want to install a free bios - need some help

[Nyap]

bascially I have no idea what I'm doing and I'd like you guys to help
mobo info:

___________________Board___________________
Board Vendor: Dell Inc.
Board Version:
Board Name: 0TP412
Board Asset Tag:
___________________Bios____________________
Bios Vendor: Dell Inc.
Bios Version: A14
Bios Date: 04/30/2012
_________________Chassis__________________
Chassis Vendor: Dell Inc.
Chassis Version:
Chassis Type:
Chassis Asset Tag: Precision WorkStation T3400
_________________Product__________________
Product Name: Precision WorkStation T3400
Product Version:

I'd like libreboot (https://libreboot.org/)

 

[matpower]

Well, first of all, you need to get a basic idea of your situation
Do you know if your motherboard works with libreboot? Is your CPU compatible with it? (IIRC anything made by Intel past 2008 and anything made by AMD past 2011 shouldn't be compatible with libreboot because of the Intel ME/AMD PSP)

 

[Nyap]

yeah I just noticed you need specific motherboards to install it without having to tinker around :c

 

[matpower]

Yeah, you will have better luck buying a pre-installed notebook with Libreboot, but they are really expensive with outdated hardware.

 

[Nyap]

Yeah, you will have better luck buying a pre-installed notebook with Libreboot, but they are really expensive with outdated hardware.

is libreboot the only way to get rid of ME?

 

[matpower]

is libreboot the only way to get rid of ME?

Well, you can't really get rid of ME because it's built-in in your CPU, that's why libreboot refuses to work with newer Intel/AMD CPUs, if you want to get rid of ME, you need to buy an old CPU which doesn't have it.

Why do you want to get rid of Intel ME btw? I know that some people call it a "backdoor", but it isn't a really big deal atm, since it shouldn't do much by itself.
Unfortunately, getting 100% free/libre hardware is impossible on the x86(_64 ) platform AFAIK. I think that the furthest you can get on that is libreboot + a libre OS, but I don't really know.

 

[Nyap]

Well, you can't really get rid of ME because it's built-in in your CPU, that's why libreboot refuses to work with newer Intel/AMD CPUs, if you want to get rid of ME, you need to buy an old CPU which doesn't have it.

Why do you want to get rid of Intel ME btw? I know that some people call it a "backdoor", but it isn't a really big deal atm, since it shouldn't do much by itself.
Unfortunately, getting 100% free/libre hardware is impossible on the x86(_64 ) platform AFAIK. I think that the furthest you can get on that is libreboot + a libre OS, but I don't really know.

I don't like possible backdoors :L
I'm on a intel core 2 quad q6700, which I'm pretty sure was released sometime in 2007
and by get rid of i mean disable

Before version 6.0 (that is, on systems from 2008/2009 and earlier), the ME can be disabled by setting a couple of values in the SPI flash memory.

I'm planning on switching to ARM eventually once I learn how to code properly

 

[matpower]

Well, if your CPU is actually from 2007, you might have some luck on disabling Intel ME, however, you'll need a compatible motherboard to run, if you aren't using a notebook, you can probably swap the motherboard with a compatible one that also works with your actual hardware.
Still, you should research a bit about the Intel ME and libreboot to avoid any issues, it's kind of a hobbyist thing, so I don't think that many people here can help you with it. You might have some better luck on places like /r/linux, I think.