2022-11-15 19:59:42 +00:00
|
|
|
|
% Libreboot 20220710 released!
|
|
|
|
|
% Leah Rowe
|
|
|
|
|
% 10 July 2022
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Free your BIOS today!
|
|
|
|
|
=====================
|
|
|
|
|
|
2023-06-26 19:03:05 +00:00
|
|
|
|
Libreboot is [free](https://writefreesoftware.org/) (as in freedom) boot
|
|
|
|
|
firmware, which initializes the hardware
|
2022-11-15 19:59:42 +00:00
|
|
|
|
(e.g. memory controller, CPU, peripherals) in your computer so that software
|
|
|
|
|
can run. Libreboot then starts a bootloader to load your operating system. It
|
|
|
|
|
replaces the proprietary BIOS/UEFI firmware typically found on a computer.
|
|
|
|
|
Libreboot is compatible with specifical computer models that use the Intel/AMD
|
2023-04-09 21:38:30 +00:00
|
|
|
|
x86 architecture. Libreboot works well with Linux and BSD operating systems.
|
2022-11-15 19:59:42 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The last Libreboot release, version 20211122, was released on November 22nd
|
|
|
|
|
in 2021. *This* new release, Libreboot 20220710, is released today on July
|
|
|
|
|
10th, 2022. This is intended to be a *stable* release, with some caveats.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is a *bug fix* release, relative to 20211122. No new boards or major
|
|
|
|
|
features have been added, but several problems that existed in the previous
|
|
|
|
|
release have now been fixed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Build from source
|
|
|
|
|
-----------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
*This* release was build-tested on Debian 11. Your mileage may vary, with
|
2023-04-09 21:38:30 +00:00
|
|
|
|
other distros.
|
2022-11-15 19:59:42 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Work done since the 20211122 release:
|
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* Lots and lots of improvements to the documentation. Previous 2021 testing
|
|
|
|
|
releases did not include snapshots of the documentation (which is actually
|
|
|
|
|
the Markdown source files for the website), but this release *does* include
|
|
|
|
|
now a snapshot of the current Libreboot documentation, as per the time of
|
|
|
|
|
release.
|
|
|
|
|
* grub.cfg: Many performance improvements, improving the boot speeds
|
2023-04-09 21:38:30 +00:00
|
|
|
|
when using the GRUB payload (courtesy Ferass 'Vitali64' EL HAFIDI with
|
2022-11-15 19:59:42 +00:00
|
|
|
|
additional improvements made by Leah Rowe)
|
|
|
|
|
* GM45/ICH9M laptops: Disable PECI in coreboot, to work around a microcode bug
|
|
|
|
|
causing SpeedStep (and possibly other CPU features) to fail.
|
|
|
|
|
* Do not treat warnings as errors when building flashrom (fixes building on
|
|
|
|
|
newer versions of GCC).
|
|
|
|
|
* Macbook2,1: 16MB configurations now available (you must first upgrade the
|
|
|
|
|
SPI flash)
|
|
|
|
|
* Build system improvement: automated scripts for modifying coreboot configs.
|
|
|
|
|
* Disable (by default) serial output on all boards, to prevent boot speed
|
|
|
|
|
issues.
|
|
|
|
|
* grub.cfg: Actually enable USB keyboards, explicitly (works around bug seen
|
|
|
|
|
on some laptops, when using the GRUB payload).
|
|
|
|
|
* Coreboot configs: Do not enable wifi during early init (security liability)
|
|
|
|
|
* Preliminary u-boot integration; not used in any boards yet, but future
|
|
|
|
|
full integration is planned, for several ARM platforms. U-boot is not
|
|
|
|
|
included in the release archives, but logic does exist in the build system.
|
|
|
|
|
Courtesy of Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli.
|
|
|
|
|
* Scripts in lbmk: improved help output, courtesy of Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli.
|
|
|
|
|
* scripts: process git versions when lbmk is a worktree or submodule. Courtesy
|
|
|
|
|
John Doe (cool guy)
|
|
|
|
|
* Updated to newer flashrom, in the build system
|
|
|
|
|
* Perform silentoldconfig in seabios before full make. This fixes a race
|
|
|
|
|
condition when rebuilding SeaBIOS with a high CPU count, resulting in failure
|
|
|
|
|
with the error message (fix courtesy of John Doe):
|
|
|
|
|
|
2023-01-08 01:22:04 +00:00
|
|
|
|
cc1: fatal error: can't open 'out/src/asm-offsets.s' for writing: No such file or directory
|
2022-11-15 19:59:42 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* lbmk: Specifically call python3, when python3 is to be used instead of 2.
|
|
|
|
|
* lbmk: Preliminary fix for git credentials check. Set a placeholder name/email
|
|
|
|
|
if one is not set.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Caveats
|
|
|
|
|
-------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Due to reported issues by users, these boards do not have ROM images
|
|
|
|
|
available in the Libreboot 20220710 release:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* KGPE-D16 ROM images not included
|
|
|
|
|
* ditto KCMA-D8
|
|
|
|
|
* ditto GA-G41M-ES2L
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The boards listed above can still be compiled, from the source code archive
|
|
|
|
|
in this release and from the Libreboot git repository; additionally, ROM images
|
|
|
|
|
are provided for these in the previous release. D8/D16 continue to have raminit
|
|
|
|
|
issues; for now, use the 2021 releases. The next Libreboot release will
|
|
|
|
|
merge newer patches that are available for this board, improving raminit
|
|
|
|
|
reliability (among other things); that new release will, when available, have
|
|
|
|
|
D16 ROMs included.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All other boards are reasonably stable, and shouldn't provide any issues (no
|
|
|
|
|
major issues reported, and/or non-blocking issues only).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Planned future work
|
|
|
|
|
===================
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In general, you should also check the issue tracker to find other notes.
|
|
|
|
|
There is always more work to do, to improve Libreboot.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Support for non-x86 platforms
|
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is still on hold, but will be done as part of a future release.
|
|
|
|
|
The coreboot firmware does support other platforms.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Linux distro in flash
|
|
|
|
|
---------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is another project that has been on hold for a while. The issue
|
|
|
|
|
has been that I need a decent userland project. I've looked at many
|
|
|
|
|
different userlands and recently (as of late June) decided to make
|
|
|
|
|
my own. I want a BusyBox-like solution, but based on code from OpenBSD,
|
|
|
|
|
ported to run under Linux with musl libc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I want this distro to provide a kexec bootloader in flash, similar to Heads,
|
|
|
|
|
and I also want it to use apk-tools, pointing at Alpine Linux repositories
|
|
|
|
|
so as to allow any number of packages to be downloaded. It could also provide
|
|
|
|
|
lots of utils in general, to be a live *rescue system* of sorts. Linux system
|
|
|
|
|
in flash, that can bootstrap other systems.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re-factor and optimize GRUB
|
|
|
|
|
---------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
GRUB is full of unused bloat that almost nobody uses, yet is in the current
|
|
|
|
|
Libreboot builds. It's been on TODO for some time, but work has not yet
|
|
|
|
|
begun on this project. My efforts are currently focused on the Linux distro.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What I want is a fork of GRUB, optimized to run on bare metal as a coreboot
|
|
|
|
|
payload, on x86 and ARM platforms.
|