[coreboot] POWER9 / Talos II coreboot support?

[ron minnich]

"There is no legal issue that we are aware of with using them to develop
a libre firmware solution like coreboot; IBM just doesn't want the
detailed register manuals distributed verbatim online at this time."


This is worrisome. Intel docs used to be the same way in 1999, otherwise
LinuxBIOS might never have happened. Then the walls were built. I've worked
with IBM Power off and on for 30+ years. IBM can give, and IBM has in the
past taken away, and it's caused real trouble for projects I've worked on.

I think we need a clear statement on distribution policies for Power
docs. "There
is no legal issue that we are aware of" is not enough. I don't want to find
out in two years that this information is now locked down.

This has been my continuing problem with Power, and it's why I've focused
more on RISC-V. There's just too much uncertainty from the Open Power
organization. With luck you can fix it, but it needs to be fixed.

ron

On Thu, May 3, 2018 at 5:48 AM <echelon at free.fr> wrote:

> +1
> Same for me, I would gladly help with the port of coreboot to Talos II
> (even if I am not a coreboot expert, I do have some background in firmware
> development..), but there are 2 problems :
>  - the time : I will be able to spend my free time on coreboot development
> again only after june 2018;
>  - the monies : I have no financial resources right now to pay myself a
> Talos development platform (4000$ is expensive.. and also I live in Europe
> and I'm concerned with the shipment of a so large and fragile item from US
> to Europe)
> I will attend the coreboot conference in september and like Jonathan said,
> I'm really interested by a POWER9 session at this conference.
> Best regards,
>  Florentin Demetrescu
>
>
> ----- Mail d'origine -----
> De: Jonathan Neuschäfer <j.neuschaefer at gmx.net>
> À: Timothy Pearson <tpearson at raptorengineering.com>
> Cc: Kyösti Mälkki <kyosti.malkki at gmail.com>, Coreboot <
> coreboot at coreboot.org>
> Envoyé: Thu, 03 May 2018 14:06:22 +0200 (CEST)
> Objet: Re: [coreboot] POWER9 / Talos II coreboot support?
>
> On Thu, May 03, 2018 at 06:32:29AM -0500, Timothy Pearson wrote:
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > Hash: SHA256
> >
> > On 05/03/2018 03:44 AM, Kyösti Mälkki wrote:
> > > On Wed, May 2, 2018 at 9:22 PM, Timothy Pearson
> > > <tpearson at raptorengineering.com> wrote:
> > >> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > >> Hash: SHA256
> > >>
> > >> We've been kicking around the idea for some time of getting a coreboot
> > >> port to the POWER9 Talos II systems going.  We don't have the
> resources
> > >> available / free at the moment to work on this independently, but it
> > >> might be possible to get something going if there are other community
> > >> members interested in helping out.
> > >
> > > Count me in, I am getting sick and tired of x86 vendors ;)
> > >
> > > Kyösti
> >
> > Sounds great, glad to have you on board!  Any other volunteers?
>
> I am interested, but I can't commit time to this at the moment.
>
> Is there going to be a POWER9 session at the Open Source Firmware
> Conference[1] in September? I'd be happy to attend.
>
>
> Jonathan Neuschäfer
>
> [1]: https://osfc.io/
>
>
> --
> coreboot mailing list: coreboot at coreboot.org
> https://mail.coreboot.org/mailman/listinfo/coreboot
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