- The information here is user documentation mainly. For development notes and TODO's, see RELEASE.html and + The information here is user documentation mainly. For development notes and TODO's, see release.html and future/index.html

Hardware maintenance

Macbook2,1

Installing libreboot (hardware: using external programmer)

GRUB2 payload

What is libreboot, really?

+ Project goals (and differences versus coreboot): +

+ Libreboot is not a fork of coreboot, despite misconceptions of this fact. Libreboot (downstream supplier) is a parallel effort + which works closely with and re-bases on the latest coreboot (upstream supplier) every so often. +

+ + As such, all new coreboot development should be done in coreboot, not libreboot! + Libreboot is about deblobbing, and packaging coreboot in a user-friendly way, where most work is already done for the user! + If, for example you wanted to attempt porting a new motherboard then you should do that in coreboot. Libreboot will (as a downstream) + receive your change at some point in the future, in a future release. + +

+ A 'stable' coreboot: +

+ On the other hand, coreboot is also strict about what it accepts (merges) into the main git repository: + most of the time, a lot of changes are under review at review.coreboot.org (as a way of encouraging as much further development + as possible before accepting the patch). +

+ Meanwhile, libreboot is a lot less strict in this area and freely merges specific patches that are desirable, sometimes before they are merged into coreboot's main repository. +

How to build libreboot_src from libreboot_meta

- Bucts is needed when flashing the X60/X60S/X60T/T60 ROM while Lenovo BIOS is running. + Bucts is needed when flashing in software the X60/X60S/X60T/T60 ROM while Lenovo BIOS is running; + external flashing will be safe regardless. Each ROM contains identical data inside the two final 64K region in the file. This corresponds to the final two 64K regions in the flash chip. Lenovo BIOS will prevent you from writing the final one, so running "bucts 1" will set the machine to boot from the other block instead (which @@ -502,12 +567,44 @@

List of supported hardware

+ 'Supported' means that the build scripts know how to build ROM's for these machines, + and that the machines have been tested (confirmed working). There may be exceptions; + in other words, this is a list of 'officially' supported machines. +

+ It is possible to build ROM images (from source) for other machines aswell (and virtual machines, e.g. QEMU). +

List of supported ThinkPad X60's

- Regarding native gpu initialization ('native graphics') which replaces the proprietary VGA Option ROM ('Video BIOS' or 'VBIOS'), + Native gpu initialization ('native graphics') which replaces the proprietary VGA Option ROM + ('Video BIOS' or 'VBIOS'), all known LCD panels are currently compatible:

- See #get_edid_panelname. + You can remove an X61/X61s motherboard from the chassis and install an X60/X60s motherboard in it's place (for flashing libreboot). The chassis is mostly identical + and the motherboards are the same shape/size.

List of supported ThinkPad X60 Tablets

- Regarding native gpu initialization ('native graphics') which replaces the proprietary VGA Option ROM ('Video BIOS' or 'VBIOS'). + Native gpu initialization ('native graphics') which replaces the proprietary VGA Option ROM + ('Video BIOS' or 'VBIOS'). +

- The following LCD panels are incompatible at the moment. + Most X60T's only have digitizer (pen), but some have finger (touch) aswell as pen; finger/multitouch doesn't work, only digitizer (pen) does.

Supported T60 list

- T60 15.4" (1280x800 and 1680x1050) with Intel GPU is untested in this release. Not much yet is known about panel names. - They will be tested at a later date. -

Tested LCD panels (as of libreboot 6th release, initial revision)

Inverter boards for ThinkPad T60 when upgrading LCD panel

- When upgrading the XGA (1024x768) LCD panel to SXGA+ (1400x1050) on the 14.1" T60, you also need to use this inverter board: + + Some T60's have ATI GPU's, and all T60p's have ATI GPU's These are incompatible! See #t60_ati_intel for how to remedy this. +

- When upgrading the XGA (1024x768) LCD panel to SXGA+ (1400x1050), UXGA (1600x1200) or QXGA (2048x1536) on the 15.1" T60, you - also need to use one of these inverter boards: + Tested LCD panels: working(compatible)

- See #supported_t60_list for a list of LCD panels on ThinkPad T60 14.1" and ThinkPad T60 15.1". -

- The Video BIOS (VBIOS) for T60 has been reverse engineered and replaced with Free Software. However, - at the time of preparing this release the free replacement did not yet support the XGA (1024x768) panels, - which is what made upgrading them necessary. -

+ Tested LCD panels: not working yet (incompatible; see future/index.html#lcd_i945_incompatibility) +

Samsung LTN141XA-L01 (14.1" 1024x768)
LG-Philips LP150X09 (15.1" 1024x768)
LG-Philips LP150E06-A5K4 (15.1" 1400x1050) (also, not an official T60 screen)
Samsung LTN154X3-L0A (15.4" 1280x800)

