[coreboot] Supermicro X7SLA-H supported? (Intel 945GC + ICH7R)

[Carl-Daniel Hailfinger]

Hi Sander,

On 16.09.2009 13:34, Sander wrote:
> Supermicro X7SLA-H motherboard[2].
>
> The chipsets of the X7SLA-H are Intel 945GC + ICH7R which are listed as
> WIP on "Devices supported in coreboot v3"[3]
>
> What are the changes of getting Coreboot v3 to work on this motherboard?
>   

Pretty slim. We are currently working on integrating all important v3
features in v2 because v2 gets more developer attention. If your chipset
is supported in v2, you have a good chance to get your board working.


> What makes v3 'alpha'? I can't seem to figure it out from reading the
> wiki.
>   

Short answer: v3 has a pretty new design and we're still evaluating
aspects of that design. Those parts of the design which are already
proven will be integrated in v2, other parts may come later.


> I consider myself an experienced Linux user but I have no hardware tools
> for flash or debug. Would I be able to play with Coreboot and be of any
> use to the community?
>   

It is very useful to have a serial nullmodem cable and a POST card. Test
both of them. It is also a requirement to be able to recover if flashing
went wrong. That means you either need a second board with the same
flash type (the board can be totally different as long as the flash type
(FWH/LPC/SPI) is identical) or an external programmer. Of course, to
recover the flash chip on your board, that flash chip should be in a
socket (or have a SPI recovery header).


> Btw, I am open for any suggestions regarding a better motherboard with
> possible (future) Coreboot support. I'm looking for a small size,
> relative low power, two core, 64bit system with a pci slot for the Solos
> card. I've read the 'Supported Motherboard' section but it was last
> modified at 6 July 2009 so that might be outdated.
>   

We have too many boards on our TODO list and only limited funding and
developer time. We welcome every contribution and every new developer or
user.

Regards,
Carl-Daniel

-- 
http://www.hailfinger.org/