ACER Disgrace

[Conv]

What happened:

Last week I bought an ACER aspire 3663WLMi wich was working fine. Yesterday my battery ran out on me while in college and after plugging it in at home and firing up the notebook was in hibernation mode needing the power button to start it up. The bios password prompt came up, I entered it and the message read "illegal password" knowing 100% sure the password is correct since its the same one as on my previous notebook that I've had over 2 years I tried again this time making sure not to make a typo and again "illegal password".

A call to the quite rude, I might add, acer waranty techie taught me that I forgot my password, passwords do not change themselves and are therefore not covered under the waranty. It would actualy cost me quite alot to unlock it again + they would charge me for the transport costs.

So I did some digging and BEHOLD there were other people reporting to have the exact same problem of their notebook not accepting the bios password after coming out of hibernation mode. Another call to the techie didn't help, it was all my fault there is no such thing as a bugged bios and unlocking the laptop would still cost me.

This must be a nice little extra revenue for ACER another extra 50$ ontop of the sales price as I'm sure sooner or later everybody who enables the bios pw will end up with a notebook in hibernation mode.

I am going to make one final call to them in the morning and if they give me the same anwser I'll void the waranty, unhook the battery, reproduce the bug and if it does reproduce I am calling a couple of consumer magazines as I won't stand for being ripped off.

I hope making this a bit more public will make companies like ACER be a bit more careful checking their products before releasing them on the market.

 

[brechenme]

First of All, Rarely does a company cover that under warranty. And just because you believe you uncovered some big fault doesn't mean anyother company cares.

What you can try and do which but does void the warranty is

disassemble the system and remove the date/clock battery (it looks like a wide watch battery) for at least 20 minutes. This will totally clear all Setup options and will revert to default values.(ONE SITE DID SUGGEST NOT TO DO THIS ON A LAPTOP)

I'm sure you have seen some .suggestions on what to do. I'm sure a notebook Mobo has CMOS jumper so Reset the CMOS using the jumpers or solder beads. (ONE SITE DID SUGGEST NOT TO DO THIS ON A LAPTOP)

If you are afraid of losing your data from doing a low level format just take the hard drive out becuase you can still access all your information.


My Acer laptop is out in the car so i can't remember what bios they use but try some of these Backdoor passwords to unlocking the computer:

For Award BIOS’ try these backdoor passwords:

AWARD_SW
j262
HLT
SER
SKY_FOX
BIOSTAR
ALFAROME
Lkwpeter
j256
AWARD?SW
LKWPETER
syxz
ALLy
589589
589721
awkward
CONCAT
d8on
CONDO
j64
szyx


For AMI BIOS’ try these backdoor passwords:

AMI
BIOS
PASSWORD
HEWITT RAND
AMI?SW
AMI_SW
LKWPETER
A.M.I.
CONDO


For PHOENIX BIOS’ try this backdoor password:

phoenix

 

[brechenme]

Sorry if i couldn't help out....You might atleast ask for a price reduction from 50...you never know

 

[Conv]

Thx for the help. Acer does use a phoenix bios unfortunately I had already tried the backdoor passwords. Battery in my laptop seems to be fixed so shorting the contacts with a small screwdriver seems like the only option as I can't seem to locate the cmos reset jumper/button whatever it is acer uses. I'll post again here after I tried reproducing the bug even tho I am only going to do it once I really hate having to resort to this one time let alone twice.

I made a mistake typing they would charge 50$ for the reset its actualy 50£ so around 95$ + transport. If they do always treat a password unlock as the customers fault thats an easy way to make money I'm sure that in the US you could get sued for something like that.

 

[killernotebooks]

This is like using a freaking 10 page long mathematical equation to fix this problem.
Flash the BIOS first, that should kill the PW.

 

[Conv]

This is like using a freaking 10 page long mathematical equation to fix this problem.
Flash the BIOS first, that should kill the PW.

