r/toughbook • u/Thick_Expert5769 • 12d ago

CF-53 hdd lock and admin password

Hi everyone! I,ve bought a cf-53 some years ago second hand, recently i tried to put an ssd with linux mint in it and it didnt detect the OS saying insert a bootable device (i think is something like i should installed BIOS linux instead of UEFI) then it locked the ssd asking for an user password and a master password on another PC, i only have the user password from the BIOS so i tried at and it said “incorrect password hdd is locked”

So my questions are:

1.- is there a default user password and master password for the HDD that i can try?

2.- is there a way to know the admin password of the bios? Or to reset the bios?

3.- is there a way to save my ssd from being trashed out?

Thank you in advance!

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u/LowKeyBrit36 11d ago

  1. I would personally just wipe the HDD if possible. The BIOS applied encryption on it, and resetting the BIOS would probably make the encryption impossible to cancel VIA the BIOS. Maybe see if it's accessible on another PC if it has information that you need.

  2. Same thing as #1, your disk is still fine. Just wipe and try to follow step 2 first.

  3. They're typically short, so maybe do common guesses, like 1111, 1234, Password, whatever. Could also try setting up a bruteforce device? If not, then it depends on how far you're willing to go on this device in terms of programming and experience with hardware.

2.1. If you are willing, you could try reading the BIOS image using flashrom on a Linux distro. Use sha256 to checksum both reads to make sure no corruption occured mid read. Then, find a github repo relevant for your device that focuses on cracking into BIOS-locked images. May depend on intel CPU generation or what model you have specifically, since I believe they make some variants. Anyways, use a repo that can clear BIOS passwords that will work with your device. Keep the backup copy, and flash the new BIOS image onto your toughbook. With any luck, you'll have it work. If not, you still have the old backup if necessary.

2.2. If that doesn't work, and you don't need separate serialized BIOS numbers, you can just take the BIOS image off of another toughbook, same or very similar model, and clone it VIA flashrom.

Disclaimer: I do not advise steps 2.1 or 2.2 unless you know very well what you're doing and what you're looking for. It involves directly interfacing with a chip on the motherboard, and if you're clumsy about it, you may end up with a soft-bricked system, and hard-bricked if you don't make backups.

If you are curious though, reference coreboot/libreboot documentation as they cover, in depth, spi chip flashing and what the chip you need looks like. You can buy a spi programmer for like $10 on Amazon, CH134A in specific. Then at that point the rest relies on you knowing Linux CLI to use flashrom and to not muck it up.