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- <!DOCTYPE html>
- <html>
- <head>
- <meta charset="utf-8">
- <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
- <style type="text/css">
- @import url('../css/main.css');
- </style>
- <title>ThinkPad R500: flashing tutorial (BeagleBone Black)</title>
- </head>
- <body>
- <div class="section">
- <h1 id="pagetop">Flashing the R500 with a BeagleBone Black</h1>
- <p>Initial flashing instructions for R500.</p>
- <p>
- This guide is for those who want libreboot on their ThinkPad R500
- while they still have the original Lenovo BIOS present. This guide
- can also be followed (adapted) if you brick your R500, to know how
- to recover.
- </p>
- <p>
- Before following this section, please make sure to setup your libreboot ROM properly first.
- Although ROM images are provided pre-built in libreboot, there are some modifications that
- you need to make to the one you chose before flashing. (instructions referenced later in
- this guide)
- </p>
- <p>
- <b>
- NOTE: This board is unsupported in libreboot 20150518. To use it in libreboot, for now, you
- must build for it from source using the libreboot git repository.
- </b>
- </p>
- <p><a href="index.html">Back to main index</a></p>
- </div>
-
- <div class="section">
-
- <h2 id="serial_port">Serial port</h2>
-
- <p>
- EHCI debug might not be needed. It has been reported that the docking station
- for this laptop has a serial port, so it might be possible to use that instead.
- </p>
-
- </div>
- <div class="section">
- <h1 id="lcd_compatibility">LCD compatibly</h1>
- <p>
- Not all LCD panels are known to be compatible yet. See <a href="../hcl/gm45_lcd.html">../hcl/gm45_lcd.html</a>.
- </p>
- </div>
-
- <div class="section" id="cpu_compatibility">
-
- <h1>A note about CPUs</h1>
- <p>
- <a href="http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:R500">ThinkWiki</a> has a list of CPUs
- for this system. The Core 2 Duo P8400, P8600 and P8700 are believed to work in libreboot.
- The Core 2 Duo T9600 was confirmed to work (on a different laptop, but still GM45), so the T9400 probably also works.
- <b>The Core 2 Duo T5870/5670 and Celeron M 575/585 are untested!</b>
- </p>
-
- <h2>Quad-core CPUs</h2>
-
- <p>
- Although blocked by lenovobios (as was reported), it is reported that there are quad-core CPUs
- for GM45. This laptop has socketed CPUs, so it might be possible to use them
- (they are untested in coreboot; support may have to be added).
- Core 2 Quad Q9000, Q9100 or QX9300.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- Look at this link:<br/>
- <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_2_microprocessors#Quad-Core_Notebook_processors">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_2_microprocessors#Quad-Core_Notebook_processors</a>
- </p>
-
- </div>
-
- <div class="section" id="switchable_graphics">
-
- <h1>A note about GPUs</h1>
- <p>
- <a href="http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:R500">ThinkWiki</a> lists
- two possible GPUs: Intel or ATI. Only the Intel GPUs work in libreboot; the ATI
- GPUs require a proprietary Video BIOS, and so those are unsupported in libreboot.
- </p>
- <p>
- On other GM45 laptops in libreboot (e.g. T400, T500), so-called <i>switchable graphics</i>
- is used, which means that the laptop will have <b>both</b> an ATI and Intel GPU, or it will
- only have Intel, depending on which variation you have. On the systems with ATI and Intel,
- you can disable the ATI GPU and use only the Intel GPU, which works in libreboot.
- </p>
- <div class="important">
- <p>
- <b>
- It is unknown whether R500 laptops with an ATI GPU still have an Intel GPU, where you could
- disable the ATI GPU and use the Intel GPU. These are budget laptops, so it's highly likely
- that Lenovo decided on this model to ship with one GPU or the other, but not both (GPUs cost money).
- </b>
- </p>
- <p>
- <b>
- It is **HIGHLY** recommended, when ordering an R500 laptop, to **ENSURE** that the
- one you're ordering has an Intel GPU.
