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Purism Librem Laptops Completely Disable Intel’s Management Engine

puri.sm

11–20 of 169 posts

Re: Purism Librem Laptops Completely Disable Intel’s Management Engine

#13
post #6

I really want one of these, but the ergonomics look awful. Is there a technical reason they only come with low resolution (1080p) screens? (“Linux” is not a valid reason...) Also, as much as I would like a 15” screen, the off center keyboard is a deal-breaker. It’s just asking for RSI. Does anyone own one? How is the trackpad / keyboard / battery life / fan noise? Maybe I can deal with 1080p in exchange for a reasona…

Yeah I would have bought one when I was shopping but numpads on a laptop are a terrible idea. I ended up going for a Dell Precision 15 instead.

Seconded. I discovered this the hard way when I bought a 15" Lenovo.

Re: Purism Librem Laptops Completely Disable Intel’s Management Engine

#15
What do the security experts think about Librem products? Does it live up to what's promised? Any gotchas users need to be aware of? I have not come across their comments on this topic, so links to the same would be appreciated if I missed them.

Re: Purism Librem Laptops Completely Disable Intel’s Management Engine

#16
post #14

Is there any other new hardware other than Purism and Chromebooks that uses Coreboot/Libreboot? EDIT: A list from coreboot site [1] does not look comprehensive as it is not mentioning Chromebooks or Purism. [1] https://www.coreboot.org/Products

PC Engines uses coreboot for their APU boards (usually used as routers or firewalls).

The price/performance & energy efficiency isn't too compelling in my opinion, but if you like the idea of running your router, firewall or other network appliance on x86 with an open source BIOS and OS, its worth looking into.

Re: Purism Librem Laptops Completely Disable Intel’s Management Engine

#17
> The Management Engine (ME), part of Intel AMT

Not hugely consequential, but Intel's product line is confusing enough without any help. AMT for years has been an application that runs on ME (unless something has changed). From the authoritative book, Platform Embedded Security Technology Revealed: Safeguarding the Future of Computing with Intel Embedded Security and Management Engine by Xiaoyu Ruan, a security researcher with the Platform Engineering Group at Intel (2014)

The list of old inventions finding new applications in new domains goes on. The new applications benefit a much wider population and improve more people’s quality of life.

When Intel’s Active Management Technology (AMT) first appeared in 2005, it was marketed as an advanced system management feature for Intel 82573E series gigabit Ethernet controllers. In 2007, a new embedded coprocessor, namely the management engine, was introduced. Originally, the management engine was designed primarily for implementing the AMT rather than running security applications. At that time, the main problem that was supposed to be resolved by the embedded engine and AMT was the high expense and difficulty of system management by network administrators. The management engine was a component of Intel chipsets with vPro technology. The Intel AMT implementation was moved from gigabit Ethernet controllers to the management engine and became a feature of vPro.

Intel AMT is not the only application on the management engine. The first security application on the engine was the integrated TPM ...

Re: Purism Librem Laptops Completely Disable Intel’s Management Engine

#19
post #14

Is there any other new hardware other than Purism and Chromebooks that uses Coreboot/Libreboot? EDIT: A list from coreboot site [1] does not look comprehensive as it is not mentioning Chromebooks or Purism. [1] https://www.coreboot.org/Products

Ministry of Freedom claims some of its laptops don't have ME, such as the Libreboot T400

Re: Purism Librem Laptops Completely Disable Intel’s Management Engine

#20
post #6

I really want one of these, but the ergonomics look awful. Is there a technical reason they only come with low resolution (1080p) screens? (“Linux” is not a valid reason...) Also, as much as I would like a 15” screen, the off center keyboard is a deal-breaker. It’s just asking for RSI. Does anyone own one? How is the trackpad / keyboard / battery life / fan noise? Maybe I can deal with 1080p in exchange for a reasona…

How is 1080p low resolution???
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