Re: [coreboot] Burn 2MB coreboot.rom on 8MB flash chip

[Mariusz Szafrański]

Also have no idea :(
My solution should work when vendor`s utility just put unmodified whole 
5M coreboot.rom.new at top of the flash chip space.
But this could not be true and vendor`s utility is doing something else :(
(e.g. put it on other location, split it and place chunks on non 
continuous areas or injects some kind of "id" or "keys" before flashing)

Mariusz

W dniu 05.10.2018 o 10:50, Jose Trujillo pisze:
> I have no idea bro....
> I cannot help you with that.
> I am just curious....  Which brand and model of board are you using?
>
> ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> On Friday, October 5, 2018 6:05 AM, Zvi Vered  wrote:
> > Hi Jose, Mariusz,All,
> >
> > The vendor's rom file size is: 5,242,880 bytes
> >
> > After running:
> > dd if=coreboot.rom of=coreboot.rom.new bs=1M skip=3
> >
> > I got a new file with the same size.
> >
> > I tried to program this new file and got the following message from 
> > the vendor's utlity:
> >
> > WARNING !
> > This Image file doesn't match current System design!
> > Force update it will destroy the System's Activation Key.
> > We do not recommend flashing your BIOS.
> >   Press "Y" to force update BIOS.
> >   Press "N" to quit flash.
> > Please select one of the options:
> >
> > I ignored the warning and programmed the BIOS.
> >
> > After reset, I got nothing.
> >
> > What is "System's Activation Key" ?
> > I'm sure that FSP (and other files) for my board are not properly 
> > configured yet.
> > But I suspect this is not the reason for the message.
> >
> > Thank you,
> > Zvika
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 4, 2018 at 9:47 PM Zvi Vered <[e-mail] 
> > > wrote:
> > Hi Jose,
> >
> > I probably made a mistake and erased the main BIOS chip (and also
> > the secondary one)
> > Currently my target is not booting OS at all.
> > So I can not try Mariusz procedure.
> > Hope to have an identical target soon.
> >
> > Thank you very much for your help,
> > Zvika
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 4, 2018 at 6:31 PM Jose Trujillo
> > <[e-mail] <mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
> >
> >     Zvika:
> >     Doing a full flash doesn't work for you, this is what I been
> >     doing.
> >     Try to use flashrom from linux if you want to do the full
> >     flash (may be it will work).
> >
> >     An external programmer would be the optimal choice.
> >
> >     Did you tried what Mariusz said?
> >     Jose.
> >
> >
> >
> >     ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> >     On Thursday, October 4, 2018 6:20 PM, Zvi Vered
> >     <[e-mail] <mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
> >
> > >     Hi Mariusz, Jose, All,
> > >
> > >     Mariusz - Thank you very much for the solution.
> > >     Jose - You wrote "I have never done this way...".
> > >     Can you please suggest a better alternative ?
> > >
> > >     Thank you,
> > >     Zvika
> > >
> > >
> > >     On Wed, Oct 3, 2018 at 8:39 PM Mariusz Szafrański via
> > >     coreboot <[e-mail]
> > >     <mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
> > >
> > >         Hi Jose,
> > >
> > >         In your case set:
> > >         ROM chip size = 8MB (your case)
> > >         CBFS_SIZE <= 5MB (your specific case)
> > >
> > >         This will build 8M file. After that just cut last 5M of
> > >         this 8M file (using any hexeditor) or use something like
> > >         below from command line:
> > >
> > >         dd if=coreboot.rom of=corebootout.rom bs=1M skip=3
> > >
> > >         (before doing that double check if original vendor`s rom
> > >         file size is 5242880 bytes long)
> > >
> > >         Mariusz
> > >
> > >
> > >         W dniu 03.10.2018 o 08:53, Jose Trujillo via coreboot pisze:
> > > >         You can do that but I have never done this way and I
> > > >         cannot help you with that.
> > > >
> > > >         Someone else can advise on this?
> > > >
> > > >         ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> > > >         On Tuesday, October 2, 2018 9:39 PM, Zvi Vered
> > > >         <[e-mail]> <mailto:[e-mail]> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > >         Hi Jose, All,
> > > > >
> > > > >         Highly appreciate your answers.
