Can access BIOS but can't make any changes - help!

[noetus]

SORRY FOR THE LONG POST!

I have a T42 2373 and I have noticed that although I can get into the BIOS setup, I cannot make any changes there - the system says changes are not possible in User mode and to consult the system supervisor. I think it has been like this for a while, and I have made several BIOS upgrades in that time. I called IBM tech support and they told me there is a Supervisor password set and if I cannot remember the Supervisor password, I have to send the machine in and they will reset it for $187. The thing is, I am the owner and single user of this machine from new, and I have only ever set ONE password on this machine, but the same password for the hard drive AND the BIOS. Consistent with that, when I start the machine, I get the padlock icon and a little computer icon, and when I input the password, I get 'ok' and the icon briefly changes to a little hard drive as well. So the system accepts my input of one password as two passwords, one for BIOS and one for the HDD, as far as I can tell. So how come changes to the BIOS are disabled?

IBM tells me that there is a third password, the Supervisor password, that I have to enter at boot time INSTEAD of the password I am currently entering, which will give me full access to the BIOS. However, I KNOW that if I would ever set a third password (and I haven't), I would just have set it as the SAME string of letters/digits as my current boot/HDD password. So I can't imagine what this other password would be or how it would have gotten there.

Except for one detail. About a year ago I tried to install the IBM security software. I had a terrible time with it, mainly because it assumed the Windows administrator name is 'Administrator' and effectively locks you out if it is not, even though it is a trivial exercise in Windows to have a different administrator name (I had changed it before installing the IBM security software), and the software (at least then) does not anticipate that possibility or even give you any warning about it. I eventually managed to disable the security software but had never managed to get it to uninstall - the uninstall routine would simply hang (even if I did a minimal windows logon to reduce the chance of conflicts) and so I left it there, disabled.

I told IBM tech support this and they said that I must have set a BIOS supervisor password at that point in the IBM software which then wrote the password to the BIOS security chip (from within Windows, no less). I can't imagine I would have done this intentionally (certainly NOT with a different password than the one I currently use), and I had so much trouble with the software which seemed to me buggy and badly thought out (re: the issue I mentioned above) that I think it is dastardly unfair that IBM would charge me $187 to fix this (the machine is still under warranty).

I am aware that there are do-it-yourself solutions involving soldering (or clipping?) wires to the EEPROM chip and getting a dump which can then be read for the password by a freeware program, but I am very wary of doing this - both because of the time and effort it involves, the expense (still about $50 or so), the potential risk of damage to my still in-warranty laptop, and because I am not that great with a soldering iron.

Incidentally, I have heard of two potential fixes for this, but I am pretty sure neither of them would work (the only solutions are the above DIY solution or sending it to IBM). One is to reflash the BIOS - it was the suggestion of the first IBM techie I spoke to, and seems futile to me. The other is to unplug the machine, remove the main battery and the CMOS battery, wait a while (20 minutes? a few hours? overnight?) and then put everything back and start up. I am pretty sure that might simply have the effect of locking me out of the laptop entirely, as the system would ask for a date and time and that is a BIOS change which would require the Supervisor password (although perhaps Windows can do it, I don't know).

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to set everything out.

And thanks for any advice!

[agarza]

Why not check in the BIOS if really there's a supervisor password, in the Security option.
If there's, then try to remove it, if it asks for a password, type the combination of letters you think might be the password you set (unintentionally, though when you install IBM Security)

I don't think that removing the CMOS battery would work, since BIOS in laptops do not rely on the CMOS power.

Good luck

[egibbs]

However, I KNOW that if I would ever set a third password (and I haven't), I would just have set it as the SAME string of letters/digits as my current boot/HDD password. So I can't imagine what this other password would be or how it would have gotten there.

It is entirely possible that you never set the SP, in which case it would be blank. Try just hitting a return at the lock symbol when accessing BIOS and see if it lets you in in supervisor mode.

Other than that you have pretty much found the available options yourself. And you are right - removing the CMOS battery to clear the BIOS would only make things worse, as the SP will still be there and you won't be able to reset the CMOS settings.

Ed Gibbs