many thanks Joseph!

you sure have found the problem in the code (without even looking... remarkable).

i sure had the "CONFIG_VIDEO_MB=8" to my targets' Config.lb which was being ignored...
so i've added the following (elementary) patch to coreboot-v2/src/northbridge/intel/i82810/northbridge.c :

Index: northbridge.c
===================================================================
--- northbridge.c    (revision 3698)
+++ northbridge.c    (working copy)
@@ -149,6 +149,16 @@
         drp_value = drp_value >> 4;    // >>= 4; //? mess with later
         tomk += (unsigned long)(translate_i82810_to_mb[drp_value]);
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_VIDEO_MB
+        /* check for VGA reserved memory */
+        if (CONFIG_VIDEO_MB == 512) {
+            /* FIXME: we round up the 1/2mb to 1 */
+            tomk -= 1;
+        } else {
+            tomk -= CONFIG_VIDEO_MB;
+        }
+#endif
+
         printk_debug("Setting RAM size to %d MB\n", tomk);
 
         /* Convert tomk from MB to KB. */



the boot now works, but still no onboard-vga. ive noticed in pci_rom_probe() the dev->rom_address of the vga pci card is 0 (zero)! although i have the following in the mainboard/manu/type/Config.lb :
...
    device pci 1.0 on                # Onboard video
       chip drivers/pci/onboard
         device pci 1.0 on end
         register "rom_address" = "0xfffc0000"
       end
    end
...


this is according to the lspci output from the machine using the original bios :
...
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82810E DC-133 (CGC) Chipset Graphics Controller (rev 03)
...


so im trying to find out why dev->rom_address is being set to 0.
the fallback/static.c shows clearly that the rom address is being set in the proper device structure :
...
struct drivers_pci_onboard_config drivers_pci_onboard_info_9    = {
        .rom_address = 0xfffc0000,
};
...


so any clues on the matter will be appreciated.

Regards,
Elia Yehuda.