General Discussions

[rwd4ever]

Intel is determined to impose UEFI class 3 and exterminate CSM and hence legacy BIOS support. Will any AMD mainboards still be made with UEFI class 2?

[elstaci]

Every articles that I found indicates that only Intel will end CSM Mode on it BIOSes in 2020.

Intel made the announcement in 2017 that by 2020 all CSM Modes in its Intel Motherboard's BIOSes will be removed.

Whereas, AMD has not made any formal advanced warnings of removing CSM mode from its Motherboard BIOSes.

If AMD is planning to follow Intel path they are keeping it a secret.

Intel gave its Consumers 3 years warning in advance. So I presume AMD would follow a similar route in informing its Users about CSM mode being made obsolete or not on its motherboards.

My personal observations is that Intel believes that CSM processors or hardware are now pretty much obsolete and all new hardware being manufactured are being made to run on UEFI BIOSes striclty.

Also a great way for Intel Customers with Legacy Intel hardware to upgrade to new Intel Hardware or Processors thus giving Intel a boost in its profits.

But you can always ask Official AMD Support and see what they say and post their answer back here for other Users to know about AMD plans for CSM mode on its motherboards from here: https://www.amd.com/en/support/contact-email-form 

[black_zion]

The first question is if Intel meant CSM/UEFI 2 would be removed across the entire product stack by 2020, or if they would start to phase it out by then. Server and OEM markets would be the least affected by this change, given the hardware used at those levels aren't legacy, while the consumer market would be the most vulnerable since non-UEFI hardware is still around, though increasingly rare. The second question is if Intel still plans to do this, as I haven't seen this discussed in some time, and realistically you're more likely to have your security breached by avenues other than secure boot.

The reason I say that is if you look at the just released Intel motherboards with a Z490 chipset, such as the ASUS Maximus XII Extreme, and I use this picture from Tweaktown's review of that motherboard, it still features CSM, and it's 2020, so it's clear that Intel has already missed their "By 2020" target, at least in the consumer market.

[elstaci]

According to Wiki: Unified Extensible Firmware Interface - Wikipedia 

This is the same info I got when I googled CSM Mode and Intel. All Info was from 2017. Unless Intel changed their minds since then. I don't know.

From ZDNET 2017: Intel: We're ending all legacy BIOS support by 2020 | ZDNet

BIOS is the firmware that helped older PCs boot up after powering on and offered a runtime for the operating system and software.

Today's computers come with UEFI or the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, but have included BIOS support for cases where people use software that depends on 16-bit BIOS, which can be enabled though the Compatibility Support Module (CSM).

Intel technical marketing engineer Brian Richardson revealed in a recent presentation that the company will require UEFI Class 3 and above. It will remove legacy BIOS support from its client and datacenter platforms by 2020.

By enforcing UEFI Class 3 it will "break" any customer process that depends on disabling UEFI through CSM.

However, as noted by Liliputing, Intel isn't making Secure Boot mandatory, which means users should still be able to run unsigned Linux distributions on PCs with UEFI. However, users won't be able to sidestep compatibility issues using CSM on Intel-based PCs

I do know that AMD hasn't announced yet that they have stopped support for CSM Mode like Intel did in 2017.

EDIT:

[black_zion]

That's the only thing I've seen too, articles from 2017 and Wikipedia, nothing new.

[hardcoregames_]

AMD is pretty much at UEFI Class 2 at the moment with support for peripherals. I have a SATA card with a BIOS compatible ROM on it that can allow the card to be used as a boot device. In UEFI the card interface is not presented as the SSD is the boot device,

The MSI BIOS in CSM is still the default with optimal defaults. So the AMD solution is more practical as some AM4 motherboards have old legay PCI slots so that users can use existing peripherals.

[elstaci]

Yes, it seems like AMD is holding off in following Intel's lead in removing CSM mode in UEFI Motherboards.

But it is inevitable that AMD will do the same thing in the near future since eventually most Users will have UEFI only CPU and hardware as BIOS related CPU's and hardware becomes more scarce through attrition.

[hardcoregames_]

AMD has no real reason to abandon CSM as it does not impact even the X570

[elstaci]

Probably the same reasons as Intel has.

[hardcoregames_]

I am expecting a new x670 or whatever they call it when Ryzen 4000 ship.

Looking down my pointed nose at what it can do for me is the pubble of the hour.

Propaganda for RDNA 2 is fine and dandy but I usually expect an elite card like the RTX 2080 to have a substantial service life.

Ampere is another area of wild speculation and the latest crap out there with bizarre coolers do not food me a bit. Ampere is being flogged by HPE at the moment and IBM is also going to be offering the computer box as well.

Not a peep at any news brief over consumer hardware. So it suggests my RTX 2080 will have a job for a few quarters as when new cards launch prices are high as digital coin enthusiasts grab them up.

[black_zion]

I bet Microsoft has something to do with it since it's going to be required for the unholy nightmare that is Windows 10X, but the question I have to the OP is what hardware and software you are using which would no longer function without CSM.

[hardcoregames_]

A laptop is a different proposition compared to a desktop. My Lenovo X220 is Sandy Bridge which was the first platform to move to UEFI.

Given the machine processor is soldered in, no option like AM4 etc

[hardcoregames_]

that might not work out as some who have a fried video card and one old card in the junk box that is not UEFI cable could be a problem.

AMD sells pure CPUs but even my X570 can use any PCIe card (in theory anyway) and it has CSM support if needed.