- </b>
- </p>
- </div>
-
- <h1>CPU paste required</h1>
-
- <p>
- See <a href="#paste">#paste</a>.
- </p>
-
- </div>
- <div class="section">
- <h1 id="flashchips">Flash chip size</h1>
-
- <p>
- Use this to find out:<br>
- # <b>dmidecode | grep ROM\ Size</b><br>
- </p>
- <p>
- It is believed that all R500 laptops have only SOIC-8 (4MiB) chips.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a>
- </p>
-
- </div>
-
- <div class="section photos">
-
- <h1 id="macaddress">MAC address</h1>
-
- <p>
- Unlike other GM45 thinkpads, the R500 has a different onboard gigabit NIC,
- where the MAC address is built-in. You do not need to change the MAC address
- at all on this laptop; simply flash the provided ROM images, as-is.
- </p>
-
- </div>
-
- <div class="section photos">
- <h1>Initial BBB configuration</h1>
-
- <p>
- Refer to <a href="bbb_setup.html">bbb_setup.html</a> for how to
- setup the BBB for flashing.
- </p>
- <p>
- The following shows how to connect clip to the BBB (on the P9 header), for SOIC-8 (clip: Pomona 5250):
- </p>
- <pre>
- POMONA 5250 (correlate with the BBB guide)
- === VGA and ethernet socket ===
- 18 - - 1
- 22 - - NC
- NC - - 21
- 3.3V (PSU) - - 17 - this is pin 1 on the flash chip
- === DVD drive ===
- <i>This is how you will connect. Numbers refer to pin numbers on the BBB, on the plugs near the DC jack.</i><br/>
- <img src="images/r500/flashchip.jpg" alt="" />
- </pre>
- <h2 id="disassembly">Disassembly</h2>
-
- <p>
- <img src="images/r500/0001.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0002.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0003.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0004.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0005.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0006.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0007.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0008.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0009.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0010.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0011.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0012.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0013.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0014.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0015.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0016.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0017.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0018.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0019.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0020.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0021.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0022.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0023.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0024.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0025.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0026.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0027.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0028.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0029.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0030.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/0031.JPG" alt="" />
- </p>
-
- <p>
- Remove the motherboard from the cage, and the SPI flash
- chip will be next to the memory slots:<br/>
- <img src="images/r500/0032.JPG" alt="" />
- <img src="images/r500/flashchip.jpg" alt="" />
- </p>
-
- <p>
- The following image is for illustration only, to show how a SOIC-8 clip is connected.
- This photo is from a T500, which has a different arrangement to the R500:<br/>
- <img src="images/t500/0061.jpg" alt="" />
- </p>
- <p>
- Connect your programmer, then connect GND and 3.3V<br/>
- <img src="images/t400/0067.jpg" alt="" />
- <img src="images/t400/0069.jpg" alt="" />
- <img src="images/t400/0070.jpg" alt="" />
- <img src="images/t400/0071.jpg" alt="" />
- </p>
- <p>
- A dedicated 3.3V PSU was used to create this guide, but
- at ATX PSU is also fine:<br/>
- <img src="images/t400/0072.jpg" alt="" />
- </p>
-
- <p>
- Of course, make sure to turn on your PSU:<br/>
- <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0013.jpg" alt="" />
- </p>
- <p>
- Now, you should be ready to install libreboot.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- Flashrom binaries for ARM (tested on a BBB) are distributed in libreboot_util. Alternatively,
- libreboot also distributes flashrom source code which can be built.
- </p>
- <p>
- Log in as root on your BBB, using the instructions in <a href="bbb_setup.html#bbb_access">bbb_setup.html#bbb_access</a>.
- </p>
- <p>
- Test that flashrom works:<br/>
- # <b>./flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev1.0,spispeed=512</b><br/>
- In this case, the output was:
- </p>
- <pre>
- flashrom v0.9.7-r1854 on Linux 3.8.13-bone47 (armv7l)
- flashrom is free software, get the source code at http://www.flashrom.org
- Calibrating delay loop... OK.
