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== Recent Progress of coreboot on Laptops ==
== Laptops with coreboot Support ==


* coreboot now supports the Roda RK886EX (Rocky III+) Laptop, based on Intel 82945GM/ICH7.
See [[Supported_Motherboards#Laptops]]
* VIA has recently released open documentation for the VX700 and VX800 chipsets at the [http://linux.via.com.tw/support/downloadFiles.action VIA Download Portal].


== Embedded controllers ==


== Embedded Controllers ==
The remaining issue with supporting netbooks may be open firmware support for the [[Embedded controller]] (EC).
 
The remaining issue with supporting netbooks may be open firmware support for the Embedded Controller (EC).
These ECs used to support keyboard scan, lid open/closed, battery charging, power management, etc.
These ECs used to support keyboard scan, lid open/closed, battery charging, power management, etc.


coreboot should work with the "stock" EC firmware. This may still be a challenge because "we don't know what we don't know". Behavior at runtime is fairly standardized, but we don't know what we need to do for initialization - do we need to set up registers, put in tables, kick things, or will it all Just Work (TM)?
coreboot should work with the "stock" EC firmware. This may still be a challenge because "we don't know what we don't know". Behavior at runtime is fairly standardized, but we don't know what we need to do for initialization - do we need to set up registers, put in tables, kick things, or will it all Just Work (TM)?


=== Renesas M3885/M3886 ===
== HOWTO to find a way ==
 
These ECs are supported by coreboot. There are several versions, with flash and with mask roms. Only the flash versions are update-able. These ECs are Family 740 based. A development environment including compiler and simulator is available from Renesas.
 
=== ENE KB3310/KB3910/KB3920 ===
 
Very common ECs in netbooks are the KB3310, KB3910 and KB3920 from [http://www.ene.com.tw/en/index.asp ENE Technology]. The ENE ECs are 8051 based.
 
The Quanta IL1 reference design seems to use ENE3310 controller. The q1d25i.rom was examined. The EC code is on 0xFFF00000 on One Mini A110. Its 64KB big HOLE0.ROM.
 
More discussion and info on the ENE EC's:


* ENE [http://wiki.laptop.org/images/a/ab/KB3700-ds-01.pdf KB3700 datasheet].
See [[Motherboard_Porting_Guide]]
* [http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?pid=99076 eeeUser Discussion]
* [http://code.google.com/p/eeetune/wiki/KBMemoryMap Memory map of ENE KB3310]
* [https://sdcc.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/sdcc/trunk/ 8051 simulator]
* [http://dev.laptop.org/git?p=projects/olpcflash;a=blob;f=olpcflash.c;hb=HEAD OpenEC Firmware]  
* [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OpenEC OpenEC Project]
* [http://www.cagnulein.com/tmp/eee.c-20080812 Example code] that makes use of the KB3310's "Index IO" access functions.


=== Renesas H8 ===
== Laptop survey ==


Some ECs are H8 based.
This not a list of coreboot supported laptops. This page only lists the chipsets, Super I/Os, flash chips, and especially [[embedded controller]]s used in a few laptops, just for reference purposes.
 
* [http://www.gnuh8.org/ port of the GNU compiler suite to the H8]
* [http://wunderkis.de/h8-gcc/h8tools.tar.gz H8 bootloader]
* [http://h8300-hms.sourceforge.net/ sourceforge project for H8/300]
 
== Laptop Survey ==
 
This page attempts to list chipsets, Super I/Os, flash chips, and especially [[embedded controller]]s used in various laptops.


{| border="0" style="font-size: smaller"
{| border="0" style="font-size: smaller"
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! align="left" | Model
! align="left" | Model
! align="left" | CPU
! align="left" | CPU
! align="left" | Chipset (NB/SB)
! align="left" | Chipset NB
! align="left" | Chipset SB
! align="left" | Super I/O
! align="left" | Super I/O
! align="left" | [[Embedded controller|EC]]
! align="left" | [[Embedded controller|EC]]
Line 59: Line 34:


