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So? Install Ubuntu, receive updated firmware/disabled ME, reinstall distro of choice. Also: > System76 will investigate producing a distro-agnostic command lin

by ythn 9y ago

So? Install Ubuntu, receive updated firmware/disabled ME, reinstall distro of choice. Also: > System76 will investigate producing a distro-agnostic command line firmware install tool. Follow us on your preferred social network for updates.

orblivion 9y ago
> Install Ubuntu, receive updated firmware/disabled ME, reinstall distro of choice. For a single software update? With whatever else a normal human has going on in life? There's no way.
- dopeboy 9y ago
  I agree - that's too much work. Can this task be performed in a VM?
  - barkingcat 9y ago
    Think about what you are asking first. A VM is a virtual machine that theoretically is separated from the base hardware. I don't think a VM is the solution for Bios Updates or changing bits on the physical hardware itself. Of course, you can monkeypatch the VM's bios all you want! But that would be erased the next time you start a new vm. The only other way is to find a security hole in KVM, qEMU, or XEN, and then exploit it to break out of the VM[1] and get access to base hardware. Hard to do, but it does happen. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine_escape https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine_escape
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Probably not, but in a chroot it might.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- drbawb 9y ago
  > For a single software update? This isn't a software update, it's a firmware update. I don't expect updating firmware to be painless; and I'd rather it not be painless. Updating a PROM is a messy process fraught with peril, I want as many checks & balances between my clumsy fingers and that flash as possible. > With whatever else a normal human has going on in life? There's no way. Many vendors don't ship ELF binaries update their firmware at all, and yet I still manage to flash their devices. I've lost count of how many times I have to throw FreeDOS a USB drive to flash the RAID controllers I use. Putting Ubuntu on a flash drive to install a firmware update is hardly any more complicated than that. (At a minimum: at least you'll have a reasonably competent shell and functional networking w/ an Ubuntu live image.)
  - devereaux 9y ago
    Messy?? Clumsy fingers won't change the fact that a flash image is read (flashrom -r), modified (mecleaner) then written (flashrom -w) Running a given distribution or another won't change that process. If anything, I could understand using statically linked binaries.
rurban 9y ago
No need to install Ubuntu. Just load from a Ubuntu live DVD, install the driver, and so on...
- simcop2387 9y ago
  This would be my way of handling it. I usually keep a usb stick around with ubuntu on it just because the live version of it is incredible useful as a tool.

by ythn 9y ago

orblivion 9y ago

> Install Ubuntu, receive updated firmware/disabled ME, reinstall distro of choice. For a single software update? With whatever else a normal human has going on in life? There's no way.

dopeboy 9y ago
I agree - that's too much work. Can this task be performed in a VM?
- barkingcat 9y ago
  Think about what you are asking first. A VM is a virtual machine that theoretically is separated from the base hardware. I don't think a VM is the solution for Bios Updates or changing bits on the physical hardware itself. Of course, you can monkeypatch the VM's bios all you want! But that would be erased the next time you start a new vm. The only other way is to find a security hole in KVM, qEMU, or XEN, and then exploit it to break out of the VM[1] and get access to base hardware. Hard to do, but it does happen. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine_escape https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine_escape
- icebraining 9y ago
  Probably not, but in a chroot it might.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
drbawb 9y ago
> For a single software update? This isn't a software update, it's a firmware update. I don't expect updating firmware to be painless; and I'd rather it not be painless. Updating a PROM is a messy process fraught with peril, I want as many checks & balances between my clumsy fingers and that flash as possible. > With whatever else a normal human has going on in life? There's no way. Many vendors don't ship ELF binaries update their firmware at all, and yet I still manage to flash their devices. I've lost count of how many times I have to throw FreeDOS a USB drive to flash the RAID controllers I use. Putting Ubuntu on a flash drive to install a firmware update is hardly any more complicated than that. (At a minimum: at least you'll have a reasonably competent shell and functional networking w/ an Ubuntu live image.)
- devereaux 9y ago
  Messy?? Clumsy fingers won't change the fact that a flash image is read (flashrom -r), modified (mecleaner) then written (flashrom -w) Running a given distribution or another won't change that process. If anything, I could understand using statically linked binaries.

rurban 9y ago

No need to install Ubuntu. Just load from a Ubuntu live DVD, install the driver, and so on...

simcop2387 9y ago
This would be my way of handling it. I usually keep a usb stick around with ubuntu on it just because the live version of it is incredible useful as a tool.