# Keyboard Stuck Key Detected



## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

Hello, please forgive me and kindly direct me to the data if I have overlooked it while searching the forum... 
I am trying to get a Microage PC working for my mother-in-law for minimal usage like e-mail to save long distance fees.
she got it without any disks from a friend, though I do have an un-opened OS Win95 cd, 
I fear it is not a bootable cd - the machine appears unusable except as described below 
* If I F8 I get 3 options:
<F1> for set-up, <ESC> to boot, <F2> for Option Rom Screen ...
when I <F2> it says:
scanning for Option ROMs
Press <F2> For Error Messages

when <F2> again I get:
Keyboard Stuck Key Detected ... and the {(3) F8 options above}
I have changed keyboards (to this working one-mine!) and rebooted (cont+alt+del) 
with the same results no matter what - what could this mean!?!
I have re-seated and jiggled everything possible - the previous owners
said it never needed a disk to start before they drove it to mawinlaw - 
from Houston I think... to far-east Texas

* When the machine is turned on, It gets to the "OS load in progress...", 
and then tells me Disk I/O error, replace the disk and press any key. 
I can press F1 to enter set-up and have jacked and jacked-back every 
setting in there with the same result. The info I have gathered in 
set-up is as follows:
AMI BIOS (c) American Megatrends Inc.
(c)1992-1997 Intel Corporation
BIOS VERSION 1.00.07.DHO
Intel Corp. TC430HX motherboard
serial# mo4402470
0032768 kb
1996 Number Nine Visual Tech Corp
#9-988
Bios Version 2.09.04
HD - 0 - installed - WDC AC33100H
Atapi Device - installed - FX140s

-MAIN PAGE in bios set-up

Primary IDE master - WDC AC33100H
Primary IDE slave - not installed
Secondary IDE master - FX140s
Secondary IDE slave - not installed

Language - English

base memory - 640kb
Extended memory - 31744kb

Bios Version 1.00.07.DHO

-Advanced Page in bios set-up

Processor Type - Pentium(R)
Processor speed - 166 mhz
cache size - 512k

and options to configure:
Peripheral, audio, advanced chipset, power management, and plug-n-play...
in plug-n-play= options for Win95 or Other p-n-p OS 
(this is the only way I know it's 95)

-Security page in bios set-up

had the user password - not installed and the 
administrative password - not installed ( how it is now)
though I did set both for a while with no change in ops

did I forget any valuable data needed to T-shoot this prob?
any help will be much appreciated - Thanx!nAdvance


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Hi and welcome...per chance is there a floppy disk in the drive?

Also, when you access bios, have you tried saving changes coming out, even though you've made none?

Also, you have an email from me coming


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

Hi and thanx4 the welcome,
yes and no on floppy, I've tried it everywhichway butloose!
and I have also exited saving changes though I had made none,
and every other scenario I could think of (or that were available-to my knowledge) ... that is a photo of me, but if it is unacceptable, I will remove it - I guess you mean an un-edited photo? back to PC hell... as I mentioned I have no disk at all for this PC and I've never even heard of microage, but it appears to have Win95 loaded in some capacity - I am a lil' more familiar w/ Win98 - thanxagain in advance for any help offered


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Can we try booting with a boot disk, you can download one from here, save to desktop (not to floppy) double click and follow instructions.

http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files010.shtml

Yes, the photo needs to go  Thanks


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

yes I'd love to try... which one do you suggest to try first?
MS DOS V6, or MS Windows 95 & 95A
and am I still in photo violation?
Thankyou


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

No, I see it's gone  

Try the 98 SE.


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

now I am confused... why use a 98se boot disk to boot a 95 OS?
you don't have to explain if you're not just toying with me, I am seriously attempting to gain knowledge... the photo is not really important I was just killin time waitin for the first reply... I will remove the current photo if requested and not replace it. Just so I know that you and everyone know I really would like to resolve the PC issue... I have d-loaded the V6 and 95&95a - thought I might go in order till it worked (hopefully) I can't even get an a: prompt as of yet, what do you think?


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

hey good news I think! the V6 bootdisk worked in that I now have an a:\ prompt and I've read some where what to do from there, so for now, I guess we can kill this thread unless someone has a valuable link to share on proceeding to aiding this ole' PC to recover fully - thanks for the help - and do let me know if I need to remove the current photo - muchappretiato
... until the next time I am totally stumped...
g'day ~ g'nite


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

The 98 boot disk will work for a 95 install, I'm just more familiar with using that one 

And the new photo is ok....I see you changed it again while I wasn't looking


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## kilowatt1 (Oct 27, 2001)

A Win98 boot disk has "generic" CDRom drivers which will work on most CDRom drives. Windows 95 boot disks unfortunately do not have any CDRom drivers on them. Using a Win98 boot disk to install Win95 is the easiest way to proceed.

