diff options
| author | Francis Rowe <info@gluglug.org.uk> | 2015-02-16 01:00:40 (EST) |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Francis Rowe <info@gluglug.org.uk> | 2015-02-16 01:00:40 (EST) |
| commit | f5b74b22ccd91213087f68a09dfd95d4ddd5565c (patch) | |
| tree | ff75758ed5cd017a55051e8ce06a4970ff60142e /vortex86ex/index.php | |
| download | libreboot.org-f5b74b22ccd91213087f68a09dfd95d4ddd5565c.zip libreboot.org-f5b74b22ccd91213087f68a09dfd95d4ddd5565c.tar.gz libreboot.org-f5b74b22ccd91213087f68a09dfd95d4ddd5565c.tar.bz2 | |
Libreboot website. As it was on February 16th, 2015.
Diffstat (limited to 'vortex86ex/index.php')
| -rw-r--r-- | vortex86ex/index.php | 302 |
1 files changed, 302 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/vortex86ex/index.php b/vortex86ex/index.php new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a228865 --- /dev/null +++ b/vortex86ex/index.php @@ -0,0 +1,302 @@ +<!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'); + + div.contain { + max-width:100%; + } + + b { + background:#ddd; + } + </style> + + <title>dmp vortex86ex in libreboot</title> + +</head> + +<body> + + <div class="contain"> + + <div id="libreboot" class="section intro"> + + <h1>dmp vortex86ex in libreboot</h1> + + <p> + small embedded system (SoC), i586 CPU + made by a company called DMP. Seems like there are no blobs except a <a href="#kbd_fw">small firmware</a> + for a keyboard controller (PS/2), could use usb keyboard instead if + the ps/2 'blob' is an issue. + </p> + <p> + <a href="../">(Back to homepage)</a> + </p> + + <p> + <b>Last updated 00:22 UTC+0100 on November 23rd, 2014</b> + </p> + + </div> + + + <div class="section"> + + <h2>#libreboot on November 15th, 2014</h2> + +<pre> +<pehjota> After the conversation yesterday about KolibriOS, I stumbled upon some hardware that community seems to like: the Vortex86 series of i586-compatible SoCs and the DMP EBOX nettops that use those SoCs. coreboot supports one computer by DMP (src/mainboard/dmp/vortex86ex/) which appears to be the EBOX-3100 (the only EBOX nettop AFAICT without VGA). Three years ago someone ported coreboot to the +<pehjota> EBOX-3300MX but apparently never upstreamed that work. These Vortex86 SoCs look pretty good, freedom-wise: I think there's no microcode at all, the VGA cores don't seem to need option ROMs, and there are no blobs for things like ME/MRC/AGESA. They have relatively low CPU clock rates (most at 600 or 933 MHz), so they aren't great for compiling or gaming. But they're sold as nettops, thin clients, +<pehjota> and embedded systems, and the prices ($95–$269 from the US distributor) aren't bad. +<pehjota> DMP EBOX computers: <a href="http://www.compactpc.com.tw/en/index.html">http://www.compactpc.com.tw/en/index.html</a>. EBOX-3300MX coreboot port: <a href="https://github.com/XVilka/coreboot">https://github.com/XVilka/coreboot</a> (last six commits). Basic (and incomplete) information on the Vortex86 SoCs: <a href="http://www.vortex86.com/">http://www.vortex86.com/</a>. Some technical overviews and resources: <a href="http://www.dmp.com.tw/tech/">http://www.dmp.com.tw/tech/</a>. DMP's BusyBox/Linux distribution (with a Linux config file but apparently no source code): +<pehjota> <a href="http://www.dmp.com.tw/tech/os-xlinux/">http://www.dmp.com.tw/tech/os-xlinux/</a>. +</pre> + + <h2>#libreboot on November 16th, 2014</h2> + +<pre> +<fchmmr> pehjota, I added info about those vortex86 machines to libreboot.org/release.html and to git. +<fchmmr> By the way, xvilka (the person behind those commits on that github page) is in #coreboot at the moment. +<pehjota> Cool. I can't discuss it right now either (busy and have to go idle soon), but I'm interested in his work and possibly seeing at least EBOX-3350MX (a nice cheap one with VGA) supported as well. +<pehjota> The EBOX systems are cheap (once you add the cost of a power supply and enclosure to a BBB, it isn't much cheaper than an EBOX is) and most have VGA. Some have dual Ethernet and miniPCI. + +<mtjm> what is in dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc in coreboot sources? +<fchmmr> mtjm, coreboot/src/cpu/dmp/vortex86ex/dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc is part of the "DEBLOB" file in libreboot. +<fchmmr> I'll check it's contents in a coreboot clone. +<fchmmr> it's referenced (included) by src/cpu/dmp/vortex86ex/biosdata.