- The 'Video BIOS' is what initializes graphics. -

+ The following LCD panels are UNTESTED. If you have one of these panels + then please submit a report!: +

CMO(IDtech?) N141XC (14.1" 1024x768)
BOE-Hydis HT14X14 (14.1" 1024x768)
TMD-Toshiba LTD141ECMB (14.1" 1024x768)
Boe-Hydis HT14P12 (14.1" 1400x1050) (FRU P/N 41W1478 recommended for the inverter board)
Samsung LTN150XG (15.1" 1024x768)
CMO (IDtech?) 13N7068 (15.1" 1024x768)
CMO (IDtech?) 13N7069 (15.1" 1024x768)
BOE-Hydis HV150P01-100 (15.1" 1400x1050) (P/N 42T0078 FRU 42T0079 or P/N 41W1338 recommended for the inverter board)
IDtech N150U3-L01 (15.1" 1600x1200) (P/N 42T0078 FRU 42T0079 or P/N 41W1338 recommended for the inverter board)
BOE-Hydis HV150UX1-102 (15.1" 1600x1200) (P/N 42T0078 FRU 42T0079 or P/N 41W1338 recommended for the inverter board)
IDtech IAQX10S (15.1" 2048x1536) (P/N 42T0078 FRU 42T0079 or P/N 41W1338 recommended for the inverter board)
Samsung LTN154P2-L05 (42X4641 42T0329) (15.4" 1680x1050)
LG-Philips LP154W02-TL10 (13N7020 42T0423) (15.4" 1680x1050)
LG-Philips LP154WU1-TLB1 (42T0361) (15.4" 1920x1200) (for T61p but it might work in T60. Unknown!)
Samsung LTN154U2-L05 (42T0408 42T0574) (15.4" 1920x1200) (for T61p but it might work in T60. Unknown!)

- See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_BIOS. -

+ It is unknown whether the 1680x1050 (15.4") and 1920x1200 (15.4") panels use a different inverter board than the 1280x800 panels. +

+ +

- Note: the T60p is a 15.4" widescreen laptop and uses completely different shaped motherboards (all of which have ATI). - The T60p laptops cannot be used with libreboot under any circumstances. + There is also a 15.4" T60 with Intel GPU.

- There is a 15.4" T60 with Intel graphics, which might work. (untested at the time of writing). Note to self: REMOVE THIS WHEN TESTED. + Note: the T60p laptops all have ATI graphics. + The T60p laptops cannot be used with libreboot under any circumstances.

+ You need to replace OS X with GNU/Linux before flashing libreboot. (OSX won't run at all in libreboot). +

+ There are some issues with this machine (compared to other computers that libreboot supports): +

+ This is an apple laptop, so it comes with OS X: it has an Apple keyboard, which means that certain keys you expect are missing: + insert, del, home, end, pgup, pgdown. There is also one mouse button only. Battery life is poor compared to X60/T60. Cooling (ventilation) + is also poor. The speaker might aswell not be there, quality is really bad. Not only that, these machines are expensive and usually easier to find in North America, so if you live outside + of NA then you will most likely have to import it. It's the opinion of this libreboot developer that the MacBook2,1 is not a very good machine. + It also has other issues: for example, the Apple logo on the back is a hole, exposing the backlight, which means that it glows. You should cover it up. +

The MacBook2,1 comes with a webcam, which does not work without proprietary software. Also, webcams are a security risk; cover it up! Or remove it. @@ -1090,6 +997,17 @@ Do not make this decision lightly! This is your last and only chance.

+ Check the last two 64K regions in your ROM file (libreboot.rom in this example):
+ $ dd if=libreboot.rom of=top64k.bin bs=1 skip=$[$(stat -c %s libreboot.rom) - 0x10000] count=64k
+ $ dd if=libreboot.rom of=lower64k.bin bs=1 skip=$[$(stat -c %s libreboot.rom) - 0x20000] count=64k
+ $ sha512sum lower64k.bin top64k.bin
+ Make *sure* that they match before you continue. The ROM's included pre-compiled in libreboot should already match. + If they don't match, then do this (based on those instructions from coreboot wiki):
+ $ dd if=top64k.bin of=libreboot.rom bs=1 seek=$[$(stat -c %s libreboot.rom) - 0x20000] count=64k conv=notrunc
+ After this, the ROM will be safe to flash. Explanation is provided in #build_bucts. +

This is for the ThinkPad X60 and T60 while running Lenovo BIOS. If you already have coreboot or libreboot running, @@ -1492,13 +1410,16 @@

Libreboot Documentation