3
What is a MDM? Can it be wiped off, or is it ingrained in the motherboard? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 2 months ago by velox_vulnus@lemmy.ml to c/thinkpad@lemmy.ml
10 comments fedilink hide all child comments

One of the used Thinkpad I was looking at has a MDM. Is it going to be an issue? If so, can I bypass it? I'm going to be using Linux anyway, so would it cause any issue?

top 10 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] NoneYa@lemm.ee 9 points 2 months ago

MDM stands for mobile device management. It’s a corporate IT’s way of remotely managing the machine like locking it down from being used or allowing drastic changes to the OS. Depending on the one being used (like Intune from Microsoft), it could be tricky to get around it.

But with most, you can get around it by wiping the OS and starting fresh or getting a new hard drive (if possible).

They are generally dependent on the OS that was installed, but I’m sure one could exist on the hardware level that makes this difficult to bypass by just swapping the OS or hard drive.

[-] velox_vulnus@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It is a T14 Gen1. Any possibility that this is a hardware-only lock? Apparently, the sellers used Windows Audit mode to create a local user to bypass this screen.

[-] NoneYa@lemm.ee 2 points 2 months ago

It is more so dependent on the MDM that was used than the machine. Difficult to say without knowing which MDM it is and how it was configured to the computer.

I’d think you could just try to install Linux and if you have problems, then see what to do to bypass it depending on whatever issue it is.

The sellers, they don’t have access to remove the MDM? Was this a stolen device? Or did the company that manage this go out of business or something?

[-] velox_vulnus@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 months ago

I'd assume that the OS is enterprise or education, and hence the lock? So far, the seller hasn't disclosed that, so I'm sceptical about picking this device.

[-] NoneYa@lemm.ee 2 points 2 months ago

Yeah I’d be suspect of it for that reason. I just now noticed that you said you’re looking and this isn’t a device you currently have. I was thinking you already got this device.

For that reason, I’d recommend against this. Like where I work, when we retire devices, we remove them from our MDM and the same goes for other businesses and school districts. The only (semi) legitimate reasoning I could see for this not being the case is if the business went under out of the blue and the IT just up and left and they and users just grabbed devices on their way out.

Still likely not a legitimate case as those devices may need to be part of liquidation, etc.

But generally these are cases where someone stole the device from an employee like out of their car or the employee stole it from work, either taking it without authorization or not properly returning it when their employment is done, etc. and those cases wouldn’t be favorable to you if you had the device too.

I’d say skip this one and look for another machine instead.

[-] juice702@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

Mobile device management. Is this a work device?

[-] velox_vulnus@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 months ago

Looks like it is one. I've been told that a local user account was created to bypass the login screen, but honestly, I'm going to wipe it with Linux anyway, so I wanted to make sure if this wasn't a hardware lock.

[-] Tangentism@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 months ago

I would give it a swerve.

[-] 0x2d@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 months ago

you are probably thinking of computrace, a rootkit installed by sysadmins that lives in the bios and can install backdoors, brick the computer, and create police reports. if it's an old thinkpad chances are the subscriptions are probably expired and it will automatically deactivate after about 15 minutes on wifi on windows.

[-] 0x2d@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 months ago

after that, you should choose "permanantly deactivate" in the bios instead of just "inactive"

this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2024
3 points (100.0% liked)

ThinkPad

1325 readers
1 users here now

IBM and Lenovo ThinkPad laptop enthusiasts!

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
rickyh@lemmy.ml