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superdrap

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6 years ago

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superdrap

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May 2nd, 2020 03:00

Area-51m, Kernel DMA Protection

I've got Alienware Area-51m and whatever I do Kernel DMA Protection is off in System Info.

As it has to be supported by both hardware and BIOS/UEFI settings and there's no way to check as Alienware's BIOS is not very informative - I wonder if it is On for anybody?

If yes, I can keep trying to turn it on...

  • jphughan

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    Posted May 2nd, 2020 08:00

    I've seen it enabled on the XPS 13 7390 2-in-1, and I see it enabled on a non-Dell system I have here.  Kernel DMA Protection requires support from the hardware, firmware, OS, and drivers.  And even when all of that support is available, it's only actually used for peripherals that actually support it, since that's a requirement too.  For peripherals that don't support it, the system has to fall back to a "legacy" Thunderbolt security level for that specific peripheral.

  • superdrap

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    Posted May 8th, 2020 07:00

    Just a quick one: do you have Windows Home or more advanced Windows version?

  • jphughan

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    Posted May 8th, 2020 08:00

    @superdrap  I have Win10 Pro, but I don't think that makes a difference for Kernel DMA Protection.

  • superdrap

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    Posted May 8th, 2020 08:00

    It shouldn't but who knows.