Hard drive Gateway solo 2500 notebook

[Rich]

I picked up this notebook in exchange for some work I did for a women who is
divorced. Her name is on the notebook with the place she bought it from, so
I don't think it is stolen. Before her husband divorced her he put a
password on the harddrive and the notebook was rendered unusable. I build
and
fix PCs so I thought no problem, I'll reset the bios and I'll have access to
the drive. No luck and according to what I have read it is impossible to fix
without using an EPROM to reprogram the bios or get a new motherboard. Can I
just get a replacement drive or will the password write itself to the hard
drive like did to the last one? Has anyone dealt with this problem before? I
tried to search deja and google and there were no answers there. In the bios
it says if you forget the password the drive will have to be replaced. I
don't want to spend money for a drive if it won't fix the problem. Thanks
for any further info. Remove the x from my email address to reply by email
or just reply in the group.

 

[Adam Leinss]

I picked up this notebook in exchange for some work I did for a
women who is divorced. Her name is on the notebook with the place
she bought it from, so I don't think it is stolen. Before her
husband divorced her he put a password on the harddrive and the
notebook was rendered unusable. I build and
fix PCs so I thought no problem, I'll reset the bios and I'll have
access to the drive. No luck and according to what I have read it
is impossible to fix without using an EPROM to reprogram the bios
or get a new motherboard. Can I just get a replacement drive or
will the password write itself to the hard drive like did to the
last one? Has anyone dealt with this problem before? I tried to
search deja and google and there were no answers there. In the
bios it says if you forget the password the drive will have to be
replaced. I don't want to spend money for a drive if it won't fix
the problem. Thanks for any further info. Remove the x from my
email address to reply by email or just reply in the group.

Try this:

http://groups.google.com/[email protected]&rnum=5

 

[Rich]

Thanks Adam, that was the first thing I tried. It got rid of all the
passwords except for the hard drive.
I just flashed the bios and the password remains.
I just don't want to spend $50 for a new hard drive and find I can't load an
OS. I may try a sector editor next if I can get any access to the drive at
all. If nothing works I will just chalk it up to experience and try to sell
the parts on Ebay.

 

[Rod Speed]

I picked up this notebook in exchange for some work I did for
a women who is divorced. Her name is on the notebook with the
place she bought it from, so I don't think it is stolen. Before her
husband divorced her he put a password on the harddrive and the
notebook was rendered unusable. I build and fix PCs so I thought
no problem, I'll reset the bios and I'll have access to the drive. No
luck and according to what I have read it is impossible to fix without
using an EPROM to reprogram the bios or get a new motherboard.

Thats not correct. That passwording of the hard drive is very secure,
but its possible to just erase the drive without the password.

Can I just get a replacement drive

Yes. And you may well be able to just wipe the drive completely too.

or will the password write itself to the hard drive like did to the last one?

Nope, it doesnt work like that. Basically the password goes with
the drive and if you put that drive in a different system, it will need
the password in that system to be able to access the data, but not
to be able to wipe the drive, lose all data, and the password too.

Has anyone dealt with this problem before?

Yep, the password mechanism is a part of the formal ATA standard.

I tried to search deja and google and there were no answers there.

Its been discussed quite a bit, you just arent searching effectively.

In the bios it says if you forget the password
the drive will have to be replaced.

Thats overstating it.

I don't want to spend money for a drive if it won't fix the problem.

That will fix the problem.

Thanks Adam, that was the first thing I tried. It got
rid of all the passwords except for the hard drive.
I just flashed the bios and the password remains.

Yeah, the password is stored in the drive itself.

I just don't want to spend $50 for a new
hard drive and find I can't load an OS.

It'll work fine.

I may try a sector editor next if I can
get any access to the drive at all.

You cant, that drive password is VERY secure.

If nothing works I will just chalk it up to
experience and try to sell the parts on Ebay.

No need.

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

I picked up this notebook in exchange for some work I did for a women who is
divorced. Her name is on the notebook with the place she bought it from, so
I don't think it is stolen. Before her husband divorced her

he put a password on the harddrive

Right, read that sentence very carefully and remember it.

and the notebook was rendered unusable.

I build and fix PCs so I thought no problem,

I'll reset the bios

And how would that erase the password on the harddrive?

and I'll have access to the drive.

No luck
Obviously.

and according to what I have read it is impossible to fix without
using an EPROM to reprogram the bios or get a new motherboard.

Remember that first sentence: that is obviously not where
the problem is when the password is on the harddrive.

