BIOS "system" password hangs SATA BIOS

Abit NF7-S version 2.0
Award BIOS v6.00PG
SATA BIOS 4.1.12
(System BIOS version 20)

I decided to enable the password feature of BIOS. Under Advanced BIOS Features -> Security Option, you can pick "setup" to have the password only protect the BIOS (from getting tampered with) or "system" to protect both the BIOS *and* not allow booting past the POST. I wanted to use the "system" password in BIOS because I was considering adding partitions for DOS and Windows 98 on this host and wanted some minimal security to prevent the casual user from getting in.

So I selected to use the "system" password in BIOS, entered a password, and rebooted. The box hangs right after the SATA BIOS completes its scan and find the hard drive that is connected to SATA0. This is a new problem and can be reproduced by using the "system" BIOS password. At this point, hitting any key will continue the bootup. After the SATA BIOS, the Adaptec SCSI BIOS loads and Windows gets loaded okay. But I don't want the hang after the SATA BIOS has completed its load and scan.

If no password is enabled in the BIOS, there is no hang after the SATA BIOS loads and scans. If the "setup" (BIOS tampering) password is enabled in BIOS, there is no hang. However, if the "system" password is enabled, it hangs.

Having no BIOS password to prevent bootup without it means no security (for non-NT based Windows). Having the password only to prevent tampering of the BIOS is nice but not the goal here. I can go to Abit's BIOS update download web page at http://snipurl.com/5g8q but there are some problems there. Users are complaining about the version 21 of the BIOS having problems with the SATA BIOS contained therein (version 4.2.43). Those users primarily seem to have difficulties either when using RAID or when using Seagate SATA-only drives. I only have one WesternDigital 120GB drive so neither apply to me, but a flaky BIOS is something that I'd prefer to avoid. There is a version 23 of the BIOS listed on this web page and it lists NF7-S revision 2.0 as supported. Yet if you start at its product page (http://snipurl.com/5g8u) and click on the "BIOS Update" link, you're shown a version 24 BIOS update; however, that is for the version 1.0~1.21 of the mobo and I have version 2.0. I thought when I looked a couple months back that version 23 was also *not* for the version 2.0 of this mobo, but maybe that's changed.

So who has version 21 or 23 of the BIOS installed on the NF7-S version 2.0 motherboard? Of those, could you check if configuring the Security Option to use the "system" password and then entering a non-blank password gets you past the SATA BIOS load without the hang (requiring a keystroke to continue)? No point in flashing the BIOS to get a newer version of the BIOS if the newer versions still have the same defect. Much appreciated.

 

password works normally with the new bios23

I thought when I looked a couple months back that version 23 was also *not* for the version 2.0 of this mobo, but maybe that's changed.

 

"Mark H" said in news::

Just to verify: You did enable the BIOS password, right? And it was
configured as the system password, right? And there was no hang after
the load of the SATA BIOS? If so, woo hoo, looks like I'll be flashing
.... my BIOS, that is.

 

Abit has included the MD5 checksum for d23- system password stops at the
memory check post-asks for password and boots normally. i've never tried
any previous bios for system password.

 

"Mark H" said in news::

I just flashed the system BIOS to version 23. It didn't help. If I
enter a password AND configure it to be the "system" password then it
hangs after the SATA BIOS load (if loaded; the new version lets you opt
to not load it but I need it since my lone hard drive is attached to
it). So, for now, I configure to use it as a "setup" password and just
ensure no one accidentally changes the BIOS settings.

Thanks for the help, anyway.

 

Lunchtime coffee for me, a quick flick around reveals :-

http://www.cgsecurity.org/
http://www.cgsecurity.org/?testdisk.html
http://www.moonlightcomputers.homel..., NT passwords - Data recovery_files/menu.htm
http://www.geocities.com/lautuan/PASSWORD_HACK_overview/PASSWORD_HACK_overview.htm

This " CmosPwd 4.3 is a cmos/bios password recovery tool. CmosPwd is
under GNU Public License. You can freely distribute it." from here:

info : http://www.cgsecurity.org/
prog : http://www.cgsecurity.org/cmospwd-4.3.zip

BoroLad

 

"" said in

So, by inference, what you are saying is that besides physically locking
down the box then I also need to configure the BIOS to *NOT* allow
booting from floppy (and maybe from CD-ROM drive, too) so someone can't
walk over with a bootable floppy/CD to run their cracker program.