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'''coreboot''' (formerly known as LinuxBIOS) is a Free Software project aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS (firmware) you can find in most of today's computers. It performs just a little bit of hardware initialization and then executes a so-called [[Payloads|payload]].
'''coreboot''' (formerly known as LinuxBIOS) is a Free Software project aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS (firmware) you can find in most of today's computers. It performs just a little bit of hardware initialization and then executes a so-called [[Payloads|payload]].
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* Runs in 32-Bit protected mode almost from the start
* Runs in 32-Bit protected mode almost from the start
* Written in C, contains virtually no assembly code
* Written in C, contains virtually no assembly code
* Supports a wide variety of [[Supported Motherboards|mainboards]], [[Supported Chipsets and Devices|devices]], and [[payloads]]
* Supports many [[Supported Motherboards|mainboards]]/[[Supported Chipsets and Devices|devices]]/[[payloads]]
* Further features: netboot, serial console, remote flashing, ...
* Further features: netboot, serial console, remote flashing, ...
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Revision as of 20:27, 25 March 2008

coreboot (formerly known as LinuxBIOS) is a Free Software project aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS (firmware) you can find in most of today's computers. It performs just a little bit of hardware initialization and then executes a so-called payload.

Benefits


  • 100% Free Software (GPL), no royalties, no license fees!
  • Fast boot times (3 seconds to Linux console)
  • Avoids the need for a slow/buggy/proprietary BIOS
  • Runs in 32-Bit protected mode almost from the start
  • Written in C, contains virtually no assembly code
  • Supports many mainboards/devices/payloads
  • Further features: netboot, serial console, remote flashing, ...

Use Cases


  • Standard desktop computers and servers
  • Clusters, high-performance computing
  • Set-Top-Boxes, thin clients
  • Embedded solutions, appliances, terminals
  • Small form factor computers, Home-theater PCs
  • No-moving-parts solutions (ROM chip as "disk")
  • Non-standard scenarios (e.g. FPGA in Opteron socket)

Payloads



About
Find out more about coreboot.
News | Press | Events | History | Screenshots & Videos | Contributors | Sponsors | Products | Clusters

Developers
Get involved! Help us make coreboot better.
Development Guidelines | Developer Manual | Doxygen | Browse Source | JTAG | EHCI Debug Port | Testsystem | GSoC | Ideas | Laptop | Desktops

Status
Find out whether your hardware is already supported.
Supported Motherboards | Supported Chipsets & Devices | Build Status | Flashrom support | Superiotool support

Related Tools
Tools and libraries related to coreboot.
Flashrom | Superiotool | Nvramtool | Buildrom | Libpayload | Mkelfimage

Getting Started
Download coreboot and get started.
Downloads | Documentation | Build Tutorials | Payloads | QEMU | AMD SimNow | Confirmed Working SVN Revisions | Misc

Support
Learn how to contact us and find help and support.
FAQ | Mailinglist | IRC | Issue Tracker | Glossary | corebootv2 Options
coreboot anatomy.


News

Contact