[Tfug] Thinkpad passwords and loading Linux

[sitkaa at email.arizona.edu]

I have by now emailed a number or individuals who have thinkpads for sale on
ebay. All of them have at first not known what I was talking about, and then
exclaimed that they don't know anything about these passwords. It goes
something like this:

---- Do you have all three passwords for your computer? (Not just the 
hard disk
password...)

--- What are you talking about?

-- I am looking for a thinkpad on which to load linux. To do that I will need
the supervisor, hard drive, and power-on passwords. Particularly the first.
Without it, I would have to literally take the computer apart, weld a 
temporary
bypass to the motherboard, with some specialized equipment and software. Way
over my head.

-Um, we don't know what you are talking about.


The primary password to be concerned about when mucking around in the bios is
the bios (AKA supervisors) password. I understand the need for security and
all, and I am not interested in buying a stolen computer, but I can't imagine
every thinkpad for sale on ebay is stolen.

Here is a link to IBM's explanation:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=ibm&lndocid=MIGR-59377

If the thinkpad is THE laptop onto which Linux is most easily loaded, how are
people getting around this?

I can't imagine you go out and buy a thinkpad, and then can't resell it 
due to a
forgotten, misplaced, unincluded, unknown, or unavailable password. 
Common-sense
dictates that there has to be a work-around here (of course, the modern 
world is
not exactly overflowing with common sense).

Is the only solution to buy a brand new thinkpad from ibm/lenovo? From the
manufacturers viewpoint, that helps corners the market, and makes the 
competing
resale market to a hit. From the consumers perspective, that drives up the
complexity and expense of purchasing one of these thinkpads. And from a Linux
standpoint, that makes thinkpads more difficult to work with, especially when
the password is not available.

Anybody have any comments? Know of some work-arounds. Or are used thinkpads on
ebay all stolen?

Michael













Quoting sitkaa at email.arizona.edu:

> Not neccessarily. Consider the following scenario: a large clearing house
> selling a series of business class t40s, but lacks any information 
> about them.
> That is, in fact, what is happening right now.
>
> In no way do I want to support a thief. Bad karma. Besides, I hate
> thieves, all
> the more so after my car was stolen... No I don't want to support 
> thieves. But
> there are valid cases where this is an issue.
>
> Thanks for the consideration,
> Michael
>
>
>
>
>
> Quoting Chris Hill <ubergeek at ubergeek.tv>:
>
>> If you're wanting to buy a laptop off eBay and the bios password is
>> 'forgotten' go elsewhere. The laptop is stolen.
>>
>> Peace
>> Chris
>>
>>
>>
>> sitkaa at email.arizona.edu wrote:
>>> I had about decided to get a used t40 or t40p on ebay. I am concerned about
>>> their passwords, though. It seems that many people are having problems with
>>> Thinkpad passwords, particularly BIOS passwords which can inadvertently get
>>> loaded up, and subsequently forgotten. Is this something which is
>>> easy to deal
>>> with, or should I avoid buying a used Thinkpad?
>>>
>>> Here is some juice for the discussion: I wish I undestood it more than
>>> I do. Is
>>> this stuff easy to do?
>>>
>>> I gotta admit, new thinkpads are just too expensive for me to 
>>> justify one of
>>> them. Even with the sale that they currently are having...
>>>
>>> Is is it worth it to get a pre-password Thinkpad?
>>>
>>> Or is this just getting ridiculous, and I should look into some other
>>> make (like
>>> Dell)?
>>>
>>> Any comments?
>>>
>>> Michael
>>>
>>>
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