|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
| ASUS || S96F/Z96F || Intel Core™2 Duo T7400 || Intel i945/ICH7 || ITE IT8510E || in Super I/O || ? || ? || ? || ? || [http://www.flashrom.org/pipermail/flashrom/2010-January/001986.html macavity]
| ASUS || S96F/Z96F || Intel Core™2 Duo T7400 || Intel i945 || Intel ICH7 || ITE IT8510E || in Super I/O || ? || ? || ? || ? || [http://www.flashrom.org/pipermail/flashrom/2010-January/001986.html macavity]
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
| Dell || [[Dell Latitude CPi A366XT|Latitude CPi A366XT]] || PII, 360 MHz || Intel 440BX || SMSC FDC37N958FR || in Super I/O || AMD AM29F040B || 512KB || yes || PLCC || [[User:Uwe|UH]]
| Acer || Aspire One ZG5 || Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz  || Intel 82945GME  || Intel NH82801GBM ICH7-M || Winbond WPCE775LA0DG  || in Super I/O || Winbond 25x80AVSIG || 8Mb || no || SOIP/DIP || [[User:XVilka|XVilka]]
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
| Acer || Aspire 3613LC || Intel Celeron M 370 1.5GHz L2: 1MB ||  Intel 82910GML  || Intel FW82801FBM SL7W6 ICH6-M || || ? || PMC 0537 PM39LV040-70JCE || 1Mb || no || SOIP/DIP || [[User:XVilka|XVilka]]
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
| Dell || [[Dell Latitude C610|Latitude C610]] || PIII, 1.2 GHz || Intel i830 || SMSC LPC47N252 || in Super I/O || SST SST49LF004A || 512KB || no || PLCC || [mailto:coreboot@miradou.com CybFr]
| Dell || [[Dell Latitude CPi A366XT|Latitude CPi A366XT]] || PII, 360 MHz || Intel 440BX |||| SMSC FDC37N958FR || in Super I/O || AMD AM29F040B || 512KB || yes || PLCC || [[User:Uwe|UH]]
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
| Fujitsu-S. || Lifebook S-4572 || PIII, 750 MHz || Intel 82440MX || SMSC FDC37N769 || ? || Fujitsu&nbsp;MBM29F400T<sup>1</sup> || ? || no || TSOP(?) || [[User:Uwe|UH]]
| Dell || [[Dell Latitude C610|Latitude C610]] || PIII, 1.2 GHz || Intel i830 |||| SMSC&nbsp;LPC47N252 || in Super I/O || SST SST49LF004A || 512KB || no || PLCC || [mailto:coreboot@miradou.com CybFr]
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
| Dell || [[Dell Vostro V13]] || Intel Celeron 743 1.2GHz, L2: 1MB (Ultra Low Voltage) || Mobile Intel GS45 Express GHMC ||Intel 82801IEM ICH9M-E|| none || ITE IT8502E || Winbond 25Q16BVSIG || 2Mb || no || SOIP/PDIP || [[User:XVilka|XVilka]]
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
| Fujitsu-S. || Lifebook S7110 || Intel&nbsp;Core&trade;2 Duo T7200 || Intel&nbsp;i945/ICH7 || SMSC&nbsp;LPC47N217 || Fujitsu MB90378 || Spansion S25FL008A<sup>2</sup> || 1024 kB || no || SO8 / SPI || twice11
| Dell || XPS M1530 || Intel&nbsp;Core&trade;2 Duo T7700 || Intel PM965 || Intel ICH8 || none || Winbond WPC8763L || Winbond 25X16VSIG || 16Mb || ?? || SPI || Corey Osgood
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
| Gericom || Webboy 340S2 || PIII || SiS630 || NSC PC87393VJG || NSC PC87570 || Winbond&nbsp;29C020 || 256 kB || yes || PLCC || [http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.bios/13081 NS]
| Fujitsu-S. || Lifebook S-4572 || PIII, 750 MHz || Intel 82440MX |||| SMSC FDC37N769 || ? || Fujitsu&nbsp;MBM29F400T<sup>1</sup> || ? || no || TSOP(?) || [[User:Uwe|UH]]
