linuxboot / linuxboot/heads

Don't build ME linux kernel modules (not currently packed)

Open
#1,597 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Dominant language
Makefile
Stars
1.6k
Forks
211
Avg merge
4d 21h
Merged PRs (30d)
6

Description

> MEI is removed because the HECI devices are disabled on all Librems (all either have HAP bit or neutralized ME).
>
> AFAICT, there also are no boards actually setting CONFIG_LINUX_MEI in the board config (so mei.ko/mei-me.ko are never actually bundled), and I don't see any logic to insert those modules if they were bundled. So I don't think =m makes sense for the other Linux configs either.

Right checked linux configs, linux module and board statements.

Some boards's linux config compile as kernel modules:
```
CONFIG_INTEL_MEI=m
CONFIG_INTEL_MEI_ME=m
CONFIG_INTEL_MEI_TXE=m
```

Where modules/linux:
```
# ME drivers for talking the the management engine
linux_modules-$(CONFIG_LINUX_MEI) += drivers/misc/mei/mei.ko
linux_modules-$(CONFIG_LINUX_MEI) += drivers/misc/mei/mei-me.ko
```

But where no boards configs actually include `CONFIG_LINUX_MEI`. Basically an old artifact of older times where ME got investigated to be neutered/deactivated/removed. I think we should add verification of platform runtime somehow with at least cbmem to check runtime ME state in another issue? @JonathonHall-Purism ?

_Originally posted by @tlaurion in https://github.com/linuxboot/heads/issues/1590#issuecomment-1904397766_

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Search the Linux configs, board configs, and the linux_modules statements for CONFIG_INTEL_MEI, CONFIG_INTEL_MEI_ME, CONFIG_INTEL_MEI_TXE, and CONFIG_LINUX_MEI. Confirm that no board configuration or module insertion logic uses them, then remove the obsolete module-building references and verify the affected configurations no longer build MEI modules.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
linux
Domain
build-system, operating-systems
Issue type
Refactor
Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.