Unofficial (Simplified) Libreboot Documentation
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About this site

The official documentation is at libreboot.org.

The one you’re reading right now is Runxi Yu’s unofficial attempt to document Libreboot with language that they personally consider to be more accessible. This version of the documentation is not currently supported by the upstream project, but we currently do plan to merge in the future when it’s ready.

Note: It is possible that all links are broken here right now. I’m massively restructuring and reorganizing the site.

Introduction

Libreboot provides mostly free, libre, and open source boot firmware based on coreboot, replacing proprietary BIOS/UEFI firmware for supported motherboards. It initialises the hardware (e.g. memory controller, CPU, peripherals) and starts a bootloader for your operating system. Linux and BSD are well-supported.

You can also buy Libreboot preinstalled from Minifree Ltd, on select hardware, as well as sending your compatible hardware for Libreboot installation. The founder and lead developer of Libreboot, Leah Rowe, also owns and operates Minifree; sales provide funding for Libreboot.

Latest release

Libreboot releases are named after the release date, and may come with amendments called “revisions”. You may wish to read the release schedule.

The latest release is Libreboot 25.04 Corny Calamity Revision 1.

Technical overview

Libreboot provides coreboot for machine initialisation, which then jumps to a payload in the boot flash; coreboot works with many payloads, but Libreboot specifically provides SeaBIOS, GNU GRUB and U-Boot as options, depending on the board. The payload is the program in flash that provides the early user interface, for booting an operating system. This payload infrastructure means you can run whatever you want from the boot flash. More payloads (e.g. Linux kexec) are planned for future releases.

Not a fork of coreboot

Libreboot is a coreboot distribution, in the same way that Alpine Linux is a Linux distribution. Libreboot makes coreboot accessible and easy to use for non-technical users by providing a fully automated build system and user-friendly installation instructions along with regular binary releases with pre-compiled ROM images. Building regular coreboot without Libreboot’s automated build system requires significantly more technical knowledge.

Why use Libreboot?

  • It offers a easy way to configure and install coreboot.
  • It gives you freedoms that proprietary boot firmware cannot provide.
  • It offers options to improve security such as full disk encryption (including the boot partition), GPG-signed kernels and initramfs’s, and other options via GRUB hardening.
  • It does not contain backdoors (e.g. the Intel ME and the AMD PSP).
  • It is community-oriented.