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how to unlock an IBM thinkpad X40
Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 4:17 pm
by horton
i have been given a thinkpad x40 to play with.
there is a code when i try to start it up, before XP, before anything happens. i dont have the code, neither does the guy who gave it to me.
try to start XP - code
try to fuck with the bios - same code.
anything to do? or a lost cause?
Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 4:57 pm
by Foo
Open the laptop and remove the CMOS battery to clear the BIOS. Replace the battery and the BIOS passwording should be gone.
Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 5:30 pm
by AmIdYfReAk
if my memory serves me properly, Foo's method wont work...
take the Batt pack out of it, and leave it for a few days.. that should get it to clear ( Debtfull )
Ibm dosent screw around with there passwords and etc, the only thing that i could think of is a Forcefull Cmos clear/Bios flash
Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:45 am
by horton
from what i can see online, the security is not on the BIOS, its some hardcore security chip.. is that possible?
and how can i clear the everything?
is this gonna involve me opening the case?
im a pussy, i will open desktop PCs all day long, but ive never had the balls to open a laptop.
Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 9:48 am
by SOAPboy
Good luck with that. IBMs are pretty lock tight.
Best case call IBM. theres some sort of general all purpose password.
Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 10:36 am
by horton
its one of those situations, where you dont ask where the laptop came from, you dont ask why there is no password.
ive just been given it to unlock because my limited knowledge of PCs, is slightly less limited than the person who was given it.
my immediate suggestion was ' give it back to the cunt who gave it to you, and say no password = useless box with IBM written on it '
at best rip the HDD, Ram and CPU out, and throw the rest away.
Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:49 pm
by Underpants?
there're two levels of security on most IBM laptops. The first is hard disk security, so if it's an hdd password (does it say "drive locked, or disk locked?") just swap the disk out and you have the problem resolved. The second is unbreakable, a nvram password. If it's the second, the only fix I've heard of is to send it in.
Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:26 pm
by +JuggerNaut+
SOAPboy wrote:Good luck with that. IBMs are pretty lock tight.
Best case call IBM. theres some sort of general all purpose password.
an "all purpose password" does not equal "lock tight"
Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 3:22 pm
by Underpants?

Horton, does it look like this:

?
Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 8:58 am
by horton
Underpants? wrote:
Horton, does it look like this:

?
yeah it does, well apart from the fact that it tells me to fuck off, and puts a black X, instead of saying ok.
but yeah. thats the point at which it is telling me that i can go no further
Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 1:43 pm
by Underpants?
My guess is you're screwed then. Here's a spiffy website on how to solder up your very own homemade key mechanism in the event that chasing tail or going out doesn't do it for you anymore:
http://www.ja.axxs.net/unlock/
Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 6:32 pm
by SOAPboy
+JuggerNaut+ wrote:SOAPboy wrote:Good luck with that. IBMs are pretty lock tight.
Best case call IBM. theres some sort of general all purpose password.
an "all purpose password" does not equal "lock tight"
Yeah but its different for each model, and GL "googling it", ive tried