{inc,lds} +<fchmmr> src/cpu/dmp/vortex86ex/biosdata.inc: #include "src/cpu/dmp/vortex86ex/dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc" +<fchmmr> src/cpu/dmp/vortex86ex/Makefile.inc:chipset_bootblock_inc += $(src)/cpu/dmp/vortex86ex/biosdata.inc +<mtjm> are there other blobs for that platform? +<mtjm> for checking if it's code or data, see code that uses it (hardware only here?) and relevant documentation; if a disassembler produces reasonable code for an appropriate ISA, then it's most probably code, otherwise it's unknown +<mtjm> (or is it e.g. a keymap?) +<fchmmr> As far as I can tell, src/cpu/dmp/vortex86ex/dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc is the only blob +<fchmmr> xvilka will know more, I'm sure +<i>I then asked for more info in #coreboot and emailed Andrew Wu (original maintainer for that board) asking the same question</i> +</pre> + + <h2>#coreboot on November 16th, 2014</h2> + +<pre> +<fchmmr> xvilka, what is src/cpu/dmp/vortex86ex/dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc for? What kind of data is it? +<fchmmr> Is there a document that describes this data? +<idwer> fchmmr: you haven't looked at biosdata.inc/.lds then +<ruik> fchmmr: i think it is firmware for keyboard controller havent check +<fchmmr> idwer, i looked at biosdata.inc, not lds. checking now. +<fchmmr> ruik, keyboard as in ps/2 keyboard? +<ruik> fchmmr: yes +<ruik> fchmmr: could be 8051 +<ruik> 0x2 can be LJMP +</pre> + + <h2>back to #libreboot on November 16th, 2014</h2> + +<pre> +<fchmmr> mtjm, just a hunch from #coreboot discussion: I think it might just be for PS/2 keyboards, not sure. +<fchmmr> If that is the case though, you could basically just ignore it (not use it) and use a usb keyboard, I imagine. + +<pehjota> fchmmr: The EBOX-3100 (only Vortex86EX computer by DMP: <<a href="http://www.compactpc.com.tw/en/product/EBOX-3100/ebox-3100_1.html">http://www.compactpc.com.tw/en/product/EBOX-3100/ebox-3100_1.html</a>>. +<fchmmr> coreboot menuconfig just says DMP -> Vortex86EX +<pehjota> Yeah, it doesn't say which computer that is, but I'm guessing it's the EBOX-3100. +<fchmmr> maybe there are more that also work. +<fchmmr> I found a few "86duino" boards for isntance. +<fchmmr> <a href="http://www.bttr-software.de/forum/mix_entry.php?id=13074">http://www.bttr-software.de/forum/mix_entry.php?id=13074</a> +<fchmmr> <a href="http://www.86duino.com/?page_id=85/installation-troubleshooting-1/recompiling-coreboot-seabios-need-config-files">http://www.86duino.com/?page_id=85/installation-troubleshooting-1/recompiling-coreboot-seabios-need-config-files</a> +<pehjota> Yeah, there's 86duino which supposedly comes with coreboot installed. There were some old configs posted to a forum but the links are dead. Other than that I can't find source code. And it's not in upstream coreboot. +<i>Surely someone had a git repository somewhere? Was it public (and is it still online)?</i> +<i>So we need to check all the usual places (github, gitorious, search google/ddg, etc).</i> + +<pehjota> Yeah, that thread; the links are dead. +<fchmmr> tried the wayback machine? +<fchmmr> <a href="https://archive.org/web/">https://archive.org/web/</a> +<pehjota> Oh right, that's a Vortex86EX. Maybe that's the one supported by coreboot. DMP sells that one too. +<fchmmr> a lot of the actual commits in coreboot seem to come from DMP themselves. + +<pehjota> I didn't, but the Wayback Machine usually doesn't archive .zip files or other things that aren't Web documents. +<fchmmr> sometimes it does. + +<pehjota> Yeah, there's a developer at DMP who contributes this code to coreboot. +<pehjota> And who is apparently active with KolibriOS too. +<fchmmr> Andrew Wu +<pehjota> Yup. + +<fchmmr> does trisquel 7 run on i586-only hardware? +<fchmmr> i thought it was i686 +<fchmmr> I asked in #trisquel +<pehjota> Not sure. +<pehjota> Rereading the message in 8522f99 ("Add support for DMP Vortex86EX PCI mainboard.") and looking at <<a href="http://www.86duino.com/index.php?p=68">http://www.86duino.com/index.php?p=68</a>>, I think that might be the board. +<fchmmr> maybe it runs on all vortex86ex soc's +<pehjota> The code in src/cpu/ should, but src/mainboard/ is specific to individual boards. +<fchmmr> I meant that maybe the same rom will work on multiple boards. +<i>Or maybe all those *many* menuconfig options means that it could...