How to unlock an ATA-password-locked hard drive?

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Something caused my laptop's hard drive to lock itself with an ATA password. Now it asks for a password I don't know when I try to boot the PC. Even the UEFI setup is no longer accessible.

It is a Hitachi TravelStar drive. I couldn't find the master password for this kind of hard drive (the 32 spaces mentioned on other sites don't work, actually I can't even enter a space at the password prompt).

Can I unlock this drive without sending the laptop to the manufacturer ?

Hey

Posted 2016-04-02T23:41:44.797

Reputation: 939

2If this is a virus, it is nasty. – Aganju – 2016-04-02T23:56:21.850

1So your UEFI prompt for the password? Even the UEFI setup is no longer accessible. Sounds more like the UEFI settings is locked? – Tom Yan – 2016-04-03T00:12:04.270

It's worse than that. It's a security feature built in the hard drive, which when enabled makes it refuse to talk to the machine without a password. The problem with the UEFI is, it directly asks for the hard drive's password without letting me hit "Del" to enter the setup. So my PC is actually bricked until I send it to the manufacturer, find the master password or open it to remove the drive (which would kill the warranty). I repeat that it is NOT an UEFI password. – Hey – 2016-04-03T00:15:47.033

In that case I don't see how you can possibly unlock it. Even if there is way or tool to unlock it but you probably can't even boot a USB drive? Also you'll at least need to know either the user or master password. – Tom Yan – 2016-04-03T00:26:57.783

Right, I can't boot anything. But there is a default master password to unlock the drive, and some are available online. Unfortunately, I can't find this drive's password, but I was hoping someone could come with a solution. – Hey – 2016-04-03T00:30:41.373

1Well, maybe the master password is indeed 32 spaces. It's just your UEFI does not expect that. Technically ATA password can even be "null". – Tom Yan – 2016-04-03T00:32:14.877

That's a good point. If you're right, it's a very poorly written UEFI. I already mailed the manufacturer, and I think I will have to send the PC back. – Hey – 2016-04-03T00:34:02.643

Answers

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It turned out the drive had no vendor master password. The password had been added by a wrong command I entered. I connected it to another PC and used Linux's hdparm utility to unlock it, which is only possible knowing the password.

Hey

Posted 2016-04-02T23:41:44.797

Reputation: 939

Asked: 2016-04-02T23:41:44.797

Viewed: 2 065 times

Active: 2017-01-14T11:01:00.133