HP Elitedesk 800 G6 lost BIOS admin password
Hello everyone, I am looking for help as I am struggling to remove lost BIOS Admin password on an HP EliteDesk G6 800 series desktop. I wanted to reset the vPro remote control IP kvm for homelab use.
Here is the hardware identification specs:
HP EliteDesk 800 G6 Desktop Mini PC
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-10500 CPU @ 3.10GHZ 16384 MB RAM
BIOS ver S21 Ver. 02.05.01 01/05/2021
Born on date: 07/26/2021
SN MXL11841GN
SKU 3X8V9UCHABA
UUID 8116E79EF6FFE94DB0B98A3188270C5C
SYSTEM BOARD ID 8710
SYSTEM BOARD CT NUKBER PJLHQ0A8JF236L
BIOS/IC chip seems to be Gigadevice 25B127DSIG located next to WIFI m.2 slot (see photo).
Tools at my disposal:
- CH341a programmer (black)
- my very limited past experience dumping/modying BIOS in other one motherboard (so I know CH341a works for others not this time)
- computer boots up (not currently bricked)
- HP 800 G6 running a very old BIOS from 2021 (no longer available in HP site; apparently it has security vulnerabilities, not sure if I can take advantage of this to override BIOS pw without flashing?)
- hopefully your help
Troubleshooting:
- I have attempted to access the BIOS with CH341a (black) programmer, using SOC8 clip and multiple different programs attempted but failed. The programs I have tried: AsProgrammer 2.0.4, NeoProgrammer v2.2.0.10, CH341a v2.2.0
- I did attempt to do CMOS reset via button + battery pull out but that only achieves 'bios defaults' reset and no BIOS Admin password removal.
- I don't have any soldering skills or tools. If this will be my only recourse, please share some advice on cheap aliexpress essential tools needed for this job?
All my attempts with the CH341a to read BIOS result in either:
- IC chip not detected
- NeoProgrammer message asking for "Choose Microwire Adapter" (this is weird as this chip isn't microwire? but I am a noob so can't tell 100% see photo of programmer setup).
- NeoProgrammer detects a chip but it is FFFF or some random id that seems inaccurate (no specs on the chip are shown, just an id)
- All my attempts to read BIOS chip are done with motherboard disconnected from power, BIOS CMOS battery still on the board.
While I have read that my progammer CH341a (black) can be sending 5 volts to data pins, I was still expecting to be able to "read" the IC chip in some way with this programmer. So far unsuccesful and not sure why. I just ordered a newer CH341a v1.7 model which has a voltage switch: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804266379696.html need to wait 2-3 weeks for arrival not sure if it will make a difference.
Attached is a BIOS dump from flashrom from linux live CD. I did `flashrom -r backup.bin` some SPI "locked" errors were shown but dump was completed and attached. Opened the .bin file in UEFItool and I do see the GB and other regions so I think it may be somewhat "ok" (I do not know if some data is hidden when reading bios in this way; it seemed like it would prevent access to some areas of the raw data on the chip since I am using the booted OS on the device itself).
Some questions:
- Can I trust the only BIOS dump I was able to do via `flashrom -r backup.bin` regardless of the warnings/errors, or is the backup incomplete if I were to buy a brand new IC chip to program outside the board?
- Does Gigadevice 25B127DSIG shutdown and prevent reading if CH341a (black) sends more than v3.3 on its data pins? In other words would my newer CH341a v1.7 possibly fix my IC detection and read problems (anyone tried new version of the CH341a)?
- On boot screen this computer claims it has "HP Sure Start" BIOS protection mechanism: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c06216928 - is this the reason why my programmer is unable to read IC chip without desoldering (or am I making wrong assumptions)?
- If the Gigadevice 25B127DSIG is hard to detect or uncommon, can I easily replace this with a more common or easy chip like Winbond and simply restore the backup.bin from flashrom and expect this to work without the controller/hp sure start bricking the board?
Here is the hardware identification specs:
HP EliteDesk 800 G6 Desktop Mini PC
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-10500 CPU @ 3.10GHZ 16384 MB RAM
BIOS ver S21 Ver. 02.05.01 01/05/2021
Born on date: 07/26/2021
SN MXL11841GN
SKU 3X8V9UCHABA
UUID 8116E79EF6FFE94DB0B98A3188270C5C
SYSTEM BOARD ID 8710
SYSTEM BOARD CT NUKBER PJLHQ0A8JF236L
BIOS/IC chip seems to be Gigadevice 25B127DSIG located next to WIFI m.2 slot (see photo).
Tools at my disposal:
- CH341a programmer (black)
- my very limited past experience dumping/modying BIOS in other one motherboard (so I know CH341a works for others not this time)
- computer boots up (not currently bricked)
- HP 800 G6 running a very old BIOS from 2021 (no longer available in HP site; apparently it has security vulnerabilities, not sure if I can take advantage of this to override BIOS pw without flashing?)
- hopefully your help
Troubleshooting:
- I have attempted to access the BIOS with CH341a (black) programmer, using SOC8 clip and multiple different programs attempted but failed. The programs I have tried: AsProgrammer 2.0.4, NeoProgrammer v2.2.0.10, CH341a v2.2.0
- I did attempt to do CMOS reset via button + battery pull out but that only achieves 'bios defaults' reset and no BIOS Admin password removal.
- I don't have any soldering skills or tools. If this will be my only recourse, please share some advice on cheap aliexpress essential tools needed for this job?
All my attempts with the CH341a to read BIOS result in either:
- IC chip not detected
- NeoProgrammer message asking for "Choose Microwire Adapter" (this is weird as this chip isn't microwire? but I am a noob so can't tell 100% see photo of programmer setup).
- NeoProgrammer detects a chip but it is FFFF or some random id that seems inaccurate (no specs on the chip are shown, just an id)
- All my attempts to read BIOS chip are done with motherboard disconnected from power, BIOS CMOS battery still on the board.
While I have read that my progammer CH341a (black) can be sending 5 volts to data pins, I was still expecting to be able to "read" the IC chip in some way with this programmer. So far unsuccesful and not sure why. I just ordered a newer CH341a v1.7 model which has a voltage switch: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804266379696.html need to wait 2-3 weeks for arrival not sure if it will make a difference.
Attached is a BIOS dump from flashrom from linux live CD. I did `flashrom -r backup.bin` some SPI "locked" errors were shown but dump was completed and attached. Opened the .bin file in UEFItool and I do see the GB and other regions so I think it may be somewhat "ok" (I do not know if some data is hidden when reading bios in this way; it seemed like it would prevent access to some areas of the raw data on the chip since I am using the booted OS on the device itself).
Some questions:
- Can I trust the only BIOS dump I was able to do via `flashrom -r backup.bin` regardless of the warnings/errors, or is the backup incomplete if I were to buy a brand new IC chip to program outside the board?
- Does Gigadevice 25B127DSIG shutdown and prevent reading if CH341a (black) sends more than v3.3 on its data pins? In other words would my newer CH341a v1.7 possibly fix my IC detection and read problems (anyone tried new version of the CH341a)?
- On boot screen this computer claims it has "HP Sure Start" BIOS protection mechanism: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c06216928 - is this the reason why my programmer is unable to read IC chip without desoldering (or am I making wrong assumptions)?
- If the Gigadevice 25B127DSIG is hard to detect or uncommon, can I easily replace this with a more common or easy chip like Winbond and simply restore the backup.bin from flashrom and expect this to work without the controller/hp sure start bricking the board?
Attached Files
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