this post was submitted on 14 Jan 2025
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[–] just_another_person 58 points 2 days ago (9 children)

Locked bootloader for warranty coverage: totally fine

Refusal for owner to unlock and void warranty: not fine.

[–] Zak 14 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

In most situations, even that is giving too much power to the manufacturer. It's fair for them to flash the original software as part of any diagnostic or service process, but not fair to refuse to repair or replace a product that actually has a hardware defect just because the owner put different software on it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

It's fair for them to flash the original software as part of any diagnostic or service process

only fair if it does not come with any data loss. so basically not actually fair

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

Backups are, first and foremost, your responsibility. It's unfortunately not realistic to expect someone to diagnose whether an issue is software-related or a hardware failure on any obscure DIY OS you might have installed. But as long as it's possible to flash back the original firmware, warranty should still apply

[–] just_another_person 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Software can easily harm the actual device, so locking it to prevent that from happening in a warranty situation doesn't seem super off-base to me.

[–] Zak 3 points 2 days ago

So can installing a faulty third-party cooling fan, but in the USA, the law requires the warranty provider to prove the fault was caused by improper maintenance or defects in third-party components.

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