Unable to access BIOS thanks to HDD password and when HDD is out, there is no option to disable HDD password - unable to boot

postcd

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 24, 2016
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96
Hello,

there was Windows 10 on a HDD and in BIOS (Lenovo Flex 2) i have set HDD password which was asked before boot. Now after i have used dd command to restore different operating system to drive, and reboot to check if it worked (it did), i have found that there is HDD password prompt and providing password fails to unlock the drive.

I have tried various keys like F2, F12, F8, Fn+F2,12,8, Del, dot before during and after this password prompt and it not allowed to get into BIOS. After removing the drive and getting to BIOS (Fn+F2), the option to change HDD password is inactive.

"Hard disk passwords are stored in the firmware of the drive." - https://web.archive.org/web/2021122...com/how-to-reset-hdd-password-on-dell-laptop/

Someone mentions "there is a HDD password defined as part of the ATA specifications" (means it is not set on the disk but in its firmware)
And indeed, i have used wrong password.

By the way here is possibly how to reset/disable HDD password:
A) Windows software claimed to reset HDD password: https://web.archive.org/web/20210503080203/https://techviral.net/crack-hard-disk-password/
B) How to unlock an ATA password-locked HDD with an upper-case password if the BIOS accepts only lower-case?
He says: "I succeeded by plugging the drive in an old PC and issuing hdparm --security-disable PWD /dev/sdb. The drive is now reusable."
I guess he is talking about some Linux system/or Linux USB installation disk with live/preview mode. Myself i am using https://gparted.org/liveusb.php which has dd, ddrescue, gparted, and hdparm too built in.
Yet for me that hdparm command returned:
hdparm-hdd-password-reset.jpg

+ on reboot, password prompt remained. If anyone have idea what could be wrong or how to enter BIOS, please comment.
 
PWD means the actual password. Unless your password was "PWD", you need to try running the hdparm program again:
sudo hdparm --security-disable <password> /dev/sdb
where <password> is your password, like "sudo hdparm --security-disable mysecretpassword /dev/sdb"
 
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