Re: [coreboot] new to coreboot
Hi Philip, [I believe you intended this to go to the list as well. Please use the "reply all" button in your mailer. Thanks.] On 10.07.2008 00:22, Philip Aston wrote:
On Wed, 2008-07-09 at 16:00 +0200, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger wrote:
Hi Philip,
On 09.07.2008 13:14, Philip Aston wrote:
I have MS6178 ver 1.1, supported board, noted as not working on Linux. I can only get it working reliably with Knoppix although Debian Etch has worked intermittently. Embedded VGA... does that complicate things?
I don't have the board in question, but if it has problems running Linux under the factory BIOS, probably something is wrong with the hardware.
Thank you for your very prompt reply, Carl-Daniel
Probably true, worth a try I believe because googling "MS6178 Linux" revealed "News - coreboot Linux has never been able to run on this board until now. .... Thanks to Uwe Hermann we now have preliminary support for the MSI MS-6178 mainboard." (Sep07). Nothing to lose anyway.
Ah, that piece of news referred to the Thomson IP1000, a set-top box.
I'm an intermediate user finding detail on the readme within Coreboot download difficult to understand. My chip is soldered and I'll have to reflash in situ, not worried about that because 1 without linux the board is useless 2 might be able to retrieve original image (which I have saved) from bootblock.
Actually, the "boot block recovery" will not work if flashrom misbehaves or coreboot does not work.
Can I build the .rom on another box? Is there a way to build using a live cd or do I have to reinstall etch?
You can build the .rom on another box, it's even recommended to do so.
And very important, is this too ambitious for someone who needs to ask these questions? Thank you.
Well, having a soldered flash is certainly increasing the risk beyond what I'd recommend. A top hat flash override might work in case of problems, but I wouldn't bet on it.
The Howto was specific to a different mobo but it translated into mine with few headaches, except advice to place lilo.elf in / was incorrect in my case, dialogue indicated that it should be in /tmp and that worked.
Yes, that's a peculiarity of the default configuration.
So I have compiled a coreboot.rom, same size as my factory bios; but uniflash gives "verification failed" (not exact wording). What causes this error message please?
AFAIK uniflash checks for a factory BIOS signature/checksum. Since coreboot has its own checksum mechanism, uniflash fails to recognize that. It would be interesting to measure voltages of a few pins of the ROM during a BIOS update of the factory BIOS. That could help to find out what flashrom needs to do to flash this board. Uwe (in CC of this mail) has worked on this board and should know more. Regards, Carl-Daniel -- http://www.hailfinger.org/
Hi, On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 01:32:05AM +0200, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger wrote:
I have MS6178 ver 1.1, supported board, noted as not working on Linux. I can only get it working reliably with Knoppix although Debian Etch has worked intermittently. Embedded VGA... does that complicate things?
I don't have the board in question, but if it has problems running Linux under the factory BIOS, probably something is wrong with the hardware.
Yep.
Thank you for your very prompt reply, Carl-Daniel
Probably true, worth a try I believe because googling "MS6178 Linux" revealed "News - coreboot Linux has never been able to run on this board until now. .... Thanks to Uwe Hermann we now have preliminary support for the MSI MS-6178 mainboard." (Sep07). Nothing to lose anyway.
Ah, that piece of news referred to the Thomson IP1000, a set-top box.
Hm? Don't think so, there _is_ a MS-6178 target and partially works: http://www.coreboot.org/MSI_MS-6178_Build_Tutorial There are some TODOs left, but it boots Linux just fine.
I'm an intermediate user finding detail on the readme within Coreboot download difficult to understand. My chip is soldered and I'll have to reflash in situ, not worried about that because 1 without linux the board is useless 2 might be able to retrieve original image (which I have saved) from bootblock.
Actually, the "boot block recovery" will not work if flashrom misbehaves or coreboot does not work.
Can I build the .rom on another box? Is there a way to build using a live cd or do I have to reinstall etch?
You can build the .rom on another box, it's even recommended to do so.
And very important, is this too ambitious for someone who needs to ask these questions? Thank you.
Well, having a soldered flash is certainly increasing the risk beyond what I'd recommend. A top hat flash override might work in case of problems, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Are you sure this is really the MSI MS-6178? See the photo here, in my case the ROM was _not_ soldered: http://www.coreboot.org/Image:Msi_ms6178.jpg You seem to have a different revision (1.1 vs. 1.0) so maybe they changed that...
So I have compiled a coreboot.rom, same size as my factory bios; but uniflash gives "verification failed" (not exact wording). What causes this error message please?
