coreboot

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39654 discussions

RFC on coreboot forms representation
by Patrick Rudolph 03 Nov '23

03 Nov '23

Hello coreboot folks, At the time of writing coreboot is lacking good firmware menus or user-space applications to change options consumed by coreboot. While there's support for changing CMOS options in SeaBIOS or from within Linux on some x86 mainboards it's quite limited in user friendliness. While CMOS was a great thing some decades ago, it cannot compete with today's flash based non-volatile option store, like UEFI variables, SMMSTORE or VPD. Our best engineers at 9elements came up with a possible solution: coreboot forms representation, see [1], [2], [3] CFR allows to have nice firmware menus in coreboot payloads as done in example for tianocore/EDK2 [5]. While it was designed with EDK2 in mind it's possible to use it on any payload with any variable store back-end (UEFI, SMMSTORE, VPD, CMOS, ...), as it's really about providing meta data about the options, not how to actually store it's value in a non-volatile fashion. The coreboot forms representation is provided to a payload in a new coreboot table and is generated at runtime by using C-style lookup tables, but in order to reduce code duplicates can be defined in common code as done in [4]. Please review and give feedback. Regards, Patrick 1: https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/77882/ 2: https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/74121/ 3: https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/78506/ 4: https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/78296/ 5: https://github.com/9elements/edk2/commit/f34f17996444ef811cc0223b4f875c45da…

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Feedback wanted for coreboot website update
by Matt DeVillier 03 Nov '23

03 Nov '23

Greetings coreboot community! One of the items to come out of OSFC and the previous leadership meeting was the need to overhaul coreboot's website to look more "professional" -- like a project which was used by commercial entities large and small, not just something for hobbyists/tinkerers. The leadership council has decided to move forward with this, and would like to hear from the coreboot community as part of developing requirements. These reqs roughly fall into 3 broad categories: logistical, aesthetic, and content. Some of the ideas been put out so far: [logistical] * Everything must be owned and run by coreboot - not an outside developer. * Everything must be contained in a git repo (outside of downloadable files like releases). * As much as possible should be generated statically? [aesthetic] * Use a site-wide top bar for navigation? (similar to https://www.zephyrproject.org) [content] * Prominent display of companies using coreboot (similar to https://go.dev) We'd love to hear from anyone else with ideas on how we can improve from the existing site. regards, Matt

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2023-11-01 - coreboot Leadership Meeting Minutes
by mina＠coreboot.org 02 Nov '23

