From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S932091AbWDRAuN (ORCPT ); Mon, 17 Apr 2006 20:50:13 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S932096AbWDRAuN (ORCPT ); Mon, 17 Apr 2006 20:50:13 -0400 Received: from smtpout.mac.com ([17.250.248.174]:58314 "EHLO smtpout.mac.com") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S932091AbWDRAuL (ORCPT ); Mon, 17 Apr 2006 20:50:11 -0400 In-Reply-To: <200604171741.k3HHfx5G006341@turing-police.cc.vt.edu> References: <85e0e3140604170625k112680f8qd4ef96f7d3d3ea98@mail.gmail.com> <200604171741.k3HHfx5G006341@turing-police.cc.vt.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v746.3) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Message-Id: <2FAC7488-8B72-45DF-9335-E6C6C25CFDF2@mac.com> Cc: Niklaus , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: Kyle Moffett Subject: Re: Boot CDrom from grub Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 20:50:06 -0400 To: Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.746.3) Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On Apr 17, 2006, at 13:41:59, Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu wrote: > If you have enough physical access to boot the machine from a CD, > you have enough access to work around the BIOS password problem. > In almost all cases, cracking the case and changing/removing a > jumper on the motherboard will bypass/reset the password, and > Google will tell you which jumper it is. This is true; with the exception of some incredibly poorly designed HP desktops I once had the misfortune of administrating. For some insane reason HP decided to store the BIOS password in flash RAM and declined to provide any method for resetting it. In the manual, they specified "If you for any reason forget your BIOS password, please ship the computer to a certified service station to have it reset". The only other known way is to unsolder the surface-mount flash chip from the MB and place it in a flash writer. We've since managed to lose the passwords for a few of those desktops; is there any way to get linux to overwrite the flash RAM soldered to the motherboard? Cheers, Kyle Moffett