Dell E7270 Intel ME disabled?

bolshed · February 14, 2021, 4:01pm

Hi all,

I’ve recently opened for an upgrade my E7270 laptop which I bought second-hand about an year ago. I found this sticker inside which says “ME Disabled”.
This made me wonder:

What does this mean? Is it an idea better security-wise?
Why is then the Dell Command Update (their upgrade app) asking me to upgrade Intel ME Components with a new 09.Feb.2021 version (can’t upload 2nd photo since I’m a new user)? Should I do it?

I guess I’ll be buying a Purism in the first moment I have the money but for now I’ll have to stick to this one…

prolog · February 14, 2021, 4:55pm

Does the Qrcode reveal any information?

bolshed · February 14, 2021, 6:21pm

Nope. At least my phone is unable to read it.
Maybe you can try. Here’s a more detailed photo :

carlosgonz · February 14, 2021, 6:50pm

As far I know Intel ME can not be disabled, ME only can be cleaned by erasing some regions, but honestly i dont believe that Dell like cleaning the ME, that sticker may be a trap.

prolog · February 14, 2021, 7:55pm

I get the string “CN0G451FC5B0069S06T8A00”. You might try to find out what that means. I don’t know if this is a wise investment of time. Good luck.

kieran · February 15, 2021, 3:23am

Ask Dell?

What CPU model does the laptop have?

bolshed · February 15, 2021, 9:07am

It’s i5-6300u.

tracy · February 15, 2021, 12:57pm

In Soviet Russia, it is YOU disabled.

MrChromebox · February 15, 2021, 6:30pm

it’s well documented that Dell ships some devices with the ME HAP bit set in the flash descriptor, which disables the ME. This has been a documented feature of ME cleaner for years now. There’s no reason to believe this sticker is a trap of any kind, particularly if the MEI (HECI) PCI device is not visible to the OS.

bolshed · February 15, 2021, 8:43pm

So this means it’s completely disabled or not so?

Should I let this update?

MrChromebox · February 15, 2021, 9:30pm

depends on what you mean by ‘completely disabled.’

I have no idea what that update entails. But the ME being disabled via the HAP bit is completely separate from any ME firmware or driver update

carlosgonz · February 15, 2021, 11:31pm

First thanks for reply my message, I have not known much about Intel ME for years since I used ME cleaner for my desktop computer 4 years ago, and it is still my main desktop computer.
Anyway, I do not trust Dell computer. Purism is one of the few computer companies that I trust very much in their products. I currently interested in buy a Librem 14

bolshed · February 25, 2021, 1:33pm

Sorry for the late reply. Was quite busy.
Well, I mean not being able to function as the backdoor it usually is.

Where can I check if the MEI (HECI) PCI device is visible to the OS?

MrChromebox · February 25, 2021, 5:58pm

lspci -nn

amosbatto · February 25, 2021, 6:25pm

If the update is limited to just the Intel ME, I wouldn’t bother upgrading it, but I doubt that the update will reenable the ME. Dell offered to disable the Intel ME for a $21 fee on certain laptops, so Dell would have angry customers if updates enabled something that customers paid to have disabled.

bolshed · February 25, 2021, 6:56pm

The only similar to this in the list is CSME: HECI #1.

Is that it?

MrChromebox · February 25, 2021, 7:48pm

correct. CSME is the updated name for ME 11+

bolshed · February 26, 2021, 11:12am

So that means ME is enabled and that sticker doesn’t mean anything?