MSC board CXB-A945M

[Wolfgang Schaefer]

Hello all,

I'm trying to get coreboot to work on a MSC COM Express Module: CXB-A945M.
< http://www.msc-ge.com/en/produkte/com/com_express/cxb_a945m.html >

My knowledge from this board is:
CPU: Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz
Northbridge 945GME
Southbridge ICH7M DH
superIOchip FDC37N972
PhoenixBIOS: BIOS Version V2.00
HW revision 1.1

Please find attached the output from flashrom and superiotool.

The current PhoenixBIOS takes nearly 15 seconds to boot. This is too
much for us!
We aspire to boot linux and start our application under 20 seconds.

What we need from the board environment is:
USB
AC97
LAN
LVDS
PATA for CF-Card
I2C
RTC

Now my question: can I get coreboot to work with this board and what
can/must I do?

Best Regards,
Wolfgang

[Stefan Reinauer]

On 1/28/10 5:40 PM, Wolfgang Schaefer wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I'm trying to get coreboot to work on a MSC COM Express Module: CXB-A945M.
> < http://www.msc-ge.com/en/produkte/com/com_express/cxb_a945m.html >
>
> My knowledge from this board is:
> CPU: Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz
> Northbridge 945GME
> Southbridge ICH7M DH
> superIOchip FDC37N972
> PhoenixBIOS: BIOS Version V2.00
> HW revision 1.1
>
> Please find attached the output from flashrom and superiotool.
>
> The current PhoenixBIOS takes nearly 15 seconds to boot. This is too
> much for us!
> We aspire to boot linux and start our application under 20 seconds.
>
> What we need from the board environment is:
> USB
> AC97
> LAN
> LVDS
> PATA for CF-Card
> I2C
> RTC
>
> Now my question: can I get coreboot to work with this board and what
> can/must I do?
>
> Best Regards,
> Wolfgang

Dear Wolfgang,

First, you should make sure you can recover from any failed flashing
attempts, so you need a SPI programmer.

Next, you should start with another Atom + i945 target in the tree, such
as the Intel D945GCLF and start adapting it.

The first task you need to get right is SuperIO initialization, so you
can get messages on the COM port (on the carrier?). Check auto.c of that
board for hints on how it's done on the d945gclf. You might need to
change the defines to select a 945 mobile chipset like on the Kontron
986LCD-M. The d945gclf uses a non-mobile version of the chipset.

Once you see coreboot messages on the serial console, you can start
debugging other issues as they might appear.

The Kontron 986LCD-M we ported coreboot to has an LVDS slot, too, but I
believe LVDS on i945 was not tested so far.
It might just be an issue of the right answer to the int15 calls of the
VGA OPROM though.

Best regards,
Stefan

[Wolfgang Schaefer]

Dear Stefan,
I'm in contact with the BIOs developer of this mainboard. I get the
original BIOs and the flash and recovery tool from him.

Now I will start with the D945GCLF and try to get work the superIO.

Kind Regards,
Wolfgang

Stefan Reinauer wrote:
> On 1/28/10 5:40 PM, Wolfgang Schaefer wrote:
> > Hello all,
> >
> > I'm trying to get coreboot to work on a MSC COM Express Module: CXB-A945M.
> > < http://www.msc-ge.com/en/produkte/com/com_express/cxb_a945m.html >
> >
> > My knowledge from this board is:
> > CPU: Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz
> > Northbridge 945GME
> > Southbridge ICH7M DH
> > superIOchip FDC37N972
> > PhoenixBIOS: BIOS Version V2.00
> > HW revision 1.1
> >
> > Please find attached the output from flashrom and superiotool.
> >
> > The current PhoenixBIOS takes nearly 15 seconds to boot. This is too
> > much for us!
> > We aspire to boot linux and start our application under 20 seconds.
> >
> > What we need from the board environment is:
> > USB
> > AC97
> > LAN
> > LVDS
> > PATA for CF-Card
> > I2C
> > RTC
> >
> > Now my question: can I get coreboot to work with this board and what
> > can/must I do?
> >
> > Best Regards,
> > Wolfgang
>
> Dear Wolfgang,
>
> First, you should make sure you can recover from any failed flashing
> attempts, so you need a SPI programmer.
>
> Next, you should start with another Atom + i945 target in the tree, such
> as the Intel D945GCLF and start adapting it.
>
> The first task you need to get right is SuperIO initialization, so you
> can get messages on the COM port (on the carrier?). Check auto.c of that
> board for hints on how it's done on the d945gclf. You might need to
> change the defines to select a 945 mobile chipset like on the Kontron
> 986LCD-M. The d945gclf uses a non-mobile version of the chipset.
>
> Once you see coreboot messages on the serial console, you can start
> debugging other issues as they might appear.
>
> The Kontron 986LCD-M we ported coreboot to has an LVDS slot, too, but I
> believe LVDS on i945 was not tested so far.
> It might just be an issue of the right answer to the int15 calls of the
> VGA OPROM though.
>
> Best regards,
> Stefan