</i> + +<pehjota> Although src/mainboard/dmp/vortex86ex/Kconfig appears to support configuration for different Vortex86EX-based boards, which is interesting. +<pehjota> With defaults for 86Duino ZERO. +<fchmmr> yes. lots of config options in menuconfig. +<fchmmr> the default microcode options when selecting that board is "do not include microcode", which is promising. +<pehjota> Yeah, as I said I don't think there's any microcode on Vortex86. I think the ISA is implemented directly in hardware. +<fchmmr> Where does it say 86Duino in that Kconfigfile? +<pehjota> It doesn't; I'm just guessing based on some of the default values. +<fchmmr> select BOARD_ROM_KB_256 +<fchmmr> in Kconfig +<fchmmr> probably couldn't fit GRUB in there, then. Would hvae to use SeaBIOS. +<pehjota> And as I said, the initial commit message suggests it could have been originally for the 86Duino ZERO. +<fchmmr> But if there's no vbios, or if it's a full (and free) vbios implementation, then seabios would be ok. +<pehjota> Yeah, it uses SeaBIOS. +<pehjota> Yup. +<fchmmr> personally I'd prefer to use GRUB, but seabios is also fine. +<fchmmr> GRUB wouldn't fit in such a small space +<fchmmr> unless you build it with basically no modules +<pehjota> It's basic VGA hardware with no option ROM AFAICT. No GPU or anything to initialize. The Linux driver is just a framebuffer one. +<fchmmr> this all sounds very promising. +<fchmmr> That file for keyboard can apparently be ignored if it's a freedom issue +<pehjota> So just a framebuffer that gets sent out on VGA. +<fchmmr> (can use usb keyboard) +<pehjota> Yeah. +<fchmmr> <pehjota> So just a framebuffer that gets sent out on VGA. +<fchmmr> <pehjota> The Linux driver is just a framebuffer one. +<pehjota> There's no GPU driver enabled in DMP's Linux config, only a couple video framebuffer drivers. +<fchmmr> I'll ask on the mailing list (coreboot one) who has vortex86 hardware to test on +<pehjota> The Linux config file is in the "source" .zip files here: <<a href="http://www.dmp.com.tw/tech/os-xlinux/">http://www.dmp.com.tw/tech/os-xlinux/</a>>. +<pehjota> (Old version of Linux.) +<fchmmr> Source for Vortex86DX/MX: xlinux-5.7-src-dx.zip (4.74 MB) +<fchmmr> Source for Vortex86SX: xlinux-5.7-src-sx.zip (4.77 MB) +<fchmmr> isn't it vortex86ex that we're looking at? +<pehjota> fchmmr: Yeah, the SoC supported in mainline coreboot is the EX, for which there are apparently no "sources" on that page. I wouldn't use these systems for routers though; there are cheaper Atheros MIPS boards with dual Ethernet ports and built-in wireless chipsets, which should be able to run U-Boot. +<pehjota> Good call on asking Andrew Wu. I was planning to just ask DMP in general about coreboot support for the EBOX systems. +<pehjota> Personally I'm not all that interested in the EX-based systems like 86Duino. They don't have VGA, which would be necessary at least for the use cases I currently have in mind. I think the MX ones are more interesting from a practical perspective (they should be just as potentially free and xvilka ported coreboot to one of them). DX2 ones are also nice, but more expensive. + +DMP sells the 86Duino directly, and distributors sell the EBOX-3100 (as well as the other EBOX computers). +</pre> + + </div> + + <div class="section" id="kbd_fw"> + + <h2>Firmware for keyboard</h2> + + <p> + In coreboot, see src/cpu/dmp/vortex86ex/dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc. It is believed to be + firmware for a PS/2 keyboard controller, though it's actual purpose is yet to be + confirmed. You could probably exclude this + (libreboot already does, in the DEBLOB script) and plug in a USB keyboard. + </p> + + <p> + A copy of dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc: <a href="dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc.txt">dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc.txt</a>. + </p> + + <p> + The hex arrays were copied and formated in a PHP file, src: <a href="array.php.src.txt">array.php.src.txt</a>. + This