this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2023
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has framework address the intel management engine / amd psp and does it have plans to remove it? (m.youtube.com)
submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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i know they cooperate with amd a lot so it's possible right?

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

I believe the ME/PSP is at the hardware level of the processor, so you can’t simply remove it. You would need to get processors without it, and I don’t think framework has the leverage to do that.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The ME can be disabled. It cannot be removed.

Source: I work for a company that builds hardware and works with firmware on Intel platforms.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

does that still work? last i heard the system will force its reactivation

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

The vendor that makes the hardware/firmware has to configure it to be a toggle-able option.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

ywah so intel

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

No. The UEFI/BIOS has to have the option to turn it off. Most hardware doesn't have this option.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

wait hold on bios can disable it? so coreboot can right? sorry explaib like im five from the top im nkt following

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

There are coreboot projects that turn off the Intel ME. The old Thinkpad coreboot flashes for the T4XX series had a payload to turn off ME by destroying the flashable part of ME without completely bricking the CPU IIRC. Basically replaced everything except the absolute minimum to get the CPU to still initialize, but without any ME bits.

The CPU has to support ME being disabled and the UEFI/BIOS has to know where the flag is set on the ME to tell it to turn off. Usually enterprise embedded platforms or server CPUs have that function, although I've heard some consumer chips do too. Everything I work on is embedded appliances that use Enterprise C3xxx and newer CPUs and they have this option exposed.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

wait so if you flashed that and used nouveau and linux would you have a totally foss system?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Nobody has. Pretty sure its a usa sized problem.

[–] Jumuta 2 points 8 months ago

i mean, you can disable ME on some old platforms with hacky firmware, but I'm not sure you can do that in recent intel chips.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Are their any options on the market that are able to remove these?