Good luck.


Kilowatt


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Actually, KW, the link I use, they all have cdrom support


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

At the a: prompt, can you change to the cdrom directory? It will be pushed one letter ahead, as you were booting, did you see it acknowledge the cdrom drive?


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

well it did say when I tried to change to directory c:\ and dir it said: CDR101 Not ready reading drive C
Abort, Retry, Fail?_
thanx Kilowatt1 ... and speciallly to smartlinks- AcaCandy - 
the problem I had with understanding the bootdiak proceedure was that I always tried to copy the download to the floppy!(dolt-me) so do I need to replace the CDR drive ? I have an extra that came out of this machine when I replaced it with JustLink Nero CDRW, but is it necessary or is there a "next" suggestion from here.? I haven't yet found where I need to be in previous reading, but it seems I need to use the bootdisk to copy and exact match (for that PC bootdisk?)? or try boot to c:\?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Ok, the c: drive shouldn't get you that message. Did you see the message, when you booted with the floppy disk, to start with cdrom support? And if so, after you chose that, did you see the cdrom drivers being loaded or did you see an error message?


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

when I booted with the floppy in it proceeded as usual:
OS load in process... then the change:
Starting MS-DOS... then this driver is provided by Oak Technology Inc. OTI-91x ATAPI CD-ROM devide driver, Rev D91xv352 (c)info
device name: NOSPIN
Transfer Mode: Porogrammed I/O
Number of drives: 1
MSDEX Version 2.25
Drive C: = Driver NOSPIN unit 0 then the a:\ prompt


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

is it possible that the HD did not take kindly
to the journey from Houston ?


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

I was hoping that wasn't the case... I have since discovered that "C:" is now the CD-ROM drive... so now could I load the brand new Win95 CD ? or I guess I'd have to create a ms-dos boot partition first? or am I ahead/beneath myself!?


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

but what would it have named the hard drive?
ok I went ahead and stuck it in to see what test setup.exe would run on the hard drive and got:
"Cannot create a temporary directory.
If you have HPFS or NTFS installed on your hard drive,
you will need to create an MS-DOS boot partition to set up Windows" I'd rather try to see if I could get the original OS working though - it says (in bios set-up):
Cylinders: 6136 Heads: 16 Sectors: 63 
Maximum Capacity: 3020mb
everything is set to auto config or auto detect etc...


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Which boot disk are you using?


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Howdy kcray...

Switch back to the A:\> and type in fdisk, and see if it will see the hard drive...


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

the first one that worked, but I can get the 98se if you think it would be better... but I have located 1 partition (full-100% usage) *Non-DOS* no volume label 3016 mb ...
so what am I dealing with here?
TU


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Well...it looks like you may have to remove the partition, then recreate it, then format it, ( looks like it may have had maybe Linux, or maybe a NTFS file system installed )...


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

ntfs was refered to when I tried to run setup.exe of a new OS Win95 disk - what the hell is that! - nevermind - yes I guess I need to "what you said" so can I install the new 95 os after i recreate a new "whatkind?" 1.Primary DOS partition, 2.extended DOS partition, or (my logical guess) 3.Logical drive ?


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Well...actually it will need to be a primary dos partition...


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

okay, putting my trust in you; (my logic is corrupt) I should be able to install the "new" 95 cd right? after I recreate a primary dos partition then format it... currently the cd-rom drive is labeled "c", but will I re-assign that later / before install of new OS from cd-rom? or am I jumping the gun SoToSpeak!?


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

You are correct...

After formatting reboot, and see if it assign a different drive letter to the CD-ROM drive...

It looks like what was happening is, that it was a non-DOS partition, and when you booted with a DOS boot disk it couldn't see the hard drive, so therefore DOS assigned the C: drive letter to the first IDE drive it could find ( the CD-ROM )...

And a FWI... it has to be a Primary DOS partition, because that is the only partition that DOS can boot from ( unless of coures you are using a boot manager like Boot Magic )...


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Yes it looks like its going to be ok ...
i would suggest runing scandisk anyway,
just in case there are any dodgy bits,
you would't want to find out later on.
(it does take a while)


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

ok wait... to: jedi master,
"it was a non-DOS partition, and when you booted with a DOS boot disk it couldn't see the hard drive" that's right... it can't see it, and it has no letter assigned to it... though it is found and called "1" and "non MS-DOS" by the PC, so far I have gone through the steps to delete the non DOS partition - without luck... perhaps I have missed an exit+save changes opportunity.
I'll be back... should I format the exsisting drive? it'll ask the letter right?!!


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Hmmm...

