From 08f35ff1b6d5d8a8481a3fecf7c2b44f9a978982 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Leah Rowe Date: Sat, 4 Jan 2025 15:42:38 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] tidy up the vendor inject guide some of the wording was a bit long, and there was slight repetition in cases. streamline it a bit more, so that it reads more fluidly Signed-off-by: Leah Rowe --- site/docs/install/ivy_has_common.md | 37 ++++++++++++++++------------- 1 file changed, 20 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-) diff --git a/site/docs/install/ivy_has_common.md b/site/docs/install/ivy_has_common.md index 3786fea..9656757 100644 --- a/site/docs/install/ivy_has_common.md +++ b/site/docs/install/ivy_has_common.md @@ -39,24 +39,21 @@ if your board requires it, otherwise your board simply will not boot.** Introduction ============ -Coreboot is nominally free software, but requires certain vendor code on some -boards, for certain functionalities; we cover this more thoroughly in -the [Freedom Status](../../freedom-status.md) page and in the [Binary Blob -Reduction Policy](../../news/policy.md). +On *some* boards, but certainly not all of them, certain files are required from +the hardware vendor. Libreboot has strict [rules](../../news/policy.md) +governing this, and you can find more information on +the [Freedom Status](../../freedom-status.md) page. Libreboot can't directly distribute *all* of these files, so some of them are downloaded at build-time, and processed for insertion into the firmware images. **On pre-compiled ROM images in releases, these files are removed, and can be re-added using the same automation that was applied during the build process.** -Examples of vendor files can include, for example: Intel ME (disabled after -boot with me\_cleaner), Embedded Controller firmware (e.g. KBC1126 EC firmware -on HP EliteBooks), VGA ROMs (e.g. Nvidia GPU ROM for Dell Latitude E6400), -and so on. Without these, your machine may not boot correctly, or not boot at -all! +Examples of these files can be found on +the [Freedom Status](../../freedom-status.md) page. -If in doubt, you should simply follow these instructions. If your board -doesn't need vendor files, the tar archive won't be modified. +**If in doubt, you should simply follow these instructions. If your board +doesn't need vendor files, the tar archive won't be modified.** MAC address ----------- @@ -246,9 +243,14 @@ by processing the MEv11 image with Mate Kukri's [deguard](deguard.md) utility. Errata ====== +This section should not concern you, if you're using newer Libreboot releases. +This section largely concerns *bugs* which existed in older releases, pertaining +to this documentation, and design changes made accordingly. + NOTE: As of Libreboot releases from May 2024 onward, the Intel MRC is no longer -included for Haswell; MRC is a blob for raminit, but we now provide libre -raminit. The following targets no longer exist in the build system: +included for Haswell; MRC is a firmware for raminit, but we now provide native +raminit written by Angel Pons, for the coreboot project. The following targets +no longer exist in the build system: * `t440pmrc_12mb` (use `t440plibremrc_12mb` instead) * `t440pbmrc_12mb` (use `t440plibremrc_12mb` instead) @@ -276,9 +278,10 @@ images but on the newer build system from May 2024 onward; you must use the Libreboot 20240225 release if you want to inject MRC and so on, for these older targets. -Libreboot's [binary blob reduction policy](../../news/policy.md) is very strict, -and states: if a blob can be avoided, it must be avoided. Therefore, the MRC -is removed on Haswell and Libreboot will only use the libre raminit (called -NRI, short for Native Ram Initialisation). +Libreboot's [Binary Blob Reduction Policy](../../news/policy.md) is very strict, +and states: if it can be done with free software exclusively, then it should be +done with free software exclusively. Therefore, the MRC is removed on Haswell +and Libreboot will only use the libre raminit (called NRI, short for Native Ram +Initialisation). The four freedoms are absolute.