MercuryMaurader wrote on 2024-05-14, 01:51:

Hello everyone,
I was recently given an old Digital HiNote CS475 laptop from an older client. The laptop has not been powered on in years and they didn't have a power supply to test it, hence the reason it landed in my workshop. I got it to power on but a password screen appeared after the system RAM check. I'm able to enter the BIOS but I cannot make any changes to the settings and once I reboot, the password screen will appear again. Three wrong guesses and the laptop will power off. I tried removing the CMOS batteries which it uses both a CR2032 coin cell and some NiMH based battery. I removed both and let it sit for a bit. Something to note is that the main laptop battery is missing. After about 15 minutes, I tried again and the password screen still appears. There isn't much information online about this particular model besides someone posting about one here on Vogons back in 2020. I know Digital laptops were incredibly high-end laptops with some older co-workers of mine still speaking highly of them years later. Any help would be appreciated.

Found this on an old GeoCities archive (its for the HiNote Ultra CT475 rather than your CS475, so be wary!!!)...

To reset the password, follow these steps:

1. Power off the notebook!
2. Remove the keyboard assembly (if you don't know how, see https://web.archive.org/web/20040603031113/ht … ct475-bits.html).
3. Locate the chip marked "X24C02" as shown in the diagram (just to the right of center, about 1 inch up from the bottom edge of where the keyboard assembly would lie) - this EEPROM holds the password data.

4. Short pins 3 and 6 together with a bent paper clip or something. Whilst the pins are shorted, turn on the notebook.
5. Remove the paperclip - the notebook should begin to boot.
6. Hit Fn-F3 when prompted, and hit "Enter" at the Supervisor password prompt
7. You should now be seeing the bios setup screen! Just make sure the passwords are set to blank under the "Security" menu.