[coreboot] Doubts about necessity of propietary parts in the firmware

[Qing Pei Wang]

hi,


On Wed, Apr 14, 2010 at 5:51 AM, xdrudis <xdrudis at tinet.cat> wrote:

> On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 09:44:02AM -0600, Marc Jones wrote:
> > Hi Xavi,
> >
> > Thanks for your interest in coreboot. This is a long email! :)
> >
>
> I'm bad at summarizing. Sorry.
>
> >
> > VGA BIOS is not required. You could have a headless system. Or a
> > system with a framebuffer driver like Geode.
> >
>
> Headless would be last resort. If possible I would like to have a
> monitor connected to the system (either mainboard or graphics card)
> and have a desktop there. I don't need video while booting (but I
> would appreciate it, of course). I understand this is possible
> depending on the GPU.  When you say a system with a framebuffer you
> mean any system with linux User Mode Setting should work without
> propietary VGA BIOS ?
>
i think what marc said means these mainboard which has framebuffer driver.

>
> > >
> > > Double graphics is a problem ?
> > >
> > > As far as I know the only modern desktop class chipsets supported by
> > > the manufacturer, are AMD RS780/SB700 , am I wrong ? (thanks, AMD!). I
> > > think all come with an ATI IGP , which requires blobs in the linux/X
> > > driver (AtomBIOS).  I may be misinformed on AtomBIOS, but I think I
> > > don't want to use it.  I've heard nouveau has just deblobed its
> > > driver, so I might add an Nvidia graphics card to it (at least while
> > > Open Graphics Project isn't ready for consumers). I'll try to buy one
> > > second hand, as lesser evil, since I dislike buying directly from
> > > vendors not supporting free software. Does having both the ATI IGP and
> > > the Nvidia card give any additional complication ? (besides it's going
> > > to be less tested than more usual setups). I wish Intel supported
> > > coreboot or radeonhd didn't use AtomBIOS (like it once was).
> > >
> >
> > This is a continued area of development, but yes, many drivers use the
> > vbios too hold proprietary information. Again, not an issue if you are
> > running a headless machine.
> >
>
> Do  you mean deblobing linux/X graphics drivers is a continued area of
> development
> or supporting IGP + graphics card in coreboot (if it needs some speacial
> support
> by corebbot) is a continued area of development ?
>
>
> >
> > There is no specific roadmap. This is usually driven by board
> > availability. I think some boards will be ported during GSoC. If you
> > have a preferred board, send an email to the list. Someone might be
> > working on it.
> >
>
> I don't have a prefered board (yet). I was thinking of picking one
> of the few that people has shown some interest in here in the list.
> That might be best for me as a newbie as I wouldn't be alone even
> if it is not currently supported yet. I'm not sure if it would be
> best for the project (having more that one test instance for the
> same board ) or it would be best to have as many different boards
> to test as possible.
>
the 780 mainboard which coreboot support now is mahogany. I am trying to
porting a few more
mainboard as GSOC project. the mainboard i choose at this moment is
1)Shine,2)Tilapia,3)Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H,4)ASUS M4A78-VM 5)Colorful
C.A780G X5.
i am aslo checking if i can order an Jetway PA78VM5-H which Scott have much
interests. You can
choose one of them or the other 780 mainboard.

>
> >
> > I think that DDR3 support will be critical for coreboot this year. I
> > am optimistic that we will get some help from AMD this summer.
> >
>
> Ok, I can wait, I guess. I can start by the OS, test flashrom
> with the propietary bios, etc. and handle coreboot proper later.
>
> > >
> > > How to choose socketed boards ?
> > >
> > > How can one know whether a card has socketed or soldered BIOS ROMs
> besides
> > > looking at it or some photos ? Should it be in the specs or manual ?
> > > (I don't trust myself with a soldering iron).
> > >
> >
> > This will usually be in the manual. Many boards are SPI flash now and
> > you need an external programmer with a test clip to program them. This
> > is an area we need to improve on the wiki.
> >
>
> I had read something (either in coreboot wiki or from some link there)
> but I no longer find it. I thought SPI could be socketed or soldered.
>
most of the bios with public mainbard are soldered, but you can also use
flashrom
or external programmer which has test clip. take this as an example
http://www.dediprog.com/SPI-flash-in-circuit-programming/ISP-Testclip-SO8


>
> >
> > These are great goals. It sounds like you have a lot in common with
> > the folks at the FSF. :)
> >
>
> In goals, we have a lot in common, I'm just less active pursuing them.
>
> > There are a couple AMD and Intel platforms that might meet your needs.
>
> Are there ? I've been looking at the supported mainboards and found
> few that I could buy currently in a shop and are relatively
> powerful. I'll look again.
>
> > I expect more boards (like the 780/710) to be supported this summer if
> > you are willing to wait. I am also hopeful that we see coreboot on
> > systems available from vendors in the future.
> >
>
> I've already wited quite a lot, and my current laptop is falling
> apart.  So I may buy soon, but I may install coreboot later (I
> understand buying before getting support may be risky). I'd like to
> buy something with coreboot preinstalled, but that may be the next
> system I buy after whatever I get now. In your products page I've seen
> a couple of servers with coreboot I might get, but they're a bit
> expensive for what I was thinking.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> --
> coreboot mailing list: coreboot at coreboot.org
> http://www.coreboot.org/mailman/listinfo/coreboot
>



-- 
Wang Qing Pei
MSN:wangqingpei at hotmail.com <MSN%3Awangqingpei at hotmail.com>
Gmail:wangqingpei at gmail.com <Gmail%3Awangqingpei at gmail.com>
Phone:86+13426369984
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