HP Chromebook 14
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The HP Chromebook 14 utilizes Coreboot+Seabios and an Atheros AR5B22 which is, at least somewhat, compatible with ath9k.
It comes with a huawei mu736 3g/hspa module that I personally do not trust (thus, is disconnected), and requires non-free firmware, as far as I can tell.
I have found that the HP Chromebook 14 is just as free as the Gluglug X60 laptop, if the user decides to make minor hardware modifications, such as disconnecting the 3g module (and the bluetooth module if one were inclined).
The Gluglug X60 uses Core Duo T2400 (or a variant) which is a post 2005 CPU, and requires non-free microcode to initialize (??? can someone confirm ???)
Given the tentative limitation of the Gluglug X60 (CPU blob issue above), isn't the HP Chromebook 14 just as free? Of course, most chromebooks utilize non-free(???) firmware ROMS (http://www.coreboot.org/Chromebooks).
I have not tested Trisquel yet, but Debian (100% libre) works well with the HP Chromebook 14 (granted, user modification is needed to support the trackpad, as well as sleep).
I would like to hear what the community thinks about the hp chromebook 14, along with other chromebooks. According to a page on the FSF, the ARM based chromebook have similar fatal flaws as Intel based Chromebooks. (But, a future AMD based chromebook may fare better?)
> I have found that the HP Chromebook 14 is just as free as the Gluglug X60 laptop
AFAIK, the Gluglug X60 model has a completely free BIOS, except the Embedded Controller, which may be a part of the BIOS or not. Chromebooks from Google have microcode blobs in Coreboot (the BIOS) included, therefore it's not completely free (Intel does not release the neccessary microcode as free software for supporting their latest architecture inside Coreboot). There is another laptop, the Lenovo X201, which has a model with Intel Core i3 processor, which doesn't have the Intel vPro/TXT functionality enabled, and thus it may not require the Management Engine blob included, therefore this model can be the fully-free successor to X60, but I cannot confirm this, since this isn't my portfolio.
If you want recent hardware, but stay free as much as you can, the Chromebooks are the best way to go. They're also the only commercially available computers that come with Coreboot ported, and installed by default (not counting the Gluglug X60, which is just a rebranded IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad X60). I also do recommend the new Haswell based HP Chromebook 14 model on my profile page, because it's the best bang per buck from the current Chromebook models. Just go on and buy one :)
EC is not a part of the BIOS, it's a separate chip with its own
firmware. Ironically, only (some?) Chromebooks have free EC firmware
and maybe OLPC.
X201 needs the Management Engine blob, reboots after 30 minutes if it's
not included. So it's not a "fully-free successor to X60", while there
might be e.g. hardware workarounds for this.
Thank you for the explanation. So, the Management Engine binary is needed regardless if the processor supports vPro/TXT, or not. Am I right?
Is me.bin a part of the BIOS (Coreboot), or not?
Thank you in advance.
Gluglug removes the nonfree microcode update that coreboot normally
has.
HP Chromebook 14 (codenamed Butterfly) has these and other blobs:
http://review.coreboot.org/gitweb?p=blobs.git;a=tree;f=mainboard/google/butterfly;h=8b288bd915906a18379718be4b6080a3fd2cc554;hb=HEAD
me.bin is the signed PCH firmware, snm_2130_coreboot.bin is a VGA option
ROM (aka VGA BIOS): code running on the main CPU used to initialize
graphics. For X60, X201 and some Chromebooks free code for graphics
initialization is used.
You can find also the MRC (System Agent) blob needed for memory
initialization. There is a free replacement used for X201. There are
more blobs like CPU microcode updates.
AMD is partially better (they publish sources and documentation, some
boards for their CPUs are supported with less blobs), but no one
replaced the VGA option ROM for a Radeon and its kernel and X drivers
interpret nonfree code that it contains, so it's harder to do. There is
also the issue of nonfree microcode preventing 3d acceleration from
working on free systems.
Is it possible to run Lenovo X201 with a version of Coreboot, that does not require me.bin for operation, if the processor does not include vPro/TXT?
thank you for showing me those files. just to clarify, is codename Butterfly the same as codename Falco? This is the exact model name: HP Chromebook 14-q070nr WWAN 4G (ENERGY STAR)
I've checked http://www.coreboot.org/Chromebooks instead of
http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/developer-information-for-chrome-os-devices,
there are different HP Chromebooks. Falco is the new one, with newer
chips using similar blobs.
thank you everyone for the explanations.
3 better questions to ask are:
(1) What is non-free about the Gluglug laptops? (So far, I have noted: Management Engine blob and the Embedded Controller blob; is this all?)
(2) What are potential security & privacy vulnerabilities for a user running trisquel or debian on a chromebook hp 14 (with bluetooth and 3g card detached)?
(3) Which chromebooks are the most-free, specifically: which Chromebooks use free code to initialize graphics, and also use free EC firmware?
X60 has no ME, it's only for devices with newer Intel chipsets (using
the PCH). ME blob is stored in the same Flash chip as the BIOS/coreboot
in newer systems.
Ethernet cards too can have nonfree firmware. It's not normally
updated, while it can have bugs
http://blog.krisk.org/2013/02/packets-of-death.html which can be used
for DoS attacks against the device using it. Disks have firmware too.
RYF certainly allows these, since they are separate enough from the CPU
and no updates are recommended by the vendor.
I don't know what security and privacy issues result from running ME
firmware nor how different it is from one with AMT.
Native VGA init is available for Chromebook Pixel and ARM Chromebooks.
https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/platform/ec/+/master/board/
might list boards with free EC. I haven't checked the code nor looked
for documentation showing that it's used. (VGA init can be freed, a
skilled hacker could make these as free as X201.)
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