On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 09:44:02AM -0600, Marc Jones wrote:
Hi Xavi,
Thanks for your interest in coreboot. This is a long email! :)
I'm bad at summarizing. Sorry.
VGA BIOS is not required. You could have a headless system. Or a system with a framebuffer driver like Geode.
Headless would be last resort. If possible I would like to have a monitor connected to the system (either mainboard or graphics card) and have a desktop there. I don't need video while booting (but I would appreciate it, of course). I understand this is possible depending on the GPU. When you say a system with a framebuffer you mean any system with linux User Mode Setting should work without propietary VGA BIOS ?
Double graphics is a problem ?
As far as I know the only modern desktop class chipsets supported by the manufacturer, are AMD RS780/SB700 , am I wrong ? (thanks, AMD!). I think all come with an ATI IGP , which requires blobs in the linux/X driver (AtomBIOS). I may be misinformed on AtomBIOS, but I think I don't want to use it. I've heard nouveau has just deblobed its driver, so I might add an Nvidia graphics card to it (at least while Open Graphics Project isn't ready for consumers). I'll try to buy one second hand, as lesser evil, since I dislike buying directly from vendors not supporting free software. Does having both the ATI IGP and the Nvidia card give any additional complication ? (besides it's going to be less tested than more usual setups). I wish Intel supported coreboot or radeonhd didn't use AtomBIOS (like it once was).
This is a continued area of development, but yes, many drivers use the vbios too hold proprietary information. Again, not an issue if you are running a headless machine.
Do you mean deblobing linux/X graphics drivers is a continued area of development or supporting IGP + graphics card in coreboot (if it needs some speacial support by corebbot) is a continued area of development ?
There is no specific roadmap. This is usually driven by board availability. I think some boards will be ported during GSoC. If you have a preferred board, send an email to the list. Someone might be working on it.
I don't have a prefered board (yet). I was thinking of picking one of the few that people has shown some interest in here in the list. That might be best for me as a newbie as I wouldn't be alone even if it is not currently supported yet. I'm not sure if it would be best for the project (having more that one test instance for the same board ) or it would be best to have as many different boards to test as possible.
I think that DDR3 support will be critical for coreboot this year. I am optimistic that we will get some help from AMD this summer.
Ok, I can wait, I guess. I can start by the OS, test flashrom with the propietary bios, etc. and handle coreboot proper later.
How to choose socketed boards ?
How can one know whether a card has socketed or soldered BIOS ROMs besides looking at it or some photos ? Should it be in the specs or manual ? (I don't trust myself with a soldering iron).
This will usually be in the manual. Many boards are SPI flash now and you need an external programmer with a test clip to program them. This is an area we need to improve on the wiki.
I had read something (either in coreboot wiki or from some link there) but I no longer find it. I thought SPI could be socketed or soldered.
These are great goals. It sounds like you have a lot in common with the folks at the FSF. :)
In goals, we have a lot in common, I'm just less active pursuing them.
There are a couple AMD and Intel platforms that might meet your needs.
Are there ? I've been looking at the supported mainboards and found few that I could buy currently in a shop and are relatively powerful. I'll look again.
I expect more boards (like the 780/710) to be supported this summer if you are willing to wait. I am also hopeful that we see coreboot on systems available from vendors in the future.
I've already wited quite a lot, and my current laptop is falling apart. So I may buy soon, but I may install coreboot later (I understand buying before getting support may be risky). I'd like to buy something with coreboot preinstalled, but that may be the next system I buy after whatever I get now. In your products page I've seen a couple of servers with coreboot I might get, but they're a bit expensive for what I was thinking.
Thanks for your help.