HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

[tansoftware]

Hi there,

I've come across an issue with my HP Spectre x360 13-ac033dx laptop after clearing the "Administrator" and "Power On" passwords. Originally I had the same password for both and that worked fine, until I decided to go into the bios and clear them. I'm sure I cleared both passwords as well as save my changes on the bios setup screen, but for some strange reason, my laptop continues to ask for a password and now refuses to accept my earlier password no matter what I do.

The laptop does not produce any halt or error code, instead it asks for HP's SpareKey USB which I'm not sure what that is. The laptop is way past its warranty period and HP's tech support were not helpful at all.

I tried disconnecting the main battery as well as the RTC CMOS battery for more than 24 hours to force the laptop to clear the CMOS but that did not work. I also tried to conduct a BIOS recovery by pressing the "Windows Key + B" button combination at power up, but even after re-flashing the BIOS, it continues to ask for the password.

I am comfortable using the CH341A with a Pomona SOIC 8 Clip to make a bios dump. I'm just not sure which is the bios chip on my laptop's motherboard. I was able to locate a "Winbond 25Q80DVIG" chip, but I'm not sure if this is the correct one or if there are multiple chips that must be dumped.

If anyone has any experience with this laptop, I'd really appreciate your help and guidance.

Here are my laptop's specs:

Model: HP Spectre x360 13-ac033dx
Product ID: Z4Z22UA#ABA
Build ID: 17WW1PXT603#SABA#DABA
Motherboard: 918042-601
Specs: 16GB w/ i7-7500U 2.7GHz CPU

Thank you for your time and support.

Best regards,

[SMDFlea]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

When you set the "Administrator" and "Power On" passwords you must have opted in for HP SpareKey Enrollment .Enter the wrong pass 3 times,sparekey will ask you 3 security questions such as your mothers maiden name,first pet etc.If you can`t remember those... then post your bios backup,the largest size bios chip ,not the 25Q80DVIG.

[tansoftware]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

HI @SMDFlea

I don't recall creating an HP SpareKey USB stick for that purpose. I don't have one. When you say the largest bios chip, which chip would that be ? I've taken photos of what I thought are the relevant chips, but when doing some research, the "Winbond 25Q80DVIG" comes up as being the BIOS chip.

I've attached some photos to give you an idea. If you want me to take more photos of different chips, I can certainly do that.

I'd really appreciate your advice.

Thanks again for your time and support.

Regards,
Terry

[SMDFlea]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

Spectre x360 DAX31MB1AA0 the bios is 8MB /8M-byte

W25Q80DV: 8M-bit/1M-byte

I can`t show you the bios location on the pictures but look for one with 64 in the name

[tansoftware]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

I did check my bother board again, and this is the only chip that shows that kind of number. I even scanned my motherboard and attached it for reference. Unfortunately most of the numbers on the chips are unreadable. But I'll follow up with some Hi Res shots of all the chips on it hoping it would help.

[SMDFlea]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

Can you see the part number on the chip in the yellow circle

[tansoftware]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

Here are hi res photos of all the chips on the motherboard excluding the CPU.

The only chip I could find that is relevant to this is the Winbond chip. There are no other Winbond chips on it.

[tansoftware]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

Can you see the part number on the chip in the yellow circle

Please find hi res photo of requested chip.

It's:

BH61A
25B64CSIG
P13192

Thanks for your help.

[SMDFlea]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

Please find hi res photo of requested chip.

It's:

BH61A
25B64CSIG
P13192

Thanks for your help.

Thats the one !

Added datasheet.

[tansoftware]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

Ok great. So we've been able to identify which chip needs to be dumped. So now, I just need to attach a dump of this chip ? Or are there other chips I need to dump as well ?

[SMDFlea]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

The CH341A doesn`t support the 25B64CSIG .Use AsProgrammer software instead. That doesn`t support the 25B64CSIG either but does support MX25L6473E, its cross compatible, change the hardware to CH341A,then choose the (MXIC) MX25L6473E from the list .

