Along with the latest coreboot release, coreboot announced some standards for removing platforms after upcoming releases.
Summary: * After the 4.7 release platforms that do not support cbmem in romstage will be removed. Please see the list of platforms to be removed if no work is done to update them at the end of this email.
* After the 4.8 release, and with every release after that, platforms that have not been updated in the board-status repository within the previous year will be removed.
Code removal after the 4.7 release ----------------------------------------------
One of the things that the coreboot project has struggled with is how to maintain the older platforms while still moving the rest of the platforms forward. Currently there are numerous platforms in the codebase which have not been well maintained.
Starting with the 4.7 release in October, the coreboot leadership is going to set standards that platforms are expected to meet to remain in the active codebase. These will generally be announced 3 to 6 months in advance to give time to get changes in. The expectation is not necessarily even that all work to meet the goal will be completed, but it is expected that a reasonable effort has started to meet the goal at the time of the release. Regardless of the work that's been done, platforms which have not met the goal by the following release will be removed.
The next expectation that will need to be met for all platforms is cbmem in romstage. This currently affects numerous platforms, including most, if not all of AMD's platforms. Work to update many of these platforms has started, but there are others that have not made any progress towards this goal. A list of the platforms that are affected by this is included at the end of this email.
Please know that this is not a new idea, there is precedent for this in the coreboot project with the removal of platforms that did not support Cache-as-RAM. Two platforms were exempted from that cleanup effort, and exceptions might be made for platforms going forward. Honestly, the hope is that this will spur work to bring the older platforms up to current standards.
Note that work for removed platforms CAN continue on the release branch, just not on the master branch. Additionally, if the work is done to bring the platform up to the current standards, it can definitely be brought back into the master branch.
Code removal after the 4.8 release ----------------------------------------------
To further clean things up, starting with the 4.8 release, any platform that does not have a successful boot logged in the board_status repo in the previous year (that is, within the previous two releases) will be removed from the maintained coreboot codebase. Chips that do not have any associated boards will also be removed. These platforms will be announced before the release so that there is time for people to test if desired.
This is not meant to be a high bar, but as a measure to clean up the codebase and eliminate boards and chips that are actually no longer being used. The cleanup will happen just after the release, so the removed platforms will still be available in the release branch if desired. If there is still interest, developers can bring back old chips and boards by porting them to the new tree (and bringing them to current standards).
This gives everyone until April 2018 to get any boards that they care about tested before the first removal. Additional instructions and improvements to the board_status script are expected within the next few months to facilitate testing.
146 Platforms currently scheduled for removal after 4.7 if no work is done to update them ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AAEON_PFM_540I_REVB ABIT_BE6_II_V2_0 AMD_BETTONG AMD_DB800 AMD_DB_FT3B_LC AMD_DBM690T AMD_DINAR AMD_F2950 AMD_GARDENIA AMD_INAGUA AMD_LAMAR AMD_MAHOGANY AMD_NORWICH AMD_OLIVEHILL AMD_OLIVEHILLPLUS AMD_PARMER AMD_PERSIMMON AMD_PISTACHIO AMD_RUMBA AMD_SERENGETI_CHEETAH AMD_SOUTHSTATION AMD_THATCHER AMD_TORPEDO AMD_UNIONSTATION AOPEN_DXPLPLUSU ARTECGROUP_DBE61 ASROCK_939A785GMH ASROCK_E350M1 ASROCK_IMB_A180 ASUS_A8N_E ASUS_A8N_SLI ASUS_A8V_E_DELUXE ASUS_A8V_E_SE ASUS_DSBF ASUS_F2A85_M ASUS_F2A85_M_LE ASUS_F2A85_M_PRO ASUS_K8V_X ASUS_KFSN4_DRE_K8 ASUS_M2N_E ASUS_M2V ASUS_M2V_MX_SE ASUS_MEW_AM ASUS_MEW_VM ASUS_P2B ASUS_P2B_D ASUS_P2B_DS ASUS_P2B_F ASUS_P2B_LS ASUS_P3B_F A_TREND_ATC_6220 A_TREND_ATC_6240 AZZA_PT_6IBD BACHMANN_OT200 BCOM_WINNETP680 BIFFEROS_BIFFERBOARD BIOSTAR_AM1ML BIOSTAR_M6TBA BROADCOM_BLAST COMPAQ_DESKPRO_EN_SFF_P600 DIGITALLOGIC_MSM800SEV DMP_EX ECS_P6IWP_FE ELMEX_PCM205400 ELMEX_PCM205401 GIGABYTE_GA_2761GXDK GIGABYTE_GA_6BXC GIGABYTE_GA_6BXE GIGABYTE_M57SLI GIZMOSPHERE_GIZMO GIZMOSPHERE_GIZMO2 HP_ABM HP_DL145_G1 HP_DL145_G3 HP_E_VECTRA_P2706T HP_PAVILION_M6_1035DX IEI_PCISA_LX_800_R10 IEI_PM_LX2_800_R10 IEI_PM_LX_800_R11 INTEL_D810E2CB INTEL_EAGLEHEIGHTS INTEL_MTARVON INTEL_TRUXTON IWAVE_RAINBOW_G6 IWILL_DK8_HTX JETWAY_J7F2 JETWAY_J7F4K1G2E JETWAY_J7F4K1G5D JETWAY_NF81_T56N_LF KONTRON_KT690 LANNER_EM8510 LENOVO_G505S LINUTOP_LINUTOP1 LIPPERT_FRONTRUNNER LIPPERT_FRONTRUNNER_AF LIPPERT_HURRICANE_LX LIPPERT_LITERUNNER_LX LIPPERT_ROADRUNNER_LX LIPPERT_SPACERUNNER_LX LIPPERT_TOUCAN_AF MITAC_6513WU MSI_MS_6119 MSI_MS_6147 MSI_MS_6156 MSI_MS_6178 MSI_MS7135 MSI_MS7260 MSI_MS7721 MSI_MS9185 MSI_MS9282 NEC_POWERMATE_2000 NOKIA_IP530 NVIDIA_L1_2PVV ODE_E20XX ODE_E21XX PCENGINES_ALIX1C PCENGINES_ALIX2C PCENGINES_ALIX2D PCENGINES_ALIX6 PCENGINES_APU1 PCENGINES_APU2 RCA_RM4100 SIEMENS_SITEMP_G1P1 SOYO_SY_6BA_PLUS_III SUNW_ULTRA40 SUNW_ULTRA40M2 SUPERMICRO_H8DME SUPERMICRO_H8DMR SUPERMICRO_H8QGI SUPERMICRO_H8SCM SUPERMICRO_X7DB8 TECHNEXION_TIM5690 TECHNEXION_TIM8690 THOMSON_IP1000 TRAVERSE_GEOS TYAN_S1846 TYAN_S2912 TYAN_S8226 VIA_EPIA_CN VIA_EPIA_M700 VIA_EPIA_M850 VIA_PC2500E VIA_VT8454C WINENT_MB6047 WINENT_PL6064 WYSE_S50