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
| Gateway || [[Gateway W730-K8X | W730-K8X]] || Socket 754 || ?? || ?? || ?? || SST 39VF040 || ?? || yes || PLCC || [[User:Juri|Juri]]
| Fujitsu-S. || Lifebook S7110 || Intel&nbsp;Core&trade;2 Duo T7200 || Intel&nbsp;i945 || Intel ICH7 || SMSC&nbsp;LPC47N217 || Fujitsu MB90378 || Spansion S25FL008A<sup>2</sup> || 1024 kB || no || SO8 / SPI || twice11
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
| Gateway || [[Gateway W730-K8X | W730-K8X]] || Socket 754 |||| ?? || ?? || ?? || SST 39VF040 || ?? || yes || PLCC || [[User:Juri|Juri]]
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
| Gateway || [[Gateway 6020GZ|6020GZ]] || Celeron M 1.4Ghz || Intel 855GME || ?? || ?? || ?? || ?? || no || ?? || [[User:Juri|Juri]]
| Gateway || [[Gateway 6020GZ|6020GZ]] || Celeron M 1.4Ghz || Intel 855GME |||| ?? || ?? || ?? || ?? || no || ?? || [[User:Juri|Juri]]
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
| Gericom || Webboy 340S2 || PIII || SiS630 |||| NSC PC87393VJG || NSC PC87570 || Winbond&nbsp;29C020 || 256 kB || yes || PLCC || [http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.bios/13081 NS]
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
| Highscreen || XD 14-C1700 || Intel&nbsp;Celeron&nbsp;1.7&nbsp;GHz || SiS650 || NSC&nbsp;PC87391(?) || ? || EON EN29F040(A) || 512 kB || yes || PLCC || [[User:Uwe|UH]]
| Getac || P470 || Intel&reg;&nbsp;Core 2 Duo Mobile || Intel 945 || Intel ICH7 || ? || ? || ? || 8Mb || no || SPI / SOIC8 || [[User:Stepan|Stefan Reinauer]]
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
| HP || Omnibook XE3(L) || PIII, 750 MHz || Intel&nbsp;82371MB/PIIX4M || SMSC&nbsp;FDC37N869 || NSC&nbsp;PC87570 || SST 28SF040A || 512 kB || no || PLCC || [[User:Uwe|UH]]
| Highscreen || XD 14-C1700 || Intel&nbsp;Celeron&nbsp;1.7&nbsp;GHz || SiS650 |||| NSC&nbsp;PC87391(?) || ? || EON EN29F040(A) || 512 kB || yes || PLCC || [[User:Uwe|UH]]
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
| IBM || Thinkpad T30 || Intel P4 Mobile, 1.8 GHz || Intel&nbsp;i845/ICH3-M || NSC&nbsp;PC87392 || Renesas H8S&nbsp;64F3169ATE10 || ST&nbsp;M50FW080N5 || 1024 kB || no || TSOP40 / FWH || edgecase
| HP/Compaq || nc6320 || T7200 || 945GM || ICH7-M || SMSC LPC47N217 || SMSC KBC1021-MT  || M25PE80 || 1024 kB || yes || SOIC-8 || [[User:GNUtoo|GNUtoo]]
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
| One || [http://www.a110wiki.de A110] || VIA&nbsp;C7-M&nbsp;ULV&nbsp;1.0&nbsp;GHz || VIA VX800 || none || ENE KB3310 || ? || ? || no || ? || [[User:Uwe|UH]]
| HP || Omnibook XE3(L) || PIII, 750 MHz || Intel&nbsp;82371MB ||Intel PIIX4M || SMSC&nbsp;FDC37N869 || NSC&nbsp;PC87570 || SST 28SF040A || 512 kB || no || PLCC || [[User:Uwe|UH]]
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
| Panasonic || Toughbook&nbsp;CF-25 || P166MMX || FW82439TX&nbsp;(430TX)/FW82371AB || NSC PC87336VJG || Renesas&nbsp;3886 || SST SST29EE020 || 256 kB || no || ? || [[User:Miernik|Miernik]]
| IBM || Thinkpad T30 || Intel P4 Mobile, 1.8 GHz || Intel&nbsp;i845 || Intel ICH3-M || NSC&nbsp;PC87392 || Renesas H8S&nbsp;64F3169ATE10 || ST&nbsp;M50FW080N5 || 1024 kB || no || TSOP40 / FWH || edgecase
