[coreboot] Source code for "Intel Firmware"

[Zvi Vered]

Hello Nathaniel, Nico,

Thank you very much for the detailed answers.

The vendor's bin file starts with the following pattern:
00000000:  FFFFFFFF FFFFFFFF FFFFFFFF FFFFFFFF
00000010:  5AA5F00F 03000402   0602100B  20002100

Can you confirm that this is the start of IFD ?

Best regards,
Zvika
On Sat, Oct 6, 2018 at 1:30 PM Nico Huber <nico.h at gmx.de> wrote:
>
> On 10/6/18 6:50 AM, Zvi Vered wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > A bin file burned on a BIOS chip contains "Intel FW":
> >
> > Intel FW = IFD +PD+ME/TXE+GBE
> >
> > IFD=Intel Firmware Descriptor Table.
> > PD=Parameters
> > ME=Management Engine (For "Core" kind of processors).
> > TXE=Trusted Execution Engine (For "Atom" kind of processors).
> > GBE=Network card firmware.
> >
> > If I'm not mistaken, this package is not supplied within coreboot.
>
> Right.
>
> >
> > coreboot only replaces the BIOS part developed by vendors like "AMI bios".
>
> Yes, mostly. For some platforms, coreboot also replaces reference code
> of the silicon vendor, but today it's mostly just what an IBV like AMI
> does.
>
> >
> > Where can I find full source code for "Intel FW" ?
>
> Most of the regions you mentioned above don't contain code at all.
> Beside the BIOS, there is ME/TXE code but Intel provides only binaries
> for these, AFAIK.
>
> >
> > Currently, in order to replace vendor's BIOS we must take binary parts
> > of the original bin file and then stitch it to coreboot.rom built with
> > the coreboot project.
> >
> > I want to depend only on Intel.
>
> That is possible but will require you to dive even deeper in Intel's
> platform configuration. I can only advice you to treat each of the
> firmware parts individually as much as possible. For instance, first
> try to replace the BIOS with coreboot (while keeping the original other
> parts), then try to replace the ME/TXE firmware, then the GBE and IFD
> (the latter both only contain configuration data, AFAIK).
>
> You will need an NDA with Intel. Then ask them for their binaries, docu-
> mentation and (Windows) tools to create your own configuration.
>
> Don't underestimate the effort. You'll probably need some months to get
> your own coreboot running, then few more to read through all the docu-
> mentation and craft your own IFD etc.
>
> Nico