Keys not recognized during boot for BIOS password reset

[qwerty1111]

Hi,

I installed windows 10 Pro on my HP Elitedesk 800 G1 usdt and everything is fine and running well.

Now, I want to update the BIOS and disable the wake on lan feature as the green led is constantly on,even if the  pc is off.

but I got the following message by pressing ESC while booting.

I don't know the password.

If I enter any random keys 3 times, I got access to the BIOS but most of the options are greyed out.

I contacted the HP support via chat since last thursday and it seems they don't understand my issue.

They provided  me a SMC file to reset the password  and their process is asking to  press (Windows Key + Arrow UP Key + Arrow Down Key) all keys at same time and turn on the system.

The main problem is during the boot, those keys doesn't seem enabled.I boot directly on Windows 10.

I tried many times but the issue is the same.

The only solution provided by the support was to replace the motherboard...

I tried a CMOS reset.

While booting, I got a prompt asking me to press F11 to record the new configuration or ESC to cancel it.

Again, F11 and ESC have no effect.

I tried with 3 keyboards, even with a PS/2 port but the issue is the same.

The question is : Why the keys  ( Windows Key + Arrow UP Key + Arrow Down Key and F11) are not recognized during the boot and  how can this be solved ?

Thank you for your help.

[mdklassen]

>  I want to update the BIOS and disable the wake on lan feature as the green led is constantly on,even if the  pc is off.

Guessing that the LED is immediately adjacent to the socket where the Ethernet cable connects, that LED indicates that the other end of the cable is correctly connected to either your cable-modem or DSL-modem or router. So, unless you disconnect that cable, at either end, the LED will be on.

If you enter BIOS SETUP, and you disable the "wake-on-LAN" feature, the LED will stay on.

[Any "magic-packet" that is received will be ignored, and the motherboard will not power-on.]

If you enter BIOS SETUP, and you disable the onboard Ethernet circuitry, that might turn the LED off.

Of course, when you do want to access the Internet, you will need to enter BIOS SETUP, and enable the device.

> They provided  me a SMC file to reset the password  and their process is asking to  press (Windows Key + Arrow UP Key + Arrow Down Key) all keys at same time and turn on the system.

Did they say to keep pressing those keys down before/while pressing the ON/OFF button, or to press those keys after pressing the ON/OFF button?

[qwerty1111]

Hi,

Thank you for the answer.

> Guessing that the LED is immediately adjacent to the socket where the Ethernet cable connects, that LED indicates that the other end of the cable is correctly connected to either your cable-modem or DSL-modem or router. So, unless you disconnect that cable, at either end, the LED will be on.

There are actually 2 LEDs, one a few centimeters just after the cable power supply and one beside the Ethernet cable.

>Did they say to keep pressing those keys down before/while pressing the ON/OFF button, or to press those keys after pressing the ON/OFF button?

The HP support provided the following iformation :

"

Save the attached file with this e-mail to the root of the USB key as SMC.BIN and insert to the system (or save the file to the root of drive 😧 HP_TOOLS)

- Press (Windows Key + Arrow UP Key + Arrow Down Key) all keys at same time and turn on the system

- Release all keys and press F10 at HP logo to go to F10 setup to (Reset BIOS security to factory default) "

I did press those keys before pressing the ON/OFF button.

Thank you for the help

[mdklassen · Accepted solution]

> There are actually 2 LEDs, one a few centimeters just after the cable power supply and one beside the Ethernet cable.

Which LED do you want to "go dark" ?

The first one lights up whenever the AC power is connected to the computer, as a reminder that you should not touch anything inside the computer while AC power is present.

As I wrote, the second one lights up when the AC power is present *AND* when the other end of the Ethernet cable is correctly connected to some modem/router.

Note that "wake-on-LAN" is a software function -- either the motherboard is enabled to respond to it, or the motherboard is disabled, in order to ignore the "magic packet" -- while the LED is mostly a hardware thing that is not controllable by software.

[mdklassen]

>> Press (Windows Key + Arrow UP Key + Arrow Down Key) all keys at same time and turn on the system

The important word is "and" -- my interpretation is: while holding-down those keys, press the ON/OFF button.

> I did press those keys before pressing the ON/OFF button.

Did you release those keys BEFORE touching the ON/OFF button?

[qwerty1111]

> Which LED do you want to "go dark" ?

The one beside the ethernet cable but as you said it's an normal feature,I will leave it on and not disable it. Just on my previous pc( non HP),everything was off after I turned off the computer.

Thank you for the help, marked as solved 🙂

[qwerty1111]

 > The important word is "and" -- my interpretation is: while holding-down those keys, press the ON/OFF button.

Sorry for the lack of precision, I mean I hold and didn't release those 3 keys while pressing the button ON

I actually sort this out with the HP EliteDesk 800 G1 Maintenance documentation.

The Bios password wasn't locked as the HP tech suport told me.. The issue was the password jumper.It has to be resetted.After I did it, I didn't have the blue prompt asking for a password.

I was then able to have access to the BIOS and nothing was greyd out. I then was able to update the BIOS.

Thank you so much for your help.

The HP tech support didn't understand the issue, asked me to clear the CMOS by removing jumper but there is no jumper on the 800 G1, just  a small button we need to press to clear the CMOS, evem if it wasn't the issue.

But none of them ask me to clear the Password jumper despite I sent the screenshots showing the prompt with a password.

They kept telling me the BIOS passord is locked, sent me a SMC.file and they diidn't do anything else after.

I really like HP pc but the tech support is absolutely horrendous I have to admit.

Thanks again for your help mdklassen.