Doubts about libreboot flashing and configuration

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Megver83
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Joined: 12/21/2015

Hi everyone. I've some questions about libreboot. As I said in the Spanish forum, I got a Thinkpad T400 and, of course, I want to flash it Libreboot. The problem is that I don't have a BeagleBone Black, but a friend has a Banana Pi. As banana pi is based on Raspberry Pi, I thought that this guide https://github.com/bibanon/Coreboot-ThinkPads/wiki/X200-X201-Hardware-Flashing-with-Raspeberry-Pi would work. The guide is for X200, but it is very alike to the T400.

For me it looks pretty easy, but my concern is the following: Are the pin jumper cables different, in terms of electronic stuff, when they are different in color? (the external cables like this ones) In the guide they use blue cables, all of them are the same color. I've an ATX power source that I do not use, can I use it's cables? And how do I take them out?

And, about the external power supply, how will I know if it is necessary? In libreboot's website they use one for the BBB https://libreboot.org/docs/install/bbb_setup.html and in the GitHub guide in the note it says The raspberry pi 3.3V rail should be sufficient to power the chip during flashing, so no external power supply should be required; however, at the time of writing that has only been tested and confirmed for one chip, the MX25L6405D. so in case I need power supply, I'll need a male-female cable, right? and in what pin of the BPI do I have to connect it?

Here are the BPI pins

I know they are many questions, but anyway, thanks in advance!

Megver83
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Joined: 12/21/2015

something else that I forgot to comment, about the GRUB configuration https://libreboot.org/docs/gnulinux/grub_cbfs.html

About the option 1: What if I have more than one distro with the libreboot_grub.cfg file?
and where it says in libreboot_grub.cfg on disk, if you are adapting it based on grub.cfg from CBFS then remove the check for libreboot_grub.cfg otherwise it will loop..
How is that? If I do not adapt anything from Coreboot filesystem I suppose I don't have to care, right?
Thanks!!

Джордж
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Joined: 11/28/2015

Hi Megver83,

first of all, I am sorry that I am not going much into detail now, because I don't have a lot of time.
I will come back to this topic. ;-)

You don't need a PSU! The 3.3V of the RPi is sufficient. The Jumper cables are only different in colour so that you can identify connections more easily. It makes it more comfortable to work with.

A set of jumper cables is very cheap, so I would use (and have used) jumper cables bought from a shop because they have a header that makes sure that everything stays where it should. You don't want to lose a cable during flashing.

Make sure that you have everything you will need: Pomona Clip, Jumper Cables, RaspberryPi ready to go (I forgot what else there is).

There is another manual for flashing with a Raspberry Pi. There is not much different when flashing a T400. Just be careful with the pinouts.
https://libreboot.org/docs/install/rpi_setup.html

The manual is very detailed, just make sure to follow it closely:
https://libreboot.org/docs/install/t400_external.html

Good luck and do not hesitate to ask for help.

stas730 (not verified)
stas730

Джордж: тут кириллические никнеймы разрешены?

Megver83
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Joined: 12/21/2015

Something else that I forgot, what is the difference between vesafb and txtxmode? Which one is more convenient?

Джордж
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Joined: 11/28/2015

Check the install instructions page as well:
https://libreboot.org/docs/install/

"Available modes: vesafb or txtmode. The vesafb ROM images are recommended, in most cases; txtmode ROM images come with MemTest86+, which requires text-mode instead of the usual framebuffer used by coreboot native graphics initialization."

I used vesafb like recommended.

Remember, you have to go through the whole process of disassembling only once. Updates can then be flashed via terminal.

@stas
Sorry,my Russian is pretty bad so I answer in English. I can't think of a reason why one shouldn't be allowed to use the Russian alphabet for the username. Worked for me ;-)

Ignacio.Agullo
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Joined: 09/29/2009

This guide was useful to me:
the_unconventional's blog » English: Flashing Libreboot on an X200 with a Raspberry Pi - fsfe's soup
http://fsfe.soup.io/post/590865884/the-unconventionals-blog-English-Flashing-Libreboot-on

Megver83
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Joined: 12/21/2015

Raspberry Pi GPIO pins

Megver83
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Joined: 12/21/2015

Looks like almost the same as BPI

Megver83
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Joined: 12/21/2015

Hi again! About RAM, in libreboot's website says the following
https://libreboot.org/docs/install/t400_external.html

You need DDR3 SODIMM PC3-8500 RAM installed, in matching pairs (speed/size). Non-matching pairs won't work. You can also install a single module (meaning, one of the slots will be empty) in slot 0.

Make sure that the RAM you buy is the 2Rx8 density. (...)

I've a 2GB RAM (but don't know how many Mhz) if I want more RAM, I have to buy one with the same memory and Mhz?