[Discuss] Updating firmware

[richard.pieri at gmail.com (Rich Pieri)]

On Sat, 31 Jan 2026 18:26:32 +0000
"Randall Rose" <rrose at pobox.com> wrote:

> Open-ended question: if you buy a used laptop from an untrusted
> source, and you would like to clean it as thoroughly as possible,
> what is the best way to make sure all the firmware is either
> factory-reset or updated to a trustworthy state?

Firmware resets and flashing is under the control of the firmware
which, if compromised, can pretend the reset or reflash process works.
You'd need to remove the firmware chip from the system board and flash
it using a standalone programmer module.

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