Hello,
I just a brought a IBM T30 off the streets ! I am going to tell the
truths ! I am not going to make anything up! Well, when I boot up the
computer it is lock! It show a symbol of a computer and a lock. Is
there a way to go around this and bypass the password so I can login??
the Thinkpad looks very good so I am wondering if someone can help me
out?? Let me know !

On 6 Aug 2005 18:55:00 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>Hello,
> I just a brought a IBM T30 off the streets !

LOL.. Yeah, I saw one of those too.. some guy selling it "almost-new"
out of the back of a van, great bargain too! :>

> I am going to tell the
>truths ! I am not going to make anything up! Well, when I boot up the
>computer it is lock! It show a symbol of a computer and a lock. Is
>there a way to go around this and bypass the password so I can login??
>the Thinkpad looks very good so I am wondering if someone can help me
>out?? Let me know !

Unplug it, remove the battery and open it up. Find the CMOS battery
and remove it. Press the power button a few times, then leave it for
half an hour. Put everything back together and your power-on password
should be cleared.

Alternatively check on IBM's website for documentation on how to
remove a power-on password. Note that this is a security mechanism
designed to prevent people from getting data off of stolen laptops, so
sometimes it's a bit more complicated than the above. Also note that
taking apart a laptop is not a 5-minute project. Take rather careful
notice of where all the parts are.

As a side note here, if/when you do get the power-on password cleared,
I would HIGHLY recommend that you reformat the hard drive before doing
much of anything else. Whether you know it or not, there's a VERY
high probability that this laptop you purchased was stolen. If you
leave the original OS on it and connect up to the internet there may
be some sort of software installed on there which could start raising
some suspicions (ie software that automatically tries to connect to
the previous-owners corporate computer network).

-------------
Tony Hill
hilla <underscore> 20 <at> yahoo <dot> ca

On Sun, 07 Aug 2005 01:41:42 -0400, Tony Hill <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>On 6 Aug 2005 18:55:00 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
>>Hello,
>> I just a brought a IBM T30 off the streets !
>
>LOL.. Yeah, I saw one of those too.. some guy selling it "almost-new"
>out of the back of a van, great bargain too! :>
>
>> I am going to tell the
>>truths ! I am not going to make anything up! Well, when I boot up the
>>computer it is lock! It show a symbol of a computer and a lock. Is
>>there a way to go around this and bypass the password so I can login??
>>the Thinkpad looks very good so I am wondering if someone can help me
>>out?? Let me know !
>
>Unplug it, remove the battery and open it up. Find the CMOS battery
>and remove it. Press the power button a few times, then leave it for
>half an hour. Put everything back together and your power-on password
>should be cleared.
>
[snipped]

Not likely. ThinkPads use an eeprom mounted on the motherboard; bios, hard
disk and/or supervisor passwords aren't going to go away, ever. And if you
think erasing the eeprom will help, you'll be the proud owner of a doorstop.

This guy can help for a quite reasonable fee, but requires one to be handy
with a soldering iron (or know someone who is) as you have to cobble together
a null modem rs232-to-I2C convertor tool (for lack of a better name) to be
able to dump the contents of the eeprom and interpret it correctly.

I was that someone for my sister after she recovered the ThinkPad that had
been stolen from her while she was in the hospital. The cops eventually caught
the bastid and recovered the TP, but he'd enabled passwords on everything.

So I built the convertor, ran this guy's application on my own laptop, dumped
the eeprom and sent the dump file to the guy, and he emailed me back the
passwords...

http://www.ja.axxs.net/unlock/

cheers

"daytripper" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Sun, 07 Aug 2005 01:41:42 -0400, Tony Hill
> <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
>>On 6 Aug 2005 18:55:00 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>
>>>Hello,
>>> I just a brought a IBM T30 off the streets !
>>
>>LOL.. Yeah, I saw one of those too.. some guy selling it "almost-new"
>>out of the back of a van, great bargain too! :>
>>
>>> I am going to tell the
>>>truths ! I am not going to make anything up! Well, when I boot up the
>>>computer it is lock! It show a symbol of a computer and a lock. Is
>>>there a way to go around this and bypass the password so I can login??
>>>the Thinkpad looks very good so I am wondering if someone can help me
>>>out?? Let me know !
>>
>>Unplug it, remove the battery and open it up. Find the CMOS battery
>>and remove it. Press the power button a few times, then leave it for
>>half an hour. Put everything back together and your power-on password
>>should be cleared.
>>
> [snipped]
>
> Not likely. ThinkPads use an eeprom mounted on the motherboard; bios,
> hard
> disk and/or supervisor passwords aren't going to go away, ever. And if
> you
> think erasing the eeprom will help, you'll be the proud owner of a
> doorstop.
>
> This guy can help for a quite reasonable fee, but requires one to be
> handy
> with a soldering iron (or know someone who is) as you have to cobble
> together
> a null modem rs232-to-I2C convertor tool (for lack of a better name) to
> be
> able to dump the contents of the eeprom and interpret it correctly.
>
> I was that someone for my sister after she recovered the ThinkPad that
> had
> been stolen from her while she was in the hospital. The cops eventually
> caught
> the bastid and recovered the TP, but he'd enabled passwords on
> everything.
>
> So I built the convertor, ran this guy's application on my own laptop,
> dumped
> the eeprom and sent the dump file to the guy, and he emailed me back
> the
> passwords...
>
> http://www.ja.axxs.net/unlock/
>
> cheers

And the reason you are helping some jerk that admits to buying stolen
property is?

