RCUnlocker

[Vesko356]

Originally Posted by drefo

I modified the file 32 mb with Hpunlocker and then I tried to start, here is my mistake I put it back original to then make your modification

Got it, in short - the usual rookie mess.

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[drefo]

Yes that's right, but I would like to make up for my mistake as a beginner who does not listen, is there a possibility to go back? Thank you for your explanations.

[Vesko356]

Originally Posted by drefo

Yes that's right, but I would like to make up for my mistake as a beginner who does not listen, is there a possibility to go back? Thank you for your explanations.

Yes of course, as long as you have the original verified dump of both chips, because especially with the newer HP models equipped with Sure Start technology things can very easily turn ugly, if you know what I mean.
Therefore I'll recommend you to play with a much cheaper laptop first if the goal is to gain experience.

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[drefo]

Ok I will put back the 2 bullet points with the original bios and see what it gives, again thanks for the information. Thank you

[Vesko356]

Originally Posted by drefo

Ok I will put back the 2 bullet points with the original bios and see what it gives, again thanks for the information. Thank you

Little correction - 32Mb original +16Mb modified by RCU, not both original files because you will be back to square one.

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[drefo]

Thanks

[Vesko356]

Originally Posted by drefo

Thanks

You're welcome.

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[paleopterix]

Hi everybody. I recently bought a second-hand HP 840 G3 notebook. All looking and running great at first. But very quickly I discovered it had virtualization disabled in BIOS, and worse, the BIOS is password protected (figures!). I've been gathering info for the last 2 weeks and it seems that the only solution is desoldering that tiny damn bios chip?! I do have experience with soldering/desoldering stuff, but still, I know that this operation can EASILY turn the laptop into a brick... And after searching and searching, I've landed on this forum, which seems to host the most savvy techies, at least when it comes to HP laptops.
And here comes my dumb question:
1) I managed to download a tool named "Intel CSME System Tools v11", containing an utility called fptw64.exe, which seems to be able to read/extract the BIOS section from the 16MB main flash (~9MB in size). All the other sections are, unfortunately "locked for reading" so a full backup is not possible without other undocumented interventions.
2) I ran the (amazing) RCUnlocker on a random 16MB image containing a password, which I aslo downloaded from this forum, and then compared the resulted unlocked bin with the original. I have noticed that the only changes were in the BIOS section (related to a variable called "UserCred"?)
3) I ran the RCUnlocker on MY own ~9MB BIOS section image obtained with the fptw64 tool and it reported success (correctly recognized the BIOS, serial number, etc) and it generated an "unlocked" ~9MB bin file. I also compared the two files, and the changes were consistent with what I've seen using the full 16MB images.
So, the question is... has anyone tried to just download the modded BIOS image using the fptw64, without desoldering the flash chip?

PS. sorry if this question has been asked already... I have searched the forum and I didn't find anything similar

[Vesko356]

Originally Posted by paleopterix

...
So, the question is... has anyone tried to just download the modded BIOS image using the fptw64, without desoldering the flash chip?

PS. sorry if this question has been asked already... I have searched the forum and I didn't find anything similar

You've searched but not enough.

You don't need fptw64 but the programmer for the purpose.

Originally Posted by RethoricalCheese

... you need to dump your bios, remove password from dump and reprogram bios with modified dump.

For that you need an SPI programmer like CH341A or Raspberry Pi with Flashrom or any other similar programmer. A soic8 clip is also useful so there wouldn't be a need to unsolder bios IC.

When you have your dump, just drag and drop your file on ...

Use the search engine and read all sticky threads before posting.

RULES UPDATE for BIOS requests/offers *AVOID BANNING, READ BEFORE POSTING*
BIOS guides, methods, resources and tools
Password removal by laptop brand

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[paleopterix]

Originally Posted by Vesko356

You've searched but not enough.

You don't need fptw64 but the programmer for the purpose.

Use the search engine and read all sticky threads before posting.

