[HELP] Disabling IME on Coffe Lake

[Morasithil]

I've just been reading alot instructions how to disable the IME and it's overwhelming, i must admit.. it's complicated. I know only one thing certainly, i value privacy and freedom and i want to disable this BS IME on my system. After all i'll quote Nicola Corna here: "Even if it sounds dangerous, once you have a valid backup of your ROM and a way to reprogram it (external flasher, dual BIOS...), you should be safe." So i would be a fool not to try.

My hardware: CPU - INTEL Core i7 8700k Mainboard - Asus ROG Maximus XI Hero Gaming 1151 ATX Z390 OS - Windows 10 Pro 64Bit V21H2 I've got a second computer with the same OS (no linux, but could install in a vm if required, and it's seems like it's required) Would mint or debian be fine? I have questions . . .

Correct me if wrong, basically what i'll have to do is edit a copy of the original bios firmware, by edit i mean "disable" ime, then flash the modified biosfirmware on the rom-chip / bios-chip?

From what i've seen, external flashing is highly recommended as internal flashing has limitations or might not work at all. Here https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/External-flashing a linux board is mentioned as requirement, i don't have that. However if i understand correctly, alternatively to a linuxboard a USB SPI programmer would be another option. You listed these variations: CH341A or the FT232H/FT2232H/FT4232H (Guess i'll just pick the first one here?) Then you say this: "replace the -p linux_spi,... option in flashrom with the corresponding driver." I don't understand how this process works, i know you want me to replace the above code with another one, but the how is missing for me. What exactly am i supposed to do here https://wiki.flashrom.org/Supported_hardware#USB_Devices ? Which of those: SOIC clip, DIP clip, SMD clips should i get? When you say "Turn off the PC and disconnect it from the power supply" is it enough to disconnect the powersupply from any voltage source or did you precisely mean to disconnect all cable from the PSU that are connected to any pc components? Removing the board-battery shouldn't be an issue. This is the filename of the bios for my board DRV_Chipset_Intel_TP_W11_64_V101188368283_20211022R.zip Does that seem right to you? Just want to be sure. PS: I don't want to update the bios version because downgarding will not be possible anymore, screw asus! If also been reading this guide https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/issues/98 As i said before, this is overwhelming and somewhat complicated / confusing to me.