Can I just get a replacement drive or will the password write itself to the hard
drive like did to the last one?

You got that backwards. The password is on the harddrive, remember?!

Has anyone dealt with this problem before?
I tried to search deja and google and there were no answers there.

Yes, there are.

In the bios it says if you forget the pass-
word the drive will have to be replaced.

And you think that that is a flat out lie, even when all indications lead
to that conclusion? Typical.

 

[Adam Leinss]

Thanks Adam, that was the first thing I tried. It got rid of all
the passwords except for the hard drive.
I just flashed the bios and the password remains.
I just don't want to spend $50 for a new hard drive and find I
can't load an OS. I may try a sector editor next if I can get any
access to the drive at all. If nothing works I will just chalk it
up to experience and try to sell the parts on Ebay.

Interesting. I looked up some more information and sure enough,
password protection is part of the ATA spec (3 and later). Seems the
verdict is that the password is in the EEPROM chip on the disk and
cannot be altered by any software program. I think you have to get a
new disk.
=(

Adam

 

[Rich]

Rod.
Thanks for the reply. I could care less about the data on the drive. How do
I erase the drive completely? I have tried the debug program that erases
partitions and nothing changed. I haven't been able to use Paritition Magic,
it gives an unknown error. I really would like to erase the drive and
reinstall the OS. Thanks for any hints.
Rich

 

[Rod Speed]

I could care less about the data on the drive.
How do I erase the drive completely?

Try the hard drive manufacturer's ute from their web site.

I have tried the debug program that erases partitions and nothing changed.

Yeah, that wont, because the drive isnt even visible
to the system if the password hasnt been supplied.

I haven't been able to use Paritition
Magic, it gives an unknown error.

Most likely it wont be able to see the
drive either, and thats why it says that.

 

[Rod Speed]

Try the hard drive manufacturer's ute from their web site.

Or the bios in the laptop. You should be able to
set the password again and have it warn you that
that will result in the loss of all data on the drive.

http://resin.csoft.net/cgi-bin/man.cgi?section=8&topic=atactl
looks like it can do it too.

 

[Rich]

Rod,
I checked the Toshiba website and there are no utilities listed unlike
Maxtor and WD. Will any of the drive wiping utilities like killdrive or wipe
drive work? Downloaded both but wasn't sure if they would help.I tried the
lowlevel format from WD and the Powermax from Maxtor without success. May
end up flipping for a used slimline 6 gig. Next computer show is still 3
weeks away.
Thanks.

 

[Rod Speed]

I checked the Toshiba website and there
are no utilities listed unlike Maxtor and WD.

What about the laptop bios ? You'll likely find that
if you attempt to set the hard drive password now
that it might well warn you that you can override
the existing password with loss of all data.

What brand and model laptop ?

Will any of the drive wiping utilities like killdrive or wipe drive work?

Nope, because if the password isnt supplied, the drive
pretends that it isnt there to OS level utes like that.

Downloaded both but wasn't sure if they would help.

I doubt it.

I tried the lowlevel format from WD and the
Powermax from Maxtor without success.

Try the hitachi DFT.

May end up flipping for a used slimline 6 gig.
Next computer show is still 3 weeks away.

Yeah, thats sure to work, but is obviously
the most expensive approach.

 

[Rod Speed]

I checked the Toshiba website and there
are no utilities listed unlike Maxtor and WD.

What about the laptop bios ? You'll likely find that
if you attempt to set the hard drive password now
that it might well warn you that you can override
the existing password with loss of all data.

Will any of the drive wiping utilities like killdrive or wipe drive work?

Nope, because if the password isnt supplied, the drive
pretends that it isnt there to OS level utes like that.

Downloaded both but wasn't sure if they would help.

I doubt it.

I tried the lowlevel format from WD and the
Powermax from Maxtor without success.

Try the hitachi DFT.

May end up flipping for a used slimline 6 gig.
Next computer show is still 3 weeks away.

Yeah, thats sure to work, but is obviously
the most expensive approach.

 

[Eric Gisin]

|
| > > I could care less about the data on the drive.
| > > How do I erase the drive completely?
|
| > Try the hard drive manufacturer's ute from their web site.
|
| Or the bios in the laptop. You should be able to
| set the password again and have it warn you that
| that will result in the loss of all data on the drive.
|
| http://resin.csoft.net/cgi-bin/man.cgi?section=8&topic=atactl
| looks like it can do it too.
|
From reading that, you can erase a disk and reset the user password, as long
as there is no master password. Is that what ATA specs say?

