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Device is no longer booting after disabling Management Engine

Introduction

Depending on the system or platform, deactivating the Intel Management Engine (Intel ME) can lead to a situation in which the system can no longe initialise correctly and therefore cannot be started. In this state, the screen remains black and you cannot access the BIOS setup to reactivate the ME.

This article describes a hardware method for resolving this issue.

Solution steps

  1. Switch off the device, for example by pressing and holding the power button.
  2. Disconnect the charger or AC adapter from the laptop.
  3. Unscrew and remove the bottom case (see guidance below).
  4. Disconnect the Lithium-Polymer (LiPo) battery cable from the motherboard.
  5. Disconnect the CMOS battery cable from the motherboard.
  6. Remove all RAM modules.
  7. Remove all SSD modules (number of SSDs depends on the system).
  8. Press and hold the power button for 30 seconds.
  9. Reinsert the RAM modules, but do not insert the SSDs yet.
  10. Reconnect the CMOS battery and LiPo battery cable to the motherboard.
  11. Reconnect the charger.
  12. Power on the device and wait a few minutes until a start screen appears.
  13. In BIOS setup (F2), reactivate the Intel Management Engine and save (F10). The device will reboot.
  14. Switch off the device and remove the charger and LiPo battery cable again.
  15. Reinstall the SSD modules now.
  16. Reconnect the LiPo battery cable and charger.
  17. Switch on the device to check whether the operating system can now be started from the SSD again.
  18. If successful, shut down the device and reassemble the bottom case.

Notes

  • The instructions must be followed exactly – please do not skip any steps.
  • Pressing the power button for 30 seconds discharges any capacitors on the motherboard that may still contain residual voltage. In theory, shorter periods of time are also sufficient here, but 30 seconds is on the safe side.
  • After this process, it typically takes 2 to 3 minutes for the start-up screen to appear. The duration of the process depends on the installed RAM capacity.
  • After this process, all BIOS settings are reset to factory settings, but Intel ME remains disabled.

Picture and guidance

The slots for the LiPo battery cable, CMOS battery cable, RAM and SSD slots are shown in this picture of (XMG EVO 15) as an example. The slots look similar or identical on other laptop models.

The cable connectors can be pulled to the side or downwards, meaning away from the slot. To avoid damage, pull directly on the connector, not on the cable.

Further instructions and safety information can be found in this article:

Service manuals can be found in the download portal for the respective model.

Relationship between SSD and Management Engine

In the scenario described here, booting with a built-in SSD is not possible without Intel ME being enabled. To restore a functioning operating state, the SSD must remain removed while Intel ME is being reactivated. However, simply removing the SSD is not sufficient. Once the no boot state described here has been reached, all of the steps below must be followed before Intel ME can be reactivated and the SSD reinstalled.

Disclaimer

Deactivating the Intel Management Engine is expressly not recommended. The Intel ME (or Intel Converged Security and Management Engine, CSME) is a hardware-based security and management controller that runs in isolation from the main processor and serves as the root of trust for the platform. It forms the hardware basis for Secure Boot, BitLocker drive encryption and other security-related functions of modern systems. The CSME or ME also performs tasks in system initialisation and power management. A faulty or manipulated ME state can cause the system to fail to start.

Further information

The article linked here contains further instructions on how to restore bootability based on other possible causes.