Install

This page will teach you how to install Libreboot, on any of the supported laptop, desktop and server motherboards.

Precautions

Please make sure you have backed up the current flash and inserted vendor ROM files (if applicable) before flashing. Otherwise, you risk bricking your machine.

Disabling /dev/mem protection

You should follow the instructions to disable /dev/mem protection.

Backing up the current flash

You should do this whenever you are overwriting the flash, including when you update between Libreboot releases.

You just need to use -r instead of -w in flashprog.

Inserting vendor ROM files

If you are using a release tarball, please read the instructions to insert vendor ROM files.

If you are building from source, the build system should insert them automatically for you.

Updating EC firmware

It is a good idea to attempt to update the EC firmware before installing.

Intel GbE MAC addresses

On all IFD-bsed Intel platforms except X4X (e.g. Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L) and i945 ones (e.g. ThinkPad X60, ThinkPad T60, MacBook2,1), an Intel Flash Descriptor is used. If the board has Intel gigabit ethernet, the MAC address is included in flash, and must be changed prior to installation.

You must use nvmutil to change the MAC address to modify the ROM image before flashing it.

Prepare to flash externally

Some boards require external flashing. Regardless, you are strongly advised to have an external flashing setup, and make sure it works, before attempting internal flashing. Refer to the SPI guide to learn about external flashing.

Which payloads are supported by Libreboot?

With x86 machines, you can use the SeaBIOS, GNU GRUB, or U-Boot payloads. On ARM systems, you can use the U-Boot payload (coreboot still initialises hardware).

Which boards are supported by Libreboot?

For X86 boards, refer to its dedicated page.

Games consoles

• Sony Playstation (PS1/PSX)

Laptops (ARM, with U-Boot payload)

• ASUS Chromebook Flip C101 (gru-bob)
• Samsung Chromebook Plus (v1) (gru-kevin)

Emulation

• QEMU x86 and ARM64

ROM image file names

They are named like payload_board_inittype_displaytype_keymap.rom.

The payload option can be SeaBIOS, SeaGRUB or U-Boot. If GRUB is available on a given board, in flash, both SeaBIOS and SeaGRUB are provided; SeaBIOS images still have GRUB available via the SeaBIOS menu, and SeaGRUB means that SeaBIOS automatically loads GRUB from flash first (but you can still choose something else, by pressing ESC in SeaBIOS when prompted).

Inittype can be libgfxinit, vgarom or normal. The libgfxinit option means coreboot provides native video initialisation, for onboard graphics. The vgarom option means coreboot executes a VGA option ROM for video initialisation. The normal option means coreboot provides no video initialisation, via VGA ROM or native code.

Displaytype can be txtmode or corebootfb — if inittype is normal, this is ignored because txtmode is assumed.

If payload is seabios instead of seagrub, no keymaps are inserted into flash and only US QWERTY is assumed, otherwise the keymap refers to what is used in GRUB on seagrub payload setups.

If you use a libgfxinit image on a desktop machine, you can still insert a graphics card and it’ll work just fine; its own VGA option ROM will be executed instead, if the primary payload is SeaBIOS, whether that be pure SeaBIOS or a SeaGRUB setup.

Updating Libreboot

In general, if Libreboot is already running, you can refer to the generic internal flashing instructions. Most boards require external flashing when flashing for the first time and are documented in their own respective pages.

Notwithstanding the above, some boards such as SureStart on HP EliteBook 820 G2 require special steps, even if Libreboot is already running. This is also the case if you locked down the flash.

Therefore, before following generic guides, make sure to check first whether your board has special instructions.

Removed boards

These boards were in Libreboot, but have been removed with the intention of re-adding them at a later date. They were removed due to issues. List:

• Acer Chromebook 13 (CB5-311, C810) (nyan-big)
• ASUS Chromebit CS10 (veyron-mickey)
• ASUS Chromebook C201PA (veyron-speedy)
• ASUS Chromebook Flip C100PA (veyron-minnie)
• Hisense Chromebook C11 and more (veyron-jerry)
• HP Chromebook 11 G1 (daisy-spring)
• HP Chromebook 14 G3 (nyan-blaze)
• Samsung Chromebook 2 11" (peach-pit)
• Samsung Chromebook 2 13" (peach-pi)
• Samsung Chromebook XE303 (daisy-snow)
• Lenovo ThinkPad X301 (still in lbmk, but with release="n")