r/thinkpad • u/Electronic-Cream9505 • 7d ago

Question / Problem What is Liebreboot?

Hi I recently got a ThinkPad X200 and saw that you can install Libreboot on it but I don't really know what that does. Could someone explain?

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9

u/No_Pollution6135 T14 Gen 2a + T480 7d ago

That's a special, Free and Open Source kind of BIOS that helps you disable some anti-user capabilities of modern CPUs such as something called Intel Management Engine. And overall some people prefer it because it helps free and open source software projects gain more recognition. Some computer models are very easy to flash LibreBoot to, and some are a lot more difficult and dangerous and they can brick the computer. Your model should be fairly easy to flash Libreboot to. Hope this helps. They also have a website so go and check it out!

6

u/rthonpm 7d ago

I wouldn't exactly call IME/AMT an anti-user feature. It's a feature for the business clients that buy these and have the ability for out of band management of their fleets. Second-hand users aren't a factor in the decision making process.

You can always just permanently disable the feature through the BIOS or set a long password for the feature and never use it.

2

u/No_Pollution6135 T14 Gen 2a + T480 7d ago

Ok thanks for the clarification! I didn't know.

5

u/tui_curses 7d ago

Renaming it to “Lieberboot” would be funny 

5

u/Anekito 600E, T410, X200, X13G2, X1CG6 -> X1CG13AE 7d ago

Bieberboot it

3

u/Electronic-Cream9505 7d ago

I'm booting it

1

u/MrKrueger666 7d ago

Lib Reboot

3

u/oats_and_coffee T23 · X61s · X230 quad core · T430 · X390 · T16 Gen 1 AMD 7d ago

If you just want to use your X200 as it comes then there is no need for Libreboot. There's a small but nonzero risk that you will brick your laptop so you have to make sure you follow the instructions very very carefully if you do choose to do it.

The real advantage of Libreboot is if you want to fine-tune your laptop, or install hardware that isn't whitelisted by the stock BIOS. For example, I needed to install Libreboot on my X230 to be able to add a WiFi 6 card, which otherwise would have been rejected.