02 Nov '23

# 2023-11-01 - coreboot Leadership Meeting Minutes ## Attendees Julius Werner, Jonathan Hall, Tim Crawford, Jay Talbott, Matt DeVillier, Jeremy Compostella, Wilhelmina Asante, Martin Roth, Simon Glass, David Hendricks, Christian (not 9e), Jon Murphy, Werner Zeh ## Open Action Items * [Open] Martin: Shallow submodules - document & test, then update submodules if testing goes well. Additionally look at whether the .branch option helps. * [Open] Martin: Note the slowdown of syncing the master branch to the 4.22 release notes - Updates are now weekly & branch will be removed at 4.23 release. * [Open] Martin: Send out an email to the mailing list about running devicetree.cb files through the C preprocessor to get feedback. * [Open] Arthur: Ask Philip about how to use company logos. *[Open] Martin: Write a document about vendorcode submodules. * [Prototyped] Martin: Create coreboot governance page * Please review and give comments. * [Started] MattD and WernerZ :Work on compiling a list of website requirements from the mailing list. * No feedback yet-MattD: To continue compiling feedback list of website requirements. * [Started] Martin: Write a tutorial for gerrit - Feel free to help. * [Started] Martin: Work on clang-format. * We can use the clang format version from the coreboot toolchain! * Some issues with clang format - martin will present. * See CB:78832 for what the current format’s changes will look like. * Martin to add bitfield example to 78832 * [Done] PatrickG: Slow down the updates of the master branch. ## Minutes: ### [Martin] Thoughts on enabling shallow clones of submodules by default? * [https://git-scm.com/docs/gitmodules/2.28.0] .shallow When set to true, a clone of this submodule will be performed as a shallow clone (with a history depth of 1) unless the user explicitly asks for a non-shallow clone. * [TimC] Shallow clones means no git history. Would be good for CI and people who don’t need it. Related: Does/Can gerrit support partial clones? Treeless clones (--filter=tree:0) would be nice to have. They’re like shallow clones, but still have the git history. * [Martin] You’re spot on about not having git history in the submodules - by default. I believe you could still download the full repo manually if desired (I’ll test before implementing if the decision is to go forward with it.) I don’t see why gerrit would have a problem with it, but git submodules don’t support treeless clones, just shallow. * [MattD] Are we already using a single branch? _AI: Martin to check._ This seems like a reasonable default - need to document how to change this. * What difficulties are there with this? Will we have issues updating during a build? * Will people need to update manually if going back to an earlier commit? _AI: Martin to write docs & test_ ### [Martin] Slow down syncing of coreboot’s master branch to Daily? Weekly? * We want not using the main branch to start being a little painful, without completely breaking things yet. We’ll want to discontinue updates to master and delete it in a month or two. * [TimC] Handle it like boards/features are deprecated and do it at a release? e.g., no updates after 4.22 and removed after 4.23. * [MattD] Slow the updates down to weekly, put it in release notes that the branch will be dropped at 4.23. * [JonM] Remove documentation from the master branch and point to the main branch. * [Martin] Because of the way the branches are being synced, we can’t have any differences between the master and main branches. ** Decision: Slow down to weekly updates.** _AI: Martin: Add change from master branch to main branch to the release notes_ _AI: PGeorgi: slow down the updates to master._ ### [MattD] Requirements for new website * Everything must be owned and run by coreboot - not an outside developer. * Everything must be contained in a git repo (outside of downloadable files like releases). * As much as possible should be generated statically. * Use a site-wide top bar for navigation? * Should look like a “professional” website. _AI: MattD: Mailing list & solicit feedback from other forums. (Just continuing from previous AI)_ ### [Martin] Should we have a separate meeting to discuss coreboot RFC patches? * [https://review.coreboot.org/q/status:open+repo:coreboot+message:rfc] * [Matt] A separate meeting seems reasonable. Would we get more people if we had another meeting, or fewer? * [David] Let’s try to do it in this meeting and go over one RFC each time. If we can’t get caught up, we can have additional meetings. ** Decision: Just try to do it in the leadership meetings.** ### [Martin] Clang-format update - show the pros & cons. * [clang-format: Update configuration for version 16+] https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/78832 * Please take a look. Pain points: - Consecutive macros: Registers with bit definitions below them typically have bits indented to group things together. clang-format currently does not recognize this and will remove indenting of macros. - Bitfield handling: Martin says recent clang-format works much better - Martin: add example to CB:78832 - Structs where each member is on its own line (for example, a struct with UART baud rates) was a problem in earlier versions as well since clang-format would aggressively join lines. Maybe this is fixed. ### [Martin] 4.22 release scheduled for 2023_11_17 * 4.22 release checklist & meeting minutes (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jElapZVmef2H6Gxs9QzdsHiiim-OpCHP6RjsGcL…) * Release meetings run for 4 weeks starting this friday. See the coreboot calendar for details(https://coreboot.org/calendar.html). * Discussions happen on IRC in #coreboot_releases. * MattD will try to test platforms he supports before the 4.22 release. ### [Martin] RFC: util/sconfig: Add 'enable_option' keyword * This will allow a Kconfig option to be used to enable/disable a device * Do we also want a “disable_option” keyword that enables the device if it’s not set? * Should we just make a 2nd Kconfig option that’s set when the first isn’t? * [https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/78604] * Jonathan: supports the idea. * Julius: Let’s just run it through a preprocessor and make rules about what is and isn’t allowed. This is more consistent with how we handle other files. ** Decision: Look at using the C preprocessor instead.** * Simple #defines and #if type statements - no complex macros allowed. * Look back at the discussion from last year when we had the opposite decision. _AI: Martin: Send out a separate email to the mailing list for comments from all._ ### [PatrickR] RFC on coreboot forms representation * [https://mail.coreboot.org/hyperkitty/list/coreboot@coreboot.org/thread/PX6W… G5S/] * [https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/77882/] * [https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/74121/] * [https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/78506/] * [https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/78296/] * [https://github.com/9elements/edk2/commit/f34f17996444ef811cc0223b4f875c45da…] * Simon: In the spirit of cross-project collaboration, would it be worth looking at how U-Boot does this? It has a schema which can be loaded at runtime, rather than needing data in the C code (https://u-boot.readthedocs.io/en/latest/develop/expo.html#expo-format-examp…) * Goal is to be able to have a setup engine. * Runtime or payload. * Would we need to implement chain loading of payloads? * Martin: 3 main objections * Change the name - Forms Representation is awful. Config Options Data, Option Data structures, Menu Option Data, anything. “Forms Representation” is totally a UEFI phrase. * Make this at build time and not runtime. * Make it easier to populate the menus from each different level - Arch, SoC, Vendor, Mainboard * Werner: Agree it doesn’t need to be run-time. * Matt: Any runtime can just update the fields in cbmem. coreboot would need to understand the data structures. * Martin: Should we set up a meeting to discuss this with 9E and interested parties in the community? # Next meeting * November 15, 2023 * [Meeting link] https://meet.google.com/pyt-newq-rbb * [coreboot Calendar] https://coreboot.org/calendar.html # Notice Decisions shown here are not necessarily final, and are based on the current information available. If there are questions or comments about decisions made, or additional information to present, please put it on the leadership meeting agenda and show up if possible to discuss it. Of course items may also be discussed on the mailing list, but as it's difficult to interpret tone over email, controversial topics frequently do not have good progress in those discussions. For particularly difficult issues, it may be best to try to schedule another meeting. # coreboot leadership meeting minutes https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NRXqXcLBp5pFkHiJbrLdv3Spqh1Hu086HYkKrgK…

