Aspire 5002 WLMi-reset BIOS passwords?

I recently sold my Aspire 5002 WLMi notebook to a friend who changed too many settings and mussed up the BIOS in record time.... 10 days. I got most back by using a restore point but noticed he had a BIOS password requirement for booting up. I went to change that and set the new password with blank fields....save and quit....reboot....

...and whoops. Neither does a blank field nor his old password work now. in hindsight, I recall it was odd how some of his BIOS options had been greyd out and realized he must have a supervisor and another BIOS password. Swears he doesnt remember what he did. Now, we're locked out with 3 tries and error code 00000.

I removed the CMOS battery but unlike desktops I've messed with, I cant find any jumpers or marked pads to short out. Read somewhere that Acer now uses some form of flash memory. I cant find any documentation on this and Acer hasnt answered my email. Most of their sites dont even list this version of laptop. I bought it in Amsterdam at the end of 2005 but their Netherlands site is only in Dutch, a language I cant begin to decipher.

Anyone have ideas on this or possibly a motherboard schematic with lables? I looked at lists for Acer MB's and theres not a single number printed on here that resembles those lists I found.

success! I did it! reset 5002 WLMi BIOS on MB

It works!..... I posted here on my own site but here's the dirt: homelessdiver fixed it

Main thing to remember is that Acer told me they couldnt explain this insanely SIMPLE process yet admitted it could be done locally. My error was in not seeing the JP1 on the MB. I found it and it works just like normal 'puters do.:::::::::::::;;


Acer Aspire 5002 WLMi: clearing BIOS passwords, CMOS


READ FULL POST BEFORE ATTEMPTING! (click images for full size)
I have done this successfully several times recently. On a desktop, its easy. Not so easy on a laptop.
I sold my Acer to a local guy and he promptly messed it up. He’s so bad on computers (putting it lightly) that he doesnt know what he changed. Unfortunately, the boot-up screen says < press F2 to enter setup>… he did this…. and changed not 1, not 2, but enacted 3 passwords. A Supervisors PW, a User PW, and a boot PW.

I needed these cleared. Acers tech support was helpful only in what they managed to not be clear about. They said it could be sent back to them— or turned into a local computer repair shop. Local….. hmmmm that told me all I needed to know.

…that it was possible for me to do it. I succeeded. Here are the instructions:

take it apart by following these instructions: (note- the 3 ‘back screws’ mean you have to pull that upper plate off first b4 you can get to the lower 3 small screws under the screen, doesnt explain that): Ramblings of a Coder <– details

To clear out BIOS passwords, you have to remove the CMOS battery ( a watch battery) on the motherboard.

• Careful! It’s holder is fragile and might break off of the MB. Mine did….but I’m good at soldering circuit boards so I fixed mine.
• RECOMMENDATION: use a tiny flat blade and softly push it under the battery until it pops out. Trying to flex the retainer clips will result in popping the entire holder or breaking the clips.

I took the battery out for a full 24 hours to be safe.. less might work, I haven’t tested that. Acer uses a version of flash chip/drive for storing BIOS unlike desktops. I was worried about how to discharge the gateways but this apparently works just like the old way—- jumper 1.

Look on the pic. After the battery was out for a day, I used a small flat blade screwdriver (magnetized from a diver-equipment set) to bridge the jumper for 30 seconds. I did this 3 times in 5 minutes. Its a pain in the ass to put back together so I was thorough.

Put back together… it works. CMOS/BIOS passwords are cleared
.