Aspire 5672WLMi BIOS Password and Standby Problem

I have an Acer Aspire 5672WLMi that I've had for about three weeks. I've set it up with a BIOS password and a Windows Password. Everything has worked fine (except for the firewire port). Yesterday for the first time, instead of turning off the notebook, I just closed the lid. This supposedly puts the notebook into suspend mode. When I got back, I opened the lid and the notebook asked for a password (it was displaying the BIOS password screen). I entered the password and the Notebook displayed a "Setup Warning Invalid Password". The notebook would not accept the password. I talked to Acer Tech Support and the person said that I must of changed the password 'cause the computer doesn't change itself. I didn't change the password, I'm sure that the computer didn't change it. I think there's a bug somewhere between Windows XP Pro SP2 standby mode and the BIOS. I've had no problems with the Password when I turn the notebook on and off only this one time when it was in standby. Of course the remedy is to send the notebook into Acer for repair. This would take from 7 to 10 days. Luckily or unluckily the firewire port never worked on the notebook and CompUSA was going to exchange it for a new one. Hopefully it'll be here in a day or two.

Any hardy souls want to confirm this password problem with their new 5672?
--
Pete Rissler

 

Odd... I've been having problems getting my 5672 to go into standby, period. It's a periodic thing, but sometimes I have to reboot before it will standby. I don't have a BIOS password set, so I haven't run into that issue.

 

Ok, I said screw it. I opened the bottom of the notebook, found the backup battery and shorted the contacts. Turned the notebook on and viola the BIOS was reset. Damm it, I hate when people lie to me. The Acer Tech specifically told me you can not reset the BIOS by unplugging the backup battery (OK, I couldn't unplug the damm thing thus the short).

Pete

 

I have noticed that it sometimes doesn't go to standby mode after idling for the appropriate amount of time.

Creosote.

 

I have conducted the test again. When I close the lid for about 10 mins and then open it. The notebook ask for the Windows logon password. When I tried after about 8 hours, I hit the "enter" key and the notebook asks for the BIOS (or System) password. This screen does not accept the Password that I had set in the BIOS and requires me to short out the CMOS battery.

Now I have found an entry in the Acer ePower Management App under the Advance Settings Tab, Power Button and Password, Password. There is a check box for Enable Prompt for Password. The description for the check is: For enhanced system security, you will be prompted for your password when returning from system Standby or Hibernation mode, if the option is enabled.

The check is on by default. I'll give it one more try with this check box off.

 

One more time, I've done some more test and this is what I've found. First let me clear up a couple of things. When in Standby it requires a key press to resume. When in Hibernate the power button needs to be pressed to resume. Here's a table of what combination of power down and password that will work. Yes, means the combo works; no, means you'll either have to remove the CMOS power to reset the BIOS or send the computer to Acer.

----------------------Power Down Setting
Password Type-------Standby-----Hibernate
BIOS------------------Yes-----------No
Windows--------------Yes-----------Yes

Basically Do Not use a BIOS Password when using Hibernate. Here's the setting from the notebook.

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name
System Manufacturer Acer, inc.
System Model Aspire 5670
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 6 Model 14 Stepping 8 GenuineIntel ~1666 Mhz
Processor x86 Family 6 Model 14 Stepping 8 GenuineIntel ~1666 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Acer v0.3209, 12/21/2005
SMBIOS Version 2.4
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)"
User Name
Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 2,048.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 1.38 GB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 3.85 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

 

I've just got exactly the same problem with a new Travelmate 8200. The tech support guy was unhelpful, asking me to bring the laptop in and pay for the reset.

Where is this CMOS battery located? I have to options - to start hassling Acer on a mid to high level of pissed-ness or reset it myself.

 

hi risslerp,

would you describe how you shorted the battery. I have the same problem and would appreciate the help. thanks.

 

This is what I'll do. I'm going to update the BIOS tomorrow and see if that cures the problem, regardless I'll open up the computer and take a photo showing where the backup battery is and the connector.

 

The new BIOS 1.3219 fixes the BIOS Password Hibernate Problem.
How to disconnect the CMOS battery.



Turn the computer over and remove the screws, there are also a couple of places where the cover clips in the bottom.



