unknownman_007

I've got two perfectly good old laptops.

One is a compaq,

The other is a Dell Latitude LM.

Now

Both are set to boot to floppy!

The compaq, when I start it up asks, insert system disc, then hit enter.

Well, I have Linux that I want to put on both machines on a CD.

So, the Dell boots up perfectly to windows 95, except I don't know the BIOS password to tell the computer to look at the CD.

Is it possible to put a floppy in a computer to tell it to look in the CD drive?

These laptops are perfect for DSL or puppy linux!

Thanks in advance.

dylunio

you may want to look into something like: http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/topic-14601.html

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unknownman_007

That fixed it for the compaq, except for the dell I get

Disc Error! 0xAA

What does that mean?

I've tried multiple discs, and i'm still getting the same issue.

Any suggestions?

fingal

I would use Google to search for software to rip the BIOS password. If a secure password was used this might be very difficult .... Or it might take a good few hours.

Be careful that you don't download some evil malware from a dodgy Warez site. Try the bottom of this page. I haven't checked out the links as I'm at work and they might not like my journey into the land of password cracking.

Off-topic: I once forgot my Windows BIOS password, but remembered that I used to base my passwords on parts of the body So I spent an interesting evening working my way up from toenails to hair.

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deltaflyer

if you still can't get the password, try this link, makes a bootable floppy to boot from a cd

http://btmgr.webframe.org/index.php3?body=download.html

andy

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truoc444

i always just pull the cmos battery. especially for older machines 10 minutes with no juice and it usually goes back to its original settings.

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unknownman_007

Okay, now i've got it to work, that isn't the problem.

The problem is the:

Disc error! 0xAA

I get when using the floppy that allows me to boot of a CD, does the computer need the CD drivers?

deltaflyer

shouldn't need the cd drivers if it's a boot cd. the error code ,0xAA, that means the drive cannot read the boot files or the cd.could be a problem with cd/drive ??

andy

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SLOMO: Samsung p10 lappy,suse 11.0,512mb ram 1.7ghz cpu.20gb hdd(my test machine)using wireless
SPEEDY: homebrew desktop,sempron 3300,2gb ram,200gb +1tb( 2x500gb) hdd suse 11.0,8mb adsl
registered linux user #401845

unknownman_007

Well, i've used the cd's in multiple machines, so i'm stumped. Could the drive be broken? I'm about to give up I think, let me know if there are any last minite suggestions.

fingal

Read this if you have time. Same problem, different forum. It might give you an idea. It's a long discussion, so you might abandon the will to live halfway through.

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