izumi@violet.berkeley.edu (Izumi Ohzawa) (12/20/88)
I would like to ask you all PC Hardware expert in the netland if: there is a way to boot (DOS) on an AT class machine WITHOUT a keyboard attached. Normally you cannot do this because the BIOS Power-on diagnostics detect keyboard errors. I am wondering if a small "dummy keyboard connector" with a simple circuit on it can fool the BIOS into thinking that it has the keyboard attatched. Or is going into the BIOS and removing the keyboard checking the only way? If that is the case, I would like to know that. Has anyone tried booting with "Manufacturing jumper" ON? Does it boot? Why do I want to do this? That's because I have been using PC's in a "semi-embedded" manner for laboratory control and data acquisition. These PC's run a single program started by AUTOEXEC.BAT and nothing else. So, no one ever touches the keyboard, and I don't want the keyboard hanging around asking for trouble. In old days, I would have done these things with a single board CPU and software burnt into EEPROMs. But that's too much of a pain when we develop a box for QUANTITY ONE typical. With current pricing for PC's, it's a lot cheaper and faster to do it this way, especially in university labs where any software will never be completed before a research project is completed. I would appreciate any help on this. Izumi Ohzawa Group in Neurobiology/Optometry University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720 izumi@violet.berkeley.edu ..ucbvax!violet!izumi
fmcgee@cuuxb.ATT.COM (~XT4103000~Frank McGee~C23~M24~6326~) (12/22/88)
In article <18468@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> izumi@violet.berkeley.edu (Izumi Ohzawa) writes: >Or is going into the BIOS and removing the keyboard checking the only >way? If that is the case, I would like to know that. I have a feeling this is the only way that you will be able to get a keyboard-less cpu to boot. If I remember right, most PC/AT keyboards actually have a keyboard encoder chip inside the keyboard. The diagnostics go out to the keyboard and make sure it is there and in a usable state. So just having a pig-tail on the keyboard port probably won't work. I could be wrong though, all I've worked on are clones, and "true blue" may be different. Good Luck ! Frank McGee Tier 3 Indirect Channel Sales Support attmail!fmcgee -- Frank McGee Tier 3 Indirect Channel Sales Support attmail!fmcgee
hollen@spot.megatek.uucp (Dion Hollenbeck) (12/23/88)
From article <2316@cuuxb.ATT.COM>, by fmcgee@cuuxb.ATT.COM (~XT4103000~Frank McGee~C23~M24~6326~): > In article <18468@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> izumi@violet.berkeley.edu (Izumi Ohzawa) writes: > >>Or is going into the BIOS and removing the keyboard checking the only >>way? If that is the case, I would like to know that. > > I have a feeling this is the only way that you will be able to get a > keyboard-less cpu to boot. [...stuff deleted...] I am not sure whether you can circumvent it, but if you need to go into the BIOS, you might look to ANNABOOKS BIOS. They sell source code and rights to BIOS for $199. I have the XT version, and they have done a very good job. Their AT version has just recently come out. You will need MSC and MASM to build a custom BIOS from their source, but if this is your only alternative, it will work. By the way, how about booting the machine (you, the one who knows what to do) and when the boot process is finished, just remove the keyboard so people who don't know what to do can't screw up. Another alternative, how about putting the keyboard in a locked drawer under the computer? I know these are rather low-tech solutions, but they sure seem to be less hassle to me. Dion Hollenbeck (619) 455-5590 x2814 Megatek Corporation, 9645 Scranton Road, San Diego, CA 92121 seismo!s3sun!megatek!hollen ames!scubed/
hwh@cup.portal.com (Harold W Hankins) (12/25/88)
Award bios version 3.xx for AT clones has a setup option to ignore various boot errors, one of the options is ignore keyboard error on boot-up. We use this for AT clones under Xenix that have only serial terminals (no kbd or display). Hank Hankins hwh@cup.portal.com Auto-Mated Computer Support, Inc Camarillo, CA