On 20/12/2013, ron minnich rminnich@gmail.com wrote:
I can go into more detail if you want to know the particulars, but there's so many places in our systems containing blobs
As I understand it, there are two distinct reasons why some BLOBs, in certain systems, cannot be eliminated/replaced by executing appropriate software on those systems:
1. Because the BLOB is stored in a genuine ROM (or equivalent or EPROM or equivalent; but not an EEPROM or equivalent) and therefore cannot physically be eliminated/replaced just by (setting a jumper if necessary, and) executing software;
2. Because although the BLOB could in principle be eliminated/replaced, no libre (or even open-source) alternative for it exists yet that would lead to error-free operation of the hardware. (Intel CPU microcode updates are a prime example of such BLOBs.)
Assuming I haven't got the wrong end of this stick, I would be grateful if you (or anyone else reading this) could go into more detail (or point me to a resource that does) regarding which BLOBs exist on the following two models of Chromebook, and which of those two cases they fall under:
- Acer C7/C710 - HP Pavilion 14
For instance, I've not yet figured out whether those Chromebook models currently upload microcode to the Celeron 847 (or Celeron 1007U). (Unless my search-fu has failed me, Intel doesn't seem to have released any microcode updates for the 847 or 1007U; but perhaps that is irrelevant, because BIOS/OS-uploadable microcode for the 847 might have been released without any further microcode *updates* being released?)
Thanks again,
Sam