
How to buy a Dell laptop with the Intel ME disabled from the factory - imwally
https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxhardware/comments/7grglm/how_to_buy_a_dell_laptop_with_the_intel_me/
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jlgaddis
Not sure if it still is, but it used to be possible to order OptiPlex machines
(and others too, I assume) with the ME/AMT in various states, including
completely disabled.

If you have an older OptiPlex, pull the side off and there will/might be a
white sticker with a single digit number on it. The number refers to the state
of the ME/AMT.

For example, I have an older OptiPlex 780 that has a "3" which means the
ME/AMT is completely disabled. I've checked every way I know how and it isn't
"visible" at all. Apparently the end user does have some limited ability to
change the status, though.

I'll see if I can dig up the info on this.

 _Edit:_ Not really what I was looking for but here [0] is a thread on Dell's
support forum that discusses this and how to change the state, etc., by
accessing the MEBx on system start (by hitting CTRL-P).

[0]: [http://en.community.dell.com/support-
forums/desktop/f/3514/t...](http://en.community.dell.com/support-
forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19626802)

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blockoperation
It appears to be available on a few other models as well (searching
'site:dell.com "ME inoperable"' brings up service tags for a few non-rugged
Latitudes and a couple of Optiplexes), despite it not being an option on their
configurators.

I wonder if this means that it's also possible to disable ME on those machines
after purchase (without triggering Boot Guard)?

Dell only offers a single download per firmware version per model (or group of
models) to cover all configurations, so presumably it contains multiple images
(i.e. AMT-enabled, AMT-disabled, ME-disabled), and the updater just uses ME
status or DMI data to determine the correct one.

If that's the case, then surely it should be as simple as manually extracting
and flashing the ME-disabled image, right? That's assuming it's actually
included in the publicly available updaters, and that all of the images are
signed with the same key, of course.

~~~
new2424141
yeah the latitudes have them

[http://www.dell.com/en-
us/work/shop/cty/pdp/spd/latitude-15-...](http://www.dell.com/en-
us/work/shop/cty/pdp/spd/latitude-15-5580-laptop/xctol558015ussb?oc=xctol558015ussb&model_id=latitude-15-5580-laptop)

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nowherecat
Nice. Now I'd love to see Lenovo offer Thinkpads with a factory disabled Intel
ME.

~~~
gravypod
While we're at it... maybe provide Linux (Ubuntu?) as the default operating
system? If we're feeling really lucky we might do with asking them for the
original Thinkpad keyboards back.

That would be a dream computer.

~~~
waiseristy
It is that hard to install Ubuntu and dual boot? It's really handy to have
that extra windows license from the factory

~~~
confounded
It’s about as easy to dual boot as it is to just run a popular distro. Wifi
cards etc can still be a problem, regardless.

I’d rather not have anything to do with Windows, and would appreciate the
gesture of a discount for the Windows license (and the money not going to MS).

~~~
gravypod
I second not wanting any money going to microsoft. I'll take it a step further
and say I don't want any microsoft code, branding, stickers, or keys at all no
matter how "free" they are.

just kick $10 off my price tag and I'll be happy. If you just sell me an empty
shell (no disk or ram) which I'll be over charged for I'll be even happier.

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lonk
Interestingly lack of feature becoming the reason for the choice in this time.

~~~
jlg23
It has been for quite a while: Try finding a phone without camera that you can
take with you into a security sensitive area...

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jotm
Anyone tested whether TurboBoost works with ME disabled?

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convery
So we know that there's a simple enough way to disable it.. for some..

~~~
new2424141
as far as i know these are specific cpu orders from intel

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tuxxy
This is pretty neat. Anyone know how well these run Arch Linux? I tried out a
new Dell XPS, but it didn't handle Arch very well..

~~~
ylere
I have an XPS15 (9560) and it runs really well. The arch wiki has lots of
information:
[https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dell_XPS_15_9560](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dell_XPS_15_9560)
You do have to tweak it a bit to make everything to work perfectly and get the
power consumption down. Overall I'm quite impressed with the machine and the
experience. I switched to Dell after having used a MacBook Pro for many years.
The 4K screen is gorgeous, it's fast, it has 32gb of RAM and the build quality
is good. The TouchPad is a tad bellow Apple level in terms of feel & precision
though. One big benefit of Dell is that you can get proper, next day Support
if something breaks (while with apple, you are supposed to drive your work
machines to the Apple Store and then wait for a replacement).

~~~
curiousgal
I have the same machine, how much battery life do you get? 97wh batter.

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nickthemagicman
Does AMD have anything like this? Is the solution just buying AMD?

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Momquist
AMD's Platform Security Processor (PSP) is the equivalent. It's also present
on all of its recent processors.

[https://libreboot.org/faq.html#amd-platform-security-
process...](https://libreboot.org/faq.html#amd-platform-security-processor-
psp)