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Sorry, I have the impression you haven't read exactly everything I wrote. Of course I know I could (and probably should) use a programmer, once I have the SPI flash chip unsoldered! BUT I mentioned that I am trying to AVOID desoldering that chip if I can!!! And that is what I HOPED I could accomplish by using the fptw64 tool. Programming the BIOS without desoldering!! Desoldering/soldering a WSON8 flash chip is not a trivial task, I'm sure you know it. I don't think that using a SOIC8 clip is an option in this case, because it was not designed for this particular format of chip.

So, again, if you know the reason why people prefer desoldering and using the SPI programmer instead of downloading the firmware with the chip soldered on the motherboard... please tell me. What can happen? That was my question. I asked if anyone tried downloading the BIOS with the chip in place, using the fptw tool. I can try it myself, but I needed to know if there was a "fool" that tried this already before me, because I don't have a backup if I fail.

You are telling me that I haven't searched enough. Can you be more specific? Is there a similar post???
I don't want to be a nuissance or to bother anyone. If you think my post is stupid or don't want to answer, just ignore me.

[Vesko356]

Originally Posted by paleopterix

Sorry, I have the impression you haven't read exactly everything I wrote. Of course I know I could (and probably should) use a programmer, once I have the SPI flash chip unsoldered! BUT I mentioned that I am trying to AVOID desoldering that chip if I can!!! And that is what I HOPED I could accomplish by using the fptw64 tool. Programming the BIOS without desoldering!! Desoldering/soldering a WSON8 flash chip is not a trivial task, I'm sure you know it.

Again - you must use a programmer for the purpose! You can read the bios region with the fptw64, but you can not program back the chip with it.

Originally Posted by paleopterix

So, again, if you know the reason why people prefer desoldering and using the SPI programmer instead of downloading the firmware with the chip soldered on the motherboard...

If it's mean reading the bios region - yes you can do that, but this will not help you further as you need to program the bios region back to the chip, but as I already said - you can't do that with this tool.

Originally Posted by paleopterix

please tell me. What can happen? ...

What will happen at the end is to brick the laptop, but without having a good verified dump from the chip as a backup you can expect very "pleasant" moments until (if) you restore it in a working order.

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[paleopterix]

Originally Posted by Vesko356

...... You can read the bios region with the fptw64, but you can not program back the chip with it.
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So, the BIOS segment is readable but not writeable by software? That is the answer I needed. Makes sense. Thank you!

[mitchw]

Originally Posted by Vesko356

And you are unable to enter the bios with F10 and reset security settings to default?

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Sorry for the late answer,
No I cannot do that. It is still locked like before, even if I hit F10, it still prompts me for the password / fingerprint.

[mitchw]

Here, I attached both locked and unlocked files.

Like I said, it is for HP ZBook 17 G5.

Here, I also included the 32MB BIOS dump.

Thanks in advance

[Vesko356]

Originally Posted by mitchw

Here, I attached both locked and unlocked files.

Like I said, it is for HP ZBook 17 G5.

Here, I also included the 32MB BIOS dump.

Thanks in advance

You forgot to mention about "pesko"



Both two files must be written to the corresponding chips simultaneously, do it and leave feedback:

[mitchw]

Originally Posted by Vesko356

You forgot to mention about "pesko"



Both two files must be written to the corresponding chips simultaneously, do it and leave feedback:

Haha yeah, that's friend's nickname

OK, I will give it a try. Will write both chips, then power it on after that.

[mitchw]

Working!!! Thank you!

So it was really necessary to fix both files

[Vesko356]

Originally Posted by mitchw

Working!!! Thank you!

So it was really necessary to fix both files

You're welcome! Did you doubt it?

No, not always. It is necessary in rare cases like yours only.

Have fun, and don't forget to donate in support of the "Bios requests" section of the forum.

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[Dusan2504]

I need it if someone can unlock the bios file for me. It's a Chromebook Acer Spin 511 R752T.

thank in advance.

[peste]

Originally Posted by Dusan2504

I need it if someone can unlock the bios file for me. It's a Chromebook Acer Spin 511 R752T.

thank in advance.

is there still a bios chip on the board?? check on both sides...