outputs the array in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_HEX#Format">intel hex format</a>. + See results at <a href="array.php">array.php</a>. + The output was then saved as <b>dis.inc</b> and <b>dis.inc.hex</b>. + </p> + + </p> + According to ruik in #coreboot IRC channel, this is either 8051 or 8052 assembly code. I installed + 2 disassemblers: dis51 (8051 disassembly) and d52 (8052 disassembly). <br/> + $ <b>dis51 < dis.inc > dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc.disassembled.dis51.txt</b><br/> + And for 8052 disassembly:<br/> + $ <b>d52 -dh dis.inc.hex</b><br/> + $ <b>mv dis.inc.d52 dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc.disassembled.d52.txt</b> + </p> + + <p> + Disassembly results here:<br/> + 8051 (dis51) disassembly: + <a href="dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc.disassembled.dis51.txt">dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc.disassembled.dis51.txt</a> + - lots of data (non-instruction) sections, might be unknown instructions from 8052?<br/> + <s>8052 (d52) disassembly: + <a href="dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc.disassembled.d52.txt">dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc.disassembled.d52.txt</a></s> - + it's 8051 code. See below. + </p> + + <p> + The original dmp_kbd_fw_part1.inc in coreboot also has a GPL licence attached, so it's possible + that DMP might give the source code for this. Otherwise, if all else fails, we have the + disassembled code to try to reverse engineer. + </p> + + <p> + Todo's from mtjm: + </p> + <ul> + <li>check if there is any documented load address, check if jump addresses are reasonable</li> + <li>check if there are reasonable code sequences (so it's probably really 8051 code)</li> + <li> + make sure that it's really under the GPL, then work on generating the same binary from disassembly + + comments added when trying to understand it + </li> + <li>check if anything reads the code (there are different memory spaces for code and modifiable data)</li> + <li>maybe it has data or unaligned instructions</li> + <li>(check that you disassembled it properly, in other words)</li> + <li> + you want to get code that a machine runs, while you send some (maybe not all) code to it, + that code has instructions that can read the available code and probably does some i/o that + can be used to send that code + </li> + <li>not sure if it would have any bootrom; 8051 starts running code at address 0</li> + </ul> + + <p> + Andrew Wu replied to my email. The keyboard controller firmware is non-free; no source code available. + The GPL license on it is bogus. So libreboot will simply not include PS/2 keyboard support for this machine, + unless it can be reverse engineered based on the above. (not needed. just use USB) + </p> + + <p> + Andrew also said that the firmware is <b>8051</b> code, not 8052. The firmware + implements a <b>standard PC/AT 8042 keyboard controller (handling PS/2 KB_CLK, KB_DATA signals, etc) + There are datasheets for this!!</b>. + </p> + + <p> + Andrew also said that he doesn't know about specific hardware as he is in sotfware, + so he forwarded me to sales, they/he will let me know what vortex86ex systems are actually available for coreboot. + </p> + +<pre> +The 8051 PS/2 keyboard controller firmware not only controls PS/2 keyboard/mouse, but also handles some system functions, like system reset, A20 line enable, etc, via I/O port 60h/64h. + +(Because standard PC/AT 8042 keyboard controller does so). + +In short, if software reads or writes I/O port 60h/64h in vortex86ex, then you need the 8051 firmware, otherwise these I/O ports won’t work correctly. + +I think most OSes, like DOS or Windows, will access port 60h/64h on startup, so removing the firmware code may cause many compatibility problems. +</pre> + +<pre> +Instead I propose that I take some minimal time to re-disassemble it +trough the usual free software tools like gdb, binutils(readelf, and +objdump), or radare2. + +^ other approaches. +</pre> + + <p> + If GNU/Linux will work, then it's ok. + </p> + + </div> + +<br/> +<hr/> + + <div class="section footer"> + +<?php + include "../footer.php"; +?> + + </div> + + </div> + +</body> +</html> + |