3 ms·
You don't need "code" or a "bios master password" - if there is no end-user-set firmware password, you can just go into the menu and change "Secure Boot" to "no
by geofft 8y ago
You don't need "code" or a "bios master password" - if there is no end-user-set firmware password, you can just go into the menu and change "Secure Boot" to "no."
(If there is a user-set firmware password, and you don't know it, you're not the end user and you can't change how someone else's computer boots up. That's been true for decades: setting a firmware password and maintaining sufficient control of the machine to prevent it from being opened is the standard way to prevent someone from booting your computer into a live CD and messing with it.)
- tyingq 8y agoYes, I should have included the context that I deal with a fair number of used PCs. Sans that code and master password, though, you can mess with someone by setting their BIOS password. The master password is still useful even if you're the original owner.
- fuzzfactor 8y ago>if there is no end-user-set firmware password, you can just go into the menu and change "Secure Boot" to "no." The above expected behavior is still quite prevalent. However with PC's such as the Acer Aspire Switch 10e, if there is no end-user-set firmware password, you can NOT just go into the menu and change "Secure Boot" to "no." The option will not be available. The latter would seem to work as an anti-recycling feature. IOW, since the default user behavior is to not set a BIOS password, anyone disabling secure boot in order to use Linux will have had to set a BIOS password on such hardware first, even if they would not have normally used a BIOS password otherwise. Later, when the hardware is passed on to a second-hand user without knowledge of the BIOS password, it will not be so easy to fully repurpose the machine without being able to get into the BIOS to make appropriate changes.