Here's the kernel documentation about the Intel MEI driver (Management Engine Interface) which describes the /dev/mei node that allows you to manage AMT and oth

Here's the kernel documentation about the Intel MEI driver (Management Engine Interface) which describes the /dev/mei node that allows you to manage AMT and other things on your local machine[1]. And HECI[2] also goes through Intel ME. So anything that uses either of those things requires Intel ME, and Linux provides support for both. I also believe that I've read somewhere that the reason you need to use tools that talk directly to the EC to modify things like battery levels with coreboot (as opposed to the "standard" tools used on stock machines) is because of the lack of those interfaces for Linux. I may be mistaken about the latter, but it is definitely true there are useful things that Linux does provide support for (and might use internally, I'm not sure). [1]: https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/misc-devices/mei/mei.txt https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/misc-devices/mei/me... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host_Embedded_Controller_Interface https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host_Embedded_Controller_Inter...