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On 31/05/2014 12:39, L Smith wrote:
Is the BIOS actuallly locked with a password, or is something like TPM actually preventing you accessing the BIOS to make changes, or are you just having problems finding the correct settings? Apparently these machines have a rather weird BIOS setup, sounds like something half way between an old school BIOS and a modern UEFI: http://superuser.com/questions/76962/dell-latitude-e5500-cannot-change-boot-order-with-keyboard-must-use-touchpad Just hitting F12 during initial boot should get you to a boot menu screen where you can presumably choose CD or USB install options. If you're actually locked out properly, then you could try getting the latest BIOS (A17 I think) from Dell and flashing it from within Windows: that should hopefully reset the BIOS settings to default, including any supervisor password. The reset option mentioned by the others is very much an option of last resort as it will require dissasembly: before that, you should at least get the service manual and find which jumper does the BIOS reset which is far neater, quicker and less hassle than actually removing the CMOS battery (c'mon guys, that was stupid advice... you effectively told someone with a simple issue to jump immediately to the absolute most hardcore, nuclear option - dissasembling a laptop and shorting the battery out 'cos she can't reach a BIOS boot menu. Really?) If all you want to do is install Mint, alternatively take out the hard disk (that will just be a couple of screws and easy) attach it to any other machine - even over USB will do - and install as per normal. Linux handles switching between different hardware much *much* better than Windows so when you detach the freshly installed drive, stick it back in your laptop and power it on you'll be looking at your new Mint install in short order, maybe with a quick apt-get update and a check for new drivers to finish the job off. Good luck * Apparently you need to boot from an alternative device to flash the BIOS after all, but I would still try it from within Windows if possible - that's how Dells normally flash. Also A17 disable the COM port, so if you need serial for anything you probably should wait for A18 to be released. |
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