Abit ownersand Fellow freedom fighters please look at this

[oblivion]

My abit bf-6 came with an option to disable the processor serial # in the bios....
I have updated the bios and now the option is gone from the bios.....this angers me to no end.......

So I have made an intelligent letter complaining about this and forwarded it to all the email addys below,I also stated that they may lose customers due to this,and I along with many others wish them to put the option back in the newest bios updates.

So please,if you own an Abit,or if you may buy one,or even if you think it is unfair please please write a letter on this subject and forward it to all of the below email addys.

Thank you,OblivioN

US sales and tech support

technical@abit-usa.com

sales@abit-usa.com

Tiawan headquarters

market@abit.com.tw

webline@abit.com.tw

sales@abit.com.tw

market@abit.com.tw

technical@abit.com.tw

[Dominus]

Just imagine. All new BF6s (and perhaps all Abit motherboards in general) now have the PSN enabled by default, and have no way of turning it off.

It begins. UCITA is being ratified, and the spread of the PSN.

I told you so.

You all said I was mad, but who's mad now?!?!?!

Bwahahahahaha!!

[smokin1]

That is not good news indeed...my Abit bios on my BE6 still supports it. In the meantime..while waiting...maybe download the small program from Intel to turn it off..
http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif

[oblivion]

There are programs that will let you disable
the PSN.

[Dominus]

It is still there. If you want to crash your system using a PSN exploit, go here:

http://www.zeroknowledge.com/p3/

Check the recent Sysopt UCITA thread for more details.

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/004276.html

[smokin1]

Was that a question oblivion? if so it is here INTEL ID (http://support.intel.com/support/processors/pentiumiii/snum.htm?iid=psncu+supp1&)



[This message has been edited by smokin1 (edited 02-15-2000).]

[Target]

****...I was thinking of getting a BF6 too http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif

[daveleau]

I just bought two BF6's and they both still have them enabled. I hope I don't need a BIOS flash anytime soon.
Dave

[Mntsnow]

Who cares if you can disable it from the bios when you can disable or enable it via software?(which is all the bios does anyways)
Makes no difference from where you disable it...

Mntsnow

[Dominus]

Makes no difference where you disable it, or if you do or not. It is still there and accessible using simple activex and javascript.

Anyone try that link I posted earlier?

[Serge]

I own a BF6 and to this day see no reason as to flash bios. I don't need higher cpu support and the bugs that updates fix don't affect/bother me.

So no disappearing options for me!

[U-96]

MntSnow, are you suggesting the exercise is pointless because the serial is still accessible by software (assumed to be hostile) regardless of whether the ID is diabled in BIOS or not? Bummer. Guess AMD will get my custom when I retire my Celery...

[smokin1]

I tried the link you posted and it didn't work on my browser...
http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[oblivion]

Attn,I did not recieve a reply back from abit yet,but I was just informed that,the option is there,but it will only show up if you have a pIII in your system,
I have a celeron,and the option does not show up at all.I was certain that I did see the option in the bios before,but I must have been wrong.Thanks and sorry for the confusion.

[Paul V]

Dominus -- according to their website's FAQ, this trick only works if the ID is disabled by software and not by the BIOS.

I wonder if it's possible to actually hard disable it -- modify the P3's daughter card to remove this "feature".

Anyone know exactly how the serial # is implemented?

[socalgal]

Very Interesting site, Dominus... thanks.

Apparently then, the only way to be sure PSN is not "activated" is to:

Disable PSN in BIOS
Use the PSN Control Utility
Disable ActiveX/Java/JavaScript in browsers
Never download an ActiveX control

Would that be correct?

AFAIK, the PSN is hardwired onto the chip. I haven't heard how it's done, nor have I heard of it being undone/disabled.

Edit: Ahh, ok Oblivion!

[This message has been edited by socalgal (edited 02-17-2000).]

[Wiz]

Not to be the paranoid one, but how do we even know if those numbers were disabled. Sure it says they are, but how can we be completely sure?

[socalgal]

I know, Wiz, I have the same thoughts about some of stuff I'm running... how do we really know they aren't placebos...

[oblivion]

Socalgal,I was a bit mistaken you see,it is still in the bios,but the option only shows up if you have a pIII installed in your comp
(well because the pIII has it the pII does not),I made a mistake and I thought I had seen the option before when I first got the MB,but alas I was wrong.

I had a small program before that would tel you all kinds of stuff from your processor,it would even tell you if the PSN could be read,this would be a useful program to check and see if it actually worked properly. I cant for the life of me remember what it was called.

[Paul V]

I ask how it is done because it would really be difficult (maybe) to have the SN hard encoded on the same wafer as the processor. Why? It's very easy to take one wafer and make a million identical ones. It's not so easy to take and make a million different wafers.

I assume at production all of them are identical and unnumbered, and that the chips are numbered after the original wafer is made. It could be in one of 2 ways:

1) Modifying the actual wafer itself, perhaps by lasering off certain resistors, or things of this nature

2) Using a one-time PROM method that basically means you blow fuses and leave others intact.

#1 would be almost impossible to deal with. #2 however, as the PROM could be programmed without working on the silicon wafer itself, you could reprogram the PROM actually. Not to anything you desired, as some fuses are irreparably blown, but you could in theory blow ALL the fuses out, giving an SN of either 000000..0 or 11111..1.

Just random thoughts, there's a million other ways the SN could be done too. It would be neat to know which is used.

[Mntsnow]

Yes it would be nice to know the "inner" workings of the PSN. OK who knows somebody at Intel engineering?

Mntsnow