I would like to access the BIOS to configure the PC and make that everytime there is a power outage, the PC, and consequently HA, turns on automatically when electricity is restored. Currently, if there is a power outage, I have to manually press the turn on button of the PC to make HA runs. I am trying to access the BIOS by pressing F2, F8, F10 or F12 on the PC after rebooting, but the PC does not shows anyting on the screen. If I press (after a while) “enter” the HA initializes normally.
The BIOS is accessed before any OS is started.
Often the keys are printed on screen during boot up, but some screens are too slow to show the picture, so you might miss it.
The hardwares manual should list the keys though and if you make a post here with brand and model, then someone might also know it.
The instructions manual says that to enter into the BIOS, the DEL or ESC key should be pressed. I have pressed them several times right after turning on the device and it seems that the computer freezes and only after pressing ENTER something shows up on the screen (The HA software loading all the files)
No you can only access bios before the OS boots. When you turn on the pc it should say something across the bottom of the screen to point you in the right direction.
You may have fastboot or something of a similar name enabled which stops access to bios, if so you will need to find a manual for you PC, or motherboard. Or just google for the key you need to press if fastboot is enabled. If that does not work there will probably be a bios reset of some kind you could perform. You should then have access via del or esc.
Once the system has crossed the POST and BIOS I am not sure you can access the BIOS and modify anything there until you reboot the system again. If you have connected wireless keyboard then try to use wired keyboard and press F2, Del or F10 keys based on your motherboard supported one. If you are not sure press all these keys together which has worked for me in the past.
When trying to enter the BIOS it is important to press the right key at the right time and in the right way!
You got the right key from the manual and you now that you have to press it before the POST screen, but the right way to do this is to tab the key with a speed of 1-2 clicks per second.
Too slow and you will not tab it at the right time and too fast and the computer will think a key is stuck and report a keyboard error instead.
I always recommend to use a wired USB keyboard connected to the slowest USB-standard port there is, because the slowest USB-standard is usually the one integrated into the basic motherboard chipset, where as the faster ports usually have a separate chip to control them and they might therefore be initialized later and even too late.
As @WallyR says, USB keyboard with the slowest port - try different ones if it doesn’t work.
Shutdown the system completely, remove the power cable for 10 secs and try again.
Make sure you use the right key for this particular system/motherboard.
As soon as you put the power on, hit that key minimum every second.
It might seem that the system is frozen, look at the HDD led if something happens, be patient.
If the system is frozen you should get a beep when pressing the keyboard because of the cache if full.
Use the DEL key because pressing the ESC key can throw you back out.
Dear all, thanks for your help. Unfortunately, I have tried everything. I have been always been working with a wired keybord. I unplugged the minipc for 30 sec and turned on again pressing all possible keys and either nothing happens and the pc starts loading all HA packages or nothing shows up on the screen, even after waiting more than 2 min. In all cases, after pressing enter, the screen shows again the HA packages loading.
I am considering buying any kind of small backup for that pc as I cannot enter the BIOS
Are you sure you are using the right key to enter the BIOS for that system ?!
Do you have another keyboard to try?
Also, try all the USB ports but since it’s a mini-pc there are not that much.
Is it a new system, have the BIOS settings been changed previously?
If possible, you could remove the battery so the BIOS is reset to default.
What is the brand/type of the system?
The instructions say that I should press either ESC or DEL, but if I press DEL nothing happens and it seems that ESC is not a common key to press. The keyboard works perfectly as the pc reacts to the pressed keys (freezing). I have tried all three usb (all of them are usb 3.0. It is not a new system, I entered the BIOS just once to set up the PC so it could be used for running HA. The mini PC is a Firebat T8PLUS (Intel N100, 8 gb ram, 256 gb SSD). Are you sure that after setting HA as the OS for the PC, I am able to enter the BIOS or I should delete everything and restart from 0?
You have an AMI (American Megatrends) BIOS therefore the DEL key is the right one to use.
Normally I just keep it pressed after tumbling the on/off switch until the BIOS shows up, so no intermittent clicks.
Hi again, I tried F7 and also DEL and again the system seems to freeze. By “freeze” I mean that the PC is on, but nothing shows up on the screen even after 2 min. 2-3 secs after pressing enter, the screen shows the HA packages loading.
I wonder if it’s your screen (monitor) that doesn’t show the BIOS…
What happens with the LED('s) on your monitor?
Check if you can make changes to your monitor.
Do you get any sort of info/logo/… before HA is starting?
Your monitor is not having multiple inputs which are all in use, say 1 for your main pc and the other for this system?
F7 should be the key for your system to show the boot menu, so that has to work somehow.
Is it possible for you to remove the boot drive? If so you will eventually force the system to show no boot drive found error and other options to try out?
