The DEL key gets you into the BIOS which identifies itself as Aptio Setup Utility. For those who like confusion the main screen identifies the BIOS version as 't176L v1.03' with a build date of 12/11/2017 whilst at the bottom of the screen we have: 'Version 2.18.1264 Copyright 2017 American Megatrends, Inc.'.
There are the usual collection of odds and ends that you can set. The main item of interest is under the Advanced tab:
▶ Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (MAC:00:1F:D8:0C:18:C6)
▶ Trusted Computing
▶ CPU Configuration
▶ Miscellaneous Configuration
▶ LPSS & Scc Configuration
▶ Network Stack Configuration
▶ CSM Configuration
▶ Security Configuration
CSM is the Compatibility Support Module that's the addition that's necessary if you wish to use legacy (as opposed to UEFI) booting. Selecting it gives you:
Compatibility Support Module Configuration CSM Support Enabled Boot option filter [UEFI and Legacy] Option Rom execution Network [UEFI] Video [UEFI]
So you have the option of Legacy and/or UEFI booting.
The F7 key brings up a boot menu. In my case I had a UEFI booting SanDisk USB drive plugged in. I got:
Please Select Boot DeviceUEFI: Built-in EFI Shell UEFI OS IP4 Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller UEFI: SanDisk, Partition 1 UEFI: Sandisk, Partition 2 SanDisk Enter Setup↑ and ↓ to move selection
ENTER to select boot device
ESC to boot using defaults
You use the up/down arrow keys to select a particular entry and then hit Enter to boot it.
The Boot option in the BIOS lets you set the boot priority list.
My t176L came with no BIOS password set. At the time of writing I do not know if Atrust have a default password for the t176 nor do I know how to reset the password if one is set. Google has been no help here.
As noted elsewhere there is no battery fitted to the t176 and so there is no configuration information held in a battery-backed CMOS chip that you can clear by disconnecting the battery. I did not see any links on the circuit board that could be temporarily moved in order to get the BIOS to wipe out a password on power-up.
I did temporarily set a password and made a few attempts to clear it without any success.
So, if a BIOS password is set, you're stuffed. If you know better please let me know.
Some times it is possible that your thin client (or PC) gets misconfigured leaving you with something resembling a brick. The usual way out of this is to pull the backup battery to scramble the configuration information held in the NVRAM. When next powered up the BIOS then reloads a set of default (or 'safe') parameters and all is well. This is a bit difficult to do with the t176L as there is no backup battery.
In February 2025 I heard from James:
"I was wondering if you knew if there's a way to reset the bios on the t176, only I appear to have disabled video output on the darn thing.....I'm wondering if it might be possible to navigate blind and select the reset via the keyboard."
Here is the song sheet I sent him:
This fixed his problem.
Screen shots to go with the above:
On power-up pressing the ESC key brings up the Atrust Thin Client Menu. On my t176L this gave me the options:
Normal Mode Safe Mode Reset Mode Firmware Update Reboot Shutdown
I didn't explore this further.