> > > > >         It seems the vital information in your replies are not
> > > > >         documented.
> > > > >
> > > > >         The original vendor's rom file size is 5MB.
> > > > >         Do you think I can create a 5MB coreboot.rom ?
> > > > >
> > > > >         It seems that AfuEfix64.efi supplied by vendor is
> > > > >         looking for 5MB rom file like the original one. For
> > > > >         any other file size, AfuEfix64 fails.
> > > > >
> > > > >         Thank you,
> > > > >         Zvika
> > > > >
> > > > >         On Mon, Oct 1, 2018 at 2:08 PM Jose Trujillo
> > > > >         <[e-mail]
> > > > >         <mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > >             Zvika:
> > > > >
> > > > >             There are 2 ways to build coreboot: (choose one)....
> > > > >             1.- Including IFD, TXE, GBE etc.... inside
> > > > >             coreboot CBFS.
> > > > >             2.- Using the original firmware(FW) with IFD, TXE,
> > > > >             GBE already in flash and just rewrite coreboot on
> > > > >             top of the BIOS block.
> > > > >
> > > > >             Your original computer Firmware = Intel FW + "BIOS"
> > > > >
> > > > >             Intel FW = IFD +PD+ME/TXE+GBE
> > > > >             BIOS=AMI-Phoenix etc...
> > > > >
> > > > >             IFD=Intel Firmware Descriptor Table.
> > > > >             PD=Parameters
> > > > >             ME=Management Engine (For "Core" kind of processors).
> > > > >             TXE=Trusted Execution Engine (For "Atom" kind of
> > > > >             processors).
> > > > >             GBE=Network card firmware.
> > > > >
> > > > >             Zvika said:
> > > > >             "After creating coreboot.rom should I always use
> > > > >             the original BIOS with ifdtool to convert rom to
> > > > >             bin ?"
> > > > >             Answer:
> > > > >             No, there are other methods and tools that can do
> > > > >             the merge.... (ifdtool and Intel's FIT are working
> > > > >             fine for me)
> > > > >
> > > > >             After the creation of the coreboot build you have
> > > > >             2 ways of doing the flashing for your case: (with
> > > > >             fpt).
> > > > >             1.- Flash the full 8MB (Intel FW+coreboot) if the
> > > > >             SPI flash is blank or have unknown firmware.
> > > > >                  Use IFDTool in this case to inject coreboot
> > > > >             to Intel FW..... then flash it with fpt .
> > > > >             2.- Flash only the BIOS block (5MB your specific
> > > > >             case) in this case ask someone else how to do it
> > > > >             with fpt....
> > > > >
> > > > >             I hope this answered your questions.
> > > > >             Jose..
> > > > >
> > > > >             ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> > > > >             On Saturday, September 29, 2018 12:24 AM, Zvi
> > > > >             Vered <[e-mail]
> > > > >             <mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > >             Hi Jose,
> > > > > >
> > > > > >             You wrote:
> > > > > >             "My recommended approach is using the original
> > > > > >             Intel FW with already included the FD, TXE".
> > > > > >
> > > > > >             What is "original intel FW" ?
> > > > > >             What is FD, TXE ?
> > > > > >
> > > > > >             After creating coreboot.rom should I always use
> > > > > >             the original BIOS with ifdtool to convert rom to
> > > > > >             bin ?
> > > > > >
> > > > > >             Thank you,
> > > > > >             Zvika
> > > > > >
> > > > > >             On Wed, Sep 26, 2018 at 7:27 PM Jose Trujillo
> > > > > >             <[e-mail]
> > > > > >             <mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > >                 You are right Nico,
> > > > > >
> > > > > >                 I just forgot the troubles this caused me.
> > > > > >                 I am sorry Vika... My mistake.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >                 I can confirm with Nico:
> > > > > >                 ROM chip size = 8MB (your case)
> > > > > >                 CBFS_SIZE = 2 to 5MB (your specific case)
> > > > > >
> > > > > >                 My recommended approach is using the original
