Posted October 21, 2023 Someone is selling me a BIOS laptop, its not terribly expensive but as a trade for some games I thought I could sell it. its BIOS locked, but I can still boot from USB stick as had to downgrade from 11 to 10 for the laptop. But is there anything else I need to know before proceeding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 What do you mean by bios locked? Locked as in can't sent XMP/ other OC settings? I'm not actually trying to be as grumpy as it seems. I will find your mentions of Ikea or Gnome and I will /s post. Project Hot Box CPU 13900k, Motherboard Gigabyte Aorus Elite AX, RAM CORSAIR Vengeance 4x16gb 5200 MHZ, GPU Zotac RTX 4090 Trinity OC, Case Fractal Pop Air XL, Storage Sabrent Rocket Q4 2tb, CORSAIR Force Series MP510 1920GB NVMe, CORSAIR FORCE Series MP510 960GB NVMe, PSU CORSAIR HX1000i, Cooling Corsair XC8 CPU block, Bykski GPU block, 360mm and 280mm radiator, Displays Odyssey G9, LG 34UC98-W 34-Inch,Keyboard Mountain Everest Max, Mouse Mountain Makalu 67, Sound AT2035, Massdrop 6xx headphones, Go XLR Oppbevaring CPU i9-9900k, Motherboard, ASUS Rog Maximus Code XI, RAM, 48GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB 3200 mhz (2x16)+(2x8) GPUs Asus ROG Strix 2070 8gb, PNY 1080, Nvidia 1080, Case Mining Frame, 2x Storage Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB, PSU Corsair RM1000x and RM850x, Cooling Asus Rog Ryuo 240 with Noctua NF-12 fans Why is the 5800x so hot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 Author 1 minute ago, IkeaGnome said: What do you mean by bios locked? Locked as in can't sent XMP/ other OC settings? BIOS locked as asking for a password?, you can't change settings like boot order etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 Author I can do a photo of the bios, I can enter it but can't change any settings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 It's fine to sell but be honest to potential buyers that this is a condition it has and price it appropriately. If it's not that old it should have a Windows Digital License and most likely set to UEFI w/ Secure Boot enabled. Outside of more advanced features like enabling virtualization or any overclocking most people will never have a reason to want to go in the BIOS. Most pesky thing would probably be boot order but usually F9, F10, or F12 will let you override boot order regardless of admin password. Guides & Tutorials: PROXMOX - Rebuilding ZFS RAID rpool After Disk Failure Mass Deploying Customized Windows 10/11 Installs Building a GNU/Linux Based Windows Deployment Server GNU/Linux Installer Server: Installation & Configuration How to: Use (i)PXE to Install Windows from a Network Why Memorize IP's When You Can Self-Host DNS Instead? Ventoy - The USB Multi-Boot Utility! Introduction to PXE/iPXE Network Boot Featuring FreeBSD & Ubuntu Server Don't see what you need? Check the Full List or *PM me, if I haven't made it I'll add it to the list. *NOTE: I'll only add it to the list if the request is something I know I can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 I can think of two scenarios where they wouldn't have the BIOS password: - They set a BIOS password and forgot it - It's not rightfully their laptop, instead it belongs to an employer. (Or worse, it's stolen.) If they can find a receipt with their name and a serial number on it, after-sales support from the manufacturer might be willing to generate the master password for them. The second scenario is the bigger risk. If they shouldn't sell it, and whoever the rightful owner is manages to track it down, you don't want that thing in your possession. I sold my soul for ProSupport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 Author It was a work laptop, its not some super new machine but an 8th gen model. From testing it before actually trading it does seem above board, the only issue is the old scruff there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 Author 9 minutes ago, Windows7ge said: It's fine to sell but be honest to potential buyers that this is a condition it has and price it appropriately. If it's not that old it should have a Windows Digital License and most likely set to UEFI w/ Secure Boot enabled. Outside of more advanced features like enabling virtualization or any overclocking most people will never have a reason to want to go in the BIOS. Most pesky thing would probably be boot order but usually F9, F10, or F12 will let you override boot order regardless of admin password. Its UEFI but secure boot is disabled. Even if I keep it, and not sell is it safe to use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 2 minutes ago, Diddlydennis said: Its UEFI but secure boot is