On Sun, 7 Aug 2005 12:11:15 -0500, "Del Cecchi" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>
>"daytripper" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> On Sun, 07 Aug 2005 01:41:42 -0400, Tony Hill
>> <(E-Mail Removed)>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>On 6 Aug 2005 18:55:00 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>>
>>>>Hello,
>>>> I just a brought a IBM T30 off the streets !
>>>
>>>LOL.. Yeah, I saw one of those too.. some guy selling it "almost-new"
>>>out of the back of a van, great bargain too! :>
>>>
>>>> I am going to tell the
>>>>truths ! I am not going to make anything up! Well, when I boot up the
>>>>computer it is lock! It show a symbol of a computer and a lock. Is
>>>>there a way to go around this and bypass the password so I can login??
>>>>the Thinkpad looks very good so I am wondering if someone can help me
>>>>out?? Let me know !
>>>
>>>Unplug it, remove the battery and open it up. Find the CMOS battery
>>>and remove it. Press the power button a few times, then leave it for
>>>half an hour. Put everything back together and your power-on password
>>>should be cleared.
>>>
>> [snipped]
>>
>> Not likely. ThinkPads use an eeprom mounted on the motherboard; bios,
>> hard
>> disk and/or supervisor passwords aren't going to go away, ever. And if
>> you
>> think erasing the eeprom will help, you'll be the proud owner of a
>> doorstop.
>>
>> This guy can help for a quite reasonable fee, but requires one to be
>> handy
>> with a soldering iron (or know someone who is) as you have to cobble
>> together
>> a null modem rs232-to-I2C convertor tool (for lack of a better name) to
>> be
>> able to dump the contents of the eeprom and interpret it correctly.
>>
>> I was that someone for my sister after she recovered the ThinkPad that
>> had
>> been stolen from her while she was in the hospital. The cops eventually
>> caught
>> the bastid and recovered the TP, but he'd enabled passwords on
>> everything.
>>
>> So I built the convertor, ran this guy's application on my own laptop,
>> dumped
>> the eeprom and sent the dump file to the guy, and he emailed me back
>> the
>> passwords...
>>
>> http://www.ja.axxs.net/unlock/
>>
>> cheers
>
>And the reason you are helping some jerk that admits to buying stolen
>property is?

To illustrate just how screwed this guy is if he doesn't have the skill set to
perform an actual resurrection?

Otherwise, it only took a few minutes to Google up that site back when I
needed it....and the reality is nothing I said or didn't say would see that
laptop back to its rightful owner...the deed is long done...

I just need some help !! I know that the TP might be stolen but I don't
have money to buy a laptop ! I am running a 333mhz computer right now
that I brought from a second hand store call "GoodWill" so if I have
some money I would have not brought this laptop ! but I wanted a new
computer so I have to do best with what I have ! Sorry for being a
scumbag ! but I just don't have money to buy a laptop !

daytripper wrote:
> On Sun, 7 Aug 2005 12:11:15 -0500, "Del Cecchi" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>And the reason you are helping some jerk that admits to buying stolen
>>property is?
>
>
> To illustrate just how screwed this guy is if he doesn't have the skill set to
> perform an actual resurrection?
>
> Otherwise, it only took a few minutes to Google up that site back when I
> needed it....and the reality is nothing I said or didn't say would see that
> laptop back to its rightful owner...the deed is long done...

So by that logic helping a concentration camp guard avoid capture
after WWII would be OK because "the deed is long done" ? After
all, nothing is going to bring back the dead.

Glad you don't live in my neighbourhood.

(E-Mail Removed) writes:

> Hello,
> I just a brought a IBM T30 off the streets ! I am going to tell the
> truths ! I am not going to make anything up! Well, when I boot up the
> computer it is lock! It show a symbol of a computer and a lock. Is
> there a way to go around this and bypass the password so I can login??
> the Thinkpad looks very good so I am wondering if someone can help me
> out?? Let me know !

See if you can find the owner to return it to them, and maybe they'll
give you a reward that'll make up for what you paid for it?
--
Joseph J. Pfeiffer, Jr., Ph.D. Phone -- (505) 646-1605
Department of Computer Science FAX -- (505) 646-1002
New Mexico State University http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~pfeiffer
skype: jjpfeifferjr

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I just need some help !! I know that the TP might be stolen but I don't
> have money to buy a laptop ! I am running a 333mhz computer right now
> that I brought from a second hand store call "GoodWill" so if I have
> some money I would have not brought this laptop ! but I wanted a new
> computer so I have to do best with what I have ! Sorry for being a
> scumbag ! but I just don't have money to buy a laptop !
>
Get a job. Even entry level jobs like macdonalds pay enough in a month
or so to buy a laptop. Or buy a legimate used laptop.

On Sun, 07 Aug 2005 18:44:06 GMT, Rob Stow <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>daytripper wrote:
>> On Sun, 7 Aug 2005 12:11:15 -0500, "Del Cecchi" <(E-Mail Removed)>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>And the reason you are helping some jerk that admits to buying stolen
>>>property is?
>>
>>
>> To illustrate just how screwed this guy is if he doesn't have the skill set to
>> perform an actual resurrection?
>>
>> Otherwise, it only took a few minutes to Google up that site back when I
>> needed it....and the reality is nothing I said or didn't say would see that
>> laptop back to its rightful owner...the deed is long done...
>
>So by that logic helping a concentration camp guard avoid capture
>after WWII would be OK because "the deed is long done" ? After
>all, nothing is going to bring back the dead.
>
>Glad you don't live in my neighbourhood.

Sheesh, you nitwits will drive a thousand miles just to make a weak point?

Get over it...or don't....I couldn't care less...life goes on with or without
you....