- Found Macronix flash chip "MX25L6405(D)" (8192 kB, SPI) on linux_spi.
- Found Macronix flash chip "MX25L6406E/MX25L6436E" (8192 kB, SPI) on linux_spi.
- Found Macronix flash chip "MX25L6445E/MX25L6473E" (8192 kB, SPI) on linux_spi.
- Multiple flash chip definitions match the detected chip(s): "MX25L6405(D)", "MX25L6406E/MX25L6436E", "MX25L6445E/MX25L6473E"
- Please specify which chip definition to use with the -c <chipname> option.
- </pre>
- <p>
- How to backup factory.rom (change the -c option as neeed, for your flash chip):<br/>
- # <b>./flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev1.0,spispeed=512 -r factory.rom</b><br/>
- # <b>./flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev1.0,spispeed=512 -r factory1.rom</b><br/>
- # <b>./flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev1.0,spispeed=512 -r factory2.rom</b><br/>
- Note: the <b>-c</b> option is not required in libreboot's patched flashrom, because
- the redundant flash chip definitions in <i>flashchips.c</i> have been removed.<br/>
- Now compare the 3 images:<br/>
- # <b>sha512sum factory*.rom</b><br/>
- If the hashes match, then just copy one of them (the factory.rom) to a safe place (on a drive connected to another system, not
- the BBB). This is useful for reverse engineering work, if there is a desirable behaviour in the original firmware
- that could be replicated in coreboot and libreboot.
- </p>
- <p>
- Now flash it:<br/>
- # <b>./flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev1.0,spispeed=512 -w path/to/libreboot/rom/image.rom -V</b>
- </p>
- <p>
- <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0015.jpg" alt="" />
- </p>
- <p>
- You might see errors, but if it says <b>Verifying flash... VERIFIED</b> at the end, then it's flashed and should boot.
- If you see errors, try again (and again, and again); the message <b>Chip content is identical to the requested image</b>
- is also an indication of a successful installation.
- </p>
- <p>
- Example output from running the command (see above):
- </p>
- <pre>
- flashrom v0.9.7-r1854 on Linux 3.8.13-bone47 (armv7l)
- flashrom is free software, get the source code at http://www.flashrom.org
- Calibrating delay loop... OK.
- Found Macronix flash chip "MX25L6405(D)" (8192 kB, SPI) on linux_spi.
- Reading old flash chip contents... done.
- Erasing and writing flash chip... FAILED at 0x00001000! Expected=0xff, Found=0x00, failed byte count from 0x00000000-0x0000ffff: 0xd716
- ERASE FAILED!
- Reading current flash chip contents... done. Looking for another erase function.
- Erase/write done.
- Verifying flash... VERIFIED.
- </pre>
-
- <p>
- <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a>
- </p>
-
- </div>
-
- <div class="section photos" id="paste">
-
- <h1>Thermal paste (IMPORTANT)</h1>
-
- <p>
- Because part of this procedure involved removing the heatsink, you will need to apply new paste.
- Arctic Silver 5 is ok. You will also need isopropyl alcohol and an anti-static cloth to clean with.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- When re-installing the heatsink, you must first clean off all old paste with the alcohol/cloth.
- Then apply new paste. AS5 is also much better than the default paste used on these systems.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- <img src="images/t400/paste.jpg" alt="" />
- </p>
-
- <p>
- NOTE: the photo above is for illustration purposes only, and does not show how to properly apply the thermal paste.
- Other guides online detail the proper application procedure.
