Bought an IBM ThinkPad x60, giving up on Librebooting it for now
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I just bought a used IBM Thinkpad X60, with 4GB of RAM and a 480GB SSD, for 1030 RNB. The equivalent of about US$150 or 140 Euros. It definitely runs Trisquel GNU/Linux (including WiFi). I bought it in the hopes it would work with #Libreboot. Today I looked at the installation instructions for Libreboot:
https://libreboot.org/docs/inst/
... and felt totally overwhelmed. In theory, the x60 is one of the devices supported. But only if it has this and that chipset in it, and only it's running the Lenovo BIOS and not the other BIOS, and so on. There are so many potential gotchas here and even though I didn't pay a lot for this laptop, I'm really nervous about bricking it. For the time being, I've decided to just install Trisquel and use it as it is.
What are the benefits of installing Libreboot? Is it really worth the trouble and the risk? Convince me.
> Today I looked at the installation instructions for Libreboot:
https://libreboot.org/docs/inst/
> ... and felt totally overwhelmed.
I recall finding a YouTube video to be much more helpful. I forget which one, but there are many up there. This was weeks after discovering the free software movement and GNU/Linux, so it's certainly not something for which you need to be an advanced user. If I remember correctly, it amounted to downloading some files and running a few terminal commands.
> What are the benefits of installing Libreboot?
As far as practical benefits go, I would say the biggest is the ability to install a non-whitelisted WiFi card. However, since your WiFi card is already working this is probably not an urgent need unless you want to upgrade to a better WiFi card.
As far as I know, there isn't any gotcha when flashing the X60. It doesn't need a specific display like the T60 does and I can't find anything about it needing a specific chipset, either.
As for the "Lenovo BIOS" mentioned on the Libreboot website, I think it is just another way of saying "proprietary firmware", the big text above that section also says "proprietary firmware".
The main benefit of Libreboot is, of course, that it is free software. Other benefits are: no Intel ME, continued BIOS updates, being able to have a disk be fully encrypted including /boot, using non-whitelisted hardware, and sometimes being able to boot operating systems the proprietary firmware refuses to or cannot boot (a laptop I put Coreboot on had this issue when running the proprietary firmware).
I wouldn't attempt a flash if you aren't confident about it, though. I have bricked plenty of mobile phones and laptops that way.
I think this is the video I used, or at least one equivalent to it.
https://invidio.us/watch?v=SEgxCg3pSyU
The part you need is 4:40-9:30.
Another tutorial that may also be useful.
Thanks so much for the encouragement and the references. One other question, will installing Libreboot require me to reinstall my OS etc? If not, I think I'm still going to put this on the backburner for now, and come back to it when I've had time to digest the references shared here and review the Libreboot documentation a bit more.
One other thing:
> continued BIOS updates
Do these also have to be manually flashed or is there a built-in update system? How often do updates tend to come out?
One other thing, is a vanilla x60, with the default, proprietary BIOS, vulnerable to the Intel ME vulnerabilities? If so, that would be another reason to make the effort to flash Libreboot.
> One other question, will installing Libreboot require me to reinstall my OS etc?
Nope.
> > continued BIOS updates
> Do these also have to be manually flashed or is there a built-in update system?
Manually flashed.
> How often do updates tend to come out?
From [2]: "The latest stable release is 20160907, released on 2016-09-07:
So not often. :)
> One other thing, is a vanilla x60, with the default, proprietary BIOS, vulnerable to the Intel ME vulnerabilities?
The information in this thread might be useful to you.[3]
[1] https://libreboot.org/docs/install/#all-good
[2] https://libreboot.org/download.html
[3] https://trisquel.info/en/forum/hello-all-0
My God! You spent more than 1000 CNY to buy an X60? It's enough for an X220 with 8 GiB of RAM (also well supported by coreboot).
This is what I purchased recently:
Minimalist X60: 200 CNY
2 GiB DDR2 x2: 25x2 = 50 CNY
New WD Green 480 GB: 300 CNY
For a total of 550 CNY (70 EUR or 80 USD), I got a fully upgraded X60.
Some notes:
1. About the CPU: The X60 I purchased comes with a 64-bit T5600 with VT support. This is the only CPU model of T5xxx series that supports VT. Even T5800 doesn't.
2. About RAM: The 945 series chipset supports only 3 GiB of RAM. But I still purchased two 2 GiB modules for better compatibility.
3. About the WLAN: This X60 comes with an Atheros AR5424. Though I could replace it with an AR5418, but this card is good enough for me. It's usable even if you can't get rid of the original non-free BIOS, or at least the whitelist restrictions.
Finally, let me answer your question about Libreboot. Free firmware (Libreboot or coreboot) is highly desirable, because it removes any anti-feature in the non-free firmware. But even if you temporarily can't flash it, there are two powerful Atheros cards that are authorized by Lenovo's official BIOS. However, be sure to choose one with Lenovo's FRU ID. I can check the official Hardware Maintenance Manual for the FRU ID information if you need to buy such cards.
nadebula.1984:
> You spent more than 1000 CNY to buy an X60?
The SSD was brand new and cost about 800 RNB, so actually I paid about 230 RNB. The man I bought it off obtained the RAM upgrade and installed and tested both the RAM and the SSD. So you could say I paid 1030 for parts and labour and got the x60 gratis ;) Either way, I paid much less than what it would cost to get a Libreboot-capable PC shipping to China by Minifree.
> New WD Green 480 GB: 300 CNY
Was your WD Green an SSD or HDD? If it was an SSD, perhaps my wife and I have both been overcharged for our SSDs. Did you buy yours at a shop or online?
> I can check the official Hardware Maintenance Manual for the FRU ID information if you need to buy such cards.
Why would I need such a card? All the hardware in the laptop appears to work with Trisquel, including the WiFi. I checked this before I agreed to buy the laptop.
I recently purchased two new WD Green 480 GB SSDs, each for about 300 CNY. You said that you spent 800 CNY for one SSD, and that price is enough for a new WD Blue 1 TB SSD.
(I have checked the prices for other 480 GB SSD models. If your SSD is an Intel's enterprise class or data center class one, then it does worth 800 CNY. But I feel no reason to install such a high-end SSD on X60, whose ICH7M southbridge supports only SATA 1.5 Gb/s mode...)
As for the WLAN card, most X60 machines come with Intel's 3945. If you are sure that your X60 comes with an Atheros one, then you're really lucky.
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