I have just put together a box...

AMD XP 1700+
Asus A7A266
512 MB DDR RAM
60 GB MAXTOR UDMA 133/7200 RPM HDD
NEC 1.44 FLOPPY
ATI RADEON 7000 6MB /W TV OUT
LG 24 /10/40 CDRW
TURTLE BEACH SANTA CRUZ VIDEO
LOGITECH PS/2 WHEEL MOUSE
CHEAP KEYBOARD
using HP A4033A 21" Monitor

The problem that I am having is when I go to install win98se,
the install won't recognize my PS/2 mouse. It won't get
recognized until after win98 is fully installed. The problem that
I have with this is that I can't choose the custom install and
choose the configuration that I want.

My BIOS default setting was "auto" for PS/2 mouse, this is
supposed to detect it and reserve IRQ 12 if there is a mouse,
or, make IRQ 12 available for a PCI slot if it doesn't detect the
PS/2 mouse. This is a no go.

I changed the setting to "enable" which reserves IRQ 12 for a
PS/2 mouse only, whether it detects it or not.

I have done probably 40 win98 installs by now and have never
had this problem before. I would suspect a faulty MoBo, but,
after the "typical install" win98 sees it no problem. I know an
install with a USB mouse will behave in this manner, but, I've
not had a problem with PS/2 or serial mouse before.

Have I overlooked (probably the obvious) anything?

Any help will sure be appreciated.

Thanx,

P.B.

Have you tried a different mouse? Is the mouse set all the way in onto the connector?

During setup if you have no mouse, you can TAB through the boxes, and use the spacebar to select/unselect, finalizing with Enter (For each selection window) when your satisfied with your choices.

Thanks all,

as it turned out the problem was the BIOS all along. The shop where I bought the MoBo and CPU insisted on placing the CPU and fan, as well as, flashing the BIOS too.

I downloaded the most current BIOS (exactly the same version) and flashed it again. The problem went away. :)

BTW, thanks Dan for the keyboard tips, I knew about the Tab and Enter, but, couldn't figure out the spacebar thing.