> > > > > >                 Intel FW with already included the FD, TXE.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >                 I never tested adding regions to coreboot but
> > > > > >                 you can try.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >                 To have better chances of success you should
> > > > > >                 be dumping hardware settings booting with
> > > > > >                 your original "BIOS" (look for the attached
> > > > > >                 file).
> > > > > >
> > > > > >                 Check if the system is "Memory down"or/and
> > > > > >                 ECC because it will be needed to edit FSP (if
> > > > > >                 using it).
> > > > > >                 Dump memory settings with the following commands:
> > > > > >
> > > > > >                 sudo dnf install i2c-tools-perl
> > > > > >                 sudo modprobe eeprom
> > > > > >                 decode-dimms
> > > > > >
> > > > > >                 If you have not done this already there is
> > > > > >                 still a long way to go.
> > > > > >                 Don't get intimidated, just do it, if you
> > > > > >                 have questions just ask.... I will try to help
> > > > > >
> > > > > >                 Good luck,
> > > > > >                 Jose.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >                 ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> > > > > >                 On Wednesday, September 26, 2018 6:28 PM,
> > > > > >                 Nico Huber <[e-mail]
> > > > > >                 <mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > >                 > Hi,
> > > > > >                 >
> > > > > >                 > On 9/26/18 9:19 AM, Jose Trujillo via
> > > > > >                 coreboot wrote:
> > > > > >                 >
> > > > > >                 > > No, don't change it, you change the size
> > > > > >                 of coreboot only if during the
> > > > > >                 > > building process "make" complain that
> > > > > >                 there is not enough space but in
> > > > > >                 > > your case your build was already
> > > > > >                 successful leave it like that.
> > > > > >                 >
> > > > > >                 > this advice seems very weird to me. I'm not
> > > > > >                 experienced with Bay Trail.
> > > > > >                 > But unless there is a bug in the Bay Trail
> > > > > >                 code, you should always set
> > > > > >                 > the correct ROM_SIZE (to the full flash
> > > > > >                 chip size). Otherwise you may
> > > > > >                 > introduce bugs in code that relies on this
> > > > > >                 setting (e.g. saving the
> > > > > >                 > MRC cache might fail and so would S3 resume).
> > > > > >                 >
> > > > > >                 > CBFS_SIZE however is the setting to adjust
> > > > > >                 according to your needs. It
> > > > > >                 > should be at most the size of the BIOS region.
> > > > > >                 >
> > > > > >                 > > In the rare circumstance that more space
> > > > > >                 is required you can increase
> > > > > >                 > > coreboot size to 4MB and istill will fit
> > > > > >                 into your system 5MB of space
> > > > > >                 > > available.
> > > > > >                 > > "ifdtool" will inject coreboot in the top
> > > > > >                 of the BYT_orig.bin and save
> > > > > >                 > > as BYT_orig.bin.new that you can flash to
> > > > > >                 your system.
> > > > > >                 >
> > > > > >                 > I assume this doesn't work oob if you set
> > > > > >                 ROM_SIZE correctly. But it is
> > > > > >                 > unnecessary to craft a single file by hand.
> > > > > >                 You can either only flash
> > > > > >                 > the BIOS region (recommended) or add the
> > > > > >                 other regions in coreboot's
> > > > > >                 > config (HAVE_{IFD,ME,GBE}_BIN).
> > > > > >                 >
> > > > > >                 > Nico
> > >         --
> > >         coreboot mailing list: [e-mail]
> > >         <mailto:[e-mail]>
> > >         https://mail.coreboot.org/mailman/listinfo/coreboot