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
| IBM || Thinkpad X60s || Intel Core Duo CPU L2300 || Intel&nbsp;i945GM || Intel ICH7-M || NSC&nbsp;PC87392 (in Ultrabase) || Renesas H8S2161B || MX25L1605D || 2048 kB || no || SOIC-8 || [[User:SvenS|Sven Schnelle]]
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
| MSI || Wind U100 || Intel Atom N280 1.66Ghz || Intel 945GSE || Intel ICH7-M || ? || ENE KB3310 || SST MX25L8005 || 8 Mb|| no || TSOP40 / SPI || ?
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
| Roda || Rocky III+ RK886EX || Intel&reg;&nbsp;Core 2 Duo Mobile T5500 || Intel 945 / ICH7 || SMSC&reg;&nbsp;LPC47N227 || Renesas&nbsp;M38859 || ? || ? || ? || ? || ?
| One || [http://www.a110wiki.de A110] || VIA&nbsp;C7-M&nbsp;ULV&nbsp;1.0&nbsp;GHz || VIA VX800 |||| none || ENE KB3310 || ? || ? || no || ? || [[User:Uwe|UH]]
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
| Panasonic || Toughbook&nbsp;CF-25 || P166MMX || FW82439TX&nbsp;(430TX) || FW82371AB || NSC PC87336VJG || Renesas&nbsp;3886 || SST SST29EE020 || 256 kB || no || ? || [[User:Miernik|Miernik]]
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
| Roda || Rocky II+ RT686 || Intel&nbsp;Pentium III || Intel 430BX / FW82371EB || SMSC&reg;&nbsp;FDC37N769 || Renesas&nbsp;M38867M8A || SST SST29LE020 || 256KB || yes || PLCC/parallel || [[User:Uwe|UH]]
| Roda || Rocky III+ RK886EX || Intel&reg;&nbsp;Core 2 Duo Mobile T5500 || Intel 945 || Intel ICH7 || SMSC&reg;&nbsp;LPC47N227 || Renesas&nbsp;M38859 || SST SST49LF080 || 8Mb || yes || PLCC || [[User:Stepan|Stefan Reinauer]]
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
| Sony || Vaio&nbsp;Picturebook&nbsp;PCG-C1XD || P2 400 || 443ZX || ? || ? || ST M29W004BT || 512 kB || no || || [[User:Miernik|Miernik]]
| Roda || Rocky II+ RT686 || Intel&nbsp;Pentium III || Intel 430BX || Intel FW82371EB || SMSC&reg;&nbsp;FDC37N769 || Renesas&nbsp;M38867M8A || SST SST29LE020 || 256KB || yes || PLCC/parallel || [[User:Uwe|UH]]
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
| Sony || Vaio&nbsp;Picturebook&nbsp;PCG-C1XD || P2 400 || 443ZX |||| ? || ? || ST M29W004BT || 512 kB || no || || [[User:Miernik|Miernik]]
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
| Sony || Vaio&nbsp;Picturebook&nbsp;PCG-C1X || P266MMX || 430TX || ? || ? || ? || ? || ? || ? || [[User:Miernik|Miernik]]
| Sony || Vaio&nbsp;Picturebook&nbsp;PCG-C1X || P266MMX || 430TX |||| ? || ? || ? || ? || ? || ? || [[User:Miernik|Miernik]]
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
| Toshiba  || Libretto&nbsp;50M PA1243CM || P133 || custom FPGA || ? || ? || ? || ? || ? || ? || [[User:Miernik|Miernik]]
| Toshiba  || Libretto&nbsp;50M PA1243CM || P133 || custom FPGA |||| ? || ? || ? || ? || ? || ? || [[User:Miernik|Miernik]]
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
| Toshiba  || Satellite&nbsp;A80-117 || Intel&nbsp;Celeron || Intel&nbsp;915GM/ICH6 || SMSC&nbsp;LPC47N217 || ENE KB910 || ? || 1024 kB || no || TSOP (?) || [[User:Uwe|UH]]
| Toshiba  || Satellite&nbsp;A80-117 || Intel&nbsp;Celeron || Intel&nbsp;915GM || Intel ICH6 || SMSC&nbsp;LPC47N217 || ENE KB910 || ? || 1024 kB || no || TSOP (?) || [[User:Uwe|UH]]


