Installing coreboot can be an either enthralling or appalling experience. If you're new to coreboot and want to give it a try, following a few simple steps can save you a ton of time and frustration.
Ask around first ================
Let the "coreboot people" know you want to try coreboot on board 'xyz'. You may find someone with the same board, who may be able to give you hints on flashing. This is especially useful on laptops, where a brick will most likely result in the need for disassembly to access the flash chip, and external flashing.
Prebuilt images ===============
If you're lucky enough to find someone with the same board as you, they may be able to provide a pre-built coreboot image. This eliminates issues where flashing is done correctly, but a mysterious bug prevents the system for booting.
Binary coreboot distributions =============================
Sometimes people get together and create tested binaries binaries for a subset of boards. They can give you help on flashing, and making sure your board works as expected. This is by far the best way to try coreboot.
If you have a Lenovo X60, give the libreboot[1] guys a holler. That's libre- boot, not lib-reboot.
You may also be able to find, for a fee, prebuilt binaries for your board from Sage Electronics' SageBios[2]. I am not sure how Sage conducts its business, so Marc, feel free to correct me on this one.
[1] http://libreboot.org/ [2] http://www.se-eng.com/sage-bios.html
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mrnuke -
Peter Stuge -
ron minnich