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coreboot Meeting Annoucements And Agenda Call
by mina＠coreboot.org 31 Oct '23

31 Oct '23

Dear coreboot community, Please note that the coreboot leadership meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 1, 2023 [1]. You are welcome to add things you wish to see addressed during the meeting to the agenda [2]. ## Current Agenda Items: ### [Martin] Thoughts on enabling shallow clones of submodules by default? _.shallow_ _When set to true, a clone of this submodule will be performed as a shallow clone (with a history depth of 1) unless the user explicitly asks for a non-shallow clone._ ### [Martin] Slow down syncing of coreboot’s master branch to Daily? Weekly? We want not using the main branch to start being a little painful, without completely breaking things yet. We’ll want to discontinue updates to master and delete it in a month or two. ### [Matt] Requirements for new website * Everything must be owned and run by coreboot - not an outside developer. * Everything must be contained in a git repo (outside of downloadable files like releases). * As much as possible should be generated statically? * Use a site-wide top bar for navigation? ### [Martin] Should we have a separate meeting to discuss coreboot RFC patches? https://review.coreboot.org/q/status:open+repo:coreboot+message:rfc ### [Martin] RFC: util/sconfig: Add 'enable_option' keyword This will allow a Kconfig option to be used to enable/disable a device Do we also want a “disable_option” keyword that enables the device if it’s not set? Should we just make a 2nd Kconfig option that’s set when the first isn’t? * https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/78604 ### [PatrickR] RFC on coreboot forms representation: * https://mail.coreboot.org/hyperkitty/list/coreboot@coreboot.org/thread/PX6W… 5S/' * https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/77882/ * https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/74121/ * https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/78506/ * https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/78296/ * https://github.com/9elements/edk2/commit/f34f17996444ef811cc0223b4f875c45da… ### [Martin] Clang-format update - show the pros & cons. ### [Martin] 4.22 release scheduled for 2023_11_17 4.22 release checklist & meeting minutes Release meetings run for 4 weeks starting this friday. See the coreboot calendar for details. Discussions happen on IRC in #coreboot_releases [1] https://coreboot.org/calendar.html [2] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NRXqXcLBp5pFkHiJbrLdv3Spqh1Hu086HYkKrgK…

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coreboot interest, can a total notice create a new build?
by Steven Vervaecke 31 Oct '23

