to be naff and reply to myself, I looked at no_f1.com (no that isn't a website thicko, its a dos utility from the pre-exe days). The summary from compaq is:
SP0667.ZIP ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/sp0501-1000/sp0667.zip 11K 08 December 93 TITLE: NO_F1.COM allows operation without a keyboard of those models of Compaq computers that do not support network server mode. Now this leads me to recall a network server setting in the bios that might do what i want, although i didn't previously appreciate that it might be helpful. Dammit i will have to plug a monitor in and see what is in there. Pull it out of the wardrobe etc etc. I see a market for an 8 inch flat panel battery powered portable vga monitor that you can plug into headless boxes in cupboards, rather than lugging a heavy monitor around. I see small monitors for car use are getting cheaper, but most do not seem to have vga input. On Tue, 31 Jan 2006 10:14:51 +1300 Nick Rout wrote: > I have seen a reference for that - it is a compaq utility that flips a > setting in the bios so that you don't need to press F1 on keyboard > failure - but I have only seen it for 386/486 compaqs. If I can find a > version for my box i will try it. > > You are right I don't want to risk stuffing the bios with a utility that is > not designed for my bios! > > I guess it diesn't actually solve the problem, just alleviates the > symptoms. > > > On Tue, 31 Jan 2006 08:52:42 +1300 > David Kirk wrote: > > > Nick, > > > > > My headless boxes (running linux of course) in the computer cabinet will > > > not boot without a keyboard (Press f1 to continue D'ohhh) > > > > Do a search for no_f1.com. I've used it sucessfully before. I don't > > know if it is specifically for Compaq computers or not. If it is, > > then be very careful. You don't want to completely stuff up your > > BIOS. It is a DOS program, so you might need a DOS boot disk. You > > only have to run it once. > > > > I found a reference to it on the IPCOP site > > http://ipcop.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=FAQ&file=index&myfaq=yes&id_cat=5 > > > > -- > > Later > > > > David Kirk > > -- > Nick Rout <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -- Nick Rout <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
