ProBook 450 G3 reset power-on pwd

[Elbe06]

Hi,

after a power-cut my PowerBook 450G3 model W4P86EA prompts for a power-on password.

I never setup such password.

The machine is under warranty but HP tech support claims they have to replace the motherboard and want to charge me over 350€ for that.

This sounds incredible.

Help more than welcome

Louis

[CF4]

Hi

This explains HOW2...

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01631186

This suggests a solution....

Remove the Real Time Clock (RTC) coin cell battery from the memory compartment by pressing the retaining clip and pulling the coin cell battery out of the socket.

Allow the computer to sit without the battery for an hour, then reinstall the memory and hard drive, but leave the coin cell battery and the main battery out of the system.

Connect the AC power adapter to the system and power it on to clear the BIOS password.

BUT it should be something HP will do for you at no cost in my view, by giving you a passcode.

[REO51ST]

@Elbe06

For that model you will need to contact HP in your region and they should be able to send you a customized SMC.bin file which you can use at boot to reset the password.

Phone >> http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-phone-assist.html

Chat >> https://support.hp.com/us-en/contact-hp

When talking to the HP rep ask them to escalate your service request.

REO

[jorkki]

Not meaning to hijack this thread but I have also hit the same issue with a Probook 430 G4 that I purchased last year for my son.

I'm sure he does not even know how to get into the BIOS and he denies having set up a password. So there is something

going on with passwords sometimes being set randomly.

I would not be too worried otherwise but the PC has  BIOS 1.02 and the latest for that model is 1.13 and the HP Support Assistant has already automatically upgraded the TPM to 2.0 even if the TPM 2.0  installation notes specifically say to upgrade the BIOS first and the machine keeps whining there is a security issue with the current TPM etc.

There seems to be a bug in the BIOS that makes the computer ignore most key presses during boot when the PC is in the Fast Boot mode. The ignored keypresses include the Win+Up&Dn Arrow keys needed to make the SMC.BIN recovery possible.  Also Win+B has no effect (BIOS Recovery).

In my country HP says fixing this is not included in the warranty and this really  is *annoying* to use a mild word, especially when it is a BIOS bug. Here they want 512 USD to fix this! I probably would not have bought a new HP laptop for myself just recently if I had known this earlier. I have always though HP is above the rest in support.

I'm sure there must be an easier way than replacing the motherboard at an outrageous cost. Even the release notes of an earlier version of the BCU (BIOS configuration utility) said something like 'Fixed an issue where the BIOS Configuration Utility clears the current BIOS administrator password when the incorrect BIOS password is input' . This would indicate it's possible to change the password if it can happen by a bug in an application..

The last resort is to reprogram the BIOS myself but for that I would need to get a clean dump of a working BIOS. I'm hesisitant to order a preprogrammed chip from Ebay etc. as no one knows what's inside. I think HP support should step up and solve this.  I have seen other cases like ours when searching the net.

[Elbe06]

Hi,

I have tried several times the RTC clock sugesstion. Unfortunately this did not work!!!!

Thanks for the suggestion .

Louis

[jorkki]

Hello Louis,

I think you should download a program called BCU (HP BIOS Configuration utility) from here:

http://ftp.hp.com/pub/caps-softpaq/cmit/HP_BCU.html

The User Guide is also downloadable from there.

You can't do much without the password but at least you can list most of the BIOS settings and see if you have similar settings as I do regarding the Fast Boot (using the /Get: command line option).

I have:

Startup Delay (sec.)
	*0
	5
	10
.
.
Fast Boot
	Disable
	*Enable

This would seem to render the Win+Up+Dn-arrows inoperable at least with my BIOS version, thus the SMC.BIN did not work.

After  some persistence on my side  HP decided to step up and fix this under  warranty.

They still are one of the better companies on my list. I really like the products (4 HP laptops so far in the family) and the fact that support for older products is not dumped right after a new model comes out (which many companies seem to do very quickly).

Hope this works for you too.