31 Oct '23

Hi, I recently started to delve into the coreboot world. I dont have any experience in firmware and i see that my laptop is currently not supported. Can i create a coreboot version for my laptop from scratch using this guide? https://doc.coreboot.org/tutorial/part1.html? Or is it not advised, not worth my time and should i ask a pro who is skilled at this? Regards, Steven V

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More details about Arbitrage? (tool to work with schematics programmatically)
by Paul Menzel 31 Oct '23

31 Oct '23

Dear coreboot folks, Today, in commit 952a4473ec23 (mb/google/brox: Add Arbitrage generated gpio.c file) [1], I first read consciously about the tool Arbitrage: > mb/google/brox: Add Arbitrage generated gpio.c file > > Checking in gpio.c generated by arbitrage. Used this command line to > generate: > arb export-coreboot-gpio --refdes=U1 brox:proto1_20231017 Commit dbc904b26768 (mb/google/brya/var/ghost: Add auto-generated GPIO config from Arbitrage) [2], I found, where the tool is mentioned the first time, includes a description: > Arbitrage is an internal tool at Google to work with schematics > programatically. In particular, it features an "export-coreboot-gpio" > command, which, does it's best to try and make a gpio.c from the > schematics to avoid human errors when translating to C code. It’d be great, if you could share more details, and if there are plans to make it public. Also, is that tool used to create `gpio.c` for all boards? Kind regards, Paul [1]: https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/78657 [2]: https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/65210

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AM4 Ryzen Port problem: timer irq issue maybe?
by Marty E. Plummer 31 Oct '23

31 Oct '23

Hello. I've been working on porting coreboot to Asrock X370 Killer Sli/AC, and I've made quite a lot of progress, and can even boot arch linux off usb from either seabios or tianocore. However, there's a number of odds and ends that need to be fixed which will require a lot of build/flash/boot cycles to wholly figure out. Problem is, the act of booting linux in my board's current state is an absolute chore to perform. After grub loads the kernel and initramfs, it goes quite smoothly for a while, but at some point, it slows to an absolute crawl/almost halts entirely. I've found that by plugging and unplugging a usb keyboard it causes the boot to progress a bit more each time, until it gets to the point where getty@ttyS0 comes up and sshd is running. Once ssh'd in, I can basically use it just like it was the vendor firmware, a few outstanding issues notwithstanding. This slowing/halting of boot also occurs if I issue a shutdown command and requires the same plug/unplug manipulation to make it actually finish. It has been suggested to me in a few places that its a lack of a timer irq getting through, but I'm not certain that's actually it but its the only lead I have to go on right now. My current state of code is at: https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/77879 and is largely based off the zork chromebooks and the mandolin devel board's code. As I can see no particular handling of timer irqs in either I'm at a loss as to what could be the missing piece of the puzzle. Once I can build/flash/boot a bit faster I'm almost certain I can get the usb ports coming off the x370 chipset working (pcie and sata both appear to be fully functional as of this moment, more testing required) but as mentioned, it is *such a painful process* to actually boot linux on it in its current state. Any suggestions or solutions greatly appreciated. Regards, Marty

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Replacing BIOS
by R B 30 Oct '23

30 Oct '23

Dear Sir / Madam, I bought a mini PC with an N100 CPU and AMI BIOS on Aliexpress. Is it possible to replace the AMI BIOS with coreboot? Yours sincerely, Rachid. P.S. I read on the internet that Chinese equipment may be spying via devices/electronics. Is that true? And will changing BIOS help against this?

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coreboot Leadership Meeting
by mina＠coreboot.org 30 Oct '23

30 Oct '23

Dear coreboot Community, We are pleased to announce the upcoming coreboot leadership meeting scheduled for Wednesday, November 1, 2023.[1] Please feel free to add things you wish to see addressed during the meeting to the agenda.[2] [1] https://coreboot.org/calendar.html [2] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NRXqXcLBp5pFkHiJbrLdv3Spqh1Hu086HYkKrgK… 3tcg8b

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Compatibility
by Christopher Rigdon 30 Oct '23

30 Oct '23

Greetings, I was browsing you web site and saw that you have open source firmware for the Lenovo Thinkpad T430. I have an Ideapad Y430 and was wondering if it would be a compatible laptop as well? Your assistance is much appreciated. Thanks, -Chris Rigdon

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