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    HDD password not recognized when moving from T61 to T420..

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by freddell, Sep 23, 2012.

  1. freddell

    freddell Notebook Enthusiast

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    The HDD password work well when the same HDD is inserted onto T400.
    Is there anything that can be done to "recognize" T61 HDD password using a T420?

    I cant disable the HDD password as it is greyed out on the T61 BIOS marked as (USER).

    Regards,
    Fredrik
     
    freddell, Sep 23, 2012
    #1
  2. ajkula66

    ajkula66 Courage and Consequence

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    The hardware between T420 and T61 (or for that fact T400) is way to different for this approach to work.

    Can you disable the password when the HDD is in the T400?
     
    ajkula66, Sep 23, 2012
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  3. freddell

    freddell Notebook Enthusiast

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    The hard-disk is readable when I enter the Password on T61, T400 and now confirmed on T410. There is no way to change or disable the password on any of my machines. Since it is a Cruical RealSSD 300 it is a 500USD brick right now in my T420 aaargh..
     
    freddell, Oct 5, 2012
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  4. ajkula66

    ajkula66 Courage and Consequence

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    There's an "user" password and a "master" password. You must enter the latter in order to clear the former, and then you can clear the "master" one itself.

    Good luck.
     
    ajkula66, Oct 5, 2012
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  5. freddell

    freddell Notebook Enthusiast

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    For the benefit of others googling and having the same problem I will share the resolution to my problem.

    Th Harddisk is a RealSSD C300 SSD but the problem seem to persist using many types of SSD disks.

    Due to a bug in all recent thinkpad bioses the password is stored in passphrase format but the BIOS only tries to unlock it using the standard password methodology.

    To get the BIOS to correctly unlock the harddrive usings the passphrase you need to insert the disk in a T60.

    A T60 (and perhaps X60) is the only model that will unlock the disk using the passphrase option if toggled and allow the password to be changed or removed once set.

    T61, T400, T410 T5XX, and X2xx models all have the problem of not allowing password to be removed/changed and stored it in a format incompatible with newer thinkpads T420 vintage..
     
    freddell, Oct 16, 2012
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  6. LegendaryKA8

    LegendaryKA8 Nutty ThinkPad Guy

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    This is the truth. I had a protected HDD in a T42 a few years back. I let the machine go and kept the drive, not having the foresight to remove it. Lost a fair amount of data, some of it somewhat critical.

    I only got it back when a friend lent me a T41 he needed some work done on. I popped the drive in, put in the password, and unlocked it. I sold my T42 in 2009. I just got the HDD unlocked a few weeks ago.

    Moral of the story: Remove all HDD/SSD passwords before upgrading your systems!
     
    LegendaryKA8, Oct 16, 2012
    #6