I would expect the BIOS sets the user password, and a special utility or OEM
sets the master.

 

[Rod Speed]

Rod Speed <[email protected]> wrote

| > > I could care less about the data on the drive.
| > > How do I erase the drive completely?
|
| > Try the hard drive manufacturer's ute from their web site.
|
| Or the bios in the laptop. You should be able to
| set the password again and have it warn you that
| that will result in the loss of all data on the drive.
|
| http://resin.csoft.net/cgi-bin/man.cgi?section=8&topic=atactl
| looks like it can do it too.

From reading that, you can erase a disk and reset the user password,
as long as there is no master password. Is that what ATA specs say?

The ATA specs are a bit more complicated than that.

I would expect the BIOS sets the user password,
and a special utility or OEM sets the master.

Its more complicated than that, too.

Basically the master password is at least in theory
supposed to have already been set by the time the
user gets it. Its not at all clear how often that happens
in practice with stuff like Gateway notebooks etc tho.

 

[Rich]

Rod,
The bios is Phoenix and there is no support for it. I tried the 4 backdoor
bios passwords for it and they don't work. I tried to reset the password and
it still asks for the original and if I leave it blank no changes are made.
That ATACTL command looks like the ticket but it runs under the free BSD OS
only. Now if it would run under DOS it would be great.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I am off tomorrow so I may try some of the
other utilities I have downloaded including the Hitachi DFT I downloaded
from IBM.I'll let you know if I succeed.

 

[Rod Speed]

The bios is Phoenix and there is no support for it.

What happens if you use the security entry in the bios ?
The pdf manual mentions that but doesnt give any detail
of what you see when inside that entry.

I tried the 4 backdoor bios passwords for it and they don't
work. I tried to reset the password and it still asks for the
original and if I leave it blank no changes are made.

OK, looks like a rather poor implementation.

You could try emailing Gateway and see if there is
some less than immediately obvious way around that.

That ATACTL command looks like the ticket
but it runs under the free BSD OS only.

Yeah, tho it may be feasible to do a quick and dirty
install on another system with the laptop drive on
an adapter in that system and kludge it that way.

Now if it would run under DOS it would be great.

I found that using
http://www.google.com/search?as_q=ata+password+erase&as_epq=Security+Mode
and only had a very quick zoom thru the results, you might care to look more carefully.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am off tomorrow so I may try
some of the other utilities I have downloaded including the Hitachi
DFT I downloaded from IBM. I'll let you know if I succeed.

Please do, its a question that does come up occasionally.

 

[Jon]

What about the laptop bios ? You'll likely find that
if you attempt to set the hard drive password now
that it might well warn you that you can override
the existing password with loss of all data.


Nope, because if the password isnt supplied, the drive
pretends that it isnt there to OS level utes like that.


I doubt it.


Try the hitachi DFT.


Yeah, thats sure to work, but is obviously
the most expensive approach.

jeez not only are you a ****ing bigot troll, now you think you're
a hardware whizz too!!

 

[J.Clarke]

Rod.
Thanks for the reply. I could care less about the data on the drive.
How do I erase the drive completely? I have tried the debug program
that erases partitions and nothing changed. I haven't been able to use
Paritition Magic, it gives an unknown error. I really would like to
erase the drive and reinstall the OS. Thanks for any hints.

Don't know if it's generically true but I understand that all IBM drives
have a master password that can be used to erase the drive but not to
read it. Presumably the same is true for other drive vendors--to find
out and find out how to use it you'd need to make a tech support call to
the drive manufacturer and if they can help you at all they'll probably
want some evidence that the machine was not stolen.

The gotcha is that I understand that the master password can be changed,
although it usually is not.

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

Rod.
Thanks for the reply. I could care less about the data on the drive. How do
I erase the drive completely?

You don't without the password. That's why it is a password, to
keep you out if you don't know it. To keep you from messing with it.

I have tried the debug program that erases partitions and nothing changed.
I haven't been able to use Paritition Magic, it gives an unknown error.
I really would like to erase the drive and reinstall the OS.

Get the password.

Thanks for any hints.
Rich

Right, very.

So nope, obviously.

Nope.

Nope.

Pity he never read those carefully himself.

Nope, that's fully correct.

Nope.

He will happily pay you $50 if it doesn't.

VERY.

That $50 is yours.

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

jeez not only are you a ****ing bigot troll, now you think you're
a hardware whizz too!!

Oh, come on now. Don't discourage it ! The cycle is almost complete.