Acer 8473T - How to Clear BIOS?

rodger22

Dear Experts,

 

 

I recently bought an Acer 8473T laptop on Ebay.

Turns out there are passwords on the BIOS. Surprise!

 

----- The manual (page 2-16, 68) says, to reset the BIOS password:

Clearing the BIOS Passwords:

1. Shut down the computer and disconnect the AC adapter and all other peripherals from the computer.

2. Removing the battery pack and lower case cover.

3. If the Mini Card slot is occupied, remove the installed wireless module and locate the G2201 gap.

4. Use an electrical conductivity tool to short the two contacts on the hardware gap together.

5. While resting the tool on the two contacts, plug one end of the AC adapter into the DC-in jack and plug one end to an electrical outlet.

6. Press the button to turn on the computer.

7. After the BIOS POST, remove the tool from the hardware gap.

8. Reinstall the battery pack and the lower case cover.

9. Turn on the computer and press F2 during bootup to access the Setup Utility. If no password prompt appears, the BIOS passwords have been cleared. If the prompt appears, repeat steps 4-9 until the BIOS passwords have been cleared.

10. Press F9 to load the system defaults.

11. Press F10 to save the changes you made and close

12. If a wireless module was removed, reinstall it.

 

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I've tried these instructions a few times. With others helping me too. When I've done the procedure, I've touched wire or metal to the two orange triangles. However, the passwords are not still not cleared.

 

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You can see a picture of the G2201 on the circuit board here:

http://s101.photobucket.com/user/rodger_22/media/Acer%208473/DSC_2355_2.jpg.html

It's quite close up.
The area in the picture represents about 1 inch (long side).

 

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Question:

My suspicion is that the two orange triangles do not conduct electricity at all.
And, they only point to the "two contacts".

On the circuit board, exactly where are those
"two contacts on the hardware gap"?

Where exactly do I touch the wires to create the short circuit? 



Thanks a lot!

 

 

 

rodger22

Another thought is, if anyone knows another way to clear the BIOS passwords, please let me know.

 

Thanks