Asus UX32VD ate my new SSD - HDD Password assignment failed

[rjk]

Nice new UX32VD.....bricked.

I had upgraded it to a Samsung 830 series 256GB drive, and that was working great - the problem came when I attempted to assign a HDD Password from within the BIOS. First I set up a BIOS password. This was successful. Then, I set up a master and user password in the HDD Password part of the BIOS, both times entering my 21 character password twice to be sure it was correct. I got no errors at all during this process, and everything seemed to be working fine.

Then I saved my settings, shut off the power, and rebooted. I was prompted for the BIOS boot password - no problem, I entered it and it let me in. Next came the HDD Password prompt, and that's where everything went pear-shaped. I entered the password that I had so carefully typed previously, and the prompt insisted that it was wrong. It said to press ESC to try the master password, and so I did -- and that one failed as well.

The worst part about it is that it must have assigned the password to both my new Samsung drive, and to the internal iSSD that is soldered to the motherboard. I pulled the Samsung out and still get prompted for the password, which doesn't work no matter how many times I re-try entering it. I even opened it up and removed the CMOS battery to no avail.

Can anyone assist? I have MHDD on another machine looking at the Samsung SSD, but even with that I still cannot seem to get the password to be correct. As far as I can tell, the UX32VD BIOS munched the password into unreadable garbage, but I have no way of verifying that other than the fact that I can't log in. The worst part is that the machine will have to be returned for service because I can't remove the iSSD for diagnostics.

Any help?

[rjk]

UPDATE:

After replacing the original HDD in preparation for returning the computer to the service center for repair, I was actually able to get into the BIOS and disable the BIOS and HDD passwords. I even had to re-enter the password in order to disable it, and that worked!

However, the remaining problem is that I now have a perma-locked Samsung SSD (not cheap btw), and I need to know how to unlock that. If I put it back in the computer, I get prompted for the password again, which.... doesn't work.

My only guess is that the computer is somehow munching or crunching the data that it sends to the drive to set the password, since I WAS able to unlock the integrated iSSD but not the Samsung drive that I had installed. With the Samsung drive installed, I cannot even enter the BIOS in order to set or clear passwords - it just won't let me get that far.

[rjk]

At this point, I'd prefer to just get my drive back, no data. Will a secure erase work on an SSD while it is locked?

I had just finished customizing my new OS install and discovered that the ASUS BIOS must not send the password to the drive correctly.

I have an old T61 that lets me boot and send commands to the locked drive, if I insert the drive after the POST sequence. I just don't know what commands to send.... Can someone help me out here?

[rjk]

Well, I ended up sending my SSD in for RMA, so I guess this topic can be closed.

[Vulcan]

Well, I ended up sending my SSD in for RMA

I can't see any other DIY option for you, given that you don't seem to know either password (user or master) that was actually set on the SSD, based on your comments. And regarding your earlier question, no, you can't do a Secure Erase on a locked drive without knowing at least one of those passwords.