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Lenovo PC boss: 4 in 5 of our devices will be repairable by 2025

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Re: Lenovo PC boss: 4 in 5 of our devices will be repairable by 2025

#141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, and that's due to 2 reasons. 1. The malware was a rootkit for Windows 2. Windows has an interesting "feature" that will blindly auto-install software that is embedded in a certain location in the BIOS. If a rootkit is placed there, Windows will always try and install it. It's bad for Lenovo, but it's also bad that Windows has this anti-feature.

Wow. Could you point us to more technical information about this "feature" of Windows? I'm hoping someone has reverse-engineered it somewhere, but I'm not finding anything with some brief Googling.

No need to reverse engineer it when it's fully documented: https://download.microsoft.com/download/8/a/2/8a2fb72d-9b96-...

Re: Lenovo PC boss: 4 in 5 of our devices will be repairable by 2025

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, and that's due to 2 reasons. 1. The malware was a rootkit for Windows 2. Windows has an interesting "feature" that will blindly auto-install software that is embedded in a certain location in the BIOS. If a rootkit is placed there, Windows will always try and install it. It's bad for Lenovo, but it's also bad that Windows has this anti-feature.

Wow. Could you point us to more technical information about this "feature" of Windows? I'm hoping someone has reverse-engineered it somewhere, but I'm not finding anything with some brief Googling.

I have a motherboard from Gigabyte that will prompt after the first boot in Windows to install some of their software.

https://arstechnica.com/security/2023/06/millions-of-pc-moth...

With my motherboard you can deny the install at least.

Re: Lenovo PC boss: 4 in 5 of our devices will be repairable by 2025

#143
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also the build quality of Lenovo laptops have gone down so much it's appalling.

I used to be a Thinkpad fanatic due to nice build quality and good Linux support. But in the past few years, I have taken to just buying Dell's midrange business laptops. The build quality can vary by model but they are cheaper, ubiquitous, have great support while in warranty, and Linux always runs just fine on them if you pay attention to the hardware you're buying.

I purchase the business version of the ThinkPads and the warranties are fine. In fact, HP, Dell and Lenovo use the same company in my area when they send out technicians to work on them.

Re: Lenovo PC boss: 4 in 5 of our devices will be repairable by 2025

#144
post #117
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also the build quality of Lenovo laptops have gone down so much it's appalling.

Yeah this. Keyboard is shite on the new T14 gen 3. Horrible to use.

I swear the trackpad on my work-issued one takes 5 minutes to warm up before it is useable. It is quite possibly the worst laptop I've ever owned, and I've had a Vostro and a 2018 Macbook with the dodgy keyboards.

Re: Lenovo PC boss: 4 in 5 of our devices will be repairable by 2025

#145
post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh man fuck Dell. I get through one every 9 months at work. Absolutely the worst laptops I've ever used. Precision series.

Same. I've got a work Precision 7670 in top spec, literally a £7000(!!!!!) machine, and it overheats within 5 seconds of being under load, the CPU hits 100C and throttles down hard . It's equipped with a 3080Ti but it's the same story - the GPU overheats and throttles down to 200MHz, so anything you play is just a stuttery mess. And it's not surprising - inside it there are 2 heat pipes going to two small fans with o…

Same hardware. Absolute turd. Also the screen on mine is the OLED one which is so reflective I can't see anything on the screen other than my own reflection. Who designed that POS!

Re: Lenovo PC boss: 4 in 5 of our devices will be repairable by 2025

#146
post #137
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wild! I have not at all had any of those issues, and I've had at this point 9 different Dell machines for work or play in the last ~10 years, all laptops. I'm typing this on a Latitude 5421. Granted - My work has been heavy on memory but light on CPU, so perhaps I'm not applying enough deadly heat.

Do you live in the arctic circle? TBF their monitors are good. I have two Dell P2723QE's and they are absolutely great.

Midwest US where it gets both plenty hot and plenty cold.

Re: Lenovo PC boss: 4 in 5 of our devices will be repairable by 2025

#147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without any extraordinary effort and having only typical DIY skills, I have repaired a half-dozen of my family members' iPhones that people complain are "not repairable". To me, "repairable" means "capable of being repaired in a practical way". I'll also grant you the unstated "at a reasonable price", which for me, having a cheapskate nature, I've always found the repair parts (batteries, screens, and buttons) to be…

Ok how about this: "The company hasn't made any design choices with the express purpose of making repair more difficult."

I still look at the outcome. If a manufacturer puts a Torx screw instead of a Philips, was that choice made to make it harder to repair? What about a Security Torx instead of a Torx? What about a Pentalobe or Tri-wing instead of a Phillips? A Triple-Square instead of a hex socket? If they glue in the battery which serves to protect the battery and also makes it more difficult to repair?

"If it can be repaired in a practical way, it's repairable" seems more resilient and probably no more a judgment call than the design questions above.

Re: Lenovo PC boss: 4 in 5 of our devices will be repairable by 2025

#148
They are all just reading the room and they see what is coming. They just do this because they are scared of right to repair and other laws and regulations and they will not be ready for it. So what they do is start early. They also see it as a selling point of course just with rise of public awareness, the success of Framework ... so even without any laws the move for sure is towards devices that are better repairable.

Re: Lenovo PC boss: 4 in 5 of our devices will be repairable by 2025

#149
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would the UEFI malware affect a non-windows OS installed on that machine?

No, and that's due to 2 reasons. 1. The malware was a rootkit for Windows 2. Windows has an interesting "feature" that will blindly auto-install software that is embedded in a certain location in the BIOS. If a rootkit is placed there, Windows will always try and install it. It's bad for Lenovo, but it's also bad that Windows has this anti-feature.

Re: #2 - The UEFI bloatware/rootkit checked the Windows version: if you used Windows 8 or up it used the "feature" called "Windows Platform Binary Table", but Windows 7 didn't have that, so for Windows 7 it overwrote CHKDSK.EXE with a Lenovo loader on every reboot. So, yeah, they were overwriting OS binaries on disk, not just relying on WPBT. (But no reports of binaries being overwritten on on Linux)

Re: Lenovo PC boss: 4 in 5 of our devices will be repairable by 2025

#150
post #61

Friendly reminder that Lenovo has repeatedly shipped laptops infested with malware and backdoors ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenovo#Security_and_privacy_in... ) sometimes doing so in exchange for money. They've also hidden malware in UEFI so that even reformatting your hard drive wouldn't help. In one case, after they were found out they first claimed "we have thoroughly investigated this technology and do not fi…

this is just propaganda that was consumer side Lenovo laptops, IdeaPad and the like 7+ years ago. They learned their lesson and even there don't do it any more. This didn't affect ThinkPads. Every time Lenovo is mentioned someone brings this up and I am thoroughly sick of it.

How is this propaganda? Either it's true or it is false. You haven't said or proved this is false. "consumer side" still Lenovo. "They learned their lesson" and so have we. "7+ years ago" it still happened The only propaganda is coming from you.
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