disabled. Even if I keep it, and not sell is it safe to use? Yes. More than anything that would make it more appealing towards Linux users who may need Secure Boot disabled anyhow. Guides & Tutorials: PROXMOX - Rebuilding ZFS RAID rpool After Disk Failure Mass Deploying Customized Windows 10/11 Installs Building a GNU/Linux Based Windows Deployment Server GNU/Linux Installer Server: Installation & Configuration How to: Use (i)PXE to Install Windows from a Network Why Memorize IP's When You Can Self-Host DNS Instead? Ventoy - The USB Multi-Boot Utility! Introduction to PXE/iPXE Network Boot Featuring FreeBSD & Ubuntu Server Don't see what you need? Check the Full List or *PM me, if I haven't made it I'll add it to the list. *NOTE: I'll only add it to the list if the request is something I know I can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 Author 1 minute ago, Windows7ge said: Yes. More than anything that would make it more appealing towards Linux users who may need Secure Boot disabled anyhow. Thanks, it's a Thinkpad so nothing glamourous but I think it could be used as a retro machine or a device to browse. However, wasn't sure if it was safe as the secure boot was off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 2 minutes ago, Diddlydennis said: Thanks, it's a Thinkpad so nothing glamourous but I think it could be used as a retro machine or a device to browse. However, wasn't sure if it was safe as the secure boot was off. Oh? Which model? Lenovo uses a variety of passwords for different authentication: 0 – No passwords set 1 – Power on password set 2 – Supervisor password set 3 – Power on and supervisor passwords set 4 – Hard drive password(s) set 5 – Power on and hard drive passwords set 6 – Supervisor and hard drive passwords set 7 – Supervisor, power on, and hard drive passwords set It may not be impossible to remove the password but did you try generic ones? 0000, 1234, password, lenovo, LENOVO. We process a lot of computers at work as most recently we get Lenovo T495's. Some of those are passwords that we don't know why they were on there. Depending on the age some of the older Lenovo's have a trick to remove the password by shorting a pair of traces on the motherboard during power-on. Guides & Tutorials: PROXMOX - Rebuilding ZFS RAID rpool After Disk Failure Mass Deploying Customized Windows 10/11 Installs Building a GNU/Linux Based Windows Deployment Server GNU/Linux Installer Server: Installation & Configuration How to: Use (i)PXE to Install Windows from a Network Why Memorize IP's When You Can Self-Host DNS Instead? Ventoy - The USB Multi-Boot Utility! Introduction to PXE/iPXE Network Boot Featuring FreeBSD & Ubuntu Server Don't see what you need? Check the Full List or *PM me, if I haven't made it I'll add it to the list. *NOTE: I'll only add it to the list if the request is something I know I can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 Author 14 minutes ago, Windows7ge said: Oh? Which model? Lenovo uses a variety of passwords for different authentication: 0 – No passwords set 1 – Power on password set 2 – Supervisor password set 3 – Power on and supervisor passwords set 4 – Hard drive password(s) set 5 – Power on and hard drive passwords set 6 – Supervisor and hard drive passwords set 7 – Supervisor, power on, and hard drive passwords set It may not be impossible to remove the password but did you try generic ones? 0000, 1234, password, lenovo, LENOVO. We process a lot of computers at work as most recently we get Lenovo T495's. Some of those are passwords that we don't know why they were on there. Depending on the age some of the older Lenovo's have a trick to remove the password by shorting a pair of traces on the motherboard during power-on. Thanks, if I try too many times won't I get locked out? it's X380 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 3 minutes ago, Diddlydennis said: Thanks, if I try too many times won't I get locked out? it's X380 You get three tries then it shuts off and you have to power it on to try again but there's no absolute maximum number of tries. It's just a deterrent and time waster if you aren't meant to have access. X380 looks like it's probably too new for the resistor hack. It's not impossible to fix this issue still but it would require some tools and knowledge. I have the tools but I don't have the knowledge. I recovered a Lenovo X270 with the help of someone else and a EEPROM reader/writer. We basically read the BIOS back, modified it a little so it would glitch at the password screen, wrote the BIOS back onto the EEPROM then it just let us in and I reset the password by creating a new one and then removing it. Laptop's been fine since. Guides & Tutorials: PROXMOX - Rebuilding ZFS RAID rpool After Disk Failure Mass Deploying Customized Windows 10/11 Installs Building a GNU/Linux Based Windows Deployment Server GNU/Linux Installer Server: Installation & Configuration How to: Use (i)PXE to Install Windows from a Network Why Memorize IP's When You Can Self-Host DNS Instead? Ventoy - The USB Multi-Boot Utility! Introduction to PXE/iPXE Network Boot Featuring FreeBSD & Ubuntu Server Don't see what you need? Check the Full List or *PM me, if I haven't made it I'll add it to the list. *NOTE: I'll only add it to the list if the request is something I know I can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 1 hour ago, Diddlydennis said: BIOS locked as asking for a password?, you can't change settings like boot order etc And the seller doesn't know the password? Do they have anything to confirm they bought the machine? Remember to either quote or @mention others, so they are notified of your reply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 Author 14 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said: And the seller doesn't know the password? Do they have anything to confirm they bought the machine? Nothing, he said it was a work laptop from his old company. It's been several years since he left them though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 21, 2023 Author 42 minutes ago, Windows7ge said: You get three tries then it shuts off and you have to power it on to try again but there's no absolute maximum number of tries. It's just a deterrent and time waster if you aren't meant to have access. X380 looks like it's probably too new for the resistor hack. It's not impossible to fix this issue still but it would require some tools and knowledge. I have the tools but I don't have the knowledge. I recovered a Lenovo X270 with the help of someone else and a EEPROM reader/writer. We basically read the BIOS back, modified it a little so it would glitch at the password screen, wrote the BIOS back onto the EEPROM then it just let us in and I reset the password by creating a new one and then removing it. Laptop's been fine since. Tried but sadly no luck, but thanks anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted October 23, 2023 Is there a RTC battery? Can you remove both cmos and large battery and reboot? : JRE #1914 Siddarth Kara How bad is e-waste? Listen to that Joe Rogan episode. "Now you get what you want, but do you want more? - Bob Marley, Rastaman Vibration album 1976 Windows 11 will just force business to "recycle" "obscolete" hardware. Microsoft definitely isn't bothered by this at all, and seems to want hardware produced just a few years ago to be considered obsolete. They have also not shown any interest nor has any other company in a similar financial position, to help increase tech recycling whatsoever. Windows 12 might be cloud-based and be a monthly or yearly fee. Software suggestions Just get f.lux [Link removed due to forum rules] so your screen isn't bright white at night, a golden orange in place of stark 6500K bluish white. released in 2008 and still being improved. Dark Reader addon for webpages. Pick any color you want for both background and text (background and foreground page elements). Enable the preview mode on desktop for Firefox and Chrome addon, by clicking the dark reader addon settings, Choose dev tools amd click preview mode. NoScript or EFF's privacy badger addons can block many scripts and websites that would load and track you, possibly halving page load time! F-droid is a place to install open-source software for android, Antennapod, RethinkDNS, Fennec which is Firefox with about:config, lots of performance and other changes available, mozilla KB has a huge database of what most of the settings do. Most software in the repository only requires Android 5 and 6! I recommend firewall apps (blocks apps) and dns filters (redirect all dns requests on android, to your choice of dns, even if overridden). RethinkDNS is my pick and I set it to use pi-hole, installed inside Ubuntu/Debian, which is inside Virtualbox, until I go to a website, nothing at all connects to any other server. I also use NextDNS.io to do the same when away from home wi-fi or even cellular! I can even tether from cellular to any device sharing via wi-fi, and block anything with dns set to NextDNS, regardless if the device allows changing dns. This style of network filtration is being overridden by software updates on some devices, forcing a backup dns provuder, such as google dns, when built in dns requests are not connecting. Without a complete firewall setup, dns redirection itself is no longer always effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now