- </p>
-
- </div>
-
- <div class="section">
-
- <h1 id="wifi">Wifi</h1>
-
- <p>
- The R500 typically comes with an Intel wifi chipset, which does not
- work without proprietary software. For a list of wifi chipsets that
- work without proprietary software, see
- <a href="../hcl/index.html#recommended_wifi">../hcl/index.html#recommended_wifi</a>.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- Some R500 laptops might come with an Atheros chipset, but this is 802.11g only.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- It is recommended that you install a new wifi chipset. This can only
- be done after installing libreboot, because the original firmware has
- a whitelist of approved chips, and it will refuse to boot if you
- use an 'unauthorized' wifi card.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- The following photos show an Atheros AR5B95 being installed, to
- replace the Intel chip that this R500 came with:<br/>
- <img src="images/t400/0012.jpg" alt="" />
- <img src="images/t400/ar5b95.jpg" alt="" />
- </p>
-
- </div>
-
- <div class="section">
-
- <h1 id="wwan">WWAN</h1>
- <p>
- If you have a WWAN/3G card and/or sim card reader, remove them permanently.
- The WWAN-3G card has proprietary firmware inside; the technology is
- identical to what is used in mobile phones, so it can also track your movements.
- </p>
- <p>
- Not to be confused with wifi (wifi is fine).
- </p>
-
- </div>
-
- <div class="section photos">
-
- <h1 id="memory">Memory</h1>
-
- <p>
- You need DDR3 SODIMM PC3-8500 RAM installed, in matching pairs
- (speed/size). Non-matching pairs won't work. You can also install a
- single module (meaning, one of the slots will be empty) in slot 0.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- Make sure that the RAM you buy is the 2Rx8 density.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- The following photo shows 8GiB (2x4GiB) of RAM installed:<br/>
- <img src="images/t400/memory.jpg" alt="" />
- </p>
-
- </div>
-
- <div class="section photos">
-
- <h2>
- Boot it!
- </h2>
- <p>
- You should see something like this:
- </p>
- <p>
- <img src="images/t400/boot0.jpg" alt="" />
- <img src="images/t400/boot1.jpg" alt="" />
- </p>
-
- <p>
- Now <a href="../gnulinux/index.html">install GNU/Linux</a>.
- </p>
-
- </div>
- <div class="section">
- <p>
- Copyright © 2015 Francis Rowe <info@gluglug.org.uk><br/>
- 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 the license can be found at <a href="../gfdl-1.3.txt">../gfdl-1.3.txt</a>
- </p>
- <p>
- Updated versions of the license (when available) can be found at
- <a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html">https://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html</a>
- </p>
- <p>
- UNLESS OTHERWISE SEPARATELY UNDERTAKEN BY THE LICENSOR, TO THE
- EXTENT POSSIBLE, THE LICENSOR OFFERS THE LICENSED MATERIAL AS-IS
- AND AS-AVAILABLE, AND MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF
- ANY KIND CONCERNING THE LICENSED MATERIAL, WHETHER EXPRESS,
- IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHER. THIS INCLUDES, WITHOUT LIMITATION,
- WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
- PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ABSENCE OF LATENT OR OTHER DEFECTS,
- ACCURACY, OR THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF ERRORS, WHETHER OR NOT
- KNOWN OR DISCOVERABLE. WHERE DISCLAIMERS OF WARRANTIES ARE NOT
- ALLOWED IN FULL OR IN PART, THIS DISCLAIMER MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
- </p>
- <p>
- TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE, IN NO EVENT WILL THE LICENSOR BE LIABLE
- TO YOU ON ANY LEGAL THEORY (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION,
- NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INDIRECT,
- INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, OR OTHER LOSSES,
- COSTS, EXPENSES, OR DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THIS PUBLIC LICENSE OR
- USE OF THE LICENSED MATERIAL, EVEN IF THE LICENSOR HAS BEEN
- ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSSES, COSTS, EXPENSES, OR
- DAMAGES. WHERE A LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS NOT ALLOWED IN FULL OR
- IN PART, THIS LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
- </p>
- <p>
- The disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability provided
- above shall be interpreted in a manner that, to the extent
- possible, most closely approximates an absolute disclaimer and
- waiver of all liability.
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