I just received my IBM M57 6075-BHU today from UPS. Its a used one from a corp. but is in good shape, at least physically. The hard disk has been wiped. It had Vista Basic and it still has the key sticker on the case. Here are some specs.

CPU Type Intel (R) Pentium (R) Dual CPU E2160 @ 1.80 ghz
Installed Memory 2048 MB
Active Video Intel (r) Q33/Q35/G33 Graphics chip Accelerated VGA Bios
IDE Drive 0 80032 MB Sata 1

Now to my question. I made a couple changes like enabling plug and play and Disabling the fingerprint reader and telling it to delete fingerprint history.

When I go to the Exit portion of Menu, I am offered these choices in this order and this is how the screen reads.

Load Custom Defaults [ Disabled]
Save Custom Defaults [ Disabled]

Save settings [Disabled]
Restore settings [Disabled]
Load Default Settings [Disabled]

Save and Exit the Setup Utility [Disabled]
Exit the Setup Utility without Saving

Now, all the disabled text in brackets are greyed out. I can't use the arrow keys to scroll the menu and change disabled settings to enabled ones. All I can do is hit enter on

Exit the Setup Utility without saving. (it is the only one highlighted with white text)

Using F10 to Save and exit and F9 to Setup Defaults has no effect what so ever.
Strange, Huh? So how heck am I going to save changes in the bios?
I'm thinking I need to pull the CMOS battery to try and reset this durn thing to defaults. I've googled for a solution and all I get for IBM M57 6075 Bios cannot change settings is 10 hits. And none of those hits gives me any hope in solving this.

Bios screen looks pretty much like my Bios screen on my IBM M41, but I only have one moniter to compare the 2. The M57 Bios does have more features than the M41. But looking through the menu, I saw nothing for changing those disabled menu settings.

I won't even go into how I booted 2 Linux Live cds, Mepis 2007 and Dream Linux 3. They boot up fine and things work ok but, ethernet cable, (port lit up when power is applied to computer and computer is turned on). Anyways no modem detection and I figure this is going to be bios related to as these cd's run fine on all my other gear. Just not on this New Tower.

I am stumped right now with this. I hope some other forum member can help me light that lightbulb back up in my head to try some solution. Happy Trails

Hi Rok,
Pull the cmos battery or find the jumper to reset the cmos.
This was probably a corporate computer and the bios has been secured by the IT department.
If removing the battery or jumping the cmos doesn't work, pm me.
I'll give you something to bypass the security.

Thanks TaZMAn. I'll try this out after I come back from Arizona. I don't want to pop the case yet till after the trip. Got a working Ubuntu install working on it right now, and gee its fast. The date and time on cmos is not needing a reset so it looks as if the battery is holding a charge. So I will research on what jumper needs pulling using IBM PDF manuals.

I would clear the BIOS and still remove the CMOS battery for 5 seconds, this will cause everything to be re-detected and all the settings will be defaulted in the BIOS.

Thanks for the reply hougstar, I am a former jarhead myself. I am going to try this method here after the trip to Arizona. These instructions came from the seller of the computer, after I emailed them about the missing power cord and my problems with saving changes on bios. On a side note TaZ, he is going to mail me the missing power cord.

1. Unplug all power cords from electrical outlets, and remove the cover.
2. Locate the Clear CMOS/Recovery jumper on the system board. It is under the secondary cradle on the right hand side of the system board and is brown.
3. If necessary, remove any adapters that impede access to the Clear CMOS/Recovery jumper.
4. Move the jumper from the standard position (pins 1 and 2) to pins 2 and 3.
5. Replace any adapters that were removed.
6. Replace the cover.
7. Reconnect the power cords for the computer and monitor to electrical outlets.
8. Restart the computer, leave it on for approximately 10 seconds.
9. Turn off the computer by holding the power switch for approximately 5 seconds.
10. Unplug the power cords from electrical outlets.
11. Remove the cover.
12. If necessary, remove any adapters that impede access to the Clear CMOS/Recovery jumper.
13. Return the Clear CMOS/Recovery jumper to its original position.
14. Replace any adapters that were removed.
15. Replace the cover and reconnect any cables that were disconnected.
16. Turn on the computer. The computer should sound 2 beeps. The time and date should need to be set. If not, the procedure did not work.
17. After resetting the date, time, and saving the settings, exit the System Configuration Utility.

Hopefully these instructions look correct. I never had to clear CMOS before and I wonder about the power up after switching the jumper.

Unless I am completely out of whack with technology, you shouldn't have to do the power on - power off sequence.

As far as I know, turn off the pc and remove the power cable. Open the case, move the BIOS jumpers to pins 2 and 3 for at least 5 seconds, then move them back to pins 1 and 2. Then, remove the CMOS battery for at least 5 seconds, then re-insert it. Re-connect power cable, then start up.

I can't find your manual anywhere...so I can't tell you for sure about which method will work with this main board. The website for your board is here.

Found this Lenovo Support & downloads - Flash recovery boot block jumper procedure - NetVista / ThinkCentre but it has to do with bios upgrade interruption corrupts bios. Not exactly with what I am dealing with. I am not going to try a upgrade bios after reading horror stories in IBM forum dealing with bios upgrading.M57 Doesn't Start - A and M Series ThinkCentre Desktops - lenovo community

It sound like the instructions given me are right, the only thing I am going to do different is I won't be inserting a bios upgrade floppy disk. And I bought me a usb IBM floppy today just in case I was going to need it. IBM USB Diskette Drive 13N6752 05K9283 - eBay (item 130271882738 end time Dec-03-08 13:45:22 PST)

Try as you may, you can never completely rid yourself of the 3.5 floppy. It's the herpes of computing. it just won't go away.

Wow, an issue like that should never happen after a BIOS flash! I know my Asus board saves a copy of the current BIOS before it gets flashed, and allows me to go back to it if the new one is not stable. My last motherboard, I had to DOWNGRADE my BIOS so it would recognize my processor correctly, THEN reflash it to the latest version...wowwww, AOpen got put on my poo list after I did that.

The 3.5" will never go away, I think it'll be used as the standard for the most primitive boot diagnostics (memtest86) since some ppl may have a wacky CD drive.


Silly me investing in those ZIP discs. But they do make awesome frisbees