On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 03:11:13AM +0100, Stefan Tauner wrote:
Signed-off-by: Stefan Tauner stefan.tauner@student.tuwien.ac.at
This one's trivial, as it's purely doc changes, so: Acked-by: Uwe Hermann uwe@hermann-uwe.de
But see the comments below please.
Documentation/mysteries_intel.txt | 81 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++- 1 files changed, 80 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/mysteries_intel.txt b/Documentation/mysteries_intel.txt index d6d3dfb..8a9a113 100644 --- a/Documentation/mysteries_intel.txt +++ b/Documentation/mysteries_intel.txt @@ -15,4 +15,83 @@ See also http://www.flashrom.org/pipermail/flashrom/2011-August/007606.html
= Unlocking the ME region = -TODO
- If the ME region is locked by the FRAP register in descriptor mode, the host
- software is not allowed to read or write any address inside that region. There
- are different ways to unlock access:
- a pin strap: Flash Descriptor Security Override Strap (as indicated by the
"a pin" -> "A pin"
- Flash Descriptor Override Pin Strap Status (FDOPSS) in HSFS. That pin is
- probably not accessible to end users on consumer boards (every Intel doc i
^ I
- have seen stresses that this is for debugging in manufacturing only and
- should not be available for end users).
- The ME indicates this in bits [19:16] (Operation Mode) in the HFS register of
- the HECI/MEI PCI device by setting them to 4 (SECOVR_JMPR) [MODE_CTRL].
- Intel Management Engine BIOS Extension (MEBx) Disable This option may be
^ Missing full stop.
- available to end users on some boards usually accessible by hitting
- ctrl+p after BIOS POST. Quote: "???Disabling??? the Intel ME does not really
- disable it: it causes the Intel ME code to be halted at an early stage of
- the Intel ME???s booting so that the system has no traffic originating from
- the Intel ME on any of the buses." [MEBX]
Kill the strange "???" above?
- The ME indicates this in bits [19:16] (Operation Mode) in the HFS register of
- the HECI/MEI PCI device by setting them to 3 (Soft Temporary Disable)
- [MODE_CTRL].
- Previous to Ibex Peak/5 Series chipsets removing the DIMM from slot (or
- channel?) #0 disables the ME completely, which may give the host access to
- the ME region.
- HMRFPO (Host ME Region Flash Protection Override) Enable MEI command
- This is the most interesting one because it allows to temporarily disable
- the ME region protection by software. The ME indicates this in bits [19:16]
- (Operation Mode) in the HFS register of the HECI/MEI PCI device by setting
- them to 5 (SECOVER_MEI_MSG) [MODE_CTRL].
+== MEI/HECI ==
- Communication between the host software and the different services provided by
- the ME is done via a packet-based protocol that uses MMIO transfers to one or
- more virtual PCI devices. Upon this layer there exist various services that can
- be used to read out hardware management values (e.g. temperatures, fan speeds
- etc.). The lower levels of that protocol are well documented:
- The locations/offsets of the PCI MMIO registers are noted in the chipset
- datasheets. The actually communication is documented in a whitepaper [DCMI] and
- an outdated as well as a current Linux kernel implementation (currently in
- staging/ exist [KERNEL]. There exists a patch that re-implements this in user
- space (as part of flashrom).
+== Problems ==
- The problem is that only very few higher level protocols are documented publicly,
- especially the bunch of messages that contain the HMRFPO commands is probably
- well protected and only documented in ME-specific docs and the BIOS writer's
- guides. We are aware of a few leaked documents though that give us a few hints
- about it, but nothing substantial regarding its implementation.
- The documents are somewhat contradicting each other in various points which
- might be due to factual changes in process of time or due to the different
- capabilities of the ME firmwares, example:
- Intel's Flash Programming Tool (FPT) "automatically stops ME writing to SPI
- ME Region, to prevent both writing at the same time, causing data corruption." [ME8]
- "FPT is not HMRFPO-capable, so needs [the help of the FDOPS pin] HDA_SDO if
- used to update the ME Region." [SPS]
- When looking at the various ME firmware editions (and different chipsets), things
- get very unclear. Some docs say that HMRFPO needs to be sent before End-of-POST
- (EOP), others say that the ME region can be updated in the field or that some
- vendor tools use it for updates. This needs to be investigated further before
- drawing any conclusion.
+[MODE_CTRL] Client Platform Enabling Tour: Platform Software
Document Number: 439167, Revision 1.2, page 52+[MEBX] Intel?? Management Engine BIOS Extension (MEBX) User???s Guide
Kill/fix the "???" stuff.
Revision 1.2, Section 3.1 and 3.5+[DCMI] DCMI Host Interface Specification
Revision 1.0+[KERNEL] http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=tree;f=dr... +[SPI_PROG] Ibex Peak SPI Programming Guide
Document Number: 403598, Revision 1.3, page 79+[ME8] Manufacturing with Intel?? Management Engine (ME) Firmware 8.X on Intel 7 Series
Ditto.
Revision 2.0, page 59+[SPS] Manufacturing with Intel?? Management Engine (ME) on Intel?? C600 Series Chipset 1 for Romley Server 2 Platforms using Server Platform Services (SPS) Firmware
Ditto.
Uwe.