BIOS Hacking - Can't Clip? No go Pogo? Alternative Ideas?

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mneimeyer
 
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Joined: Wed May 22, 2013 6:59 pm

BIOS Hacking - Can't Clip? No go Pogo? Alternative Ideas?

Post by mneimeyer »

TL;DR: I have forgotten the BIOS password on my HP ZBook Studio G5 laptop and I can't solder SMT.

So the longer version is that this particular HP model does not reset the bios password if you pull the batteries. Additionally, HP no longer offers a service to strip the password. This leaves me with needing to read out the BIOS, remove the password and rewrite it.

Since I do NOT trust my ability to de-solder and re-solder an SMT chip (I've tried in the past) I got a Chip Clip adaptor for my CH341A based reader. It worked like a charm on the smaller BIOSes but the one I actually need to read it will not clip onto (physically it does but the contacts don't mate up).

I don't know what to search for to try and find something that I can use instead. I'd really like something I can just press in place and remove with no harm but I'm open to other options (with the caveat above about my ability to solder at the SMT scale)

I've attached a picture of the chip in question in case that helps any. Thanks in advance, I've always learned so much from you folks that I'm hoping the wisdom transfer continues.

Thanks!

BIOSChip.png
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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: BIOS Hacking - Can't Clip? No go Pogo? Alternative Ideas?

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

That looks like a DFN (Dual Flat No-leads) package, so yeah, there's nothing to grab mechanically.

Personally, I'd tack thin magnet wire to the solder joints, then to a PCB for connection at the other end. That doesn't sound like an option you'd want to try though.

Without soldering or any way to get a physical grip on the contacts, you're pretty much left with needle probes.

Those are pretty much what the name suggests: a probe with a sharp point at one end and a wire connected to the other. Official ones are expensive, but you can DIY good approximations.

One option is to use long needles wrapped in copper wire for both mechanical and electrical connection, then hold them in carriers that let you control the angle and direction of the needle:

https://hackaday.com/2019/11/15/needlin ... e-needles/

Another is to solder a chunk of 18awg to 22awg wire to a strip of copper clad, then use miniature clothespins to supply clamping pressure:

https://hackaday.com/2022/02/27/need-to ... othespins/

In both cases, the main trick is to have the needles at an angle relative to the surrface of the board you want to probe. That makes it possible to bring the points together into a small area.. the ones used to test integrated circuits sit almost parallel to the surface and are held in place by a ring of epoxy:
probe-card-02.jpg
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