From f4e481e83aa800878aafe2d763a42d78ca1bae33 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Leah Rowe Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2021 01:35:25 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] new libreboot release soon --- site/news/MANIFEST | 1 + site/news/libreboot202111xx.md | 129 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 130 insertions(+) create mode 100644 site/news/libreboot202111xx.md diff --git a/site/news/MANIFEST b/site/news/MANIFEST index e85ef42..e569182 100644 --- a/site/news/MANIFEST +++ b/site/news/MANIFEST @@ -1,3 +1,4 @@ +libreboot202111xx.md libreboot20210522.md fsf-thank-you.md rms.md diff --git a/site/news/libreboot202111xx.md b/site/news/libreboot202111xx.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..da21187 --- /dev/null +++ b/site/news/libreboot202111xx.md @@ -0,0 +1,129 @@ +% New Libreboot release soon: ETA November 15th, 2021 +% Leah Rowe +% 9 November 2021 + +Rapid progress is being made on the next release of Libreboot. The overall goal +of this upcoming release is stability; development was intentionally frozen +after the Libreboot 20210522 testing release, to allow time for people to submit +lots of bug reports. Sure enough, people submitted reports. + +I've been fixing bugs and polishing up what's there, ready for another release. +You can already build Libreboot from the latest Git repository, and it's known +to be stable on all currently supported laptops. Desktops still require a bit +more polishing and tweaking. + +Work done so far since the 20210522 release: + +* `memtest86+` included on more ROMs by default (where text mode startup is used) +* `memtest86+`: Now coreboot's own fork is used, instead of upstream. This fork + works much more reliably on coreboot targets, when running on bare metal. +* More 16MB configs added, for more boards. This will be finished by the time + of the next release. Already, several older laptops such as the ThinkPad X60 + or T60, have these configs in the latest `lbmk.git`. If you upgrade the + default SPI flash to 16MByte / 128MBit (maximum size possible), you can then + easily put an entire busybox+linux system in the flash. +* `coreboot`: Added persmule's 2016 patch to enable more SATA/eSATA ports on + ThinkPad T400. This change benefits T400S users. +* `grub.cfg` +* `grub.cfg`: LUKS setups are now detected on mdraid setups. +* `grub.cfg`: Default timeout changed to 10 seconds, instead of 1. This benefit + desktop users, who previously complained about not having time to respond if + they wanted to interact with the boot menu. +* `grub.cfg`: Performance optimization when scanning for encrypted LUKS volumes. + GRUB will stall a lot less often, and feel more responsive, when dealing with + LUKS-encrypted setups. +* `coreboot`: cstate 3 now supported on MacBook2,1 and Macbook1,1. This results + in lower CPU temperatures and higher battery life on idle. +* Reset bug fixed, on GM45 platforms (ThinkPad X200/T400/T500 and so on). These + laptops did not reliably reboot, on the Libreboot 20210522 testing release. + They now reboot reliably, with this fix. See: + +* `lbmk`: Use `env` instead of hardcoding the bash path, in bash scripts. This + should make the build system slightly more portable between distros. +* Turkish keyboard layout added on GRUB payloads + +Further plans +------------- + +The only major plans left before the actual release, are as follows: + +* Add more 16MB configs +* Re-do desktop/server configs: currently, only text-mode startup is provided + and it is assumed that SeaBIOS will be the first payload, then you can use + onboard graphics or an add-on graphics card more easily. This is not ideal. + The configs will be split: corebootfb and textmode startup, or "normal" where + there is no video init from coreboot, and instead an option ROM can be loaded + from a graphics card. +* Random documentation improvements, especially the addition of ThinkPad X301 + and G43T-AM3 documentation. + +PS: + +As some of you know, I run a company at selling laptops +with Libreboot pre-installed on them. + +Although the new stable release isn't out yet, what's currently in the Libreboot +git repository is stable, as of November 3rd, 2021. Until that release comes +out, I'm giving customers a version of Libreboot build from `lbmk.git`. I will +immediately switch to the stable release when it comes out, but the only thing +that will change basically is the version number and build date printed by +the `lscoreboot` command in GRUB. I'm making no further changes to the laptops +until after the upcoming release. + +Plans for after release +======================= + +After the next stable release, I have the following immediate plans: + +* Add a lot more boards from coreboot, because there are a lot more boards + ready to add in Libreboot. Mostly x4x intel platforms, same as on the Gigabyte + GA-G41M-ES2L board. +* u-root based boot experience (see below about BusyBox+Linux+Musl) + +That's for 2021. The purpose of my 2021 efforts has been to reboot the Libreboot +project, adding all viable x86 targets from coreboot, and adding some nice +features. The upcoming stable release will be during November 2021, and I plan +to have the next stable release afterwards, released on 2 January 2022, but +with a possible early December or late November testing release inbetween. + +The work never ends. From 2022 onwards, my focus will shift towards non-x86 +targets. ARM and RISC-V are becoming increasingly more viable for the Libreboot +project these days, and I want to take advantage of that. + +BusyBox+Linux+Musl +------------------ + +I've been studying Heads, LinuxBoot and coreboot's LinuxBoot integration. +I'm attempting to create my own busybox+linux distro, with musl libc, similar +to these projects. I want to do this so that I can provide u-root on 16MB ROM +configs in Libreboot. + +Coreboot's own build system has a Makefile in it, defining how to build +LinuxBoot. LinuxBoot is another such distro. + +u-root is a powerful bootloader written in Go, which runs in a minimal busybox +and linux environment. It provides many of the same features as GNU GRUB, while +also providing kexec based loading of Linux kernels. Because it's running on +a Linux kernel, that also means you get superior drivers. For example, Linux +has very mature LUKS drivers, but GRUB does not. Linux also has great netboot +features. u-root also implements a minimal UEFI environment. + +More info here: + + + +Info about LinuxBoot: + + + +In the future, I want u-root to become a standard feature in Libreboot. This +will not make it into the upcoming stable release, but I plan to put it in a +testing release afterwards. + +oreboot project +--------------- + +Oreboot is a special fork of coreboot, re-written in Rust. Coreboot without C, +hence Oreboot. It focuses on RISC-V hardware: + +