AFAIK uniflash checks for a factory BIOS signature/checksum. Since
I doubt it, I've been able to write coreboot images with Uniflash just fine. The verification errors (some red "bars" instead of only green ones) sometimes do happen to me too, but it's always reproducible for certains boards and chips (so I think that happens when Uniflash doesn't fully support some hardware part, or the part is stale/broken). As noted at http://www.coreboot.org/MSI_MS-6178_Build_Tutorial I was _not_ able to use flashrom on this board successfully, so if the flash is indeed soldered I would not recommend to try it unless you have some way to recover (soldering probably)... HTH, Uwe. -- http://www.hermann-uwe.de | http://www.holsham-traders.de http://www.crazy-hacks.org | http://www.unmaintained-free-software.org
Hi, On 10.07.2008 13:30, Uwe Hermann wrote:
On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 01:32:05AM +0200, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger wrote:
Thank you for your very prompt reply, Carl-Daniel
Probably true, worth a try I believe because googling "MS6178 Linux" revealed "News - coreboot Linux has never been able to run on this board until now. .... Thanks to Uwe Hermann we now have preliminary support for the MSI MS-6178 mainboard." (Sep07). Nothing to lose anyway.
Ah, that piece of news referred to the Thomson IP1000, a set-top box.
Hm? Don't think so, there _is_ a MS-6178 target and partially works: http://www.coreboot.org/MSI_MS-6178_Build_Tutorial
I was referring to "Linux has never been able to run on this board until now". That sentence does not belong to the MS-6178. Of course your "preliminary support" statement is true and refers to the MS-6178. Mixing these two sentences led to misunderstanding. Regards, Carl-Daniel -- http://www.hailfinger.org/
-----Original Message----- From: coreboot-bounces@coreboot.org [mailto:coreboot-bounces@coreboot.org]On Behalf Of Uwe Hermann Sent: 10 July 2008 12:30 To: Carl-Daniel Hailfinger Cc: Philip Aston; Coreboot Subject: Re: [coreboot] new to coreboot Hi, On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 01:32:05AM +0200, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger wrote:
I have MS6178 ver 1.1, supported board, noted as not working on Linux. I can only get it working reliably with Knoppix although Debian Etch has worked intermittently. Embedded VGA... does that complicate things?
I don't have the board in question, but if it has problems running Linux under the factory BIOS, probably something is wrong with the hardware.
Yep.
Thank you for your very prompt reply, Carl-Daniel
Probably true, worth a try I believe because googling "MS6178 Linux" revealed "News - coreboot Linux has never been able to run on this board until now. .... Thanks to Uwe Hermann we now have preliminary support for the MSI MS-6178 mainboard." (Sep07). Nothing to lose anyway.
Ah, that piece of news referred to the Thomson IP1000, a set-top box.
Hm? Don't think so, there _is_ a MS-6178 target and partially works: http://www.coreboot.org/MSI_MS-6178_Build_Tutorial There are some TODOs left, but it boots Linux just fine.
I'm an intermediate user finding detail on the readme within Coreboot download difficult to understand. My chip is soldered and I'll have to reflash in situ, not worried about that because 1 without linux the board is useless 2 might be able to retrieve original image (which I have saved) from bootblock.
Actually, the "boot block recovery" will not work if flashrom misbehaves or coreboot does not work.
Can I build the .rom on another box? Is there a way to build using a live cd or do I have to reinstall etch?
You can build the .rom on another box, it's even recommended to do so.
And very important, is this too ambitious for someone who needs to ask these questions? Thank you.
Well, having a soldered flash is certainly increasing the risk beyond what I'd recommend. A top hat flash override might work in case of problems, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Are you sure this is really the MSI MS-6178? See the photo here, in my case the ROM was _not_ soldered: http://www.coreboot.org/Image:Msi_ms6178.jpg You seem to have a different revision (1.1 vs. 1.0) so maybe they changed that... I'll take a look but probably won't have access to a spare chip anyway. Wimsbios have heard of ver 1.1 & from the ID string suggested mine was an "OEM", hence different factory bios etc?.
So I have compiled a coreboot.rom, same size as my factory bios; but uniflash gives "verification failed" (not exact wording). What causes this error message please?
AFAIK uniflash checks for a factory BIOS signature/checksum. Since
I doubt it, I've been able to write coreboot images with Uniflash just fine. The verification errors (some red "bars" instead of only green ones) sometimes do happen to me too, but it's always reproducible for certains boards and chips (so I think that happens when Uniflash doesn't fully support some hardware part, or the part is stale/broken). I have also tried (with uniflash) 2 other factory bios files, admittedly of uncertain quality- originated from another user's backupimage, zipped, etc.. with same result. However, before quitting, I reflashed my backup bios image and (despite a few red bars) that worked. Not sure what that means but Knoppix runs well, so I could possibly compile a flash utility from Corebios? Being very new to this I'm not good at navigating the download- is there a particular utility I should be looking for? BTW even a brief look at the emails indicates the professional nature of your work so I appreciate your guidance here. -Philip As noted at http://www.coreboot.org/MSI_MS-6178_Build_Tutorial I was _not_ able to use flashrom on this board successfully, so if the flash is indeed soldered I would not recommend to try it unless you have some way to recover (soldering probably)... HTH, Uwe. -- http://www.hermann-uwe.de | http://www.holsham-traders.de http://www.crazy-hacks.org | http://www.unmaintained-free-software.org -- coreboot mailing list coreboot@coreboot.org http://www.coreboot.org/mailman/listinfo/coreboot
On Thu, 2008-07-10 at 15:22 +0100, Philip Aston wrote:
-----Original Message----- From: coreboot-bounces@coreboot.org [mailto:coreboot-bounces@coreboot.org]On Behalf Of Uwe Hermann Sent: 10 July 2008 12:30 To: Carl-Daniel Hailfinger Cc: Philip Aston; Coreboot Subject: Re: [coreboot] new to coreboot
Hi,
On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 01:32:05AM +0200, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger wrote:
I have MS6178 ver 1.1, supported board, noted as not working on Linux. I can only get it working reliably with Knoppix although Debian Etch has worked intermittently. Embedded VGA... does that complicate things?