Burn 2MB coreboot.rom on 8MB flash chip

[Zvi Vered]

Hi Jose, Mariusz, All,

The vendor is Adlink. The board is called LEC-BTS
https://www.adlinktech.com/Products/Computer_on_Modules/SMARC/LEC-BTS?lang=e...
The CPU is Intel's Bay Trail.

According to the help of flashrom, it works with bin files only.
So I should take coreboot.rom and stitch it to the parts of the original
vendor's bin file.
Am I right?

Thank you,
Zvika

On Fri, Oct 5, 2018 at 12:12 PM Mariusz Szafrański via coreboot <
[e-mail]> wrote:
> Also have no idea :(
> My solution should work when vendor`s utility just put unmodified whole 5M
> coreboot.rom.new at top of the flash chip space.
> But this could not be true and vendor`s utility is doing something else :(
> (e.g. put it on other location, split it and place chunks on non
> continuous areas or injects some kind of "id" or "keys" before flashing)
>
> Mariusz
> W dniu 05.10.2018 o 10:50, Jose Trujillo pisze:
>
> I have no idea bro....
> I cannot help you with that.
> I am just curious....  Which brand and model of board are you using?
>
> ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> On Friday, October 5, 2018 6:05 AM, Zvi Vered 
>  wrote:
>
> Hi Jose, Mariusz,All,
>
> The vendor's rom file size is: 5,242,880 bytes
>
> After running:
> dd if=coreboot.rom of=coreboot.rom.new bs=1M skip=3
>
> I got a new file with the same size.
>
> I tried to program this new file and got the following message from the
> vendor's utlity:
>
> WARNING !
> This Image file doesn't match current System design!
> Force update it will destroy the System's Activation Key.
> We do not recommend flashing your BIOS.
>   Press "Y" to force update BIOS.
>   Press "N" to quit flash.
> Please select one of the options:
>
> I ignored the warning and programmed the BIOS.
>
> After reset, I got nothing.
>
> What is "System's Activation Key" ?
> I'm sure that FSP (and other files) for my board are not properly
> configured yet.
> But I suspect this is not the reason for the message.
>
> Thank you,
> Zvika
>
> On Thu, Oct 4, 2018 at 9:47 PM Zvi Vered  wrote:
> > Hi Jose,
> >
> > I probably made a mistake and erased the main BIOS chip (and also the
> > secondary one)
> > Currently my target is not booting OS at all.
> > So I can not try Mariusz procedure.
> > Hope to have an identical target soon.
> >
> > Thank you very much for your help,
> > Zvika
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 4, 2018 at 6:31 PM Jose Trujillo 
> > wrote:
> > > Zvika:
> > > Doing a full flash doesn't work for you, this is what I been doing.
> > > Try to use flashrom from linux if you want to do the full flash (may be
> > > it will work).
> > >
> > > An external programmer would be the optimal choice.
> > >
> > > Did you tried what Mariusz said?
> > > Jose.
> > >
> > > ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> > > On Thursday, October 4, 2018 6:20 PM, Zvi Vered 
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Mariusz, Jose, All,
> > >
> > > Mariusz - Thank you very much for the solution.
> > > Jose - You wrote "I have never done this way...".
> > > Can you please suggest a better alternative ?
> > >
> > > Thank you,
> > > Zvika
> > >
> > > On Wed, Oct 3, 2018 at 8:39 PM Mariusz Szafrański via coreboot <
> > > [e-mail]> wrote:
> > > > Hi Jose,
> > > >
> > > > In your case set:
> > > > ROM chip size = 8MB (your case)
> > > > CBFS_SIZE <= 5MB (your specific case)
> > > >
> > > > This will build 8M file. After that just cut last 5M of this 8M file
> > > > (using any hexeditor) or use something like below from command line:
> > > >
> > > > dd if=coreboot.rom of=corebootout.rom bs=1M skip=3
> > > >
> > > > (before doing that double check if original vendor`s rom file size is
> > > > 5242880 bytes long)
> > > >
> > > > Mariusz
> > > >
> > > > W dniu 03.10.2018 o 08:53, Jose Trujillo via coreboot pisze:
> > > >
> > > > You can do that but I have never done this way and I cannot help you
> > > > with that.
> > > >
> > > > Someone else can advise on this?
> > > >
> > > > ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> > > > On Tuesday, October 2, 2018 9:39 PM, Zvi Vered 
> > > >  wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Hi Jose, All,
> > > >
> > > > Highly appreciate your answers.
> > > > It seems the vital information in your replies are not documented.
> > > >
> > > > The original vendor's rom file size is 5MB.
> > > > Do you think I can create a 5MB coreboot.rom ?
> > > >
> > > > It seems that AfuEfix64.efi supplied by vendor is looking for 5MB rom
> > > > file like the original one. For any other file size, AfuEfix64 fails.
> > > >
> > > > Thank you,
> > > > Zvika
> > > >
> > > > On Mon, Oct 1, 2018 at 2:08 PM Jose Trujillo 
> > > > wrote:
> > > > > Zvika:
> > > > >
> > > > > There are 2 ways to build coreboot: (choose one)....
> > > > > 1.- Including IFD, TXE, GBE etc.... inside coreboot CBFS.
> > > > > 2.- Using the original firmware(FW) with IFD, TXE, GBE already in
> > > > > flash and just rewrite coreboot on top of the BIOS block.
> > > > >
> > > > > Your original computer Firmware = Intel FW + "BIOS"
> > > > >
> > > > > Intel FW = IFD +PD+ME/TXE+GBE
> > > > > BIOS=AMI-Phoenix etc...
> > > > >
> > > > > IFD=Intel Firmware Descriptor Table.
> > > > > PD=Parameters