Can't flash anything at the point you are completely locked out

 

[p3flyer]

I have an Acer 4314 that I was given because they couldn't get it to operate after kids changed the passwords and they couldn't get thru the setup password. I took out the Cmos battery,; left it out all night and shorted the terminals of the battery holder. Guess what! it still whant's a password. If I had to buy a new computer it wouldn't be an Acer, EVER!!!!!! PS I can now disasemble and reassemble this notebook blindfolded.

Any other suggestions other than the trash can???

 

[Guest]

On the Acer Aspire One, you need to enter the password in caps, even if you entered it in lowercase when setting the password. Perhaps your laptop does the same thing.

 

[kenzz0]

If your laptop is UNDER warranty and you cant get anywhere with the stupid help desk support and they want to charge you for something you havent done there is ALWAYS a solution:
Take hard drive out ( in case you need the data ), open the back panel where the memory slot is, take memory DIMM out, get the power adapter, run two wires one inside ( plus ) and one outside ( ground ) DONT BE AFFRAID IT'S LOW VOLTAGE PERFECTLY SAFE, and place the two wires where the memory slot is or in ANY other places on the mainboard,make sure one wire is connected to a point on mainboard and the other wire to a different point. You might see some little sparks or noises, it's all OK, again is perfectly safe. Just play with those two wires a little bit on the mainboard ( power adapter has to be turned on of course ) - THE RESULT is you have a completely dead unit with NO signs of physical damage whatsoever. You can now reassemble unit as it was originally and place a call for WARRANTY SERVICE for a dead unit ( no power ). They will accept the call no problems and service your machine with no charge. Tell them you want the data back ( if you need ) because you havent got time to back up as the unit died on you.
TESTED- WORKING 100% ALL THE TIME!
Don't forget to drink a shot for me too for selling you this tip

 

[happymark]

A. By Using the Motherboard Jumper:

In most motherboards CMOS battery is soldered, which makes it difficult to remove the battery. In this case we use another method.

Almost all motherboards contain a jumper that can clear all CMOS settings along with the BIOS password. The location of this jumper varies depending upon the motherboard brand. You should read your motherboard manual to check its location. If you don't have the manual then look for the jumpers near the CMOS battery. Most of the manufacturer label the jumper as CLR, CLEAR, CLEAR CMOS, etc.

When you find the jumper, look carefully. There will be 3 pins and the jumper will be joining the center pin to either left or right pin. What you need to do, is remove the jumper and join the center pin to the opposite pin. e.g. if the jumper joins center pin to left pin, then remove it and join center pin to right pin. Now wait for a few seconds and then again remove the jumper and join the center pin to left pin.

Make sure to turn the PC off before opening the cabinet and resetting the jumper.



B. By Using Software:


I have found that BIOS/CMOS Password Recovery Tool is the most effective.:
BIOS/CMOS Password Recovery Tool is a program that works instantly to remove any lost or forgotten BIOS/CMOS password. Simply boot your PC to DOS and execute the program, and get access to forgotten BIOS/CMOS passwords in just seconds

 

[Guest]

OMG, Whats next, I have the same problem, had to get password reset twice, ACER is very aware of this malfunction, maybe if everyone spread the word on these bad companies, they will drown.
OMG, money wasted

 

[ibnsina]

Always Create Electronic Rubbishy

 

[richardbrentm]

I have a 3 year old, occasionally used Acer Aspire 5100. It is a total POS. It has been back to Acer 4 times and when it comes back with a note saying they replaced "this or that" and it works for 6 months then it starts to erratically get the BSOD. It has had at least 2 MB's, 1 HD and the plug in jack. It is dead again and I am going to sell it for parts on Ebay. This model is just terrible. It got so hot I had to get a cooler just to use it more than 15 minutes. I will never ever buy another ACER product as there tech service is rude and arbitary as soon as the warranty expires.

 

[maldinilovegame]

The price of Acer is the most cheapest. Most of its models have a large screen. That's it !!

