Latest BIOS password?

[ConstititutionalCommando]

11 hours ago, Nall3k said:

Have you reached out to Atari at https://atari.gamecentergroup.com/index.php?/VCS/Tickets/Submit ?

Yes, they responded with Atar!C3l3br8te$50Ye4r$ as the BIOS password.  I sent them a follow up to let them know that the password doesn't work on my VCS.

[Tjl289]

11 hours ago, ConstititutionalCommando said:

Atari needs to update the BIOS because a lot of new owners can't access the BIOS with the latest password.  I submitted a support ticket asking for the BIOS password and they responded with known password: Atar!C3l3br8te$50Ye4r$.  They should simplify the password without all of the special characters in the next BIOS update.

 

Yeah I also received a similar email, I don't understand what the deal is.  I have tons of old pc equipment in my old storage unit, I'm going to go and gather some keyboards and see if that may be the issue, although I've already tried three.  There's a solution to this, just have to find it. 

[justclaws]

3 hours ago, Tjl289 said:

Yeah I also received a similar email, I don't understand what the deal is.  I have tons of old pc equipment in my old storage unit, I'm going to go and gather some keyboards and see if that may be the issue, although I've already tried three.  There's a solution to this, just have to find it. 

Great. It's so puzzling that now 3 people have the same problem, but the rest are OK.
Indeed, maybe some weirdness like the password being empty - just a thought.
One user reported their system had no password - just pressed <enter> to acccess. (Unique!)

[Mockduck]

I have to admit I have never once needed to enter a BIOS password on my VCS, what is the main cause of people needing to do it?

[justclaws]

29 minutes ago, Mockduck said:

I have to admit I have never once needed to enter a BIOS password on my VCS, what is the main cause of people needing to do it?

Mostly people want to tweak the GPU memory reservation, overclock the RAM, or adjust boot-order and things like that.
Some people just want to see what it's possible to tweak.

[zzip]

36 minutes ago, Mockduck said:

I have to admit I have never once needed to enter a BIOS password on my VCS, what is the main cause of people needing to do it?

If you want to boot an OS that doesn't support Secure Boot (such as Batocera), then you need to disable Secure Boot.

Others wanted to enable SVM for virtualization

Others do tweaks for overclocking.

[techmantim]

So I have had my Atari VCS for 2 weeks now and can not get into the BIOS. I have tried 4 completely different USB keyboards and all the passwords to no avail. There are 4 USB ports, does it matter what one the keyboard is plugged into? I have done all the updates that is offered so it is up to date. Thank you for any help.

[rayik]

 

On 10/4/2021 at 9:07 AM, justclaws said:

You mean you still have the original one?
I can supply the download to you directly if you need the Atari Flash package and cannot find it.

 

On 10/4/2021 at 9:26 PM, rayik said:

@justclaws

 

Thank you for the offer  I do have the file and flashing instructions.  I need to better read instructions.  I did not try that figuring it was bricked.  Yet the instructions say to do it for unresponsive bricked consoles!  I still have that VCS and will give it a try.

 

@justclaws

 

Thank you.  This VCS is now unbricked.   Just had to let it run for a while.  After about 10 minutes I unplugged it.  Then powered it back up and it booted up and installed Atari OS.  If you had not made that post, I would never have more closely read the instructions and would still be thinking the VCS was broken!

Edited October 16, 2021 by rayik
spelling correction

[techmantim]

I've tried 5 different keyboards with all the passwords and nothing. I even tried no password just enter and that didn't work. Do I need to have the keyboard plugged into a specific USB plug?

[ConstititutionalCommando]

On 10/15/2021 at 2:13 PM, techmantim said:

So I have had my Atari VCS for 2 weeks now and can not get into the BIOS. I have tried 4 completely different USB keyboards and all the passwords to no avail. There are 4 USB ports, does it matter what one the keyboard is plugged into? I have done all the updates that is offered so it is up to date. Thank you for any help.

Welcome to the party pal and I have the same issue!  I've tried multiple keyboards; wired USB, wireless, Atari OS onscreen keyboard and nothing works.  I submitted a ticket with Atari tech support and they first responded with the current BIOS password.  I responded that the password doesn't work.  They responded that I should try a USB keyboard.  I responded on Friday that I tried USB keyboards and I still can't get into the BIOS.  I should receive a response from tech support on Monday.  I recommended to tech support that they should remove the BIOS password or simplify the password on the next BIOS update.

[justclaws]

Any USB port works I think. I used front ones (but no reason why not the others).

[techmantim]

8 hours ago, ConstititutionalCommando said:

Welcome to the party pal and I have the same issue!  I've tried multiple keyboards; wired USB, wireless, Atari OS onscreen keyboard and nothing works.  I submitted a ticket with Atari tech support and they first responded with the current BIOS password.  I responded that the password doesn't work.  They responded that I should try a USB keyboard.  I responded on Friday that I tried USB keyboards and I still can't get into the BIOS.  I should receive a response from tech support on Monday.  I recommended to tech support that they should remove the BIOS password or simplify the password on the next BIOS update.

This really sucks and I agree that they should remove the password as well. If you get any response from them please let me (us) know.

[Charles Darwin]

Regarding the password and the keyboard issues: Do you use any non-US-layout keyboards? I also had a problem with the password once, but soon realized that my German keyboard was the issue. It worked well within the OS, but the BiOS did not recognize it correctly.

[zzip]

How many passwords have there been so far?

[ConstititutionalCommando]

On 10/17/2021 at 6:48 AM, techmantim said:

This really sucks and I agree that they should remove the password as well. If you get any response from them please let me (us) know.

Tech support responded by asking me if my keyboard lights up and visible characters can be seen on screen.  I gave up on tech support and decided to use Charles Darwins "paperclip" BIOS hack to get into the BIOS.  I was finally able to install Windows 10 onto my M.2 drive and update the BIOS settings:

 

VCS BIOS Password - VCS PC-Mode Discussion - AtariAge Forums

[techmantim]

On 10/18/2021 at 9:05 PM, ConstititutionalCommando said:

Tech support responded by asking me if my keyboard lights up and visible characters can be seen on screen.  I gave up on tech support and decided to use Charles Darwins "paperclip" BIOS hack to get into the BIOS.  I was finally able to install Windows 10 onto my M.2 drive and update the BIOS settings:

 

VCS BIOS Password - VCS PC-Mode Discussion - AtariAge Forums

I tried to contact support last week Tuesday and still haven't heard back from them. Does it take a week for a response? As for the paperclip hack, I'll wait a bit, I have experience with that stuff but like to do it as a last resort.

[ConstititutionalCommando]

5 hours ago, techmantim said:

I tried to contact support last week Tuesday and still haven't heard back from them. Does it take a week for a response? As for the paperclip hack, I'll wait a bit, I have experience with that stuff but like to do it as a last resort.

The paperclip hacked helped me to modify the settings for my needs.  Also, the "celebrate" BIOS password started working for me after many failed attempts.