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zaknenou@lemmy.dbzer0.com to Linux@lemmy.mlEnglish · 1 year ago

Is it possible to erase the UEFI/BIOS using dd or rm -rf on Linux ?

yt3.ggpht.com

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Is it possible to erase the UEFI/BIOS using dd or rm -rf on Linux ?

yt3.ggpht.com

zaknenou@lemmy.dbzer0.com to Linux@lemmy.mlEnglish · 1 year ago
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  • lemmyng@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Not sure about erasing all of it, but it is (or was) certainly possible to delete enough of it to brick a motherboard https://www.phoronix.com/news/UEFI-rm-root-directory

  • Kyrgizion@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    It resides on the MB itself in a separate chip, so no, although there are probably tools to make it possible.

    • zaknenou@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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      1 year ago

      what about this answer ? Is it outdated ? According to it, UEFI could be mounted like a flash drive I understand ?

      • NaN@lemmy.sdf.org
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        1 year ago

        They should still be possible. It’s not clearing the BIOS though, it is clearing variables loaded into the BIOS. The OS needs to be able to write to them. A good one limits what an OS can write or rebuilds them, a bad one bricks.

        • zaknenou@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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          1 year ago

          hmm, so this is not a constant thing among BIOSes and UEFIs

  • mvirts@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Pretty sure you can brick your system real quick using efivarfs

    https://docs.kernel.org/filesystems/efivarfs.html

    some systems dont let you write but some do.

    Theres a similar system i was messing with to read and write the firmware code… reading through this may be informative.

    efivars should let your change any bios/uefi settings if thats what youre looking for.

    • Possibly linux@lemmy.zip
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      1 year ago

      Modern versions of Linux don’t let you erase it so easily

    • zaknenou@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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      1 year ago

      thank you! I think this is what needed to explore
      It is not my level to edit these things, I’m just Linux newbie exploring the possibilities.

      But I still can’t wrap my head over dd not being able to wipe a storage device out, despite being described as a “low level tool that can write zeroes to targets” in the discussion I viewed online.

      • BCsven@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        The bios isn’t like a regular storage device presented to the kernel for mounting.

      • bloodfart@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Dd can’t overwrite a burned cdr either. If the thing you wanna mess with is read only there’s no way to use it as a dd of.

        • zaknenou@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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          1 year ago

          but CD-R aren’t rewrite_able because of their physical property not because protected

          • bloodfart@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            that’s true, but in both cases the ability to write data simply isn’t there.

  • m4@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    I’m just curious about what software was used to make this image.

    • zaknenou@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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      1 year ago

      I don’t know I got it from this post by the ByteByteGo Youtube Channel:
      https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxNpwmgzai2O_tUa-b5yeLzLjh_OHs4vDY
      On the description for this video they state:

      Animation tools: Adobe Illustrator and After Effects.

      • PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocksB
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        1 year ago

        Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

        https://www.piped.video/post/UgkxNpwmgzai2O_tUa-b5yeLzLjh_OHs4vDY

        this

        Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

        I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.

        • zaknenou@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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          1 year ago

          deleted by creator

  • boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net
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    1 year ago

    Only if your device supports software flashing, likely not.

  • femboy_bird@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 year ago

    Usually not, but some devices can

  • VeganCheesecake@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 year ago

    You can mount the efi partition, but I don’t think you can usually mount the uefi or bios. I’ve only ever edited vbios, and haven’t done so in quite some time, but I remember needing to clamp the vbios chip. Dunno if motherboards make their bios chips more accessible, but I kinda doubt it.

    Some motherboard support starting bios/uefi updates from a booted OS, so there might be a vector to be found there.

  • Possibly linux@lemmy.zip
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    1 year ago

    It used to be

  • MonkderDritte@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    No, you need efibootmgr to erase your UEFI.

  • Vitaly@feddit.uk
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    1 year ago

    no because bios is read only

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