Possibility to tear electrically out the Bios chip

Hello everybody,

please, has some of you ripped out the BIOS chip from the motherboard when the pc is power on ? 
Has someone of you done this experiment ?
Could be damages to the motherboard ?

Or maybe Coreboot should be programmed to switch electrically off the chip before tear out it from its case ?

I pose this question because, if really the Bios chip is only necessary for the boot process of a machine, has not sense that it is on board during the usual activity of the O.S.

So, is it possible tear out it from its case after the boot process, when the pc is working and the O.S. has taken into account the whole control of the pc ?

Tips are welcome. Thanks very much in advance !

I hope to hear you soon.

Best Regards.

Vincenzo.

Forensic Consultant
Tribunale di Lecce

Studio: Strada di Garibaldi - Contrada Paradisi
73010 Lequile (LE)

cell: 339.7968555
skype: vincenzo.di_salvo

[Zoran Stojsavljevic]

Hello Vincenzo,

It is theoretically possible. But, there are few modes and few situations
(I envision) where this could be achieved, IMHO.

HW requirements: you should make your flash to be in the socket (not just
soldered on the mobo). Then flash's VCC pin (1.8V or 3.3V) should be
connected to mobo's power supply rail via switch, so, after bringing
platform to OS, you can switch flash's power OFF.

Also, this: *Or maybe Coreboot should be programmed to switch electrically
off the chip before tear out it from its case?* is a very good test to be
performed! My take on this, the only requirement Coreboot should have is as
payload to have Tiano Core. Other payloads will not work (since all setup
will behave as legacy BIOS)... I'll bet on it as heuristics theory (NOT as
theorem oriented one).

SW requirements:
[1] ONLY UEFI, legacy BIOS will not work at all;
[2] While in CMOS, you should set CPU power states to be ONLY: C0 and C1
states, other states are NOT allowed. In other words, Power Management is
OFF (PC is always ON).

I have no idea how ACPI tables will work, but they should be copied into
main memory controlled by the OS, as well as UEFI's VBT (Video BIOS table).
Also not sure about UEFI's Run Time Services (do they use parts of UEFI or
not). But I'll find out (CIA always finds the right info, despite they
after all alter the truth/real facts as a half-hacked reality, to serve in
their own straight/direct interests). ;-)

This theme is very worth exploring (in depth).

Please, stay tuned, it'll take a time!

Zoran Stojsavljevic

On Fri, Oct 13, 2017 at 8:37 AM, [e-mail] <
[e-mail]> wrote:
> Hello everybody,
>
> please, has some of you ripped out the BIOS chip from the motherboard when
> the pc is power on ?
> Has someone of you done this experiment ?
> Could be damages to the motherboard ?
>
> Or maybe Coreboot should be programmed to switch electrically off the chip
> before tear out it from its case ?
>
> I pose this question because, if really the Bios chip is only necessary
> for the boot process of a machine, has not sense that it is on board during
> the usual activity of the O.S.
>
> So, is it possible tear out it from its case after the boot process, when
> the pc is working and the O.S. has taken into account the whole control of
> the pc ?
>
> Tips are welcome. Thanks very much in advance !
>
> I hope to hear you soon.
>
> Best Regards.
>
> Vincenzo.
>
> Forensic Consultant
> Tribunale di Lecce
>
> Studio: Strada di Garibaldi - Contrada Paradisi
> 73010 Lequile (LE)
>
> cell: 339.7968555 <(339)%20796-8555>
> skype: vincenzo.di_salvo

[Carl-Daniel Hailfinger]

Hello Vincenzo,

On 13.10.2017 08:37, [e-mail] wrote:
> please, has some of you ripped out the BIOS chip from the motherboard when the pc is power on ? 
> Has someone of you done this experiment ?
> Could be damages to the motherboard ?

Many times. It always worked if the chip was in a socket. I have not
tried desoldering a chip in a running machine.
Modern Intel systems may cause problems if the Management Engine tries
to access the flash chip while it is removed, but IO'm not an expert on
that.
> Or maybe Coreboot should be programmed to switch electrically off the chip before tear out it from its case ?

You can't switch off the power for the flash chip because there is no
switch in the hardware.
> I pose this question because, if really the Bios chip is only necessary for the boot process of a machine, has not sense that it is on board during the usual activity of the O.S.
>
> So, is it possible tear out it from its case after the boot process, when the pc is working and the O.S. has taken into account the whole control of the pc ?

I had some older PCs work fine without a flash chip for more than 4
weeks. Obviously, they needed the flash chip for booting, but after that
I had removed it.
For modern systems, it depends on various components and where their
firmware and/or configuration data is stored. A generic answer is not
really possible anymore.
> Tips are welcome. Thanks very much in advance !
>
> I hope to hear you soon.
>
> Best Regards.
>
> Vincenzo.

Regards,
Carl-Daniel