I was looking at refurbished models. But I don’t see where I can choose Librem Key + Pureboot. Why not? And do I want this?
For Pureboot, you can just flash it afterwards whichever way you want (Coreboot+SeaBIOS v. Pureboot).
If you are saying that you want Purism to flash it for you, you may have to request that specially. Maybe they are willing to do that. Maybe not.
I am definitely not going to flash my new laptop myself.
I am not requesting a special flash and would not want this.
Fair enough. I was just pointing out that whatever choice you make, it is not an irrevocable choice. You can always change your mind later. Coreboot+SeaBIOS is the simpler choice.
Nevertheless, your question appears to be a reasonable one. New laptops offer the choice of firmware. Refurbished laptops seemingly do not - and there is no explanation as to whether that means that
- all laptops are refurbished back to Coreboot+SeaBIOS
- all laptops are ‘as is’
- some other option
You should ask Purism about that. support@puri.sm
If you were after a refurbished Librem 13 then a new Librem 14 is superior in many ways, while being the same size and weight. The obvious reason to prefer the refurbished device is the need to save some money. The other reason to prefer the refurbished device is wanting a laptop now, as opposed to waiting the as yet unknown but hopefully not too much longer period until the Librem 14 ships.
Maybe. But I can’t get a straight answer on if the 14 has ME removed or not. Anyway it doesn’t matter since the 13 isn’t available. So the big difference between the 13 and the 14 is that the 13 isn’t available, and the 14 isn’t avaialble for different reasons. And @Kyle_Rankin and the rest of the team is not replying.
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Why wouldn’t the ME be removed??? This basic security measure is part of the core reasons for Librem to exist, it’s raison d’être. You apparently have not read the history of Librem, Pureboot (Heads) or understand it’s stance on security, and how there’s not nearly enough funding for spectacular customer serive. I’m not in any way trying to insult you, just hinting to you that this information is easily available and I encourage you to do more research. It sounds like maybe you very recently decided you want to grab a Librem, and truth be told, customer service isn’t one of the . BTW you can find Librem on eBay and other used computer outlets. That obviously is not the most secure option, but if you have a chance to personally get to know the seller, and you can buy a new hard drive or SSD. You definitely won’t get a 14 this way, obviously, but you can save quite a bit. Also System76 is a reasonable alternative, with a few concessions, like Nvidia GPUs. They do have “Coreboot” Open Firmware (which was one of my key motivations in getting a Librem)
It isn’t possible to remove the ME on any Intel CPU in the last decade or more.
There are only two questions:
- Do you think it is running? (as distinct from not running)
- What code does it have available to run?