Overiding Bios Password

[accguy9009]

A Lenovo IdeaPad Y430 2781 came into my possession recently.

http://www.cnet.com/laptops/lenovo-ideapad-y430-2781/4507-3121_7-33342055.html



A friend had it & (think he got it from someone else) and it didn't work and he gave it to me since he owed me a few favors. The hard drive was missing so I booted it into a Linux live CD and got on Firefox so I figured I would install a new hard drive and since I had an extra Vista license I figured why not use it. I attempted to go into the Bios but found that it was password protected. I thought of resetting the bios by removing and resetting the cmos battery. I am comfortable replacing hard drives and memory on most laptops but I really don't care to go a lot deeper. I can't seem to find the cmos battery. I saw this video where a guy breaks it down in minutes but I can't find the cmos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpC8SUse2ao

So I installed Vista Home Premium and had the Lenovo drivers ready and figured I would give it a go. I can't get connected to my network and when I try to install the drivers it keeps saying they are already installed. Same thing with the wifi drivers. I also keep getting error messages like this Werfault.exe and others. I disabled Widows error reporting but I still get them. I tried installing a Netgear usb wifi device and it won't install either. The specs say this had 3 GB ram but mine only has 2- 1 GB modules. XP is prob a better OS for this unit as I saw on the web the Win 7 drivers don't work well at all. Am I having issues due to the bios being locked down? I am getting ready to install XP Pro after the drive finishes getting wiped. Anyone know a work around for the bios password or how to re set the cmos? Will a Linux distro possibly be more friendly given the bios password issue? Sorry this is so long but can't find anything on line about this cmos. Thanks in advance.

 

[corkyg]

This has a tip worth trying:

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/IdeaPad...clear-the-bios-on-the-lenovo-y430/td-p/191336

 

[accguy9009]

thanks for the reply. The tip says
"As it turns out there is a spot next to the wireless card that said CLRPX something or other and I shorted it and woohoo I can now boot from cd!!!" What exactly does shorting this mean? I can already boot from CD by F12 and selecting this option. Is this like messing with the jumpers or or the like? The F9 option isn't possible as I am asked for the bios password

 

[Steltek]

thanks for the reply. The tip says
"As it turns out there is a spot next to the wireless card that said CLRPX something or other and I shorted it and woohoo I can now boot from cd!!!" What exactly does shorting this mean? I can already boot from CD by F12 and selecting this option. Is this like messing with the jumpers or or the like? The F9 option isn't possible as I am asked for the bios password

Depending upon the BIOS options set, it is possible to block the F12 boot menu as well for extra security. In that circumstance, pressing F12 to access the boot menu also asks for a password. Obviously, the laptop you have didn't have this option enabled in the BIOS.

The tip is basically trying to reset the CMOS memory and return the BIOS to factory defaults in hopes that this will wipe the passwords that were established as well.

It actually may not be possible to reset the BIOS password. If it is anything like Dell's semi-recent to recent machines, the BIOS password is stored in bank of non-volatile NAND memory that isn't affected by resetting CMOS memory or even by flashing the BIOS. In many circumstances, on those machines, the only way to bypass the BIOS password is to replace the motherboard. There is a manufacturer utility that leaked from Dell for use on their machines, but it doesn't always work.

 

[mfenn]

thanks for the reply. The tip says
"As it turns out there is a spot next to the wireless card that said CLRPX something or other and I shorted it and woohoo I can now boot from cd!!!" What exactly does shorting this mean? I can already boot from CD by F12 and selecting this option. Is this like messing with the jumpers or or the like? The F9 option isn't possible as I am asked for the bios password

"Shorting" in this case simply means connecting two components together with a conductive object. A screwdriver would work.

Also,

A friend had it & (think he got it from someone else)

That shit's hot!

 

[accguy9009]

that was the short story. Its a five year old laptop and even though its an Ideapad and not a thinkpad it was prob a business laptop hence the bios password and missing hard drive. I wasn't the first guy to try and revive this lappy.

 

[Blain]

I believe you can ship it to Lenovo and have them reset the password (for a service charge).
If the laptop was reported stolen in the past, that fact would be uncovered.
If the laptop wasn't reported stolen, you'll have a fresh reset BIOS, ready to go.

 

[accguy9009]

I am aware I can have this serviced. I am not a big fan of investing much $ in a five year old laptop that could have other issues. I most likely will install Linux on it and it either will work or it won't. The hard drive I put in it has been sitting around for a long time and it may have issues of its own. For some reason XP blue screens when I tried installing it. I am trying Vista one more time before putting Linux on it. This is just a project that fell into my lap and I am not going to invest much time or $ in it. I knew when I saw the bios password I was most likely going to have major issues. It isn't much of a time waster to put the Vista DVD in the drive and check it when I get home.