Try deleting it then reboot and see if it is gone Fdisk should show after the reboot non-DOS 0% full...


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

just a sec...

This isnt a Compaq is it ... ?


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Howdy john1 it's a Microage PC ...


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Never heard of it, they're not made by Compaq are they .. ?


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Howdy Jonh1...

No...Actually they are an independant pc maunfacture MicroAge


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

just struck me there might be diagnostics on there ....
but if youre sure its not Compaq then thats ok


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

ok .. fine .. just checking ...


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

ok, it said it deleted it and press ESC to go back to options and ESC to exit fdisk and the other fdisk options - I pressed ESC and it said it'll restart insert system disk in drive a: and hit any key when ready... after it rebooted to MSDOS a: prompt i type fdisk again to create a primary dos partition and it takes me to:
CREATE PRIMARY DOS PARTITION
Current fixed disk drive: 1 - and at the bottom
press ESC to return to Fdisk Options - but it is frozen - can't do anything but Con+Alt+Del - 
so i wunda what name it would have assigned to the drive in "ntfs"


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Crap...

Try at the A:\> type in *fdisk /mbr* then reboot and see if it will let you create a primary DOS partition...

Also go here Western Digital and download the Data Lifeguard v10.0 when it is downloaded double click on the file and let it create a boot floppy...

If the fisk /mbr doesn't work try the Data Lifeguard tools...


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

That doesn't sound quite right.
I still think you should run scandisk before using this HD
for anything else,
it is possible some bits are un-useable.
Scandisk will simply take any dodgy bits out of service,
so that when you use it, you shouldn't get problems
from trying to use un-useable bits.

(which may account for this)


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

maybe I am being too impatient with the ole dog (machine) maybe it is doing something (though I can't hear anything and the red light aint blinkin)
and about the scandisc john1, it says:
CDR101 Not ready reading drive C
Abort, Retry, Fail?_
and when I tried to change to directory c:\ , I got the prompt for "C" and I typed "dir" it said: CDR101 Not ready reading drive C
Abort, Retry, Fail?_ (then I realized it had re-named my CD-ROM to "C" - so how do I run a scandisk on a NON-DOS drive with no letter assigned to it?


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Sorry you can't...DOS has to see the drive first, in order to assign a drive letter to it...


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

I have to go to bed now ...
hope you get this sorted out,
Regards, John


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Have you downloaded and ran the Data Lifeguard tools from Western Digital yet ?

Also since it has taken a trip, open the case and double check the connections...


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

so how would one get win95 on this pc? I used the datalifeguard, and it went to:
OS load in progress... starting Caldera DR-DOS
Bad or missing command iterpreter
Please enter a valid filename (e.g. C:\COMMAND.COM),
or just press enter to retry - this is where I'm at now


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

OK...let's get back to some basics here...

Since the pc has made a trip, start by opening the case and reseat all connections, including cards and memory ( of course with the power off )...

Also try to recreate the Data Lifeguard tools disk on a different floppy...

Belive me when I say this...I've been repairing pc's for about 8 yrs now, the only times I've seen this happen is when either...

1) The MBR was corrupt...

2) Bad, or improperly seated memory ( ie: it's had a trip )...

3) Bad connections to the harddrive ( ie: it's had a trip )...

4) Bad harddrive ( but to test it you will need to get a floppy that works )...


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

well sirs, Ithink that's all she wrote... now get a blank screen with blinkin cursor every reboot no matter what bootdisk is in...
I was gettin close though when I had an a:\ prompt, but that now seems impossible - I guess I' have to get a new hard drive!?
to load the "new" 95 OS onto!? jeesh! whatever Caldera was didn't agree with this P?C? or whatever it is : (


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

I don't understand...Caldera DR-DOS is just a Disk Operating System ( DOS ), it will not do anything to the hardware, I would suspect that there is a bad connection somewhere...

But however if you choose to not accept my advice, I will not offer it anymore...


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

I should have said "that P?C?" mine is IBM Aptiva AMD K6-2 / 266 processor w/3dnow! - 128 mb sdram - 4gig HD partitioned-wrong-so using only 2gig - win98 - just FYI - I'm gonna call it quits for now- I'll check back in the AM - but I feel THAT PC's goose is cooked- unless of course the trail is still warm tomorrow - thanks for everyone's input


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## kcray (Aug 6, 2003)

I may have wrongfully accused Caldera (I haven't a clue what it was until you told me) -and I am taking your advice but what now? since I have lost the a:\ prompt
it flashes something at the top that was already there b4 but instead of saying OS load in progress... it just has a blinkin cursor.
I appreciate your help - may the force continue to be with you!


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Check the connections...PLEASE....


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

And to back up Jedi, yes, PLEASE check the connections 

Thanks for stepping in Jedi


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