Darrell Ross

I do computer repair and tech support full time. Occasionally, I run across problems that are just not worth the customer paying for and I tell them so. Sometimes, when this is the case, I can convince them to give me the machine so I can spend 10 hours on it and see if I can get it working. I’m sure hobbyists of other genres accomplish similar feats.

Quite a few of the older IBM ThinkPad Notebook computers have their supervisor passwords stored on an EEPROM. The short of this is that there is no way to hack, erase, or get around the password. The only solution (as far as I can tell so far) is to recover the password by designing a crude ROM reader. One customer had a machine with this problem and I sent them home with URLs to various companies that offered to recover the supervisor password for various fees. I also sent them home with the notion that, should they be unsuccessful (or just not want to try) shipping it one of these companies, I would be happy to give it a shot just for the learning experience.

Following instructions posted here: http://sodoityourself.com/hacking-ibm-thinkpad-bios-password/, I plan on doing just that. I have lots of spare wiring lying about and actually have all the needed parts except for the zener-diodes.

I will post an update with photos when I have completed the recovery (or bricked the computer).

[UPDATE December 8, 2008]
Well I didn’t brick the computer. I built the entire circuit board and then spent an hour finding the EEPROM on the computer and then I left it sitting there with no battery over night. The next day when I went to turn it on briefly, it booted. WTF?! The password was supposed to be stuck in an EEPROM, not to mention I had already tried leaving the CMOS battery out and that had not worked.

Oh well, now I have this janky serial reader built specifically for that chip. I uploaded a few photos of the construction of the reader here: http://picasaweb.google.com/eukota/GeekAndProudOfIt#

Every year when hollidays roll around, I consider making and keeping a list of items I plan on buying but haven’t bought yet just so anyone thinking of getting me a gift can get me something they know I’d love. Perhaps I could do something like that on this blog somehow.

Things I have been drooling over on eBay and other sites are:

 - Oscilloscope - I have all these fun engineering projects and it’s really tough (nigh impossible) to complete some of them without the use of an oscilloscope. Sometimes I can get lab access time but I really want one of my own. Even a 20MHz model would be helpful at this point. I just spent 20 minutes looking at a 100MHz Tektronix model that retails for around $500. They sure have come down in price. There are some really old looking ons on eBay for less than $100 but I don’t want to end up buying a $100 paper weight.

I have been searching for graduate programs that will allow me, in some capacity, to pursue a PhD while performing energy research. My BS in Computer Engineering followed by the MS in Math that I should complete shortly here at HSU make me qualified for some interesting modeling. I just need to find the program that is right for me.

I have always been interested in appropriate technology starting with my work for Real Goods Trading Corp when I was still in High School. I’ve installed a small off-grid pv-system pretty much solo.

My MS Thesis at HSU involves a mathematical model running in MATLAB of Humboldt County power supply and demand fluctuating over time. Supply sources are Wind, Solar, Biomass, and Wave using regional data and assuptions are made about efficiency of extraction based on current available data for wind, solar, and biomass and based on predictions about wave. I am taking into account probably more variables than I should for a MS degree but it’s so fun and easy to get carried away.

More on my thesis later.