On the right side is the CMOS battery. Disconnect the connector and wait a few secounds. This will reset the BIOS. Reconnect the battery and cover, then reset you passwords. If you can't get the battery disconnected you can short the battery. Using a small (jewelers) flathead screw driver, gently place the tip between the connection, hold screwdriver there for a few seconds, this should reset the BIOS. Make sure your screw driver provides a good connection. I was able to do it with one screw driver but not with another.

Pete

 

hey what the..i couldnt take the bottom cover off. i'm sure it was those "clips" that you've highlighted in red. do we just wiggle it off? or force it?

 

The lower one is actually a little tab that sides under the cover, so kinda of move it to the side. The back one wraps around the connector in the back. The easiest way I found is to set a small flathead screw driver into the depression (slot) on the lower left side then pry it up.

 

We have just (3 days ago!) bought the Aspire 5601, and now face exactly the same problem that is described above: we set a BIOS password, and it worked fine when starting up from shutdown, but after hibernating we are now faced with a computer that doesn't accept the password (which is DEFINITELY correct!). We are therefore completely locked out of our new computer, and cannot even restore to factory settings or boot from CD (we did make the recovery CD), since we can't get past this password.

Do you know if disconnecting the CMOS battery to reset it would invalidate the warranty? If we did it successfully, would there be any way for Acer to tell if we did later have to get it repaired?

We spoke to Acer technical support, who were completely baffled and (claimed to) have never heard of the problem before. They would charge £50 for BIOS reset, although said that we should be able to find a backdoor password for the Phoenix motherboard by searching Google, which is what they would use to unlock it. However, none of the backdoor passwords listed (phoenix, PHOENIX, CMOS, BIOS) worked.

Clearly we do not want to spend £50 on fixing a BUG in the BIOS, but are also reluctant to invalidate our warranty. Any suggestions much appreciated!

 

nccrow, just OPENING the laptop (not to mention fiddling with it's internals) will SURELY VOID your warranty.

 

Last BIOS release:
ftp://ftp.support.acer-euro.com/notebook/aspire_5620_5670/bios/3234.zip

Gradius

 

Thanks for the link, but unfortunately I can't update the BIOS until I've reset the password (and the new BIOS for my model doesn't include "Fix super/user password can't resume from S4). I'm going to return it to Acer as I don't want to void the warranty - although at the moment Acer are still saying they'll charge £50 for this, even though I've pointed out that this is a known bug in other laptop models.

 

Exactly the same problem here, is it confirmed that the latest bios fixes this because I really don't want this to happen again.

 

It does on the 5672 not sure on the 3663WLMi

 

And there isn't a new BIOS release for the 5601, so there is no fix for the problem with that model.

We finally got our laptop back from Acer last week, after another huge battle with tech support to get them to recognise that this was a bug, not a "user error", and therefore not to charge us for it. Unbelievably, after convincing them before we sent the laptop off for repair, I then called them after a week to ask what was going on, to be told that they were "awaiting our approval" to pay £160 for the repair before they did anything! It turns out that they'd logged the fault as "user cannot remember bios password". Tech support also claimed never to have heard of this problem in any model of Acer laptop, even though I pointed them to this forum and to the fact that they released BIOS updates for other models that explicitly addressed the fault. Eventually they agreed to drop the charge "as a courtesy", while still not admitting there was a fault.

Interestingly, the delivery slip when the laptop was returned said "could not reset BIOS password; found fault with mainboard; replaced mainboard". I don't know if this was actually a hardware problem, therefore, or a software glitch. But at least it works now - and I'm certainly not setting a BIOS password again!

 

Ok, I have the same problem with my 5672; I changed my bios password and everything went well until I hibernate the system. I was able to enter the system a couple of times with the new password before. The password was definitely right but the system would not accept it. Now, I think my system just disabled itself after I entered enough passwords (the lcd shows nothing when I turned on the pc). I tried to reset the bios by removing the cmos battery but to no luck. I'm still stuck with a blank screen.

 

Last BIOS:
ftp://ftp.support.acer-euro.com/notebook/aspire_5670/bios/3239.zip

All them:
ftp://ftp.support.acer-euro.com/notebook/aspire_5670/bios/

Gradius

 

changelog?

 

Please do not bring back old threads, thanks.