[Thinkpad] T40: no place to enter bios supervisor password

[Jon Etkins]

paul wrote:
> Yes, I have the power-on password set. When I power on these are the steps:
> 
> a) press "Access IBM" button
> b) enter power-on or supervisor password
> c) click on "Setup Utility" in pre-desktop area
> 
> and I end up in user-mode, regardless of which password I enter in step b).
> 
> The thing is that I have set the supervisor password as the power-on 
> password only with one letter uppercase, like "hello" (power-on) and 
> "hEllo" (supervisor). Is it possible that the passwords are not 
> case-sensitive and using the same password for power-on and supervisor 
> creates the issue I have?

Could be.  Try hitting F1 at the splash screen, instead of the blue button.  That will tell it you want to go directly to the BIOS, instead of the pre-desktop area.  If there's a conflict, it may be taking the less-authorized route since you're not immediately going into a "restricted" operation; going directly to the BIOS may make it match the Supervisor password over the User.

If that doesn't work, you could try removing the AC cord, battery, and BIOS backup battery, and holding down the power button for 30 seconds or so.  That should clear the BIOS and any power-on password, leaving only the Supervisor password in effect.

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