Solved AMI BIOS says "press F2 to enter" but doesn't!

T38 · Tuesday at 5:04 PM

The AMI bios splash screen says "Press F2 to enter setup." But it doesn't. I've pressed every Fn key including delete, but can't get bios to open. Have tried a usb keyboard, no help. Someone suggested pressing several keys at once to trigger a "keyboard error." Didn't help.

Since AMI doesn't sell to consumers, it doesn't provide any support at all. Suggestions?

hsehestedt · Tuesday at 5:10 PM

I don't know if your PC is the same as my AMI BIOS based systems, but give this a try:

Rather than F2, try tapping ESC repeatedly as soon as you power on the PC. On my PCs, pressing ESC brings up a boot menu. From that boot menu I can select a device to boot from, or I can select the option to enter the BIOS from that menu.

Let me know if that works!

EDIT: Adding one more note here. Note that you cannot simply press F2, ESC, whatever, justy once. You need to keep tapping that key (tap, tap, tap...) until you get into setup or the menu is displayed. You are likely already aware of this, I just didn't want to take this for granted.

Ghot · Tuesday at 5:12 PM

If the BIOS splash screen said press the F2 key, then that's the key to press.
The BIOS itself controls the splash screen.

I've never heard of a company called Nimo, but maybe they did something to prevent you entering the BIOS.

I would get CPU-Z (free), and find out what mainboard you have in that laptop...

Use CPU-Z to get your System Specs...

CPU-Z (free), will show you make/model for everything except: drives, case and power supply. You'll need to add make/model for monitor, keyboard and mouse as well. That info should be easy to find. Portable version: https://download.cpuid.com/cpu-z/cpu-z_2.17-en.zip

www.elevenforum.com

Once you know who manufactured the mainboard, you can use the table below to get the proper key presses for the Boot Menu and for the BIOS...

gunrunnerjohn · Tuesday at 5:17 PM

I've found that many machines you simply have to keep tapping on the BIOS or BOOT key until you get the desired result. When I just press the key once, it frequently blows right by my request and continues to boot the default device.

Try3 · Tuesday at 5:19 PM

T38 said:
The AMI bios splash screen says "Press F2 to enter setup."

On my computers, it's not just pressing the F2 key, it's tapping F2 repeatedly as soon as the maker's logo appears onscreen during bootup.
[If the Windows logo then appears, it hasn't taken and you'd need to reboot to have another go.]

Alternatively, assuming it's a UEFI computer rather than a Legacy Bios one, you can use this cmd in an Admin cmd prompt / shortcut to reboot directly from a running Windows into the Bios.
shutdown.exe /r /fw /t 0
[This was posted by Kari in Boot to UEFI - TenForumsTutorials]

Denis

Ghot · Tuesday at 5:21 PM

Yep. SSDs are fast. You need to gently spam the correct key, as soon as you see the splash screen.

Greybeard70 · Tuesday at 5:22 PM

You can try this command from a prompt. It shuts down and reboots to bios. Works on my MSI DIY Build.
C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe /r /fw /t 1

Try3 · Tuesday at 5:29 PM

Greybeard70 said:
You can try this command from a prompt. It shuts down and reboots to bios. Works on my MSI DIY Build.
C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe /r /fw /t 1

Run it as Admin or nothing will happen [assuming normal UAC settings].

Denis

Bree · Tuesday at 5:56 PM

T38 said:
The AMI bios splash screen says "Press F2 to enter setup." But it doesn't. I've pressed every Fn key including delete, but can't get bios to open.

It may simply be that you are not performing a full start up from cold. If you have Fast Startup turned on in 'Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Power Options > System Settings' then when you turn on the PC you're really resuming from a form of hibernation.

To be sure you are starting up from cold, instead of turning off the PC, then pressing the power button to turn it on, perform a Restart instead. Click Start, then click the power icon at the bottom right and chose Restart.

Then repeatedly press F2, starting before you even see the logo appear.

MisterEd · Tuesday at 9:06 PM

To access the BIOS on a Nimo 15.6 laptop, turn on or restart the computer, then press and hold or repeatedly tap the F2 (or Fn + F2) key until the BIOS screen appears.

Bree · Wednesday at 4:57 AM

MisterEd said:
(or Fn + F2)

This may be the key. On some laptops by default F1-F12 is the secondary function of those keys. There's usually a setting in the BIOS to make their 'special functions' secondary and F1-F12 the primary function.

Asus272 · Wednesday at 8:40 AM

Method 1

Using the Shift + Restart Method to Enter Recovery Mode and Access Bios (works for all Windows PC's}

- Open the Start menu or press the Windows Key + X.
- Click the Power icon.
- Press and hold the Shift key.
- Click Restart while still holding Shift.
- Wait for the computer to reboot into the Blue Options Screen.
- Select Troubleshoot
- Select Advanced Options
- Select UEFI Firmware Settings
- Click Restart
- Computer will boot into Bios Screen

Method 2 (Faster) (Works on all Windows PC's

Steps to Execute the Command

- Open the Start menu.
- Type cmd.
- Right-click on Command Prompt and pick Run as administrator.
- Type the command: shutdown /r /fw /t 0
- Hit Enter

T38 · Wednesday at 10:56 AM

Hokay, turned out that *even though the AMI splash screen said "press F2 to enter setup," that didn't work. Instead pressing the ESC key repeatedly worked. Solved.

T38 · Wednesday at 11:01 AM

Thanks to all who suggested things to try! Found the "like" button.

kciN · Wednesday at 11:48 AM

I’ve always used the Delete key (the one above arrow keys) on my ami boards. If you are using fastboot hold it while powering up

Edit; Forgot to mention that once in the bios you should be able to set a timer for the boot logo. set that to like 3-5 secs and it will give you time in the future. Not 100% if adjustable with fastboot but worth a try

Solved AMI BIOS says "press F2 to enter" but doesn't!

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