 

[Guest]

It's unbelivable that Acer has not corrected their problems on the Acer Aspire One. I legally bought this unit used and it was BIOS password protected when I got it. What the heck? No solution to the problem other than sending it back to Acer and paying MORE money to ACER???
Well I'm smarter than that after much digging I know how to get around this problem so don't be a victim of their biggest scam ever made by Acer.
I disassembled the laptop shorted out the on board battery and turned on the power. Cleared the annoying message that I needed to enter the password and allowed me into the bios. The harddrive was still locked but there is a program for removing the lock. It will remove the lock and all of the information on the harddrive but at least you still have use of the harddrive and the restore recovery cd can be re-installed. I have not tried another solution which is to update the bios with a newer version apparently this will remove the lock on the hardrive as well.

 

[Guest]

It's unbelivable that Acer has not corrected their problems on the Acer Aspire One. I legally bought this unit used and it was BIOS password protected when I got it. What the heck? No solution to the problem other than sending it back to Acer and paying MORE money to ACER???
Well I'm smarter than that after much digging I know how to get around this problem so don't be a victim of their biggest scam ever made by Acer.
I disassembled the laptop shorted out the on board battery and turned on the power. Cleared the annoying message that I needed to enter the password and allowed me into the bios. The harddrive was still locked but there is a program for removing the lock. It will remove the lock and all of the information on the harddrive but at least you still have use of the harddrive and the restore recovery cd can be re-installed. I have not tried another solution which is to update the bios with a newer version apparently this will remove the lock on the hardrive as well.

What program did you use to remove to the bios password on the hard drive? I got rid of the damned bios password, but I still can't access the hard drive.

I am able to boot to CD and have been trying various tools. Flashing the BIOS is out as it appears Acer only offers a flash program that runs IN Windows, which I cannot access anymore.

 

[simon12]

When the acer 1 was 1st released there was a problem with the bios that the password would only save the 1st 8 digits of a password, so if you entered a longer password it would not accept it. A bios update would fix this but I heard Acer where charging $100.

 

[adoug]

HI if you can get the system disabled code.it is usually a 5 digit number eg 15819 for this number you can try fh0vbuz
9d9cpmc
f0638w5

one of these should work..if not email drolsinatas@cox.net and he will email back a list of codes free of charge..it worked for me all you need is the 5 digit code


hope this helps

 

[Steve8217]

Reading this worries me, I have just bought a second hand acer aspire one, after reading reviews I thought it was the best one to buy on my shortlist.

But the reviews dont tell you everything I have not had any problems with it yet or with my Acer Aspire 5720z. Maybe I am testing the laws of fate by saying no problems hopefully not, touch wood quickly. Acer are not the most helpful people on the planet I had to ring and after 10 mins of waiting on hold and then being connected with the most horrible and rude person.

I explained that my dog ripped a key off my laptop keyboard with his claw and was told at first that "it isn't covered in you warranty you know you will have to pay" in a snappy tone then they told me the price. I nearly fell over with shock they wanted to replace the whole keyboard at a cost of over a £100, I can buy one from amazon and change it myself for around £30.

 

[DavPatrik]

Bueno, soy ecuatoriano, hace 4 meses compre una acer aspire 1410, y la verdad estoy algo aliviado con lo que he leido en este foro ya que tengo el mismo problema con el BIOS.
Despues de ponerla en ibernacion ingrese la clave que habia usado los ultimos 4 meses pero era incorrecta!!! no pude ingresar mas a la configuracion del BIOS, mucho menos al windows porque siempre que encendia la computadora necesariamente tenia que reconfigurar el buteo xq no reconocia el disco duro..

No se que puedo hacer la verdad, y me algo desalentado xq en el servicio tecnico me digeron que problemas con la clave de la BIos no cubria la garantia.. No se si alguien pueda darme una sugerencia sobre que hacer.. muchas gracias