|}
|}
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</small>
</small>


Further Links:
Further links:


* [http://tuxmobil.org/mylaptops.html Tuxmobil Laptop Survey]
* [http://tuxmobil.org/mylaptops.html Tuxmobil Laptop Survey]
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* [http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/free-bios.html The Free Software Foundation's Campaign for Free BIOS]
* [http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/free-bios.html The Free Software Foundation's Campaign for Free BIOS]


== Mailinglist Discussion ==
== Mailinglist discussion ==


A few earlier coreboot discussions on laptops are linked here, you might get useful information out of them:  
A few earlier coreboot discussions on laptops are linked here, you might get useful information out of them:  


*[http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2005-February/010985.html Any update on coreboot for laptops]  
* [http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2005-February/010985.html Any update on coreboot for laptops]  
*[http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.linux.bios/13081 Notebook 340s2 (sis630) 256k Flash]  
* [http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.linux.bios/13081 Notebook 340s2 (sis630) 256k Flash]  
*[http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2005-February/010972.html yet another reason to use coreboot in laptops I guess]  
* [http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2005-February/010972.html yet another reason to use coreboot in laptops I guess]  
*[http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2005-April/011429.html coreboot laptop hunt wiki page]  
* [http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2005-April/011429.html coreboot laptop hunt wiki page]  
*[http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2005-March/011140.html HP Pavillion ZV5000 (Laptop)]  
* [http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2005-March/011140.html HP Pavillion ZV5000 (Laptop)]  
*[http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2005-July/011942.html SA1100]  
* [http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2005-July/011942.html SA1100]  
*[http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2003-September/004954.html Laptop with Sis 650 chipset]  
* [http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2003-September/004954.html Laptop with Sis 650 chipset]  
*[http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2006-September/015551.html coreboot on Laptops]
* [http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2006-September/015551.html coreboot on Laptops]
 


== Who really makes your laptop? ==
== Who really makes your laptop? ==
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Original Design Manufacturers (ODM) make the laptops for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). They in turn, add their preloaded hard drives and sell them to consumers. This is why a laptop is a bit more complicated to support with coreboot. The OEM's may not even have all the specifications for the laptop since the ODM has done all the design and assembly.
Original Design Manufacturers (ODM) make the laptops for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). They in turn, add their preloaded hard drives and sell them to consumers. This is why a laptop is a bit more complicated to support with coreboot. The OEM's may not even have all the specifications for the laptop since the ODM has done all the design and assembly.


Some Laptop ODMs are:
Some laptop ODMs are:


* [http://www.quantatw.com Quanta] makes laptops for Sony, Dell, and IBM  
* [http://www.quantatw.com Quanta] makes laptops for Sony, Dell, and IBM  
Line 139: Line 129:
* [http://www.clevo.com.tw/ Clevo] makes the popular Alienware and Voodoo gaming laptops
* [http://www.clevo.com.tw/ Clevo] makes the popular Alienware and Voodoo gaming laptops


Further Links:
Further links:


* [http://www.laptopworldwide.com/laptops.html Makers of Laptops]
* [http://www.laptopworldwide.com/laptops.html Makers of Laptops]
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* [http://tuxmobil.org/reseller.html Where to Buy a Preinstalled Linux Laptop, Notebook, Mobile Phone or PDA? - Vendor Overview]
* [http://tuxmobil.org/reseller.html Where to Buy a Preinstalled Linux Laptop, Notebook, Mobile Phone or PDA? - Vendor Overview]


== Random product links ==


== Random Product Links ==
The following list is a out of date. These were laptops of interest as possible candidates for coreboot support. Most, if not all of these laptops are no longer available. It is only here for reference.


VIA has a list of many netbooks at [http://via.com.tw/en/products/notebook/notebook.jsp VIA Partner Mobility Devices].  
VIA has a list of many netbooks at [http://via.com.tw/en/products/notebook/notebook.jsp VIA Partner Mobility Devices].  
Line 152: Line 143:
VIA also has information on other mobile platforms at [http://via.com.tw/en/products/notebook/index.jsp VIA Mobility Platform].  
VIA also has information on other mobile platforms at [http://via.com.tw/en/products/notebook/index.jsp VIA Mobility Platform].  


