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My main worry about all the Minisforum, Beelink, etc. PCs is: potential lack of UEFI firmware updates (does anyone have experience with how good they are with u

My main worry about all the Minisforum, Beelink, etc. PCs is: potential lack of UEFI firmware updates (does anyone have experience with how good they are with updates?) and potential backdoors in the UEFI firmware (either intentionally or unintentionally). A China-aligned/sponsored group has made an UEFI rootkit targetting ASUS/Gigabyte mainboards: https://www.spiceworks.com/it-security/vulnerability-management/news/cosmicstrand-uefi-firmware-rootkit/ https://www.spiceworks.com/it-security/vulnerability-managem... Why not require/compel certain companies to implement them directly?

starkparker 1y ago
As a Framework 13 owner, their firmware update history isn't that great either.
- rgrieselhuber 1y ago
  Any more details you can share?
  - NegativeK 1y ago
    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/06/looking-at-frameworks-progress-on-software-support-for-its-repairable-laptops/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/06/looking-at-framework... has a brief writeup. The summary is that Framework was understaffed and has brought in an established third party to help with firmware and driver updates.
Shadowmist 1y ago
I bought 3 Minisforum machines for a Kubernetes cluster and they didn't make it 11 months. They weren't even powered on most of that time. They just completely freeze with a black screen, and randomly enough to where every time I think maybe I figured out a fix it just crashes again a day later.
- laurencerowe 1y ago
  My Minisforum M780 XTX has been rock solid for 20 months now. Bought it as a remote development box since I needed more RAM than my MacBook Air and didn't feel like shelling out $3K for a 64GB MacBook Pro. Generally prefer the remote development experience since it means the laptop stays cool, just a pain not being able to work at a cafe now and then.
- d3Xt3r 1y ago
  No issues with my UM 780 XTX, been running mine for about two years as a homelab, running k3s and a bunch of random VMs. Are you sure you didn't buy an Intel one by any change? Because Intel is garbage.
heavyset_go 1y ago
Even if there aren't backdoors, things like this[1] affecting AMD Zen CPUs, where microcode signing keys changed and thus the firmware needs to be updated to allow the new keys, would prevent machines from using new microcode updates. [1] https://github.com/divestedcg/real-ucode?tab=readme-ov-file#special-amd-incompatibility-notice-2025-03-02 https://github.com/divestedcg/real-ucode?tab=readme-ov-file#...

starkparker 1y ago

As a Framework 13 owner, their firmware update history isn't that great either.

rgrieselhuber 1y ago
Any more details you can share?
- NegativeK 1y ago
  https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/06/looking-at-frameworks-progress-on-software-support-for-its-repairable-laptops/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/06/looking-at-framework... has a brief writeup. The summary is that Framework was understaffed and has brought in an established third party to help with firmware and driver updates.

Shadowmist 1y ago

I bought 3 Minisforum machines for a Kubernetes cluster and they didn't make it 11 months. They weren't even powered on most of that time. They just completely freeze with a black screen, and randomly enough to where every time I think maybe I figured out a fix it just crashes again a day later.

laurencerowe 1y ago
My Minisforum M780 XTX has been rock solid for 20 months now. Bought it as a remote development box since I needed more RAM than my MacBook Air and didn't feel like shelling out $3K for a 64GB MacBook Pro. Generally prefer the remote development experience since it means the laptop stays cool, just a pain not being able to work at a cafe now and then.
d3Xt3r 1y ago
No issues with my UM 780 XTX, been running mine for about two years as a homelab, running k3s and a bunch of random VMs. Are you sure you didn't buy an Intel one by any change? Because Intel is garbage.

heavyset_go 1y ago

Even if there aren't backdoors, things like this[1] affecting AMD Zen CPUs, where microcode signing keys changed and thus the firmware needs to be updated to allow the new keys, would prevent machines from using new microcode updates. [1] https://github.com/divestedcg/real-ucode?tab=readme-ov-file#special-amd-incompatibility-notice-2025-03-02 https://github.com/divestedcg/real-ucode?tab=readme-ov-file#...