Re: ASUS UEFI BIOS

On Tue, 4/7/2026 9:37 PM, Woozy Song wrote:
> I have a few ASUS mainboards and find you cannot change date and time in BIOS. 
> So you just have to boot with wrong time then change the date in linux so stuff works. Is this a bug or a feature?

My B550-F has a hardware manual (labels the connectors) and
a separate BIOS manual, as PDF files. Only the printed hardware
manual is in the box, you have to download the PDF by scanning
the QR code in the printed manual and it has the URL for where
to find the BIOS PDF.

Neither of them address setting the clock.

The clock has a settings-wheel icon in the upper right corner.
This icon does not depress. Clicking anywhere on the hours:minutes
display, causes a rectangular dialog to appear in the middle of the
screen.

A UEFI BIOS can support usage of the mouse, plus usage of a keyboard.

The keyboard and mouse do not work, during POST intervals where
the +5VSB has not been turned on in the BIOS sequence yet.

When the power does come on, to the keyboard, only then can you
(relatively quickly) press <Del> key and enter the BIOS.
(Popup boot is F8 on Asus motherboards).

OK, so we're in the BIOS, we're in either EZMode or Advanced Mode.
The clock is still in the corner for either of those,
the clock responds to being clicked.

The <tab> key advances the edit-able item, but it does not cover all
the fields. You can reach the fields via mouse click. If you have
an old-fashioned mouse, you can check for red-LED output indicating
the mouse is actually powered. If the mouse or keyboard are not
powered, then changing the BIOS will be more difficult. Things like
<tab>, <pgup>, <pgdn>, +, -, Enter, arrow-keys, are all part of
doing mouse-less setup. You can <tab> until Save is highlighted,
then press your Enter/Return key.

If you've set a BIOS password, you could be blocked from reaching
the BIOS screen entirely, so that is probably not it.

You can wipe over a digit in one of the editable fields
and re-type the number you wanted. There is a "Save"
to the right of the display. It is likely that you can
<tab> over to the Save button, then hit Return. That is
if you wanted to test that you had limited control of
the situation.

But if there is some problem with the two BIOS passwords,
then (maybe) that has some effect on the BIOS "Save and Exit".
You should see if the "Save and Exit" allows any settings to
be saved, as proof the BIOS is not completely blocked.

The BIOS clock is fully powered while you are in the BIOS
like that. The +5V and +5VSB should both be running, a flat CMOS
CR2032 battery should not make any difference. If your battery
was flat, the BIOS time would be epoch time (Jan 1, 1970 on
really old motherboards, might be 2010 or 2015 on a newer
motherboard). That would be an indication your BIOS battery
was bad, if the time had resorted to epoch time.

But as for interface, it works best with the mouse to aid in
the positioning and operation of editing. Wipe over a digit
with the mouse, type in a new digit or digit pair that replaces
the selected digit. Use the Save on the right, to finish the
Clock Editing. Use the main BIOS "Save and Exit" or "Discard and Exit"
as you wish. The time is not part of Saving settings, and the
time change should have registered when the separate Save button
to the right of the clock dialog box was pressed.

If the BIOS cannot load the correct HID driver for keyboard
and mouse (or trackball), that could cause a problem. But these
days, the BIOS should have the three keyboard class drivers and
should be able to operate the three buttons of a standard mouse.
A mouse with fifteen buttons, the extra buttons should not work.

   Paul