The [http://www.a110wiki.de/wiki/Main_Page Quanta IL1] vx800 based reference design covers similar models/clones such as:  
The [http://www.a110wiki.de Quanta IL1] vx800 based reference design covers similar models/clones such as:  


*[http://www.one.de/shop/one-notebooks-one-mini-notebooks-c-213_214.html One Mini A110/A115/A120/A140/A150/A470]  
*[http://www.one.de/shop/one-notebooks-one-mini-notebooks-c-213_214.html One Mini A110/A115/A120/A140/A150/A470]  
Line 167: Line 158:
*[http://www.fic.com.tw/product/ce2a1.aspx FIC CE2A1]
*[http://www.fic.com.tw/product/ce2a1.aspx FIC CE2A1]


There are still a few netbook designs currently on the market that use the VIA vx700 chipset.
Netbook designs that use the VIA vx700 chipset:


*[http://www.sylvaniacomputers.com/products.php?p=g Sylvania G]  
*[http://www.sylvaniacomputers.com/products.php?p=g Sylvania G]  
Line 174: Line 165:
*[http://www.fic.com.tw/product/ce268.aspx FIC CE268]
*[http://www.fic.com.tw/product/ce268.aspx FIC CE268]


There are also several AMD 690/600 laptops still available that may be candidates as well:  
AMD 690/600 laptops:  


*[http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/acer-extensa-4420-5963/4505-3121_7-33361062.html Acer Extensa 4420]  
*[http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/acer-extensa-4420-5963/4505-3121_7-33361062.html Acer Extensa 4420]  

Revision as of 04:17, 24 January 2014

Laptops with coreboot Support

See Supported_Motherboards#Laptops

Embedded controllers

The remaining issue with supporting netbooks may be open firmware support for the Embedded controller (EC). These ECs used to support keyboard scan, lid open/closed, battery charging, power management, etc.

coreboot should work with the "stock" EC firmware. This may still be a challenge because "we don't know what we don't know". Behavior at runtime is fairly standardized, but we don't know what we need to do for initialization - do we need to set up registers, put in tables, kick things, or will it all Just Work (TM)?

HOWTO to find a way

See Motherboard_Porting_Guide

Laptop survey

This not a list of coreboot supported laptops. This page only lists the chipsets, Super I/Os, flash chips, and especially embedded controllers used in a few laptops, just for reference purposes.

