Linux help pls with mei_me and blacklisting it

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Hello I am asking you for help with this problem with mei_me. If it helps I am on Linux Mint 19.1, on the dual booting computer with Win 7. On occassions mei_me 0000:00:16:0 attempt to start, with failed being “hbm_start = -5” and seem to refuse to allow my computer to suspend/sleep with no frozen task 0 = “-1” so I have to power off with power button. So, I looked for a solution online and I think I found it,

sudo echo  "blacklist mei mei_me" > /etc/modprobe.d/mei.conf

The problem is that when I pasted it on the terminal, it stated permission refused.  I then type /etc/modprobe.d/mei conf and it stated that it does not exist.  So I had an idea and typed,

sudo echo  "blacklist mei mei_me"

It seemed to accept that and asked for my password. Okay the terminal seem to acknowledge it as valid this time.  However, I am being very cautious, as I am unsure if it would actually do what I think it is supposed to do and I am wondering if there is any way of reversing the change if that turned out to be a wrong move. So, I didn’t go through with it and decided to check with you guys.

Thank you for your help

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? says:

running Intel? did you have the error on “older” kernel(s)? can you boot to a kernal version older than the one that is getting the error?possibly mismatch between current kernel and the Intel Management Engine Interface driver (mei).

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There are incompatibilities with ‘powersaving’ using the 5.xx series of kernels.
However, the 4.xx series, in-support kernel, works flawlessly here on mint 19.3

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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anonymous wrote:

sudo echo "blacklist mei mei_me" > /etc/modprobe.d/mei.conf

The problem is that when I pasted it on the terminal, it stated permission refused. I then type /etc/modprobe.d/mei conf and it stated that it does not exist.

First, a little bit about what that line does.

The echo command simply prints whatever you tell it to. If you just enter

echo "blacklist mei mei_me"

you will see that bit in the quotation marks echoed right under the line where you typed that in the terminal. The terminal display is the standard output (stdout), so if you don’t tell it where you want the output to go, it goes there.

The greater-than symbol redirects the output to the file that is listed after that, which is /etc/modprobe.d/mei.conf. Writing to /etc requires superuser permissions, and that’s what sudo is meant to do.

I would have thought that the command you tried to use would have worked, but I’m by no means an expert in bash (the command shell in use by the terminal window). I looked it up, and the cause for this behavior is that he shell redirects to the file (and since it does not exist yet, tries to create it) before it starts sudo, and since /etc is owned by root, the request is denied before sudo even gets a chance to ask for the password.

So I had an idea and typed, sudo echo “blacklist mei mei_me” It seemed to accept that and asked for my password. Okay the terminal seem to acknowledge it as valid this time. However, I am being very cautious, as I am unsure if it would actually do what I think it is supposed to do

All that line would do is ask for the password, then print ‘blacklist me mei_me’ on the terminal screen right below.

There are a few ways that would allow the file to be created and for the line to be included within, but I am not sure it will work with multiple modules blacklisted on the same line. I’ve always seen each blacklisted module on its own line.

So, what you could do is to navigate to /etc/modprobe.d in your file manager (called ‘Files’ in Mint, even though its real name is Nemo/Caja/Thunar depending on the desktop environment), then right-click the background and select Open as root. It will ask for the password, then open a new file manager window with elevated privileges. Right click on the background in that window and select Create new text file, and name it mei.conf. Then copy these two lines into the blank document:

blacklist mei
blacklist mei_me

and save it.

Those modules will be prevented from loading at the next boot.

and I am wondering if there is any way of reversing the change if that turned out to be a wrong move.

Yes… open as root like above, but this time delete the file you created (mei.conf).

Good luck!

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Thank you very much for your help!

It may makes you laugh (embarassed), I could not find the /etc file and I was frustrated.  So I took much a closer look and realized that there is a file system (yes, somehow I missed it and only looked into Home file).  Now I found it and the file you are talking about. How did I even missed it (face palmed)? I hope you had a good chuckle

Thank you again Have a great day!

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? says:

no laughter coming from woody’s when someone needs answers. hope you get the problem sorted out, and you may enjoy learning how to use your file system:

https://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/244

i use the cat command to bring up system files,eg.,  (cat /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf) from the terminal

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Ascaris

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