How to modify BIOS?

[jdowner]

Apologies if this is wrong forum. Recently I installed gentoo on a machine that was a win7/ubuntu dual boot. Everything is mostly fine but I am working through a few issues. The one I am working on at the moment is that the time is wrong. It doesn't appear to be using the timezone information correctly. I have made sure that /etc/conf.d/hwclock is set to use UTC instead of local but I think it is still using the local time from the BIOS, possibly because that is what win7 wanted when I had the dual boot. However, I now realize that I can't seem to get into the BIOS menu! This is change in the behavior of the machine but I don't know if it is anything specifically to do with the new installation. I am trying to press all the usuall keys to bring up the BIOS but there is no splash screen saying 'press F1' or equivalent and nothing I do has successfully brought up the BIOS menu.

So, I am wondering if there is alternative way that I can access the BIOS to modify the settings? Is there some setting that I may have chosen during installation that makes it impossible to enter the BIOS configuration?

-Josh

[Jaglover]

Try clearing CMOS.
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[DONAHUE]

usually bios is called by f2 or delete key

windows 8 can lock you out of bios in the name of making booting faster, if you get into that mode you have to find the option boot to bios in the windows 8 miasma or use jaglover's technique. i've not noticed the fast boot option in windows 7 but ...
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[srs5694]

The key used to access the BIOS varies greatly from one computer to another, although it's usually a function key, and it's also usually an even-numbered function key.

Both Windows and Linux rely on the hardware clock on the motherboard as a starting point for keeping the system time. Thus, Windows and Linux must agree on using the same timekeeping convention for the hardware clock -- either local time or UTC. If one uses one way and the other uses the other way, you'll see time problems whenever you reboot.

Traditionally, systems with both Windows and Linux set the hardware clock to local time; however, this can cause glitches when Daylight Saving Time clock changes roll around. Typically, both OSes try to change the clock automatically, so it gets set incorrectly. There are system settings you can use to disable this feature and do it manually (or hope that NTP settings will correct). Personally, though, I prefer to set my hardware clock to UTC for both OSes. This page describes how to do this on Windows; however, it was written in the days of Windows XP, and I'm not 100% sure that this procedure still works with the latest versions of Windows. I think I must have used it with Windows 7, though.

[NeddySeagoon]

jdowner,

The key to press to enter the BIOS is usually displayed as a screen message.

Over the years, I've known it to ESC, F2, F10, F12 and del. One early Compaq system had the BIOS interface on floppy disk.
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Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

[creaker]

Another one method to enter BIOS that I found recently:
Turn off your machine. Press and hold F2 and turn on a machine. F2 should be still pressed. Wait for a few seconds, until BIOS appears.
As well it may be not F2 key, some possible values described above.
Also Esc may be useful (some machines shows additional menu on starting with Esc key)

[aeyeaws64]

win 7 utc registry edit


Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation]
"RealTimeIsUniversal"=dword:00000001

[Goverp]

Another key to enter BIOS at boot: DEL

"The nice thing about standards is there are so many to choose from"
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Greybeard