[SOLVED] Has anyone done anything as dumb as me?

Jan 29, 2021
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OK, I have a KOCASO TRANSFORM tablet running Windows 10 Home

For reasons I cannot remember I went into the BIOS and ended up disabling both the attached keyboard AND the USB ports!!!!

This means I cannot get back into the BIOS (no keyboard so no F1 at boot) and no enabled USB port to connect an external keyboard.

Opening the case I could find no jumpers to reset the BIOS but figured if I could remove the back up battery on the motherboard I could reset the BIOS to default settings.

Well I could not find a backup battery on the board so I disconnected the main battery and left the machine for a week hoping that the BIOS would reset.

No such luck - the BIOS has kept my screwy settings.

The tablet works fine but can only be operated by touch screen and nothing USB is recognized.

I really would like to be able to reset the BIOS to a default state - can any of you help with my problem, please?
 
OK, I have a KOCASO TRANSFORM tablet running Windows 10 Home

For reasons I cannot remember I went into the BIOS and ended up disabling both the attached keyboard AND the USB ports!!!!

This means I cannot get back into the BIOS (no keyboard so no F1 at boot) and no enabled USB port to connect an external keyboard.

Opening the case I could find no jumpers to reset the BIOS but figured if I could remove the back up battery on the motherboard I could reset the BIOS to default settings.

Well I could not find a backup battery on the board so I disconnected the main battery and left the machine for a week hoping that the BIOS would reset.

No such luck - the BIOS has kept my screwy settings.

The tablet works fine but can only be operated by touch screen and nothing USB is recognized.

I really would like to be able to reset the BIOS to a default state - can any of you help with my problem, please?
Did you try holding start button while disconnecting main battery and keep on holding it for another couple of minutes ?
 
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Jan 29, 2021
5
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10
CountMike - Thanks for your suggestion - which is one of the few things I have not tried yet.

I have in the past disconnected the main battery and left the machine unpowered for two weeks in the hope that the BIOS would reset.

So I will open the case again for about the 8th time and try your suggested procedure.

Thanks again. Will report back in due course.
 
Jan 29, 2021
5
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Later . . . . . . no fix I am afraid.

Tried 4 times - did get to a UEFI settings page but navigation to the BIOS setting icon was not possible because the keyboard was needed - duhhh!!!

While I had the case open I stripped out components down to the mini-motherboard to try and find a backup battery. No such luck. Bahhh.
 
did get to a UEFI settings page but navigation to the BIOS setting icon was not possible because the keyboard was needed
You did check whether touchscreen input happened to be supported in the UEFI menu, right? I'm guessing you did, but just thought I'd check.

Opening the case I could find no jumpers to reset the BIOS but figured if I could remove the back up battery on the motherboard I could reset the BIOS to default settings.
If there were any pins (or perhaps even contacts without pins) they might be labeled something like CMOS, CLR CMOS, CLRTC, CLEAR, or something like that. That's assuming they even labeled them, which might not be the case for something not designed to be serviced by the end-user. The CMOS battery itself might be a lot smaller than the ones typically used in desktops or laptops, and could potentially be soldered directly onto the board. If you can find it though, any BIOS reset contacts might be located nearby. Removing a soldered battery might be an option, though reattaching it to the board could be problematic. A tiny button cell battery might explode if heated too much by a regular soldering tool.

With notebook off hold Win+V. Keep holding and hit power button.
They have no keyboard access. : P
 

Karadjgne

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Keyboard isn't just a keyboard for typing letters, often times it's also a mechanical bypass, basically win+v held before and during power on acts like sticking a jumper on cmos pins. Got nothing to do with windows access or typing a V. Same thing like my old Chevy, if you turned the key to IGN then off very fast 5x while holding the gas pedal to the floor, it reset the check-engine light.

Turning off the keyboard halts letter functionality, doesn't always turn off physical bypass.
 
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Jan 29, 2021
5
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10
You did check whether touchscreen input happened to be supported in the UEFI menu, right? I'm guessing you did, but just thought I'd check.


If there were any pins (or perhaps even contacts without pins) they might be labeled something like CMOS, CLR CMOS, CLRTC, CLEAR, or something like that. That's assuming they even labeled them, which might not be the case for something not designed to be serviced by the end-user. The CMOS battery itself might be a lot smaller than the ones typically used in desktops or laptops, and could potentially be soldered directly onto the board. If you can find it though, any BIOS reset contacts might be located nearby. Removing a soldered battery might be an option, though reattaching it to the board could be problematic. A tiny button cell battery might explode if heated too much by a regular soldering tool.


They have no keyboard access. : P

Thanks for your considered suggestions but no joy still.

I cannot see an obvious battery cell - I guess it must be a discreet and unmarked component. There are just a few unhelpful markings on the board.

Touchscreen is not active in UEFI menu. Strangely enough there are six icons on the UEFI setup screen and navigation CAN be made with the couple of hardware keys on the PC case. The drawback is that the keys will only navigate in up and down direction on screen - not horizontally - plus there is no active hardware key to select an item anyway!

This so much reminds me of the "Keyboard not present - Press F1 to continue" message from MSDOS boot. . . . . .
 
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