NP900X5N-X01US HDD password set, known, can not clear

Hi,

I have set the HDD password in the BIOS (not the BIOS password). I know the password and the computer is functioning normally.

I want to remove/clear the HDD password, but the BIOS won't let me. The BIOS shows HDD Password as SET (not Frozen) in the upper section of the screen, but the Set HDD Password option in the lower part of the screen is greyed out.

The Supervisor password and the User password are CLEAR. I have tried to put in a Supervisor password, reboot, clear the Supervisor password, reboot, but that did not help.

How can I clear/remove the known HDD password? There must be some condition in the BIOS - does anyone know?

Samsung technical support cleverly suggested that I restore Windows - big help

thanks

 

Can you enter a blank password, ie just click on the box or use the space bar?

John

 

Hi John,

No, I can't get into the password change thing at all. The bios looks like this:
https://static.samsungsimulator.com...opic/bios_(setup_utility)/removing_a_password

The top panel shows the current status. (In my case it says HDD password SET, not Frozen)

Except that in my case, the set HDD password option below is greyed out, and I cannot click on it or anything.

In other BIOS's there are reports that the trick was to set a Supervisor password and then delete it, I tried that to no avail.

 

http://www.fixya.com/support/t1483818-hdd_password_frozen_laptop

 

Thanks, wow, that is a dramatic solution. Since this laptop uses a new M2 NVE drive, not SATA, I don't have a spare one around to try. I will keep it in mind if I do buy a larger drive.

My motivation to clear the password is that the BIOS has other bugs, and after a reboot, you can't type the HDD password naturally, you need to watch and type each character slowly, since often characters are missed. This is a nuisance, so I would like to just clear the password. Note also, that my password is not listed as Frozen.

 

I know SATA drives are hot swap able, not too sure about M2's.

 

M.2 SSDs can be either SATA or PCIe/NVMe. IIRC Samsung put SATA M.2 SSDs in these notebooks.

I have to wonder whether there's a bug in the BIOS. This wouldn't be the first time that this has happened with a Samsung notebook. I presume it's the latest BIOS according to the Samsung BIOS Update software. If it is then instructions for reflashing the same BIOS are elsewhere in this forum and this can sometimes fix BIOS-related problems.

John

 

Thanks John,

With some trepidation, I flashed the newly available Bios P04AFV and that allowed me to clear the HDD password (after setting the Supervisor password) !! Yay !

My only remaining problem with the notebook (I am very happy with it), is that the Nvidia card is still code 45, not connected, as described here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ia-graphics-mx420-optimus-disappeared.807100/

If I can't fix it I will send it in under warranty at my convenience, next time I am in the USA.

Edwin