I don't have the board in question, but if it has problems running Linux under the factory BIOS, probably something is wrong with the hardware.
Yep.
Thank you for your very prompt reply, Carl-Daniel
Probably true, worth a try I believe because googling "MS6178 Linux" revealed "News - coreboot Linux has never been able to run on this board until now. .... Thanks to Uwe Hermann we now have preliminary support for the MSI MS-6178 mainboard." (Sep07). Nothing to lose anyway.
Ah, that piece of news referred to the Thomson IP1000, a set-top box.
Hm? Don't think so, there _is_ a MS-6178 target and partially works: http://www.coreboot.org/MSI_MS-6178_Build_Tutorial
There are some TODOs left, but it boots Linux just fine.
I'm an intermediate user finding detail on the readme within Coreboot download difficult to understand. My chip is soldered and I'll have to reflash in situ, not worried about that because 1 without linux the board is useless 2 might be able to retrieve original image (which I have saved) from bootblock.
Actually, the "boot block recovery" will not work if flashrom misbehaves or coreboot does not work.
Can I build the .rom on another box? Is there a way to build using a live cd or do I have to reinstall etch?
You can build the .rom on another box, it's even recommended to do so.
And very important, is this too ambitious for someone who needs to ask these questions? Thank you.
Well, having a soldered flash is certainly increasing the risk beyond what I'd recommend. A top hat flash override might work in case of problems, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Are you sure this is really the MSI MS-6178? See the photo here, in my case the ROM was _not_ soldered: http://www.coreboot.org/Image:Msi_ms6178.jpg You seem to have a different revision (1.1 vs. 1.0) so maybe they changed that...
I'll take a look but probably won't have access to a spare chip anyway. Wimsbios have heard of ver 1.1 & from the ID string suggested mine was an "OEM", hence different factory bios etc?.
So I have compiled a coreboot.rom, same size as my factory bios; but uniflash gives "verification failed" (not exact wording). What causes this error message please?
AFAIK uniflash checks for a factory BIOS signature/checksum. Since
I doubt it, I've been able to write coreboot images with Uniflash just fine. The verification errors (some red "bars" instead of only green ones) sometimes do happen to me too, but it's always reproducible for certains boards and chips (so I think that happens when Uniflash doesn't fully support some hardware part, or the part is stale/broken).
I have also tried (with uniflash) 2 other factory bios files, admittedly of uncertain quality- originated from another user's backupimage, zipped, etc.. with same result. However, before quitting, I reflashed my backup bios image and (despite a few red bars) that worked. Not sure what that means but Knoppix runs well, so I could possibly compile a flash utility from Corebios? Being very new to this I'm not good at navigating the download- is there a particular utility I should be looking for?
-I should have looked harder, I think it's Flashrom?-Philip
BTW even a brief look at the emails indicates the professional nature of your work so I appreciate your guidance here. -Philip
As noted at http://www.coreboot.org/MSI_MS-6178_Build_Tutorial I was _not_ able to use flashrom on this board successfully, so if the flash is indeed soldered I would not recommend to try it unless you have some way to recover (soldering probably)...
HTH, Uwe. -- http://www.hermann-uwe.de | http://www.holsham-traders.de http://www.crazy-hacks.org | http://www.unmaintained-free-software.org
-- coreboot mailing list coreboot@coreboot.org http://www.coreboot.org/mailman/listinfo/coreboot
On Fri, Jul 11, 2008 at 12:12:52AM +0100, Philip Aston wrote:
Knoppix runs well, so I could possibly compile a flash utility from Corebios? Being very new to this I'm not good at navigating the download- is there a particular utility I should be looking for? -I should have looked harder, I think it's Flashrom?-Philip
Yep, http://www.coreboot.org/Flashrom A number of distributions already ship flashrom as packages, so you probably don't even need to compile it. Uwe. -- http://www.hermann-uwe.de | http://www.holsham-traders.de http://www.crazy-hacks.org | http://www.unmaintained-free-software.org
participants (4)
-
Carl-Daniel Hailfinger -
Philip Aston -
Philip Aston -
Uwe Hermann