Ah, it becomes more clear! I have never seen a padlock+cylinders icon on any PC, so I now know hdds are not locked. I will try the Travelstar hdds in other PCs again soon w/o USB adapters.
You have a real mess to deal with; there's no simple way other than to take it to an IBM shop & get it reset for $75-$100 dollars OR pay for a new motherboard IF one is available. It can be cracke ...