
Lenovo BIOS Simulator - segfaultbuserr
https://download.lenovo.com/bsco/index.html
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soganess
I realize this just the photos from the associated manuals merged into a basic
website, but damned if it isn't cool.

I feel reassured when the people who were responsible for my computer's
creation aren't doing their very best to hide the fact that what they sold me
was, in fact, a computer.

I get machines are now marketed as lifestyle accessories, but they can also,
unapologetically, be computers. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

~~~
CraftThatBlock
Are you sure? The date/time was live for me.

Edit: Looked at the network requests, it's not images. It's returning config
files with the information to emulate it.
[https://download.lenovo.com/bsco/schemas/ThinkPad%20X1%20Car...](https://download.lenovo.com/bsco/schemas/ThinkPad%20X1%20Carbon\(20FC%2020FB\).ini?_=1562364164341)

~~~
soganess
Good Catch! I was being overly reductive! I should have said:

I realize this is a rather shallow simulator working more closely on the with
the view layer than the underlying model/hardware, but...

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crb
Almost 20 years ago I would use chasms.com, which had similar click-through
screens for Windows. It was hugely helpful in being able to see the various
dial-up Internet configuration screens when I worked part-time on an ISP help
desk.

The site is still there and still being updated! The oldest example is now
[https://www.chasms.com/winxp/desktop.htm#](https://www.chasms.com/winxp/desktop.htm#)

~~~
gregmac
Wow, this is great! I don't do a lot of remote support, aside from immediate
family, but I don't remember settings by name -- especially for an older OS I
no longer use -- so this is a great resource.

So often I've had a frustrating conversation like "Okay, do you see something
that says 'wifi' or 'ethernet'? Hm, ok, no go back.. is there another button
that says 'Network' or 'Adapter settings' or something like that on the
screen?".

I like that Lenovo has this resource too (and exposes it publicly), and really
every manufacturer should, but I honestly can't think of a time I've ever had
to remotely fix a system by changing something in BIOS. It's pretty rare to
change a setting there in the first place, aside from when you're doing the
initial build or major hardware changes. If you were providing remote support
to the people doing the hardware changes, though, this would be invaluable.

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wilsonnb3
This is cool. Seems odd that it starts with the X230/T430 generation though.

The 220's are still very popular especially with the crowd that would find
this interesting or useful.

~~~
dmm
I imagine this is intended for support personnel to guide users over the phone
through bios changes. So there would be no need to provide models out of
warranty.

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spilk
I used to work phone support for Dell and we had tools similar to this to help
troubleshoot over the phone without having access to the exact hardware the
customer had.

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lucb1e
I don't understand what is interesting about this, but if you find this sort
of thing interesting, perhaps you would also enjoy the router admin interface
emulators of TP-Link: [https://emulator.tp-
link.com/VR600v2/index.htm](https://emulator.tp-link.com/VR600v2/index.htm)

~~~
akira2501
> I don't understand what is interesting about this

Maybe you've never done remote support with an individual who is not
particularly skilled with computers, but as someone who has, this is exactly
the kind of tool you'd want at your disposal.

> perhaps you would also enjoy the router admin interface emulators of TP-Link

Yes!

~~~
lucb1e
> Maybe you've never done remote support

Oh sure, it's great that it exists and I would like to have these for Windows
or MS Office (most family questions are about that), but I don't particularly
care to browse through a random BIOS/router/Windows interface just for the
heck of it.

~~~
syshum
One of the reason these are more valuable than one for Window or Office is 90%
of the time once you are in windows you can just use a Remote Support tool to
remote into the system

Attempting remote support that requires BIOS or Router changes is much easier
if you can tell the person, exactly, what the click word for word, or even
provide screenshots with instructions in say a manual... Getting them can be
harder tools like this help alot

I have used things like this when development instructional material for new
Technicians or as reference for people that many not work with those systems
every day...

Just as an example

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ungzd
Would be even more mind-blowing if it ran real BIOS code on js x86 emulator.

~~~
ccrush
The problem with that would be emulating all the embedded controllers and
other hardware associated with the various bios menu entries. What would be
cool is if the bios interface was coded using a certain menu rendering system
that could be replicated in JS and all you would need is a BIOS dump of
certain structures which would then render the appropriate menu without having
to run the code associated with the underlying choices. Shouldn't be that hard
to do. I believe that's sort of how it alrwady works. It would be nice to see
it happen though.

~~~
ajross
Most of the junk in BIOS settings doesn't actually talk to the hardware. It
just stores flags that other layers of the firmware read.

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john_moscow
That's cool, but I really wish it had a search feature. Like start typing in a
name of a setting, immediately get a suggestion list, select a specific one
from it and see where exactly in the menu hierarchy it is.

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a-ve
Seems like you can "Permanently Disable" ME using their BIOS on Thinkpads.

~~~
segfaultbuserr
I think it just disables the management feature, the ME itself is always
active to an extent. BTW, don't forget to also disable Computrace.

~~~
scohesc
I haven't done any reading into this but as far as I know on the used Thinkpad
I have Computrace is "available" but hasn't been connected to any sort of
third-party tracking service.

Should I disable this forever? Is Computrace tracking me even with the service
not connected to anything?

~~~
segfaultbuserr
The main concern here is not "Computrace is tracking you", but "Computrace may
be exploited". Basically, if Computraced is activated, it will actively
attempt to inject its payload into Windows via BIOS to achieve persistence
even after an OS reinstallation - like a rootkit. If a vulnerability allows an
attacker to somehow control this process, nobody knows how far the attacker
can go...

* Deactivate the Rootkit: Attacks on BIOS anti-theft technologies

[https://www.blackhat.com/presentations/bh-
usa-09/ORTEGA/BHUS...](https://www.blackhat.com/presentations/bh-
usa-09/ORTEGA/BHUSA09-Ortega-DeactivateRootkit-PAPER.pdf)

* Stuff just got real - First Computraced-based UEFI rootkit

[https://tcsltesting.blogspot.com/2018/09/stuff-just-got-
real...](https://tcsltesting.blogspot.com/2018/09/stuff-just-got-real.html)

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mehrdadn
Just a note, it doesn't seem to have all the latest updates, since those can
sometimes change what's on the setup screen.

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RandomGuyDTB
Missing the Thinkpad X20 and probably others.

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codewiz
But why?

~~~
samtc
When you have remote hands and need to tell, over the phone, what to edit in
BIOS of a specific Lenovo PC?

