hacked BIOS

[notoriginal]

Hello all,

I am working on a Toshiba laptop that a customer purchased used from a local electronics repair shop. The problem is the BIOS. The Toshiba splash screen appears and then disappears and the following message appears:

"If you enter the password wrong 3 times this computer will shut off. SO DONT F*&% UP!"

After seeing this message I assumed the BIOS was hacked. Any ideas on how to reset to default settings?

 

[suicidalpigeon]

reset cmos? i know crap about lappies.

 

[notoriginal]

Unfortunately, in my experience, laptops are not that simple. Unless I am missing something obvious. Toshiba was no help at all, saying that the only way to fix it was to send it to a Toshiba service center. If they can fix it, I should be able to fix it myself.

 

[w00t]

can you flash new bios using a floppy? you could try to open it up and reset cmos.

 

[superfly27]

What about deleting primary partition and re-creating it and formatting? Is that impossible in this case?

 

[Kwatt]

The hard drive may have been locked.
If so you will have to send the computer back or replace the hard drive.
A co-worker gave me a dell his kids had locked the drive on and did not remember the password for.

I searched for awhile and found this info and the drive in the dell is in Maximum security mode and I have no password.

I replaced the drive.

The "Ultimate Boot CD" has a tool which will let you try 5 passwords before reboot is required.


Good Luck
Kwatt

 

[notoriginal]

From what I have been able to gather, it is not allowing access to the floppy drive. Also, The hard drive has been removed and STILL I am getting this message. If Toshiba tech support can fix it, it can't be that difficult. As far as cracking it open...done. The only problem is that I can't find a CMOS reset switch.

 

[gar3555]

start pulling jumpers...you'll hit it sooner or later

 

[Bona Fide]

I'm almost positive that you should pull out the CMOS battery on that. It should be easy enough to identify...it looks like your standard circular lithium battery.

 

[imported_Stew]

Freaky.

 

[notoriginal]

It must be pretty well hidden, because I haven't been able to find a "standard" CMOS battery.

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, Pulling the battery is worth a try, but only resets the info you have put into the bios and sets it back to Defaults. The problem you have is something that was put into the BIOS program area. Flashing may be your only hope. Hope this helps a little, Jim

 

[gonzaga1751]

have you even tried entering a password to see what happens?

 

[interchange]

Toshiba may pull the CMOS chip and replace it or reflash it with a separate programmer. If you can't get past BIOS, you're unlikely to be able to reflash it without pulling it. You can call Toshiba back up and ask for a new chip, but they would probably rather send you to a service center :roll:

 

[imported_Phil]

The only way to remove a BIOS password that Toshiba will admit works is with a parallel-port loopback connector, tied to specific pins. However, with newer models, I'm not entirely sure.

It does sound more like someone's messed around with it.

 

[Zepper]

Laptop passwords are held in a separate flash memory chip. You cannot change them without the original password - no amount of battery removal or switch throwing will help. The easiest way is to get the original password from whoever sold it to you.
. There IS a way to clear that chip but Toshiba is unlikely to tell you. It is done because of rampant theft of lappys. If it was easy to clear (like desktops), there would be no deterrent value at all. There is a company that supplies replacement flash chips, but you have to be familiar with SMT soldering techniques and have some pretty fancy soldering tools to do it.

.bh.

 

[gwarbot]

there are some tools out there that can hack it. I would suggest mybe a cdrom or something. I can give any deatails. The internet has everything you need to hack your way in.

 

[notoriginal]

I am getting to the point where I may sit down with a dictionary and enter every word in the english language, the only problem is that probably woudn't work anyway. The last thing I want to do is sent it to Toshiba, but unfortunately that may be the only solution. Flashing the BIOS is out, because I get no response from the floppy and I am almost certain that "hacking" the BIOS will also prove fruitless, due to the fact that access to the drives may not be allowed without the password. One thing is certain--the hard drive does not need to be connected until a password is entered, otherwise I would get an error everytime I powered the machine back on. The hard drive is currently sitting on my work bench, nowhere near the laptop.

 

[alexisnik]

Check this out:
https://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?items=1824-296