I can't seem to change any of my BIOS settings - even though at one point I had set a bootup password.

If I press the Access IBM mode and F1 consecutively, I can enter the BIOS Setup. Yet it seems that I can't change anything - not even date or time. All menus say "If any items require changes, please consult your system Supervisor." on the right, but who would that be?

In all (sub)menus, up/down buttons have no effect, all else beep, only Esc works. Just in long menus, such as Config/Power, do up/down have some effect: They scroll, but won't select anything. In the Restart menu, I can only confirm "Exit Discarding Changes" but choose none of the other options.

 

What is wrong there? Could anyone please help me get into that mysterious Supervisor mode?

Cheers!

To unlock the BIOS, enter BIOS>Security>Password>Lock BIOS Settings>Disable and enter the Supervisor password.

Thanks, you crazy volunteer :-) There's good and bad news.

Good news is you are right: "Lock BIOS Settings" is enabled.

Bad news is: "Password" Menu, just like any other, cannot be changed. Up/down have no effect, all other keys except F4/ESC beep.

Other ideas?

When you turn the system on, press F1 when you see the message about pressing the Access IBM button. Then enter the supervisor password, and then the power on password if they're different, (if they are the same it will not ask), and you should gain full access to bios.

Thanks, andyP! Didn't help though: F1 does work, and only requires the password once. Other than that, however, the BIOS Setup behaves as before - with no chance of changing anything :-(

You need to enter the supervisor password. Another point; this needs to be done after a cold start.

@ andyP: Thanks again. I tried doing it after a cold start, doesn't work either. What is this mysterious supervisor password? I only ever defined one password...

Thanks for posting this. I too have been wondering for days why I could not get past a supervisor password (that I don't recall  having ever set)  - I suppose that  if you don't set it, then  it defaults to the Power On Password.

However, as you said, you must only type the first seven characters!!  

NOW, why was it designed that way??  And if there was a real teachnical reason for it , AT THE VERY LEAST , this should be mentioned in the  product user documentation! .  Unbelievable...

I tried typing only the first 7 characters of my admin password but this was  rejected, would only accept all 8 characters but still could not change anything in BIOS. How can I find this supervisor password which I never set?