DBAN Autorun

upandcumming

I'm fixing a Sony VAIO for a friend here and it's in shite. The problem is that only the aeiou keys work. It fails to boot, fails to shut down, and when I finally get to a login screen, the on-screen keyboard won't work either. A mess.

I need to DBAN it before I reinstall WIN7. Could someone tell me how I could have DBAN run without using the keyboard? I have a disk burned and all and it loads fine, only I can't get it going because I have no keyboard.

I have tried a USB keyboard but no joy there either! Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Redisle

Why do you need to do a secure erase on the hard disk before re-installing? Are you trying to eradicate sensitive information?

You can just boot from the Windows 7 CD and delete all the existing partitions on the disk then start from scratch and install windows. Tbh though it sounds like it could be more than just an issue with the operating system. Check if the keyboard is working in any bootable CD.. if not then this is likely a hardware issue. Is the keyboard working in the system BIOS even? The operating system would have no effect there...

maki

Are you using DBAN in an attempt to fix the keyboard? I can't see that working.
Go into the bios and see if you can use the arrow keys. If not, you've got a hardware problem.

upandcumming

I hear both a ye!

The keyboard isn't working apart from the five keys mentioned previously. I was trying to DBAN it as I couldn't reinstall using a disk because it wouldn't boot into CD, but DBAN would.

The keyboard is a side issue at the minute, although a large one, but the mess that is the OS requires a reinstall.

The arrow keys are intermittently working. The enter key is not. Take it apart?

Antar Bolaeisk

If the keyboard isn't even working in DBAN then it's more than a side issue, especially if the USB keyboard isn't working either. I'd maybe remove the onboard keyboard and try the USB one in case it's causing some conflict.

Redisle

Sounds like the keyboard had something spilled on it tbh. Maybe that something went beyond the keyboard too.. Good advice above to remove the built in keyboard and check if the USB keyboard functions okay at that point.

upandcumming

Thanks for the advice lads.

I'll get the screwdrivers!

Antar Bolaeisk

Shouldn't be that much effort to remove the keyboard, generally they're held in by little tabs along the top and sometimes with an additional screw on the underside that should be easily accessible. Of course you could always have one of those laptops from hell where you have to remove the screen to get the keyboard, they vary quite a lot.

Oh, make sure to put a mark on the ribbon cable to indicate which side is up. Too many times have I put back a keyboard only to realise it was upside down.

upandcumming

Sound advice. The amount of times I've had to do take laptops apart to do put it in the right way and I never think of it when I'm taking it apart the first time.

My own laptop, another VAIO you have to take out the screen, so I hope this isn't the same!

Thanks lads!

upandcumming

I think the keyboard is fine. I went into BIOS setup and all was well with the keyboard.

Leads me to believe its a windows prob.

yoyo

upandcumming wrote: »

I think the keyboard is fine. I went into BIOS setup and all was well with the keyboard.

Leads me to believe its a windows prob.

Doubt it's a Windows problem if it doesn't work in dban, dban is a Unix program. Try re-seating the keyboard, removing the cmos battery for a few mins and reseating it and see if it helps

Nick

Torqay

upandcumming wrote: »

it wouldn't boot into CD, but DBAN would.

Burn the Windows 7 installation disk again, at the slowest speed possible.

If can get into the BIOS and fiddle around in there, the keyboard is probably OK. If a USB keyboard doesn't work, check the BIOS for "legacy USB support" and enable it if necessary. Can you access the boot selection menu (F12)? This too might be disabled in the BIOS.

Khannie

We had a similar issue with my mother in laws Toshiba laptop. Was some key sequence that fixed it. You might get a better response in the laptop forum.

upandcumming

Khannie wrote: »

We had a similar issue with my mother in laws Toshiba laptop. Was some key sequence that fixed it. You might get a better response in the laptop forum.

Any chance you could link me to it?

upandcumming

Just realised there is no thread on it!

Khannie

Yeah, I can't be more helpful than that. I was stumped because the keyboard worked fine at the login screen and the bios, but not at all at any other time. She took it back to PC World and apparently wasn't the first person to come across the problem. They fixed it in seconds.