e6400 announce

site/news/MANIFEST

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+e6400.md
 gm45microcode.md
 hp8200sff.md
 libreboot20230413.md

site/news/e6400.md

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+% Dell Latitute E6400 added (blob-free config)
+% Leah Rowe
+% 15 April 2023
+
+Introduction
+============
+
+Today, Libreboot gained the Dell Latitute E6400 laptop port. This is a
+blob-less port, courtesy of Nicholas Chin (`nic3-14159` on Libreboot IRC).
+Nichael has worked extensively on this port, for several years, and it's in
+a ready state for entry to Libreboot.
+
+The hardware platform is GM45, similar to ThinkPad X200, T400 and so on that
+Libreboot already supports.
+
+You can learn more on the E6400 [installation page](../docs/install/e6400.md)
+and the [hardware info page](../docs/install/e6400).
+
+This is a *blob-free* board in the boot flash. No Intel ME firmware needed,
+and [microcode can be removed if you wish](gm45microcode.md) (you should still
+leave microcode there, as is default, but some people remove it by choice that
+we give them - see: [Binary Blobs Reduction Policy](policy.md)).
+
+*But wait.* There's more. A lot more of *them*, that is.
+
+Readily available on eBay etc, and cheap
+-----------------------------
+
+Dells were much more popular than those ThinkPads, and more commonly used,
+so there are still *several* of these available on sites like eBay. Enough to
+keep people with an affinity for GM45 machines happy for a while longer (older
+GM45 ThinkPad X200, T400 etc are very hard to find nowadays).
+
+This could very well replace X200, T400 etc, in terms of what certain people
+want to use - nice enough screen/keyboard, and easy of installation just makes
+this a very nice machine indeed.
+
+But wait.... It gets better:
+
+Software flashing possible! (no disassembly)
+---------------------------
+
+tl;dr Nicholas is a genius, but he spent time studying the board, finding that
+the EC is hooked up to GPIO33 which allows for flash descriptor override. He
+successfully reverse engineered a command that can be used to disable
+protections, allowing installation of Libreboot.
+
+This is without needing to disassemble. No clip required.
+
+**That is to say, you can install Libreboot on this board without
+taking it apart, and you can install it easily within 5 minutes.**
+
+This is done with the following utility from Nicholas Chin, which I merged
+into lbmk:
+
+<https://browse.libreboot.org/lbmk.git/tree/util/e6400-flash-unlock>
+
+The original util, before Nicholas sent it to lbmk, is here (same util):
+
+<https://gitlab.com/nic3-14159/e6400-flash-unlock/-/commits/base>
+
+It merges some code changes that I made myself, after Nicholas published it,
+tidying up the code a bit (OpenBSD-like coding style adopted, for fun). See:
+
+<https://codeberg.org/vimuser/e6400-flash-unlock/commits/branch/puffy>
+
+Libreboot users should use the one in `util/` on Libreboot proper.
+
+
+That is all! Read the manuals to know more about this machine. Thank you!

site/news/gm45microcode.md

@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 % Leah Rowe
 % 17 April 2023
 
+UPDATE: This also applies to the Dell Latitute E6400 port, added on 19
+April 2023 to Libreboot. See: [E6400 announcement](e6400.md)
+
 The change described in this article is *not* present in Libreboot 20221214,
 20230319 or 20230413 - it will be present in the *next* Libreboot release.