Advantech AE Technical Share Document

Date 2020 / 1 / 21 Release Note □ Internal ■ External

Category ■FAQ □SOP Related OS
Abstract Administrator and User password mechanism in AMI BIOS
Keyword BIOS, Administrator, User, password
Related Product All ASG Products

 Brief Solution:
There are two accounts available in AMI BIOS, one is “Administrator” another is “User”.
The password setting always can be found in the Security page from BIOS setup.
Minimum length for password is 3 words and maximum length is 20 words, passwords can
include symbols such as @, #, %, $.........
Setting password for Administrator account:
If only the administrator's password is set, this only restricts access to the BIOS setup and
requires a password only when entering the BIOS setup. If you does not press <del> the unit
will boot normal without password prompt.
If you press “Enter” without a password input when password prompt, you will enter BIOS
setup with “USER mode” not Administrator mode.

When you are entering USER mode, you will see the Access Level on Main page shows “User”.
Also, most functions are not allowed when entering in USER mode(press enter when
password prompt). USER mode can only access following functions:
A. RTC Timer
B. COM port settings
C. USB configurations
D. Boot options.
USER mode can only access following functions, other functions will be grayed out and
unavailable.
A. RTC Timer
B. COM port settings
C. USB configurations
D. Boot options.
Setting password for USER account:
If only the user's password is set, the user will be prompted to enter the password when
booting, and the password must be entered to boot or enter the BIOS setup.

The user will be prompted for a password when booting, and the system will continue to boot
only after entering the correct password

Note: if ONLY the USER password is set, and there is no Administrator password, USER will
have Administrator authority in the BIOS.
Setting password for both Administrator & User account:
The user will be prompted for a password when booting, because the user password has been
set. User can use both Administrator and User password to pass password checking when
booting. And the BIOS access level will depend on what password user entered.

We summarize the behavior of Administrator and User account as below:

Press “Enter” without a
Set password for Require password to
Require password to access BIOS BIOS setting change limitation password input when
BIOS account boot
password prompt
None NO NO NO N/A
Enter BIOS with USER mode
Administrator only NO Require Administrator password NO only COM / USB / RTC timer/
Boot options are avaliable
Require entering USER NO NO
User only Unable to enter BIOS and OS
password (enter with Administrator mode) (Administrator mode)
Administrator Require entering Depends on which password entered Depends on which password entered
+ Administrator or USER Administrator password >> Administrator mode Administrator password >> Administrator mode Unable to enter BIOS and OS
User password User password >> User mode User password >> User mode

Administrator password only

Ccontinue to
no action
Boot

Power on BIOS Post screen

Administrator Administrator
password input mode
Press del
Press ENTER
directly without USER mode
password input

User password only

no action stop booting

Password
Power on Ccontinue to
prompt no action
Boot
User password BIOS post
input screen
Administrator
Press del
mode
Both Administrator & User password
No action Stop booting

continue to
no action
boot
User password
Password input
Power on
prompt press del user mode

Ccontinue to
no action
Boot
Administrator
password input
Administrator
Press del
mode

Summary:
 Only Administrator password is set: Only affects entering the BIOS stage, need to enter
password to enter BIOS.
 Only User password is set: You need to enter the password when the system is powered
on. Setting user password does not affect BIOS access
 Administrator password and user password are set at the same time:
You need to enter the password as soon as the system is powered on. The password can
be Administrator or User. The password entered will affect the access to the BIOS.