TM290 - Harddisk empty after CMOS reset

Hallo,
i have a Acer Travelmate 290 that couldn't enter BIOS nor boot after first BIOS screen (freeze). Since removing all removable parts didn't help i decided to reset CMOS by completely disassembling the notebook to remove the battery and shorten the contacts. Done so the notebook seems to be fixed now. The BIOS is accessible again and the BIOS screen went on to the next boot screen allowing to boot from selected devices.

Then, the first boot message was 'NTLDR missing' so i accessed the hdd by a bootable WinPE CD that showed both partitions (C,D) that are completely empty (beside 'System Volume Information' folder). My guess is the 'harddisk lock' function that is available in the BIOS.

Is it possible to re-enable the harddisk lock so i can get my data back? To enable the harddisk lock i have to set a supervisor password first. Since i never entered any password i'm not sure if enabling this function with the wrong password may corrupt harddisk data forever.

 

Do you have a setting for "LBA mode" for your drives in the BIOS that can be changed? If the setting has changed since Windows was originally installed, it could change the track and sector number of the NT boot loader and maybe it wouldn't be found at the right place now.

 

It must be some security feature.I don't think it is deleted.

 

There is no LBA function in the bios.

MBR (Master boot record) with partition tables is fully working and partitions are R/W accessible (i think) but empty. I have a 2.5"/3.5" adapter cable to connect the hdd to my desktop system. I will take a look with Winhex on physical sector level. Scrambling should be noted easily.

These may be proprietary protection designs and chances are there's nothing i can do. Maybe a new key is already attached to the device and the old one is lost. I just thought there may be an mechanism that would copy the key from hdd back to BIOS like some security concepts do it (with passwords) so CMOS resets are useless unless you erase the key on hdd as well.

 

that was my first thought too,,, and would be valid on a PC that allows you to set the HDD CHS info and addressing scheme,, but most all laptops do the HDD decection with no choice other than that given by the HDD from it's firmware...

so it's almost gotta be HDD LOCK or as described by my system HDD ENCRYPTION..

this is a new one to me!!

 

The XP bootblock works properly (4 sectors). Its this particular bootblock that says 'NTLDR missing'. NTLDR would be the first file accessed by the xp bootblock.

I checked the hdd with Winhex on sector level. MBR, Partition table and partition bootblocks are intact and there's a third readable (hidden) acer FAT16 partition at the end.

But the rest, the main data looks definitely scrambled. No 0x00 or text/ascii areas anywhere. I will talk to the previous owner regarding possible passwords to re-enable the 'hdd lock' feature in the bios but i don't bet too much on it.

Edit:
Here's a BIOS screenshot showing the 'HDD Lock' function taken from the service manual. 'Lock harddisk drive' is grayed out until you set a supervisor password.

 

so loss of BIOS power has reverted the HDD to an encrypted state...

but it's not physically "locked".... it's an encryption thing. i'd say the password from the original owner is your only hope....

good luck,
bigO