installing misfitmame on Dos, no keyboard , is it possible?

[abispac]

Long history maked short: I strip down and old sharp mv12 laptop to make a mini bartop game,and trew away most of the extra component i wasnt supost to need (the keyboard was one of them) i thought "what the hell, i can use a usb keyboard.." Sure not a problem with that, the problem is, usb keyboard wont work until the OS is loaded, so im stuck with a bare bones laptop that i can not program at all, because xp install wont take the usb keyboard during the blue part setup, so im stuck in there, so my last hope its to program the harddrive with a Dos instalation to i can load dos mame and hopefully the keyboard will respond, but instead of using dos mame, i would rather use some kind of Dos misfitmame so i can load a 4 in 1 pacman game in it.
if someone can help me out to figure out a way to install xp , or dos into this thing, i got everything ready, the mini cab, the controllers,but im stuck with this problem....
sharp mv12, P3 1100mhz 256ram 32mb video card. Thanks for any help.

[WhereEaglesDare]

usually xp, depending on the version of xp you wanna install, it will usually have generic usb drivers so that you can use a usb mouse.  perhaps you should try tiny xp rev 11 with an usbkeyboard

[abispac]

usually xp, depending on the version of xp you wanna install, it will usually have generic usb drivers so that you can use a usb mouse.  perhaps you should try tiny xp rev 11 with an usbkeyboard

you see, thats the weird part im stuck at, most bios will have a setting to emulate usb keyboard, with that option off, you can not use a usb keyboard untill you load an OS, so when i load an install cd, i can not enter any options at all, because the usb keyboard wont respond, and thats whts making my life myserable at the moment....but i might be wrong, as right now ill download tiny xp 11 and give that a try...i was trying with tiny v9.

[JustMichael]

Does it have a PS/2 keyboard connection?  I sure hope so...

[WhereEaglesDare]

Try to find a BIOS Flash update.

[Thenasty]

it looks like no ps/2

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/sharp-actius-mv-series/1707-3121_7-20790591.html



I think the best thing you could do if u have no access for keyboard, is to install the HD on another PC with DOS and XP folder (I386) and created a AUTOEXEC>BAT to execute the SETUP for XP.

Install all that you need for the LAPTOP then put it back in.
Problem now is the SOUND. I see that is a AC97 and maybe you could find a DOS Sound driver for it.
If not, you could go with ADVMAME, which has a built in AC97 sound support.

Last resort, find some who has the same Laptop and borrow it or the keyboard.

Good luck......

[abispac]

it looks like no ps/2

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/sharp-actius-mv-series/1707-3121_7-20790591.html



I think the best thing you could do if u have no access for keyboard, is to install the HD on another PC with DOS and XP folder (I386) and created a AUTOEXEC>BAT to execute the SETUP for XP.

Install all that you need for the LAPTOP then put it back in.
Problem now is the SOUND. I see that is a AC97 and maybe you could find a DOS Sound driver for it.
If not, you could go with ADVMAME, which has a built in AC97 sound support.

Last resort, find some who has the same Laptop and borrow it or the keyboard.

Good luck......

Getting into the xp install part, its not a problem,but once i get to the "press enter to instal xp" im stuck there, sooi was hoping for a totally unatended install version of xp, or if is posible to make a bat file that does all of the first screen install proces,that would help alot, last resrot its to buy another pc http://cgi.ebay.com/Sharp-Laptop-PC-MV12W-XP-Pro-COA-broken-LCD-/170557711311?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b60823cf  next time ill just hold the extra parts little longer....

[abispac]

i thinkk i found a way, i found a ghost image of xp that supost to install on any pc hardware, if this works, then i might be able to install xp on this machine, then if xp boot, ill be ok with the usb keyboard, ill post results later on, thanks.

[severdhed]

you said the windows setup program doesnt recognize the usb keyboard, but is it recognized at a bios level? can you get into the bios setup using a usb keyboard? (del, f2, whatever it may be)

if so, there is often a setting labeled Plug N Play OS, set it to NO and the bios will handle the usb keybaord input for you, which means it should work during windows setup....otherwise you are pretty much screwed.

[abispac]

you said the windows setup program doesnt recognize the usb keyboard, but is it recognized at a bios level? can you get into the bios setup using a usb keyboard? (del, f2, whatever it may be)

if so, there is often a setting labeled Plug N Play OS, set it to NO and the bios will handle the usb keybaord input for you, which means it should work during windows setup....otherwise you are pretty much screwed.

sorry for my bad english, no i can not use the usb to get inside the bios, thats why im having a hard time, but the image i downloaded ,seems to work, im installing it right now....hope it works, thanks

[abispac]

its amazing how small details make a diference, turn out that i had a long long usb cable on my keyboard, trimed the cable to a 1 meter, now the lapto recognises the keyboard and i can install an OS just fine as i thought, thanks for the help guys and remember to check the little details first.

[WhereEaglesDare]

USB is only suppose to work upto 13 feet I think.  I have made some usb ext cables that are 50 feet long and they work on some PCs, its really dependent on the motherboard.