[coreboot] Flashing Coreboot on Lenovo G505s

Mike Banon mikebdp2 at gmail.com
Sun Sep 23 19:47:28 CEST 2018


awokd, Thank you very much for being the fastest G505S helper ;-)

> Not sure what step #2 is for there. I'd make a backup image
> of the existing flash, then write the new one.

That was just a list of things a person could do, not a sequence...
Also, why that "backup image" would be ever needed in this case? It
contains the personal identifying info (serial numbers). If you ever
need to go to the proprietary BIOS (why?), its' much better to flash a
"clean" ROM we got at
https://github.com/g505s-opensource-researcher/g505s-proprietary , so
that original dump is no longer needed - especially since all the
G505S manufacturer's warranties have expired.

> Try newest, go back to older if problems.

Good advice. Btw, dichotomy method could be used to quickly find a bad
commit when it happens: if the range is 1024 commits which is 2^10,
just 10 attempts are needed :)
On Sun, Sep 23, 2018 at 5:09 PM awokd via coreboot
<coreboot at coreboot.org> wrote:
>
> Anac:
> > Greetings
> >
> > Following various recommendations on Lenovo G505s, I finally got myself
> > a A10-5750M with dedicated GPU. At least I think it has dedicated
> > graphics, due to the following output:
> >
> > # inxi -G
> >
> > Card-1: AMD Richland [Radeon HD 8650G]
> > Card-2: AMD Sun Pro [Radeon HD 8570A/8570M]
> >
> > While waiting for some AliExpress deliveries, I'd like to ask a few
> > questions that worry me. I have never flashed anything, but I'm used to
> > Linux, the command line and soldering.
> >
> > A)
> > According to
> > http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Flashing_a_BIOS_chip_with_Bus_Pirate
> > either a Bus Pirate or a CH341A programmer is needed for flashing
> > CoreBoot. LibreBoot folks can just take a Raspberry Pi (or better a
> > Beagle Bone Black) and a SOIC clip, while CoreBoot needs more equipment.
> > Why is that?
> > Somewhere it reads that the CH341A was faster than BusPirate. But is it
> > faster than a Raspi or BeagleBone?
> > Btw. Flashrom does in fact support RaspberryPi:
> > https://www.flashrom.org/RaspberryPi
> >
> > The reason for asking is because I really don't want to brick anything
> > and/or destroy the G505s. And I don't know how to operate a CH341A and
> > feel that I'm not really in control of this whole undertaking. Hence,
> > I'm trying to keep things as clear and easy as possible.
>
> No special hardware requirements for Coreboot vs. Libreboot. As long as
> Flashrom supports it, the Raspi should work fine.
>
> > B)
> > The instructions on
> > http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Flashing_a_BIOS_chip_with_Bus_Pirate#Flashing
> > suggest the following order of operations:
> > 1) receive a flashrom help
> > 2) erase a flash chip
> > 3) read from a flash chip
> > 4) write to a flash chip
> > 5) verify a flash chip against the file
> >
> > But should't the original content of the flash chip first got read and
> > saved before erasing it? Just in case anything goes wrong and the
> > original BIOS would be needed for some reason? So, step 2 and 3 are to
> > be swapped, right?
>
> Not sure what step #2 is for there. I'd make a backup image of the
> existing flash, then write the new one.
>
> > C)
> > Which Coreboot version should I use? v4.6 or the newest v4.8.1 ? I
> > remember @Taiidan mentioning that he used v4.6 and somewhere else it
> > reads that there will be some major changes after v4.8. Should I avoid it?
>
> Try newest, go back to older if problems.
>
> > D)
> > About flashing KB9012: Is it advisable to flash it with Origami-EC ?
> > Getting rid of serial numbers sounds nice. But is it save to do? Or is
> > there a risk of bricking the KB9012?
> > http://git.code.paulk.fr/gitweb/?p=origami-ec.git;a=summary
> > http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Flashing_KB9012_with_Bus_Pirate
>
> Have not attempted. If you want to, recommend getting Coreboot working
> first, then work on it separately.
>
> > E)
> > This machine is going to be a Qubes workstation. Are there any special
> > Coreboot options for Qubes OS that one should be aware of?
>
> See some further discussion here:
> http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Lenovo_G505S_hacking
>
> > Thank you! And thanks for all the work that the good folks from
> > dangerousprototypes have done and shared!
> >
> >
> >
>
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