AsProgrammer - https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...6&postcount=10

.

[tansoftware]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

The CH341A doesn`t support the 25B64CSIG .Use AsProgrammer software instead. That doesn`t support the 25B64CSIG either but does support MX25L6473E, its cross compatible, change the hardware to CH341A,then choose the (MXIC) MX25L6473E from the list .

AsProgrammer - https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...6&postcount=10

.

Thank you for the instructions. I just found out my CH341A is damaged. I ordered another one which should arrive in a week. Will post my dump as soon as I get the new CH341A adapter. Do I need to de-solder the chip prior to dumping it ? Or can I just dump it using the Pomona Soc8 clip while it's still soldered to the motherboard ?

[SMDFlea]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

Its better to desolder it if you can. I`ve got three ch341a`s ,one with a blue pcb,the other two green.Both green ones were DOA ,resoldering all the pins brought them both back to life .

[tansoftware]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

I tried resoldering all the pins on the ch341a hoping it would fix it, but it still doesn't work.

In fact, if I leaving my ch341a plugged in my PC's USB port for 20 seconds or more, it gets super hot, you can literally fry an egg on the pcb.

I don't want to damage my desktop's USB port or short its motherboard. I'll wait for the new ch341a to arrive before I continue with the BIOS dump.

I can't thank you enough for all your help and support.

I'll report back once I've successfully dumped my BIOS.

[SMDFlea]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

ok , no problem .

[tansoftware]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

I just got my new CH341a and was able to run three read / verify tests to ensure that the chip is detected and read correctly. Here are the results:

Current programmer: CH341
ID(9F): C84017
ID(90): C816
ID(AB): 16
ID(15): 2020

AsProgrammer automatically identifies the chip as GD25Q64B, but as instructed, I manually set the chip type to MX25L6473E

1st Read
Execution time: 0:01:07
CRC32 = 0x45897089

2nd Read
Execution time: 0:01:07
CRC32 = 0x45897089

3rd Read:
Execution time: 0:01:06
CRC32 = 0x45897089

I've attached the BIOS dump as requested. Appreciate your help in removing the Administrator / Power On passwords from it. Please let me know if you require anything else.

Thanks again for all your help and support with this.

[tansoftware]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

Hi @SMDFlea

Quick question, I'm trying my luck with the HP Unlocker Tool, and it seems to have successfully generated an unlocked version of my bios.bin file. Do I need to erase the chip using AsProgrammer first before writing the unlocked bios.bin file ? Or can I just overwrite the chip as is ?

Thanks

[tansoftware]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

Hi @SMDFlea

I have an update to share.

So I used the HP Unlock Tool to generate an unlocked version of my bios.bin file. I erased the chip, wrote the unlocked bios.bin, and verified that the image was identical to the chip's memory.

This is what happened when I switched the laptop on:

- Caps Lock button blinks 3 times quickly;
- then laptop powers off and powers on;
- then Caps Lock button blinks 5 times slowly;
- then Caps Lock button blinks 3 times quickly;
- and continues looping the blinking sequence on and on.

During this whole process, the screen's backlight is always off and never powers up.

Luckily I had made several verified backups of my original BIOS, which I was able to successfully restore and get it to start up again but unfortunately the laptop continues to ask for the password.

This tells me that the BIOS reading / writing process works, but it seems the HP Unlock Tool somehow messes up or corrupts the BIOS image.

If you could help, I'd really appreciate that.

Thanks again.

[RethoricalCheese]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

Because spectre is not probook/elitebook/zbook.

Your password is prot8200

[tansoftware]

Re: HP SpareKey issue with my HP Spectre x360

I can't thank you enough.

Is this HP's default Administrator password ? because it doesn't look like anything I've used in the past

Anyways, it worked perfectly well, and I was able to reset both the Administrator and Power On passwords successfully.

Thank you all for your help and support. This is a wonderful community.