10Jun/114
IBM T30 bios password reset using buspirate
I just stumbled across this post about removing the bios password on an IBM t30 laptop using a buspirate. The bios password on IBM Thinkpad laptops is stored in an EEPROM so removing the battery from the motherboard won't help you at all but using a buspirate the author has been able to grab the relevant data from the EEPROM and gain access to the bios so he can reset the password. I wonder if the same technique would work with the harddisk password  on IBM thinkpads?
the full article is http://www.haxaday.com/projects/t30-bios-password-reset-buspirate
June 22nd, 2011 - 17:18
Not quite the same method for figuring out the hdd password, as I dont think it’s actually stored in that eeprom. I’m doing some more digging and hope to post my findings in the second part to that article.
Thanks for the post!
June 22nd, 2011 - 17:35
yes it’s not in that eeprom but i believe it’s on an eeprom on the controller board on the hd unit. So the same general technique might be possible
June 30th, 2011 - 16:56
You could also boot it with UBCD and just erase the password in the eeprom, works with most of them, although you usually have to use ‘wipeCMOS’ it will rarely recover some of them;
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
June 30th, 2011 - 17:07
unless things have changed in the last couple of years (i haven’t had access to a thinkpad since 2009) then using a livecd won’t work for removing the harddisk password. there is another problem too if the bios is locked and boot from cd is disabled but that’s a different matter and one that it looks like the post solves.