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updated notes about ga-g41m-es2l

hslick-master
Leah Rowe 2022-12-20 16:33:45 +00:00
parent 646f1c836d
commit a3b2135f69
2 changed files with 9 additions and 27 deletions
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28
site/docs/hardware/ga-g41m-es2l.md
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@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ P*: Partially works with blobs
| ***Payloads supported*** | |
|---------------------------|-------|
| **GNU GRUB** | Works |
| **GNU GRUB** | Slow! |
| **SeaBIOS** | Works |
| **SeaBIOS with GNU GRUB** | Works |
</div>
@ -52,27 +52,9 @@ This is a desktop board using intel hardware (circa \~2009, ICH7
southbridge, similar performance-wise to the ThinkPad X200. It can make
for quite a nifty desktop. Powered by libreboot.
NOTE: As of January 4th, 2021, video initialization is broken on this machine.
It is advisable to use Libreboot 20160907, for the time being. You can build a
ROM image from libreboot, and extract the CPU microcode updates to then insert in
the Libreboot 20160907 ROM image, like so (using cbfstool):
cbfstool libreboot.rom extract -n cpu_microcode_blob.bin -f cpu_microcode_blob.bin
cbfstool libreboot.rom add -n cpu_microcode_blob.bin -f cpu_microcode_blob.bin -t microcode
With this, you will then have a Libreboot ROM image, but with improved stability
due to microcode updates. The code in coreboot that checks for this file, in
CBFS, is present in every Libreboot release; Libreboot merely excludes the blob
itself, but does not delete the code for loading it. The Libreboot 20160907
release is reliable, on this board (but has a few issues, for example the PCI
express slots don't work).
The advice above is only useful for the onboard graphics chipset (the Intel
one). If you're using an add-on graphics card (PCI express), you can simply
use libreboot, and it will work. If you're doing *that*, please use one of the
ROM images with the *SeaBIOS* payload, booting in text mode. SeaBIOS will
automatically execute the option ROM on your graphics card, implementing VBE
(Video BIOS extension).
As of Libreboot release 20221214, only SeaBIOS payload is provided in ROMs
for this board. According to user reports, they work quite well. GRUB was
always buggy on this board, so it was removed from lbmk.
IDE on the board is untested, but it might be possible to use a SATA HDD
using an IDE SATA adapter. The SATA ports do work, but it's IDE emulation. The
@ -114,4 +96,4 @@ Kingston 8 GiB Kit KVR800D2N6/8G with Elpida Chips E2108ABSE-8G-E
this is a 2x4GB setup and these work quite well, according to a user on IRC.
Many other modules will probably work just fine, but raminit is very picky on
this board.
this board. Your mileage *will* fluctuate, wildly.

8
site/news/libreboot20221214.md
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@ -71,10 +71,10 @@ SeaBIOS payload is enabled, on this board.
No lbmk changes were done for this, because the ROMs were simply excluded
in the previous release, but this board was not deleted from lbmk.
This board is known to be problematic in general, so don't expect flawless
operation. Issues like slow boot, unreliable raminit, video issues, etc.
Only ATA emulation is supported, on the SATA connectors (no AHCI) so don't
expect to make a nice RAID10 SSD virtual server host or something like that.
**UPDATE ON 20 December 2022: per many user reports, these ROMs work very
well. GA-G41M-ES2L support is therefore stable, for all intents and purposes.
This section of the release announcement previously alluding to issues, but
those speculations were premature, based on limited prior testing.**
New boards, ARM
----------