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title: Libreboot Candidates list x-toc-enable: true ...

Libreboot Candidates list

Libreboot has so far been biased towards Intel. This needs to end - the sooner, the better! A nice start:

  • Lenovo G505S
    • coreboot-well-supported AMD laptop with active contributors and supporters
    • Has powerful quadcore A10-5750M CPU and supports 16GB RAM without any compatibility issues under coreboot, so it is possible to get the best performing 1600MHz CL9 (9-9-9-24/27/28, the lower the better) DDR3 SO-DIMMs of any model and be confident that they will work
    • It's AMD - not Intel, so no ME/AMT to worry about! http://www.coreboot.org/User_talk:MrNuke/LTS_Candidates and http://www.coreboot.org/Board:hp/pavilion_m6_1035dx#Native_graphics_init (G505S is based on the same design) . Also, being AMD-based it does not suffer from some Intel-specific vulnerabilities like Meltdown (for which up to 30% performance degrading patch is required) and also recently the Intel hyperthreading vulnerabilities have been discovered - which might force the security-conscious Intel users to disable it, also decreasing the performance difference. And - like all the 15h Richlands (and other early-16h / 15h / older than late-16h arhitecture) - it doesn't contain PSP.
    • Works without CPU microcode updates
    • Works without IMC blob and IMC is disabled
    • USB works fine without XHCI firmware, although at USB 2.0 ehci mode
    • AtomBIOS is not yet fully replaced (openatom doesn't have a working framebuffer, yet, but it can draw a bitmap in user space, using a special utility) - openatom in github - and it has to be replaced unless we are going to run G505S at the headless mode
    • SMU firmware has to be replaced (ruik/funfuctor/patrickg might be able to help). Most likely just controls the power of PCIe lines - nothing suspicious, although it could be difficult to write an open source replacement for it because this power stuff is tricky
    • EC KB9012 firmware has to be freed. Paul Kocialkowski is working on its' free/opensource replacement at http://git.code.paulk.fr/gitweb/?p=origami-ec.git;a=summary but it is advancing slowly and the funding may be required by him to complete his work. KB9012 support patches created by Paul have been merged with the flashrom's master branch (12 February 2018) with the help of Mike Banon and he wrote a greatly detailed KB9012 flashing instruction which doesn't require any motherboard soldering and will be useful when Origami-EC comes out. Internal flashing may be supported one day if someone would reverse engineer the way Lenovo proprietary tool is doing it.

You are welcome to discuss Lenovo G505S at libreboot/libreboot#104

  • TYAN S8230 is very similar to KGPE-D16, and could probably be ported based on the KGPE-D16. Same GPU too.
    • W83627 (SuperIO) might have a public datasheet. Board-specific wiring (PCI interrupts, DIMM voltage selection). etc. Board seems to use socketed SOIC-8 SPI flash according to tpearson, based on photos available online - looks like a ZIF socket or something else, a clip retaining the chip.
    • tpearson says: Tyan seems to have done the same thing as Asus did and built a whole lot of custom power control circuitry out of FETs. According to this person, this will take much effort to reverse engineer.
    • IPMI firmware is non-free but optional (for iKVM feature, remote management like Intel ME). Not sure if add-on module or baked in. In either case, it might be removed or otherwise excluded because it's a HUGE backdoor. Unlike Intel ME, this isn't signed so can be removed, and also replaced theoretically. Is the protocol standard public? If so, might be easy/feasible to replace with free code. https://github.com/facebook/openbmc - also linked from https://raptorengineeringinc.com/coreboot/kgpe-d16-status.php - might be possible adapt this. - You might need to use the vendor tools running from under the proprietary BIOS to wipe the Flash chip holding the IPMI firmware, if it's baked in. (on KGPE-D16, it's an add-on card so just don't add the add-on card - also SOIC-16 according to tpearson. but not sure what form factor used on S8230 - it better not be WSON, most likely SOIC8 based on the pictures online).
    • SAS controller requires firmware, but optional. (same thing on KGPE-D16). Board also has SATA, so it's fine. NOTE: SAS firmware is already flashed onto the SAS controller, to a dedicated chip. Not uploaded/handled by coreboot or linux kernel.
    • tpearson says: power control circuits are a potential issue, not a definite one. it all depends on how Tyan decided to wire things up if they engineered things properly, it should actually be transparent. ASUS did not, and required work to get it going (see the notes document)
  • F2A85-M and E350M1 (libreboot_*_headless.rom). Find cards that work without the VBIOS (load, but not execute). Test openatom (video BIOS replacement). SMU firmware is a problem. XHCI firmware is a problem unless we are okay with all our USB ports running at USB 2.0 ehci mode
  • ASUS Chromebook C201 was added, but there are also other RK3288 based devices in coreboot. Port them all!
  • Other ARM based systems; tegra124 chromebooks, Jetson TK1 (non-free GPU microcode in kernel needs replacing. also xhci firmware, but optional (can still use ehci, we think))
  • This list needs to be expanded!

That doesn't mean Intel is off the table just yet:

  • Intel D510MO motherboard (desktop), pineview chipset. Supported by coreboot, the latest board status report is July 2018. southbridge NM10 (basically rebranded ich7). not sure about video init (does it have native graphics initialization?). TODO: review it for libreboot. damo22 says it should work with several CPUs (Atom D510 D525 N5x etc - but he's unsure). TODO: find other boards similar that could be ported. damo22's one has an Intel Atom D510 CPU.
  • ThinkPad X61: ICH8, i965 lubko in #coreboot. https://github.com/lkundrak/coreboot/tree/x61 - raminit still isn't done, there might be other parts that need to be finished (probably EC). This system comes with a ME, but it's optional like in GM45, and can be removed.
  • ThinkPad R60, Z61 - probably very similar to X60/T60, with few modifications required (probably only the changes based on logs acquired by following http://www.coreboot.org/Motherboard_Porting_Guide)
  • ThinkPad R500, T400S
  • ThinkPad X201 - ME ignition is an issue. Watchdog for ME is an issue. Might be possible to disable watchdog in the flash descriptor (soft straps).
  • T410S is supported but not yet merged. This uses the same chipset as the X201. https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/7975 has a patch and Peter Lemenkov is currently working on it; latest update: December 2018
  • Non-lenovo GM45 laptops:
    • Dell Latitude E6400 - This is a good laptop to target in coreboot and libreboot. NOTE: EC support. ALSO: DDR2 memory (coreboot raminit for GM45 currently only supports DDR3)
  • Desktop system: Dell Optiplex 755. ICH9. DDR2 RAM (needs work in coreboot). No EC (it's a desktop). It will require quite a bit of work in coreboot, but this is a very good candidate. The ME can probably be removed and disabled, using ich9gen without any modifications (or with few modifications).

Copyright © 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Leah Rowe info@minifree.org

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, no Front Cover Texts, and no Back Cover Texts. A copy of this license is found in fdl-1.3.md