ChkDsk won't let me cancel during countdown

[GeneralMandible]

This is a weird one. I have a Dell GX620 with a USB keyboard and mouse. When a chkdsk runs at startup and prompts you with a countdown to press any key to cancel, it won't let me. It is weird because I can tap F2 and get into BIOS or F8 to get into Safe Mode. The keyboard is being detected before Windows loads.

Has anyone seen this before? I'll continue to pound my head on the desk until I figure it out.

Thanks for any help!

[RJARRRPCGP]

It's probably because Windows got corrupted.

The file system probably got corrupted. Sorry.

You must make sure that the PC is shut down properly.

Edited September 14, 2006 by RJARRRPCGP

[GeneralMandible]

I doubt that is the case. This occurs on other GX620's we have. I think it is a Dell issue...another reason for building my own.

[allen2]

That's a normal behaviour of the usb keyboard.

When XP start, it enter in protected mode thus removing most of bios infos from memory. Then it loads its usb driver then you can use then keyboard again. So during its loading the usb keyboard won't work.

[amp_man]

Do you have an option for "USB Legacy mode" or "USB Keyboad/Mouse" in the BIOS? This will (afaik) force a USB keyboard/mouse to be treated like a PS2 one, allowing it to be used at boot. I had this same issue with my home-built rig, that solved it for me.

[RJARRRPCGP]

I'm talking about if Chkdsk automatically runs.

[GeneralMandible]

That's a normal behaviour of the usb keyboard.

When XP start, it enter in protected mode thus removing most of bios infos from memory. Then it loads its usb driver then you can use then keyboard again. So during its loading the usb keyboard won't work.

If this is the case, it really sucks. I don't see a real benefit in going from a PS2 keyboard to a USB. (the mouse is a different story) On current systems, you don't have the option of plugging in a PS2 since they no longer put the ports on the MB.

The only solution to this would be for MS to load the driver before the chkdsk runs or to not unload the BIOS info from memory until after the ckdsk runs (aside from getting a system with PS2 support or installing Linux). Is this correct?

[Takeshi]

Are you sure you can't turn off chkdsk on startup and it has to be done?

[GeneralMandible]

Do you have an option for "USB Legacy mode" or "USB Keyboad/Mouse" in the BIOS? This will (afaik) force a USB keyboard/mouse to be treated like a PS2 one, allowing it to be used at boot. I had this same issue with my home-built rig, that solved it for me.

It appears that this model doesn't offer USB legacy support. This is needed to use the keyboard in DOS modes, which includes chkdsk at startup aka autochk. Here is a link from MS:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/usbc...x?pf=true#EZAAC

[LLXX]

Possible to upgrade the BIOS with such support?

[b-d]

Don't hesistate to try some PS2/Serial keyboard. Maybe it's not USB Keyboard issue..

[Gazzafromoz]

I Know this is an old thread but this information my help somebody.

I have a Dell E520. It does not have a PS2 port for the keyboard, so I use a USB keyboard.

When you get the message to press any key to cancel CHKDSK the windows key will cancel the countdown and allow windows to continue.

Hope this helps ebody in the future.

Gazzafromoz