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Posted by eickrman on September 22, 2007, 12:08 am
Please log in for more thread options On Sep 20, 3:02 pm, eickr...@aztec.asu.edu wrote:
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>
>
>
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> > Hi, Curtis.
>
> > My name is John, and I am a support analyst at Dell headquarters. I
> > found your post, and wanted to see what I could do to help.
>
> > What you're seeing is the Pre-BootAssessment, and on theC640, there
> > are only two ways to launch it. One way, as you noted, is by hitting F12
> > to get to thebootmenu. The other way is to hold the Access Direct
> > button while turning on the machine.
>
> > Given these two options, I highly suspect that there is something wrong
> > with that Access Direct button. Is it mashed in, perhaps?
>
> > If you need any help, feel free to let me know:
>
> > customer_advoc...@dell.com
> > ATTN: John
>
> > --
> > DellCA
>
> John,
>
> I am pretty sure the Access Direct "i" button isn't mashed. As a
> lease return the machine, it was not set up with the driver for the
> "i" button. So after this happened I went to Dell Support, found the
> driver, installed it and then used the "i" button to start Internet
> Explorer. The button clicks normally and launches Internet Explorer
> so I have no reason to believe the button is mashed down. I was
> hoping, but no joy. I removed the cover over it and looked and see no
> signs of damage either.
>
> I also suspected the "Fn" button but have used it to do "function"
> things with the keyboard to eliminate it as well. I did inadvertently
> make my boot up screen size real small in the process and had to
> figure out how to get it back to normal size again using the Fn key.
>
> In searching the internet I found someone using a D500 (I think) that
> had the same problem and eventually cleared it by unplugging and re-
> plugging in the cable that feeds the Power Button, the "i" button and
> the 3 LEDs (the ones that blink during POST). Why this worked for him
> I have no idea and neither did he. For me, getting to that cable
> would require a degree of disassembly that may not be warranted. In
> the C640 removing the cover over the buttons and LEDs does not seem to
> reveal a connector and it looks like keyboard removal is required (not
> sure I want to try that just as an experiment). To be honest I did
> remove the screws for the keyboard but balked at the step that said
> something like "now pry up on the right hand side". Pry? On my
> laptop keyboard? Visions of breakage dancing through my head as you
> might imagine.
>
> Curtis Eickerman
> Phoenix, Arizona- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
I've found something that causes the laptop to boot normally but it
makes no sense. If I purposely hold down the Fn key during power up
the C640 boots normally without the "Diagnostic Boot Selected". Of
course this is exactly the opposite of what should happen. I have
separately verified the Fn key is functioning normally by using it to
select the battery status and by using it to toggle the Scroll Lock on
and off as well as using it to select the CDROM eject.
So somehow the Pre-Boot Assessment is being triggered because the Fn
key is NOT depressed during power up.
Curtis Eickerman
Phoenix, Arizona
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