Libreboot !libreboot@sopuli.xyz

A Lemmy community for Libreboot, the essential firmware for fully liberating your laptop!

Libreboot is a free (libre) BIOS/UEFI replacement. Based on coreboot, the aim is to distribute low-level boot firmware that is 100% free software, and easy to use.

Post questions, issues, victories, defeats and more here!

If you'd like to help me with (or fully take over) moderation, just let me know!

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2 yr. ago

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Hi all . I currently have version 2023.06.25 installed, stable. Tell me how to install the latest version 20240612? I see a lot of changes here https://codeberg.org/libreboot/lbwww/commit/d8bcd5c7044e28c6e20778ea25f6b907092a7e52 If I understand correctly the mechanism for introducing blob objects has changed, how can I check the ROM after I run the command $ ./build roms t440plibremrc_12mb

I did an internal flash of the 20240225 version of Libreboot onto my X60 tablet (Core 2 Duo L7400, 64-bit). I'm using Trisquel 11 as my operating system.

If I turn on the laptop when it's plugged in, it boots up just fine. When I turn in on and it's unplugged, I get this message:

Welcome to GRUB!

alloc magic is broken at [memory address here]

Aborted. Press any key to exit.

Pressing any key doesn't do anything for me here, I have to hold down either power button to turn the laptop off.

Some other notes:

• If I have the laptop on when it's unplugged, and then run a command like reboot, it will load fine.
• If I restart the laptop with the button on the login screen, it will load fine.
• If I hit Reboot from the Libreboot menu, it will load fine.
• If I hit Poweroff from the Libreboot menu, I get the 'alloc magic is broken' message.

I can provide the memory address if it helps.

First off, forgive the low quality of the picture, my digital camera has trouble with photos of computer screens.

In order to install Libreboot, it helps to have GNU/Linux installed on the laptop first. This can be tricky with the MacBook 2,1. The official Libreboot docs (https://libreboot.org/docs/hardware/macbook21.html) offer two options: install from an external USB drive, which can be quite technical, or install from a DVD. The problem with the DVD option is that the optical drives on these MacBooks tend to fail (the optical drive on the one I bought today wasn't working).

Fortunately, there is a much easier way. If you have a 64-bit version of GNU/Linux already installed on an SSD from another laptop, just put it into the MacBook, and it should work. These MacBooks made it easy to upgrade the drive and RAM, by removing the battery, and then loosening three screws to remove a protective plate. When powering the laptop on, hold down the alt/option key. The drive you just put in

YouTube channel Orwellian Penguin has caused a bit of a stir by demonstrating a Librebooted T440P running Windows 10.

Not that anyone asked for it, but here's my opinion: it's better for someone to use free-software browser like IceCat, even if they are going to websites that use non-free JavaScript. In the same way, it's better for someone to have a Libreboot BIOS, even if they are running a non-free operating system.

It's hard to beat the X60 for portability, but most of the X60s on eBay have 32-bit CPUs. Is it worth getting one these days for regular use?

After taking a look online, here are a few operating systems that still support 32-bit:

• Debian
• Haiku
• FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD
• CentOS
• Slackware
• Alpine
• Gentoo

Anyone here successfully seen anything other than 00 on their mPCIe POST card? I have tried it on different Thinkpads with different versions of libreboot & coreboot and yet it never display anything useful, even when system successfully boots.

I have a ThinkPad X60 tablet with libreboot installed. Just last night, most of the little icon lights below the display stopped working, including the lights for sleep mode, charger connected, battery, computer on, hard drive access, caps lock, and number lock. The only one that is on as I type this is the wifi light.

Is this is a display issue, do you think?

My thinkpad T440p will be coming in soon and I been considering Coreboot/Libreboot but it requirwes a usb bios programmer, there are many of these from many different sellers on Amazon, but all of them are made in China by unknown companies, can these have any malware of them ?

A bit old news, but still relevant.

With the help of a friend, I librebooted my T420! I used a Raspberry Pi 4B and Pomona 5250 to flash the GRUB payload. It boots extremely quick now and just works. Despite the picture, I'm running the latest June 25th release but I put the old gnulove.jpg background picture on.

The only issue is when I reboot from Linux, my SSD isn't recognized until I power it off and back on again (cold boot). The folks in the IRC say it's probably a bug.

Overall, I'm happy with the state of my ThinkPad and it's running as much libre code as it reasonably can (but I still like having WiFi).

I wrote this guide because some of the important information on the E6400 installation was spread across multiple pages of the Libreboot.org website. My goal was to consolidate everything into a single guide.

"That'll hold him, all right."

I'm aware that Leah strongly discourages using CH341a, but I understand that this is chiefly because it's voltage is 5V, whiich risks burning the 1.8V or 3.3V datalines of the devices we're librebooting.

At the same time, I've seen a popular video specifically recommending CH341a when librebooting an X200. I assume this advice should be ignored.

However, Leah also specifies that you can technically tweak the CH341a to reduce it's voltage, following this guidance.

My question is: is this worth it, or is it safer to just use a Beaglebone Black/Raspbery Pi instead? What's your experience been?

I'm unfortunately on a budget, and BB/RPi are both prohibitively expensive for me. Then again, so is a laptop that's bricked thanks to an improperly fixed CH341a.

Have you had problems using a (tweaked or untweaked) CH341a? What's your a

This is a Lemmy community created to discuss all things Libreboot. As you can tell, it's quite empty here, so please feel welcome to fill it up with your experiences of Libreboot.

I've created this community to do my part and help the migration from Reddit to Lemmy. Lemmy isn't perfect, but it's closer to Libreboot's spirit than Reddit is. That's what I think, anyway.