Re: [coreboot] Hardware needed for flashing a T530

[Peter Stuge]

Mike Banon wrote:
> CH341A is made by Jiangsu QinHeng Ltd., and there's a datasheet -
> http://www.anok.ceti.pl/download/ch341ds1.pdf - according to which
> this CH341A has just a few config registers, no internal memory for
> any firmware

It's a USB device; if you look at the USB protocol you'll quickly
realise that it's quite likely that every single USB device runs
firmware - you just never see it with some devices.
> > Peter Stuge wrote:
> > You can't possibly be equating Broadcom to TI in terms of openness?
>
> Indeed TI is more open than Broadcom, but still not completely open.

Please be (much!!) more specific about how AM335x is "not completely open".

You didn't answer whether you have looked at spruh73.
> I don't know any single board computer that has been endorsed by Free
> Software Foundation,

Is that your primary metric, or do you rather try to find facts yourself?

//Peter

Hardware needed for flashing a T530

[Mike Banon]

> It's a USB device

I thought that USB could be hardwired, at least USB 2.0, because e.g.
for my laptop I only need XHCI blob if I want USB 3.0 to work,
otherwise all the ports are USB 2.0 but no blobs are needed for them
to work.
> Please be (much!!) more specific about how AM335x is "not completely open".

Beaglebone's AM335x includes PowerVR GPU which is not functional
without nonfree blobs. But maybe it's not a problem if you'd be
running it in a headless mode.
> You didn't answer whether you have looked at spruh73.

If I understood it correctly that spruh73 is a codename for AM335x
then it's the same situation described above (nonfree blob required
for PowerVR GPU)

Best regards,
Mike Banon
On Mon, Nov 26, 2018 at 3:52 AM Peter Stuge  wrote:
> Mike Banon wrote:
> > CH341A is made by Jiangsu QinHeng Ltd., and there's a datasheet -
> > http://www.anok.ceti.pl/download/ch341ds1.pdf - according to which
> > this CH341A has just a few config registers, no internal memory for
> > any firmware
>
> It's a USB device; if you look at the USB protocol you'll quickly
> realise that it's quite likely that every single USB device runs
> firmware - you just never see it with some devices.
> > > Peter Stuge wrote:
> > > You can't possibly be equating Broadcom to TI in terms of openness?
> >
> > Indeed TI is more open than Broadcom, but still not completely open.
>
> Please be (much!!) more specific about how AM335x is "not completely open".
>
> You didn't answer whether you have looked at spruh73.
> > I don't know any single board computer that has been endorsed by Free
> > Software Foundation,
>
> Is that your primary metric, or do you rather try to find facts yourself?
>
> //Peter