As everyone in the privacy lounge thread can't stop talking about the IME I couldn't help but do a quick exploration with this repo -
github.com
which also has a detailed wiki -
The other reason is that it is more likely to work for my older machine. It 'cleans' away most of the binary and just leaves the bit that needs to run during boot. In some cases users find that the machine automatically powers down 30 minutes after boot once you have tampered with the IME. Given that this machine is ready for the rubbish anyway and the data is backed up I thought it wouldn't hurt to have a small attempt, kill the monster living inside. There is a risk of 'bricking' it and flashing back to original firmware once it has been 'bricked' is probably too complex for those of us who don't work with this kind of thing.
I've flashed a lot of android ROMS in the past as well as patched and modified them but never before tried to mess with with my PC's firmware. Have 'bricked' some Android devices as well.. Still, my smartphone has had either Cyanogenmod or LineageOS for many years now and I once successfully flashed GrapheneOS for someone else. So has given me some confidence to 'flash' this evil management engine, although it does not sound like as much of a tried and tested process.
You can either do it with the device off whereby you open the cover, find the relevant chip and somehow reflash its firmware with something else. I've got no experience with that sort of thing so would go for the flashing while the machine is running. It's a bit like surgery with full anesthesia or with the patient awake..
Anyway, it's not as simple as just running
..so I learned.
You need to create
It is probably best to either live with the IME or buy from one of these :
I thought I'd nevertheless create a thread in case anyone actually is inclined to pursue this cleaning process of the 'IME' binary and can report back on their experience, what they did, whether it bricked the machine or caused it to shut itself down after thirty minutes.
Also any discussion about whether the IME really is spyware or if that is just a conspiracy theory without basis.
GitHub - corna/me_cleaner: Tool for partial deblobbing of Intel ME/TXE firmware images
Tool for partial deblobbing of Intel ME/TXE firmware images - corna/me_cleaner
github.com
I've flashed a lot of android ROMS in the past as well as patched and modified them but never before tried to mess with with my PC's firmware. Have 'bricked' some Android devices as well.. Still, my smartphone has had either Cyanogenmod or LineageOS for many years now and I once successfully flashed GrapheneOS for someone else. So has given me some confidence to 'flash' this evil management engine, although it does not sound like as much of a tried and tested process.
You can either do it with the device off whereby you open the cover, find the relevant chip and somehow reflash its firmware with something else. I've got no experience with that sort of thing so would go for the flashing while the machine is running. It's a bit like surgery with full anesthesia or with the patient awake..
Anyway, it's not as simple as just running
$ python me_cleaner.py -S -O modified_image.bin original_dump.bin..so I learned.
You need to create
original_dump.bin and probably then run some software on it to create modified_image.bin.It is probably best to either live with the IME or buy from one of these :
I thought I'd nevertheless create a thread in case anyone actually is inclined to pursue this cleaning process of the 'IME' binary and can report back on their experience, what they did, whether it bricked the machine or caused it to shut itself down after thirty minutes.
Also any discussion about whether the IME really is spyware or if that is just a conspiracy theory without basis.
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