faults?

 

[NJW]

And why do other people get all the interesting faults?

It's a plot to promote sales of popcorn.

 

[atlanticjim]

BIOS update?

Thanks Larry
I'm going to try that this morning. It has the updated BIOS but as much as I hate to do it, I'll reflash it today.

 

[atlanticjim]

Motherboard.

This is the last solution I want to try.
But it might be the one.

 

[atlanticjim]

And why do other people get all the interesting faults?

1. My method for testing with Linux was faulty. (Late in the day) I'll repeat it today more methodically.

2. I'm going to rollback to win 7 and see if it is solved.

3. I read a post about the SD card reader being a culprit so I removed it in device manager. Was not the problem. Am I wrong in thinking there might be a hardware addressing problem between the battery and the keyboard??

4. Give me your address and I'll pack it up!

 

[HFultzjr]

If you are having problems with various OS, (Linux, Win, etc.), it looks like a hardware issue.
Motherboard
Bad "new" hard drive.
Ram
Etc.

 

[atlanticjim]

If you are having problems with various OS, (Linux, Win, etc.), it looks like a hardware issue.
Motherboard
Bad "new" hard drive.
Ram
Etc.

It looks that way.

HD removed and I get the same issue.

Battery out = no keyboard input (F2 or F12)
Battery in = F12 works but not F2

Reseated the keyboard connector. No change in behavior.

Unable to Flash the BIOS "current BIOS is the same as the installed version".

 

[HFultzjr]

Just for a long shot.....have you swapped the ram with know good ram?
Try slot1, then slot 2, then both, etc.
Could be ram or slot, try different configurations of ram.

 

[ohio_grad_06]

Maybe flash to an older bios if you can just because. If you are on the verge of potential motherboard replacement anyway or a new machine, what do you have to lose?