[coreboot] ROM snapshots and step by step procedure

John Lewis jlewis at johnlewis.ie
Fri Sep 27 17:12:29 CEST 2013


Hi Nestor,

On 27/09/2013 15:40, Nestor A. Diaz wrote:

> Hi People,
>
> I am looking for a new laptop, basically a laptop for traveling, 
> cheaper
> and lightweight.
>
> It seems the Acer C7 from Google full fit my *hardware* requirements.
>
> But I am not planning to use Google Chrome os instead I need to run
> Debian 7 on it.
>
> I like to play with GNU/Linux on embeded devices like the ones 
> supported
> with OpenWRT or even the Raspberry PI, usually all they come with
> firmware files or disk images ready to be loaded and let me get them 
> up
> and running quickly, I am not a hardware geek guy, so I don't want to
> spend too much time dealing with the internal of the Acer C7 
> Chromebook
> in order to load GNU/Linux on it.
>
> So, this is what i want to do:
>
> * Completely remove all the google OS stuff.
> * I don't need to run windows, so I don't care is the replacement
> firmware will not allow me to install such a crappy system in the 
> future
> even if I sell the device later.
> * I want to run something 100% free since it power up, for those who
> have this laptop can you tell me if the wifi drivers, camera, network
> adapter and so on are 100% free ?

Even coreboot on Chromebooks is not entirely "free", as there are 
several closed Intel binaries needed. Not sure is any non-free firmware 
needed for the Atheros card but it should be pretty open.

> * There is a web page which describe the procedure in a single page ? 
> I
> know the coreboot website have a lot of information, but time is a
> constraint, so there is a step by step instructions webpage with all 
> the
> files, requirement and procedures to free the Acer C7 laptop and then 
> be
> able to install a GNU distribution on it ?

http://johnlewis.ie/compiling-your-own-coreboot-firmware-for-the-samsung-series-5-550-chromebook/ 
and http://www.coreboot.org/Chromebooks/550_Chromebook_Build_HOWTO but 
the latter is slightly out of date. Just change the vendor and product. 
The same guy that bricked below followed the same instructions himself 
and got a straight SeaBIOS payload that worked.

> * I found some prebuilt images at
> http://johnlewis.ie/pre-built-coreboot-firmware-for-chromebooks/ 
> there
> are some official or daily rom firmware from the coreboot project in 
> a
> similar way like the ones produced by the OpenWRT people ?

No. That's why I created those.

BTW, don't build in USB dongle support at the moment unless you can 
de-brick - one of the guys commenting on my site bricked his when he 
compiled it in.

Cheers,

John.

>
> Thanks.
>
> -- Typed on my key64.org keyboard Nestor A. Diaz T: 
> +57-1-485-3020,211 M:
> +57-316-227-3593 nestor at tiendalinux.com www.tiendalinux.com



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