> > > > > ME=Management Engine (For "Core" kind of processors).
> > > > > TXE=Trusted Execution Engine (For "Atom" kind of processors).
> > > > > GBE=Network card firmware.
> > > > >
> > > > > Zvika said:
> > > > > "After creating coreboot.rom should I always use the original BIOS
> > > > > with ifdtool to convert rom to bin ?"
> > > > > Answer:
> > > > > No, there are other methods and tools that can do the merge....
> > > > > (ifdtool and Intel's FIT are working fine for me)
> > > > >
> > > > > After the creation of the coreboot build you have 2 ways of doing the
> > > > > flashing for your case: (with fpt).
> > > > > 1.- Flash the full 8MB (Intel FW+coreboot) if the SPI flash is blank
> > > > > or have unknown firmware.
> > > > >      Use IFDTool in this case to inject coreboot to Intel FW..... then
> > > > > flash it with fpt .
> > > > > 2.- Flash only the BIOS block (5MB your specific case) in this case
> > > > > ask someone else how to do it with fpt....
> > > > >
> > > > > I hope this answered your questions.
> > > > > Jose..
> > > > >
> > > > > ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> > > > > On Saturday, September 29, 2018 12:24 AM, Zvi Vered <
> > > > > [e-mail]> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > Hi Jose,
> > > > >
> > > > > You wrote:
> > > > > "My recommended approach is using the original Intel FW with already
> > > > > included the FD, TXE".
> > > > >
> > > > > What is "original intel FW" ?
> > > > > What is FD, TXE ?
> > > > >
> > > > > After creating coreboot.rom should I always use the original BIOS with
> > > > > ifdtool to convert rom to bin ?
> > > > >
> > > > > Thank you,
> > > > > Zvika
> > > > >
> > > > > On Wed, Sep 26, 2018 at 7:27 PM Jose Trujillo 
> > > > > wrote:
> > > > > > You are right Nico,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I just forgot the troubles this caused me.
> > > > > > I am sorry Vika... My mistake.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I can confirm with Nico:
> > > > > > ROM chip size = 8MB (your case)
> > > > > > CBFS_SIZE = 2 to 5MB (your specific case)
> > > > > >
> > > > > > My recommended approach is using the original Intel FW with already
> > > > > > included the FD, TXE.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I never tested adding regions to coreboot but you can try.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > To have better chances of success you should be dumping hardware
> > > > > > settings booting with your original "BIOS" (look for the attached file).
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Check if the system is "Memory down"or/and ECC because it will be
> > > > > > needed to edit FSP (if using it).
> > > > > > Dump memory settings with the following commands:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > sudo dnf install i2c-tools-perl
> > > > > > sudo modprobe eeprom
> > > > > > decode-dimms
> > > > > >
> > > > > > If you have not done this already there is still a long way to go.
> > > > > > Don't get intimidated, just do it, if you have questions just ask....
> > > > > > I will try to help
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Good luck,
> > > > > > Jose.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> > > > > > On Wednesday, September 26, 2018 6:28 PM, Nico Huber 
> > > > > > wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > Hi,
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > On 9/26/18 9:19 AM, Jose Trujillo via coreboot wrote:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > No, don't change it, you change the size of coreboot only if
> > > > > > during the
> > > > > > > > building process "make" complain that there is not enough space
> > > > > > but in
> > > > > > > > your case your build was already successful leave it like that.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > this advice seems very weird to me. I'm not experienced with Bay
> > > > > > Trail.
> > > > > > > But unless there is a bug in the Bay Trail code, you should always
> > > > > > set
> > > > > > > the correct ROM_SIZE (to the full flash chip size). Otherwise you
> > > > > > may
> > > > > > > introduce bugs in code that relies on this setting (e.g. saving the
> > > > > > > MRC cache might fail and so would S3 resume).
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > CBFS_SIZE however is the setting to adjust according to your needs.
> > > > > > It
> > > > > > > should be at most the size of the BIOS region.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > In the rare circumstance that more space is required you can
> > > > > > increase
> > > > > > > > coreboot size to 4MB and istill will fit into your system 5MB of
> > > > > > space
> > > > > > > > available.
> > > > > > > > "ifdtool" will inject coreboot in the top of the BYT_orig.bin and
> > > > > > save
> > > > > > > > as BYT_orig.bin.new that you can flash to your system.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I assume this doesn't work oob if you set ROM_SIZE correctly. But
> > > > > > it is
> > > > > > > unnecessary to craft a single file by hand. You can either only
> > > > > > flash
> > > > > > > the BIOS region (recommended) or add the other regions in coreboot's
> > > > > > > config (HAVE_{IFD,ME,GBE}_BIN).
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Nico