Did I buy a brick?

[12Centuries]

Just purchased a Mini off eBay. It has a BIOS password, and the seller is not responding.

After talking to HP Support, they told me $225 to replace the motherboard, even though there are still two months left on the warranty.

All other attempts to fix it have failed (CMOS drain, hunting for a jumper on the motherboard)

Did I buy a brick?

Thanks.

[Suftop]

Flashing the Bios would probably fix it

Also, check this thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=714

Good luck!

[12Centuries]

Do you know where I can get a replacement BIOS image? It currently has 308F0F07 Ev Ver: 02.0B

[Suftop]

Do you know where I can get a replacement BIOS image? It currently has 308F0F07 Ev Ver: 02.0B

http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/wel ... ml#Support

You will need the exact model # to search, and a usb flash drive. There should be instructions on that website once you find the download. It can also (i think) be re-flashed using the same firmware version you have now even.

[Suftop]

i also found this

http://tektiek.com/?p=128

For a dell, but maybe it's the same?

[12Centuries]

Okay, I did the following:

1. Downloaded the BIOS file for the computer
2. Formatted a flash drive as FAT32
3. Put the BIOS file on the flash drive and renamed it AMIBOOT.ROM
4. Re-started the computer while holding down ALT-FN-LEFT (the equivalent of ALT-HOME), which causes the system to read the new BIOS off the flash drive.
5. After a few minutes, the Mini rebooted and stated:

NVRAM data will be preserved
CMOS data will be destroyed

... and installed the new BIOS. That worked 100%

However, upon reboot, it still asks, "Enter CURRENT password"

It seems that the password is stored in NVRAM, and a BIOS re-flash won't fix it.

Does anyone know what chip is holding the NVRAM? Perhaps just swapping out that chip?

[joe_dude]

Try pulling the CMOS battery and leaving it for 24-hours. I remember someone did that and got the BIOS to reset completely, but that was for an OC'ing problem. A bit of a long shot, I know....

[12Centuries]

Thanks for the reply, Joe, but as I mentioned in my first post, that simply doesn't work for removing a BIOS password on these Mini's.

I'm looking hard now for a board schematic that might show an NVRAM chip. Then I'll try to find the NVRAM pinouts to see if a shorting solution can work. If not, I'll try replacing the NVRAM chip on the board, hoping that it doesn't contain other mission-critical info required for boot.

Sigh.

Stupid HP support.

[Harcroft]

If I remember correctly, the bios and relevant computer specific settings are stored on a standard 8 pin eeprom. I did a bunch of research on it before I got my mini, and how to reprogram it. (for people who screwed up overclocking) I have a few schematics for fairly easy programmers, and more info on the chip on my other computer. I'll dig through the research I did tonight and see what I can find for you. You should simply be able to build or buy a programmer for it, blank the chip, flash a new bios, then fix computer specific information (mac, serial, asset tag etc) through one of the HP factory config programs.

[12Centuries]

[...] I'll dig through the research I did tonight and see what I can find for you. You should simply be able to build or buy a programmer for it, blank the chip, flash a new bios, then fix computer specific information (mac, serial, asset tag etc) through one of the HP factory config programs.

Wow. You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. Truly.
Thank you!