Stuart

My setup revolves around a Mac with no keyboard and no monitor - all communication is via midi.

Now, my old Pentium II gets grumpy if I try to boot without a keyboard attached, let alone without a monitor.

Is it generally possible to run XP or whatever without monitor/mouse/keyboard ? Do I have to do something to enable this ?

I'd dearly love to swap to Windows due to timing issues, and the Intel Macs seem to offer the perfect opportunity. However, if the Windows thing doesn't work, I'll wait for the native Max/MSP.

Is it generally possible to run XP or whatever without monitor/mouse/keyboard ? Do I have to do something to enable this ? 

question-to-windows-users

some pcs can be booted without keyboard, most without monitor, but almost 

all bioses have very stupid bug: if there is no keyboard attached, bios 

halts before boot and asks you to press f1 to continue. To avoid this, one 

has to enter bios setup and disable 'halt on error' things, or something 

some pcs can be booted without keyboard, most without monitor, but almost 
all bioses have very stupid bug: if there is no keyboard attached, bios 
halts before boot and asks you to press f1 to continue. To avoid this, one 
has to enter bios setup and disable 'halt on error' things, or something 
along those lines.

there are some motherboards that can boot with no keyboard. mouse and monitor and keyboard is not important for XP!!!

so you have to try to boot without keyboard.

you can also try to explore the bios system (press delete on boot) and look for an option that you can enable/disable to boot computer without the "Press F1 to continue".

my current board does not need keyoard to boot... the keyboard is USB, so ps2 do not detect...bla bla bla

but to the board....
There are some bords that can not boot.

so you have to try to boot without keyboard.
you can also try to explore the bios system (press delete on boot) and look for an option that you can enable/disable to boot computer without the "Press F1 to continue".

my current board does not need keyoard to boot... the keyboard is USB, so ps2 do not detect...bla bla bla
My bios has that option.

Aha. I wonder if any Intel Mac owners could perform a quick test...?

My thanks for the help. Looks like I'm going to have to get my hands oily on the bios :-(

Question to Windows users