Vendor Model CPU Chipset NB Chipset SB Super I/O EC Flash Chip Flash Size Flash S. Flash T. Owner
ASUS S96F/Z96F Intel Core™2 Duo T7400 Intel i945 Intel ICH7 ITE IT8510E in Super I/O ? ? ? ? macavity
Acer Aspire One ZG5 Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz Intel 82945GME Intel NH82801GBM ICH7-M Winbond WPCE775LA0DG in Super I/O Winbond 25x80AVSIG 8Mb no SOIP/DIP XVilka
Acer Aspire 3613LC Intel Celeron M 370 1.5GHz L2: 1MB Intel 82910GML Intel FW82801FBM SL7W6 ICH6-M ? ? PMC 0537 PM39LV040-70JCE 1Mb no SOIP/DIP XVilka
Dell Latitude CPi A366XT PII, 360 MHz Intel 440BX SMSC FDC37N958FR in Super I/O AMD AM29F040B 512KB yes PLCC UH
Dell Latitude C610 PIII, 1.2 GHz Intel i830 SMSC LPC47N252 in Super I/O SST SST49LF004A 512KB no PLCC CybFr
Dell Dell Vostro V13 Intel Celeron 743 1.2GHz, L2: 1MB (Ultra Low Voltage) Mobile Intel GS45 Express GHMC Intel 82801IEM ICH9M-E none ITE IT8502E Winbond 25Q16BVSIG 2Mb no SOIP/PDIP XVilka
Dell XPS M1530 Intel Core™2 Duo T7700 Intel PM965 Intel ICH8 none Winbond WPC8763L Winbond 25X16VSIG 16Mb ?? SPI Corey Osgood
Fujitsu-S. Lifebook S-4572 PIII, 750 MHz Intel 82440MX SMSC FDC37N769 ? Fujitsu MBM29F400T1 ? no TSOP(?) UH
Fujitsu-S. Lifebook S7110 Intel Core™2 Duo T7200 Intel i945 Intel ICH7 SMSC LPC47N217 Fujitsu MB90378 Spansion S25FL008A2 1024 kB no SO8 / SPI twice11
Gateway W730-K8X Socket 754 ?? ?? ?? SST 39VF040 ?? yes PLCC Juri
Gateway 6020GZ Celeron M 1.4Ghz Intel 855GME ?? ?? ?? ?? no ?? Juri
Gericom Webboy 340S2 PIII SiS630 NSC PC87393VJG NSC PC87570 Winbond 29C020 256 kB yes PLCC NS
Getac P470 Intel® Core 2 Duo Mobile Intel 945 Intel ICH7 ? ? ? 8Mb no SPI / SOIC8 Stefan Reinauer
Highscreen XD 14-C1700 Intel Celeron 1.7 GHz SiS650 NSC PC87391(?) ? EON EN29F040(A) 512 kB yes PLCC UH
HP/Compaq nc6320 T7200 945GM ICH7-M SMSC LPC47N217 SMSC KBC1021-MT M25PE80 1024 kB yes SOIC-8 GNUtoo
HP Omnibook XE3(L) PIII, 750 MHz Intel 82371MB Intel PIIX4M SMSC FDC37N869 NSC PC87570 SST 28SF040A 512 kB no PLCC UH
IBM Thinkpad T30 Intel P4 Mobile, 1.8 GHz Intel i845 Intel ICH3-M NSC PC87392 Renesas H8S 64F3169ATE10 ST M50FW080N5 1024 kB no TSOP40 / FWH edgecase
IBM Thinkpad X60s Intel Core Duo CPU L2300 Intel i945GM Intel ICH7-M NSC PC87392 (in Ultrabase) Renesas H8S2161B MX25L1605D 2048 kB no SOIC-8 Sven Schnelle
MSI Wind U100 Intel Atom N280 1.66Ghz Intel 945GSE Intel ICH7-M ? ENE KB3310 SST MX25L8005 8 Mb no TSOP40 / SPI ?
One A110 VIA C7-M ULV 1.0 GHz VIA VX800 none ENE KB3310 ? ? no ? UH
Panasonic Toughbook CF-25 P166MMX FW82439TX (430TX) FW82371AB NSC PC87336VJG Renesas 3886 SST SST29EE020 256 kB no ? Miernik
Roda Rocky III+ RK886EX Intel® Core 2 Duo Mobile T5500 Intel 945 Intel ICH7 SMSC® LPC47N227 Renesas M38859 SST SST49LF080 8Mb yes PLCC Stefan Reinauer
Roda Rocky II+ RT686 Intel Pentium III Intel 430BX Intel FW82371EB SMSC® FDC37N769 Renesas M38867M8A SST SST29LE020 256KB yes PLCC/parallel UH
Sony Vaio Picturebook PCG-C1XD P2 400 443ZX ? ? ST M29W004BT 512 kB no Miernik
Sony Vaio Picturebook PCG-C1X P266MMX 430TX ? ? ? ? ? ? Miernik
Toshiba Libretto 50M PA1243CM P133 custom FPGA ? ? ? ? ? ? Miernik
Toshiba Satellite A80-117 Intel Celeron Intel 915GM Intel ICH6 SMSC LPC47N217 ENE KB910 ? 1024 kB no TSOP (?) UH

1 According to the vendor BIOS update tool.
2 Nice thing: EC/Flash is not shared, so you can erase the whole flash during system operation (this was tested).

Further links:

Mailinglist discussion

A few earlier coreboot discussions on laptops are linked here, you might get useful information out of them:

Who really makes your laptop?

There are several various brands of laptops, but there are only a few actual laptop makers.

Name brand companies like Hewlet Packard, Compaq, IBM, Dell, Gateway, Sony, Micron, Toshiba and others; including Alienware and Voodoo do not make their own laptops. The exceptions are Asus and Apple, and even Apple doesn't make all of their laptops.

Original Design Manufacturers (ODM) make the laptops for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). They in turn, add their preloaded hard drives and sell them to consumers. This is why a laptop is a bit more complicated to support with coreboot. The OEM's may not even have all the specifications for the laptop since the ODM has done all the design and assembly.

Some laptop ODMs are:

  • Quanta makes laptops for Sony, Dell, and IBM
  • Inventec and Arima make the Compaq line
  • Compal also makes IBM and Dell lines, as well as Hewlett Packard
  • Clevo makes the popular Alienware and Voodoo gaming laptops

Further links:

Random product links

The following list is a out of date. These were laptops of interest as possible candidates for coreboot support. Most, if not all of these laptops are no longer available. It is only here for reference.

VIA has a list of many netbooks at VIA Partner Mobility Devices.

VIA also has information on other mobile platforms at VIA Mobility Platform.

The Quanta IL1 vx800 based reference design covers similar models/clones such as:

Other vx800 based netbooks:

Netbook designs that use the VIA vx700 chipset:

AMD 690/600 laptops:

Intel Atom with i945 chipset netbooks: