T40 BIOS (SVP?) password (monitor & padlock icons)

[Frankenstien]

Hey all ... in my forum searches today (terms 'BIOS password' and 'lock icon' in the ThinkPad T4x Series sub-Forum) I have not found that which I seek, a way into the BIOS after hitting F1 on boot ... perhaps someone can put me out of my misery ...

I have a T40 that I have not played around with since about October of 2012 (TYPE 2373-72U, S/N 99-***** 03/12 ... interestingly, Access IBM sees: TYPE 237314U and a different S/N [latter from notes I found on my old workhorse PC]) ... back then, it needed some h/w bits and pieces but fell by the wayside as a resurrection project (attention-wise) in the wait for parts ... (which I did eventually get). Back then (and still), there was another, different error on boot ("ERROR, Resource Conflict - PCI Network Controller on Motherboard, Bus:02, Device:01, Function:00, , Press <F1> to Setup") that I seem to remember being able to get around by hitting 'Esc'. I never did resolve that particular error.

Now I need this T40 and I can't get it to boot into the Win XP OS or even get into Setup (BIOS) ... I'm seeing the little monochromatic monitor icon and the little padlock icon to its' right on any attempt to get into Setup (BIOS) after pressing F1 ...

I may have set a SVP back then ... I don't recall now, almost 8 years later, and, have yet to find any more paper notes (that I generally make of such things) to go by ... however, the only password I typically use for this kind of thing is a simple 4-digit password ... and here's the rub: pressing the first (of four) digit key(s) (a '5' in the case of my typical BIOS password) does not result in an asterisk being displayed ... to acknowledge that the keystroke has occurred successfully.

If there is some kind of a keyboard fault, it is a new development, as far as I can recall. However, experience has taught me that ThinkPad keyboards can exhibit strange behaviours on occasion and simply require a reset (of some kind, again, it's been so long, I don't recall what works for keyboard anomalies).

A little experimentation has shown that the other three digits are being acknowledged, also, that the potential password field length is 12 characters.

Am I hooped? Or is there some way into this T40?

Thanks, FFF

[Frankenstien]

... additional info update ...

... one thing I forgot to mention here yesterday, Saturday, 09MAY20, is that I suspect it is likely that the CMOS battery has gone dead over time (almost 4 years since I last photographed the MAC addresses listed on the base of this T40 [25AUG16], over 4 years since the last photos of the boot screen [28MAR16 & 06MAY12 - JPGs exist - I'm surprised I cannot post JPG pics here, only insertion of image links], and, if I'm reading the date of manufacture on the base of this T40 correctly, '03/12' = 2003?/December?, 16+ years since this machine was built [, or, March?/2012? (latter unlikely seems to me)]) ... because ...

(besides the 'ERROR, Resource Conflict - PCI Network Controller on Motherboard, Bus:02, Device:01, Function:00', mentioned earlier)

... an error that precedes it that I'm seeing is:

'ERROR, 0271 check date and time settings' --> this would seem to me to be a CMOS battery depleted consequence ... so ... that begs the question: what set of defaults would the BIOS revert to (i.e. SVP, or, Supervisor Password) in the absence of CMOS battery power?

This makes more sense to me, as I do not specifically recall configuring an SVP, nor would I have needed / wanted one ... that would be just an added complication ... that I likely would have avoided.

And, now that I look at this T40 on boot again this morning, I'm also seeing something new:

'ERROR, 0176: System Security - The system has been tampered with.' (JPG exists)

... likely a result of my multiple (SVP? / BIOS) password entry attempts yesterday, Saturday, 09MAY20, wherein every failed password entry attempt resulted in an 'x' ... after 3 'x's, I got a circled hand icon(? no pics).

So, if I wasn't hooped before (in terms of a quick fix solution), I almost certainly am now - amiright?

I do have a 02OCT12 JPG pic of the first BIOS page dispalyed ... it contains info such as 'BIOS Version', 'BIOS Date (Year-Month-Day)', 'Embedded Controller Version', 'System-unit serial number', 'System board serial number', 'CPU Type', 'CPU Speed', 'Installed memory', 'UUID' & 'MAC Address (Internal LAN)'.

Thanks, FFF

[ajkula66]

There is a Supervisor Password on that board, and you can kiss it goodbye unless you know the password. Dying BIOS battery triggered going back to defaults and now you're stuck due to being unable to set date/time.

We are not allowed to discuss the methods of over-riding security features here, although I will acknowledge that those do exist.

Good luck.

[Frankenstien]

Thank you for your (extremely fast) help George ... yeah, I suspected something like that ... I guess installing a new CMOS battery alone would not resolve my dilemma would it?

FFF

[ajkula66]

I guess installing a new CMOS battery alone would not resolve my dilemma would it?

Sadly, no.

[Frankenstien]

Thanks George.

I have another working T40 ... if its' CMOS battery is getting tired (this other T40 gets used regularly, however, regular use alone won't in any way maintain a charge on the CMOS battery will it?), is there some special procedure during CMOS battery replacement? ... in order to avoid denying power to the chip(s) governing the (potential? or certain?) SVP functionality of the BIOS ... during the battery replacement procedure?

FFF

[ajkula66]

Well, go into BIOS on the working system and check whether a Supervisor Password is set. If it is...I'm not certain that I have any good advice.

Let's hope it's not.

[Frankenstien]

Roger that George ... thank you for the guidance ... if an SVP has been / is set on the other working T40, I take it there is no legitimate way to clear it from within the BIOS, the BIOS having been entered normally?

FFF

[ajkula66]

Roger that George ... thank you for the guidance ... if an SVP has been / is set on the other working T40, I take it there is no legitimate way to clear it from within the BIOS, the BIOS having been entered normally?

FFF

Unless you know the password, no.