Thinkpads Forum

hi,

i have a problem accessing the bios, i have the known problems 161,192,163...i replaced the battery with a working one (from a another 600e) but i have still the same prob. during the boot procedure a lock sign appears... after pushing enter i see "OK" a then it goes tho the bios showing the 3 errorcodes, then a push enter a i see the errorscreen with a arrow showing to the manual...but nothing else...i can't use the bios...what's wrong?

can anybody help me?

biglukeskywalker wrote:during the boot procedure a lock sign appears...

Are you given a chance to login somewhere during boot up? Does your thinkpad have an administrator/master password set?

Also, you can try typing ESC instead of ENTER at the various error screens and see if that gets you into the BIOS.

Phil.

When you see the lock sign you need to enter the supervisor password in order to get into the BIOS.

If you don't know the password then see item #12 in the FAQ.

Ed Gibbs

first thanks for the reply...
according the the aswers, yes i have a chance to enter a password, but a don't know it, but the misterious is that i can press enter without any pw...a after this i can see the errorcodes in the bios screen...but there is no "OK" Button...just this errorcodes...
is this normal?

Yes. It is a little confusing (not getting a confirmation or denial message), but that's how it is supposed to work.

so there is a supervisor pw set?

If your "locK" icon also has what looks like a small computer next to it on the lower left, then that usually means there is a BIOS (supervisor) password in effect. When the CMOS battery died, the system date/time was lost. When you installed a new battery, the system recognized that the date/time needs to be reset and that you have to enter the BIOS to do that, thus the prompt for the password. If you have just recently received this system, your best course of action is to contact the seller and attempt to get your money back. If this is a system that has been in your possession for a long time, then the password has been sitting there quietly, waiting to be triggered.

For your reference, download a copy of the Hardware Maintenance Manual from here:

600/600E HMM

and read the section "Passwords", beginning on page 24.

Please understand that the rules on this board prevent discussion of any kind of method or technique to attempt a bypass or break-in of BIOS passwords as we cannot easily determine if you have a stolen system.

Ok thanks, i know what you mean and i understand it...
i just wrote an email to the preowner...will we see...
i was confusing if i press enter without typing any password the system let me into tho bios screen...but i can't change anything...

That's because the "user" password is blank, and you correctly entered it.

The BIOS will let you in with the access rights of whatever password you enter. If you enter the (blank) user password you get read-only access. If you enter the supervisor password you get write access.

Ed Gibbs

thanks guys...
problem is solved...i asked the preowner and he gave me the password... you were right...without the pw there is only read access...

biglukeskywalker wrote:thanks guys...
problem is solved...i asked the preowner and he gave me the password... you were right...without the pw there is only read access...

Consider yourself lucky...most sellers respond with "I don't remember"!!

Seriously, most of the time the previous owner either picked the laptop from another owner, an auction or something along those lines, and has no way of getting the password.

Based on what you are saying is that if l don't know the password don't mess with the CMOS and just leave it alone and deal with changing the time and date all the time.

Help because if this is a problem l will at least chuck it and get something else.

Alan

Since you already know the password, you can now clear it so that you will not have a problem again in the future when changing the cmos battery or other hardware that require accessing the bios. Check the maintenance manual how to do it.