Bought a laptop secondhand which had a BIOS Password set and HP will not help me unlock it.

[BigPapaSmurf]

The System Disabled page shows "i 78889904". None of the solutions I have Googled work, and I can't even boot from the hard drive anymore because I reset the CMOS by pulling the battery but this does not reset the password. HP support basically told m to get lost, that I needed a new system board. Help!

[WAWood]

@BigPapaSmurf 

Removing the CMOS batteries on laptops does nothing regarding any password.

HP Support is correct in that, any power-on or BIOS password is stored in the firmware encoded into a chip on the motherboard, and since the tools to reprogram that are very expensive and not readily available, HP's solution is to provide a replacement motherboard with the BIOS not password protected.

We can do nothing for that here.

[BigPapaSmurf]

I've seen other posts to the effect that local HP support will generate an smc.bin file that can be used to reset the password once you've convinced them you're the rightful owner of the laptop.

If that's not an option I may buy a new BIOS chip from china and solder it on myself. They seem readily available

[WAWood]

@BigPapaSmurf 

The other posts you have seen reflect OLD information -- as HP no longer provides smc.bin files. 

Their current policy is cited in my initial response to your post.