Libreboot release information

Documentation for this release can be found at index.html. Updated versions of libreboot can be found at libreboot.org.

Old Releases

See archive_old.html for information about older libreboot releases.

See critical tasks and other tasks.

Release YYYYMMDD

Release date: Month Day(st,rd,th), Year.

Installation instructions can be found at install/index.html. Building instructions (for source code) can be found at git/index.html#build.

Machines supported in this release:

Lenovo ThinkPad X60/X60s
- You can also remove the motherboard from an X61/X61s and replace it with an X60/X60s motherboard. An X60 Tablet motherboard will also fit inside an X60/X60s.
Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet (1024x768 and 1400x1050) with digitizer support
- See hcl/index.html#supported_x60t_list for list of supported LCD panels
- It is unknown whether an X61 Tablet can have it's mainboard replaced with an X60 Tablet motherboard.
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (Intel GPU) (there are issues; see below):
- See notes below for exceptions, and hcl/index.html#supported_t60_list for known working LCD panels.
- It is unknown whether a T61 can have it's mainboard replaced with a T60 motherboard.
- See future/index.html#t60_cpu_microcode.
- T60P (and T60 laptops with ATI GPU) will likely never be supported: hcl/index.html#t60_ati_intel
Lenovo ThinkPad X200
- X200S and X200 Tablet are also supported, conditionally; see hcl/x200.html#x200s
- ME/AMT: libreboot removes this, permanently. hcl/gm45_remove_me.html
Lenovo ThinkPad R400
- ME/AMT: libreboot removes this, permanently. hcl/gm45_remove_me.html
Apple MacBook1,1 (MA255LL/A, MA254LL/A, MA472LL/A)
- See hcl/index.html#macbook11.
Apple MacBook2,1 (MA699LL/A, MA701LL/A, MB061LL/A, MA700LL/A, MB063LL/A, MB062LL/A)
- See hcl/index.html#macbook21.

Git. No changelog!

This version of libreboot is from git. It is not a stable release! If you are using a snapshot (tarball), you can find a file included called commitid which tells you what git revision it is from the libreboot git repository. If this is not a snapshot, then you have cloned libreboot, so you can simply run git log.

Did we forget to mention that this is from git?
This is from the libreboot git repository.

Critical tasks for future release

i945: fix linux (if possible). VBT. http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/coreboot/2014-June/078104.html http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/coreboot/2014-June/078105.html This is talking about without native init / oprom. Paul reported it, look into it.
Make ich9gen/ich9deblob portable. They both rely extensively on bitfields, and they assume little-endian; for instance, mapping a little endian file directly to a struct, instead of serializing/deserializing. Re-factor both utilities and make them fully portable.
X60: ACPI PCC Probe Failed message on linux-libre 3.19 and higher. Fix it. Preliminary bug report (kernel, linux) -- the error message is probably not the issue, but something else. do a bisect of linux. Also, does the issue still occur on lenovobios? pstuge said http://biosbits.org/ patricg says https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareEnablementTeam/Documentation/FirmwareTestSuiteLive
X200: only framebuffer graphics work. This is fine, since it's what most people use, but text-mode graphics initialization is currently broken, which means that memtest86+ will require serial output or ehci debugging.
Fix remaining incompatible LCD panels in native graphics on T60. See future/index.html#lcd_i945_incompatibility.
i945: fix VRAM size (currently 8MB. should be 64MB). See future/index.html#i945_vram_size.
Add proper GS45 raminit for enabling all X200S and X200 Tablets to work properly. See hcl/x200.html#x200s_raminit
Look into those machines:
- 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. http://review.coreboot.org/#/c/7975/ has the patch. This should be tested by someone and should ideally be merged in coreboot. pecg has one. help him.
- ThinkPad R400/R500/T400/T400S/T500.
- T400S and X301. These both seem to be GS45. X301 uses only the low-performance mode CPUs, so raminit is the main blocker there. They both probably use WSON-8 flash chips.
- This page contains a list of basically every thinkpad that would ever be a candidate for libreboot: http://psref.lenovo.com/WithdrawnBook - take a look at this PDF.
- Lenovo G505S - might need video bios and microcode updates. These would have to be removed and/or replaced to be in libreboot https://github.com/alterapraxisptyltd/lenovo-g505s. It's AMD (not Intel) based on the same design as the HP Pavillion 1035DX. 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
- F2A85-M and E350M1 (libreboot_*_headless.rom). Test openatom. SMU firmware is a problem. XHCI firmware is a problem.

other tasks

add roda rk9 support (contact nico to ask for more details about hw). This is GM45 but these machines do not have a descriptor (no ME), should be easy
port acer aspire 5738 to coreboot (gm45)? (and then libreboot). EC is the main blocker (no support in coreboot yet). ME isn't an issue, because its GM45 so it could be removed (it looks like this machine might also be shipped in non-descriptor mode by default, like the roda rk9). Search jv50 block diagram filetype:pdf for schematics. (jv50 is written on the board); noone seems to have found any documentation for the EC chip, but maybe it could be sufficiently reverse engineered via serialice and ectool.
Commit 26ca08caf81ad2dcc9c8246a743d82ffb464c767 in coreboot, see the while (1) loop that waits for the panel to power up on i945. This is an infinite loop if the panel doesn't power up. Fix it. Also, are there panels that don't power up? Test this, and fix it.
image, image, image - work with mrnuke on getting info about vultureprog PLCC flashing into libreboot. Libreboot needs server boards. https://github.com/mrnuke/vultureprog, https://github.com/mrnuke/qiprog, https://github.com/mrnuke/vultureprog-hardware. He also uses the sigrok logic analyzer (free/libre): http://www.dx.com/p/logic-analyzer-w-dupont-lines-and-usb-cable-for-scm-black-148945
Add cubieboard SPI flashing instructions to libreboot. mrnuke's github page with patches. mrnuke in IRC knows about the cubieboard
Memtest86+ is currently broken in text-mode. investigate
Todo: modify memtest86+ to work with libpayload (coreboot framebuffer) and delete all the text-mode ROM images.
linux 3.18 broke acpi brightness on i945. Libreboot reverted to legacy brightness for now. Look into why it broke on 3.18 (do a git bisect).
Adapt linux-libre deblob scripts for use with coreboot. Libreboot is already deblobbed using its own script, but updating it is still a bit too manual. linux-libre's deblob scripts do an excellent job and (adapted) will make it much easier to maintain coreboot-libre.

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Copyright © 2014, 2015 Francis Rowe <info@gluglug.org.uk>
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