Libreboot provides libre boot firmware (based on coreboot) that initializes the hardware (e.g. memory controller, CPU, peripherals) on specific Intel/AMD x86 and ARM targets, which then starts a bootloader for your operating system (Linux/BSD). https://libreboot.org/
 
 
 
 
Go to file
Leah Rowe 41275d699c vendor.sh: MUCH, MUCH, MUCH safer ./mk inject
Don't extract to bin/release/

Modify the tarball instead. Previously, the tarball would
not be modified, but a lot of users thought the tarball was
being modified and ignored bin/release/, where the injected
images were actually being saved to.

Don't copy the tarball either. Just modify it in-place.

Don't allow single-rom injection either; only allow the
tarball-based method.

The command syntax has changed, but:
./mk inject tarball.tar.xz

This is the same. What has changed is nuke, and MAC address
modification. Observe:

./mk inject tarball.tar.xz nuke
./mk inject tarball.tar.xz setmac
./mk inject tarball.tar.xz setmac ??:??:??:??:??:??
./mk inject tarball.tar.xz setmac 00:1f:16:??:22:aa

These are just a few examples. The MAC address syntax is
the same as used for nvmutil, which means you can set it
randomly. Also:

./mk inject tarball.tar.xz setmac

You can use the *setmac* command *repeatedly*, even if
you've already injected a given archive. It'll just
update the archive, but skip injecting other files
that were already injected.

If you use setmac without a MAC address, it will randomise
the MAC address. This is therefore very similar to the
command structure used in nvmutil.

The code for injection is generally more robust, with
stronger error checks. This design change was done, so
that the user doesn't accidentally brick their machine.

The non-injected images have a prefix in the file name
saying "DO_NOT_FLASH", and those non-injected images are
padded by 1 byte. That way, the user knows not to flash it
and if they try, flashprog will throw an error.

The prefix and padding is removed on injection. Old images
without the padding/prefix can still be injected, via
tarballs; this new code is backwards-compatible with tarballs
from older Libreboot releases.

A common thing I see sometimes is a user will say they have
a black screen or something, and I say: did you insert vendor
files? And they say yes. And they did. But they extracted and
flashed from the tarball, which wasn't injected, because
they didn't release about bin/release/

No amount of RTFM is justified. The previous design flaw
is a bug. We must always observe user safety first, no matter
what, so that has now been done.

Signed-off-by: Leah Rowe <leah@libreboot.org>
2025-01-02 08:46:36 +00:00
config hp820g2: fix vendorfile inject and set release=y 2024-12-31 14:46:13 +00:00
include vendor.sh: MUCH, MUCH, MUCH safer ./mk inject 2025-01-02 08:46:36 +00:00
script move xbmkpath to XBMK_CACHE/ 2024-12-30 21:25:55 +00:00
util util/nvmutil: Obey the 79-character per line limit 2025-01-01 21:10:56 +00:00
.gitignore Mitigate Debian Trixie/Sid GCC/GNAT version mismatch 2024-12-30 00:21:02 +00:00
COPYING libreboot! 2021-05-18 13:56:12 +01:00
README.md emphasis on readme that lbmk isn't a coreboot fork 2024-07-22 02:00:26 +01:00
build Revert "Remove legacy update/vendor commands" 2024-12-30 21:06:05 +00:00
mk support ./mk in place of ./update trees 2024-07-22 23:36:04 +01:00
projectname update README 2021-05-18 14:05:01 +01:00
projectsite add projectsite file: point to libreboot.org 2024-06-02 23:15:27 +01:00
update Revert "Remove legacy update/vendor commands" 2024-12-30 21:06:05 +00:00
vendor Revert "Remove legacy update/vendor commands" 2024-12-30 21:06:05 +00:00

README.md

Libreboot

Find libreboot documentation at https://libreboot.org/

The libreboot project provides libre boot firmware that initializes the hardware (e.g. memory controller, CPU, peripherals) on specific Intel/AMD x86 and ARM targets, which then starts a bootloader for your operating system. Linux/BSD are well-supported. It replaces proprietary BIOS/UEFI firmware. Help is available via #libreboot IRC on Libera IRC.

Why use Libreboot?

Why should you use libreboot?

Libreboot gives you freedoms that you otherwise can't get with most other boot firmware. It's extremely powerful and configurable for many use cases.

You have rights. The right to privacy, freedom of thought, freedom of speech and the right to read. In this context, Libreboot gives you these rights. Your freedom matters. Right to repair matters. Many people use proprietary (non-libre) boot firmware, even if they use a libre OS. Proprietary firmware often contains backdoors (more info on the FAQ), and it and can be buggy. The libreboot project was founded in December 2013, with the express purpose of making coreboot firmware accessible for non-technical users.

The libreboot project uses coreboot for hardware initialisation. Coreboot is notoriously difficult to install for most non-technical users; it handles only basic initialization and jumps to a separate payload program (e.g. GRUB, Tianocore), which must also be configured. The libreboot software solves this problem; it is a coreboot distribution with an automated build system (named lbmk) that builds complete ROM images, for more robust installation. Documentation is provided.

How does Libreboot differ from coreboot?

In the same way that Debian is a GNU+Linux distribution, libreboot is a coreboot distribution. If you want to build a ROM image from scratch, you otherwise have to perform expert-level configuration of coreboot, GRUB and whatever other software you need, to prepare the ROM image. With libreboot, you can literally download from Git or a source archive, and run make, and it will build entire ROM images. An automated build system, named lbmk (Libreboot MaKe), builds these ROM images automatically, without any user input or intervention required. Configuration has already been performed in advance.

If you were to build regular coreboot, without using libreboot's automated build system, it would require a lot more intervention and decent technical knowledge to produce a working configuration.

Regular binary releases of libreboot provide these ROM images pre-compiled, and you can simply install them, with no special knowledge or skill except the ability to follow installation instructions and run commands BSD/Linux.

Project goals

  • Support as much hardware as possible! Libreboot aims to eventually have maintainers for every board supported by coreboot, at every point in time.
  • Make coreboot easy to use. Coreboot is notoriously difficult to install, due to an overall lack of user-focused documentation and support. Most people will simply give up before attempting to install coreboot. Libreboot's automated build system and user-friendly installation instructions solves this problem.

Libreboot attempts to bridge this divide by providing a build system automating much of the coreboot image creation and customization. Secondly, the project produces documentation aimed at non-technical users. Thirdly, the project attempts to provide excellent user support via IRC.

Libreboot already comes with a payload (GRUB), flashprog and other needed parts. Everything is fully integrated, in a way where most of the complicated steps that are otherwise required, are instead done for the user in advance.

You can download ROM images for your libreboot system and install them without having to build anything from source. If, however, you are interested in building your own image, the build system makes it relatively easy to do so.

Not a coreboot fork!

Libreboot is not a fork of coreboot. Every so often, the project re-bases on the latest version of coreboot, with the number of custom patches in use minimized. Tested, stable (static) releases are then provided in Libreboot, based on specific coreboot revisions.

How to help

You can check bugs listed on the bug tracker.

If you spot a bug and have a fix, the website has instructions for how to send patches, and you can also report it. Also, this entire website is written in Markdown and hosted in a separate repository where you can send patches.

Any and all development discussion and user support are all done on the IRC channel. More information is on https://libreboot.org/contact.html.

LICENSE FOR THIS README

It's just a README file. This README file is released under the terms of the Creative Commons Zero license, version 1.0 of the license, which you can read here:

https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode.txt