Re: [coreboot] Coreboot + SeaBIOS on GA-M52S-S3P?

[Ivan Shmakov]

> > > > > Marc Jones  writes:
> > > > > On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 9:27 AM, Ivan Shmakov  wrote:
> > I wonder, did anyone try Coreboot and SeaBIOS on Gigabyte's
> > GA-M52S-S3P?
> The nvidia chipset is the biggest challenge.  I don't know how close
> it is to the nvida support in coreboot.

I seem to be quite lucky in this respect, as I've just found
    that I have at least two systems based on nVidia chipsets.

But I'm still interested in running Coreboot there.

As per [1], the “chipset north bridge” is “GeForce 6100 / nForce
    430”, but I don't seem to find those listed in [2]?

[1] http://ee.gigabyte.com/products/page/mb/ga-m52s-s3p_10/
[2] http://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Chipsets_and_Devices
> > I'm mainly interested in booting Linux 2.6-based GNU system via GRUB
> > 2 from a SATA HDD (with GPT), but I'd like to have other boot
> > devices (floppy and DVD drives, USB Flash) and systems supported as
> > well.
> This is a typical coreboot + seabios solution.

ACK, thanks.
> > One more issue is that the BIOS IC (labelled MX 25L4005AM2C)

… Which may be documented in [3] or [4].

[3] http://semiconductorstore.com/pdf/Macronix/SerialProductBrief.pdf
[4] http://www.mct.net/download/macronix/mx25l8005.pdf
> > is soldered to the board.  I wonder, what'd be the recovery
> > procedure should the newly uploaded firmware fail to boot?
> There are a number of ways to handle recovery. Please see this page
> for more info:
> http://www.coreboot.org/Developer_Manual/Tools#External_EPROM.2FFlash_progra...

This section is mainly concerned with the use of computer's
    motherboard (with replaceable flash) instead of a “real”
    programmer.  In my case, the section below is more applicable:

--cut: http://www.coreboot.org/Developer_Manual/Tools#In_Circuit_chip_programmer -- 
In Circuit chip programmer

Should allow you to program your BIOS even if it is soldered to the
    motherboard.

• http://www.xeltek.com/pages.php?pageid=8
--cut: http://www.coreboot.org/Developer_Manual/Tools#In_Circuit_chip_programmer --

Perhaps I'd even be able to build an in-system programmer myself
    (especially if something like Avrdude [5] supports, or could be
    tweaked to support, the protocol itself), but I'm not entirely
    sure that the motherboard in question has all the relevant
    circuitry to allow for in-system programming.

[5] http://www.nongnu.org/avrdude/

[…]

Coreboot + SeaBIOS on GA-M52S-S3P?

[Peter Stuge]

Ivan Shmakov wrote:
> > > I wonder, did anyone try Coreboot and SeaBIOS on Gigabyte's
> > > GA-M52S-S3P?
> > The nvidia chipset is the biggest challenge.  I don't know how close
> > it is to the nvida support in coreboot.
>
> I seem to be quite lucky in this respect, as I've just found
>    that I have at least two systems based on nVidia chipsets.
>
> But I'm still interested in running Coreboot there.
>
> As per [1], the “chipset north bridge” is “GeForce 6100 / nForce
>    430”, but I don't seem to find those listed in [2]?

No documentation whatsoever is available. If you want to make
coreboot run on such unsupported chipsets you should plan for one or
two years of reverse engineering the factory BIOS.

Just buy some supported hardware instead.

//Peter

Coreboot + SeaBIOS on GA-M52S-S3P?

[Ivan Shmakov]

> > > > > Peter Stuge  writes:
> > > > > Ivan Shmakov wrote:
> > > > I wonder, did anyone try Coreboot and SeaBIOS on Gigabyte's
> > > > GA-M52S-S3P?
> > > The nvidia chipset is the biggest challenge.  I don't know how
> > > close it is to the nvida support in coreboot.
> > I seem to be quite lucky in this respect, as I've just found that I
> > have at least two systems based on nVidia chipsets.
> > But I'm still interested in running Coreboot there.
> > As per [1], the “chipset north bridge” is “GeForce 6100 / nForce
> > 430”, but I don't seem to find those listed in [2]?
> No documentation whatsoever is available.

Yes, I know that nVidia is evil.  Sorry for the buzz.
> If you want to make coreboot run on such unsupported chipsets you
> should plan for one or two years of reverse engineering the factory
> BIOS.
> Just buy some supported hardware instead.

I'm sure that I will /not/ consider nVidia for any of my future
    upgrades, thanks.  (I've never bought any of their video cards
    for the very same reason, but apparently hasn't paid the
    necessary attention to the choice of other hardware.)

For now, I'll hopefully be able to work around the original
    problem without changing BIOS.

(But I still have an Intel mainboard to try Coreboot on.)