Supervisor password question - no hacking

[netzspannung]

OK, guys, I have read the manual and used search, and it's still unclear to me:

I have bought a second-hand T60, only to discover that a supervisor password is preventing me from entering the BIOS. The machine boots and runs normally, only the BIOS is affected

1. How can this be? I always thought that if the s\password is present, booting the machine would be impossible.. at least it always was on my 760ED, 600, T22 and T42

2. What potential trouble should I be ready for? Will the password promt appear one day out of nowhere (I guess not)

3. What happens if i try to flash the BIOS, i.e. will the flash simply fail, or will it lock the machine forever? In the latter case, I should not even try

Please note I am not asking about removing password since that is contrary to the rules of the board

Thanks

[virge]

I think the supervisor password can be set so that it keeps the user from changing the BIOS settings. In this case, you won't be able to update BIOS-- it just fails when I've tried it on my T42P without temporarily removing the password first.

As for potential problems--- well, you can't change the BIOS settings, which means you can't set the date/time should the CMOS battery fail or you disconnect it (don't). How long this will take, who know? I had an A31 with a password, and I used it for a while. The motherboard failed before the clock battery.

[RealBlackStuff]

Which symbol does it show? Check the images on this page:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-59377

Be careful before you try and take out the CMOS battery, it may block the whole laptop!
Better get all the info first before you do anything!

[netzspannung]

Be careful before you try and take out the CMOS battery, it may block the whole laptop!
Better get all the info first before you do anything!

OK, I understand this. Will stay clear of the battery then. But how about other things - can I upgrade the hard drive? I don't have to enter any passwords to start windows, so a hard drive password is NOT set, right?

How about upgrading RAM and CPU? I have a spare CoreDuo T2500 lying around, it should work without 2.0 bios update, or else? Can a CPU swap somehow trigger the power-on and HDD passwords?

[RealBlackStuff]

What locking symbol does it show? (see my previous post).
You probably have a T2400 in it already. If so, a T2500 is not worth the hassle.
You can upgrade RAM to 2x 2GB, but only a little over 3GB will be usable. So get a 1GB and a 2GB module instead.
HD upgrade to whatever 2.5" SATA drive you can afford. Beware of "WD Scorpio Black" drives, several people complain about heavy vibrations.

PS: also check your PM.

[netzspannung]

I am glad to report that the processor swap went OK, no issues (T2300 vs a spare T2500). So to whom it may concern - a supervisor password does not prevent you from upgrading the CPU, and RAM obviosly.

I am less sure about the hard disk. It writes in Thinkpad Configuration: HDD Password - Disabled.
Yet Lenovo's own page points out that the supervisor password activates the HDD pass automatically. So it may not be wise to pull the HDD just now. Any ideas?

[richk]

svp does not set hd pw

[rkawakami]

...and besides, if you had a hard drive password you would be getting a password prompt each time you booted the system.