[coreboot] Are any Chromebooks able to run fully libre?

Sam Kuper sam.kuper at uclmail.net
Thu Jan 2 19:15:21 CET 2014


On 20/12/2013, ron minnich <rminnich at gmail.com> wrote:
> I can go
> into more detail if you want to know the particulars, but there's so
> many places in our systems containing blobs

As I understand it, there are two distinct reasons why some BLOBs, in
certain systems, cannot be eliminated/replaced by executing
appropriate software on those systems:

1. Because the BLOB is stored in a genuine ROM (or equivalent or EPROM
or equivalent; but not an EEPROM or equivalent) and therefore cannot
physically be eliminated/replaced just by (setting a jumper if
necessary, and) executing software;

2. Because although the BLOB could in principle be
eliminated/replaced, no libre (or even open-source) alternative for it
exists yet that would lead to error-free operation of the hardware.
(Intel CPU microcode updates are a prime example of such BLOBs.)

Assuming I haven't got the wrong end of this stick, I would be
grateful if you (or anyone else reading this) could go into more
detail (or point me to a resource that does) regarding which BLOBs
exist on the following two models of Chromebook, and which of those
two cases they fall under:

- Acer C7/C710
- HP Pavilion 14

For instance, I've not yet figured out whether those Chromebook models
currently upload microcode to the Celeron 847 (or Celeron 1007U).
(Unless my search-fu has failed me, Intel doesn't seem to have
released any microcode updates for the 847 or 1007U; but perhaps that
is irrelevant, because BIOS/OS-uploadable microcode for the 847 might
have been released without any further microcode *updates* being
released?)

Thanks again,

Sam



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