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authorLeah Rowe <info@minifree.org>2016-08-22 10:22:04 +0100
committerLeah Rowe <info@minifree.org>2016-08-22 10:22:04 +0100
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+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+<head>
+ <meta charset="utf-8">
+ <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
+
+ <style type="text/css">
+ @import url('../css/main.css');
+ </style>
+
+ <title>ThinkPad X200: flashing tutorial (BeagleBone Black)</title>
+</head>
+
+<body>
+
+ <div class="section">
+ <h1 id="pagetop">Flashing the X200 with a BeagleBone Black</h1>
+ <p>Initial flashing instructions for X200.</p>
+ <p>
+ This guide is for those who want libreboot on their ThinkPad X200
+ while they still have the original Lenovo BIOS present. This guide
+ can also be followed (adapted) if you brick your X200, to know how
+ to recover.
+ </p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li><a href="#preinstall">X200 laptops with libreboot pre-installed</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#flashchips">Flash chips</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#macaddress">MAC address</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#clip">Initial BBB configuration and installation procedure</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#boot">Boot it!</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#wifi">Wifi</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#wwan">wwan</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#memory">Memory</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#gpio33">X200S and X200 Tablet users: GPIO33 trick will not work.</a></li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p><a href="index.html">Back to main index</a></p>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="section">
+
+ <h1 id="preinstall">X200 laptops with libreboot pre-installed</h1>
+
+ <p>
+ If you don't want to install libreboot yourself, companies exist that sell these laptops
+ with libreboot pre-installed, along with a free GNU/Linux distribution.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Check the <a href="../../suppliers">suppliers</a> page for more information.
+ </p>
+
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="section">
+
+ <h1 id="flashchips">Flash chip size</h1>
+
+ <p>
+ Use this to find out:<br/>
+ # <b>dmidecode | grep ROM\ Size</b>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ The X200S and X200 Tablet will use a WSON-8 flash chip, on the
+ bottom of the motherboard (this requires removal of the
+ motherboard). <b>Not all X200S/X200T are supported;
+ see <a href="../hcl/x200.html#x200s">../hcl/x200.html#x200s</a>.</b>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a>
+ </p>
+
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="section">
+
+ <h1 id="macaddress">MAC address</h1>
+
+ <p>
+ On the X200/X200S/X200T, the MAC address for the onboard
+ gigabit ethernet chipset is stored inside the flash chip,
+ along with other configuration data.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Keep a note of the MAC address before disassembly; this is
+ very important, because you will need to insert this into
+ the libreboot ROM image before flashing it.
+ It will be written in one of these locations:
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0002.jpg" alt="" />
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0001.jpg" alt="" />
+ </p>
+
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="section">
+
+ <h1 id="clip">Initial BBB configuration</h1>
+
+ <p>
+ Refer to <a href="bbb_setup.html">bbb_setup.html</a> for how to
+ set up the BBB for flashing.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ The following shows how to connect the clip to the BBB (on the P9 header), for SOIC-16 (clip: Pomona 5252):
+ </p>
+<pre>
+POMONA 5252 (correlate with the BBB guide)
+=== front (display) on your X200 ====
+ NC - - 21
+ 1 - - 17
+ NC - - NC
+ NC - - NC
+ NC - - NC
+ NC - - NC
+ 18 - - 3.3V (PSU)
+ 22 - - NC - this is pin 1 on the flash chip
+=== back (palmrest) on your X200 ===
+<i>This is how you will connect. Numbers refer to pin numbers on the BBB, on the plugs near the DC jack.</i>
+Here is a photo of the SOIC-16 flash chip. Pins are labelled:<br/>
+<img src="images/x200/x200_pomona.jpg" alt="" />
+</pre>
+ <p>
+ The following shows how to connect the clip to the BBB (on the P9 header), for SOIC-8 (clip: Pomona 5250):
+ </p>
+<pre>
+POMONA 5250 (correlate with the BBB guide)
+=== left side of the X200 (where the VGA port is) ====
+ 18 - - 1
+ 22 - - NC
+ NC - - 21
+ 3.3V (PSU) - - 17 - this is pin 1 on the flash chip. in front of it is the screen.
+=== right side of the X200 (where the audio jacks are) ===
+<i>This is how you will connect. Numbers refer to pin numbers on the BBB, on the plugs near the DC jack.</i>
+Here is a photo of the SOIC-8 flash chip. The pins are labelled:<br/>
+<img title="Copyright 2015 Patrick &quot;P. J.&quot; McDermott &lt;pj@pehjota.net&gt;, see license notice at the end of this document" src="images/x200/soic8.jpg" />
+
+Look at the pads in that photo, on the left and right. Those are for SOIC-16. Would it be possible to remove the SOIC-8 and solder a SOIC-16
+chip on those pins?
+</pre>
+ <p>
+ <b>On the X200S and X200 Tablet the flash chip is underneath the board, in a WSON package.
+ The pinout is very much the same as a SOIC-8, except you need to solder (there are no clips available).<br/>
+ The following image shows how this is done:</b><br/>
+ <img src="images/x200/wson_soldered.jpg" title="Copyright 2014 Steve Shenton &lt;sgsit@libreboot.org&gt; see license notice at the end of this document" alt="" />
+ <br/>
+ In this image, a pin header was soldered onto the WSON. Another solution might be to de-solder the WSON-8 chip and put a SOIC-8 there instead.
+ Check the list of SOIC-8 flash chips at <a href="../hcl/gm45_remove_me.html#flashchips">../hcl/gm45_remove_me.html#flashchips</a> but
+ do note that these are only 4MiB (32Mb) chips. The only X200 SPI chips with 8MiB capacity are SOIC-16. For 8MiB capacity in this case,
+ the X201 SOIC-8 flash chip (Macronix 25L6445E) might work.
+ </p>
+
+ <h2>
+ The procedure
+ </h2>
+ <p>
+ This section is for the X200. This does not apply to the X200S or X200 Tablet
+ (for those systems, you have to remove the motherboard completely, since
+ the flash chip is on the other side of the board).
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Remove these screws:<br/>
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0003.jpg" alt="" />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Push the keyboard forward, gently, then lift it off and
+ disconnect it from the board:<br/>
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0004.jpg" alt="" />
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0005.jpg" alt="" />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Pull the palm rest off, lifting from the left and right side at the back of the
+ palm rest:<br/>
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0006.jpg" alt="" />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Lift back the tape that covers a part of the flash chip, and
+ then connect the clip:<br/>
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0007.jpg" alt="" />
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0008.jpg" alt="" />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ On pin 2 of the BBB, where you have the ground (GND), connect the
+ ground to your PSU:<br/>
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0009.jpg" alt="" />
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0010.jpg" alt="" />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Connect the 3.3V supply from your PSU to the flash chip (via
+ the clip):<br/>
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0011.jpg" alt="" />
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0012.jpg" alt="" />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Of course, make sure that your PSU is also plugged in and
+ turn on:<br/>
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0013.jpg" alt="" />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ This tutorial tells you to use an ATX PSU, for the 3.3V DC
+ supply. The PSU used when taking these photos is actually
+ not an ATX PSU, but a PSU that is designed specifically
+ for providing 3.3V DC (an ATX PSU will also work):<br/>
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0014.jpg" alt="" />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Now, you should be ready to install libreboot.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Flashrom binaries for ARM (tested on a BBB) are distributed in libreboot_util. Alternatively,
+ libreboot also distributes flashrom source code which can be built.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Log in as root on your BBB, using the instructions in
+ <a href="bbb_setup.html#bbb_access">bbb_setup.html#bbb_access</a>.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Test that flashrom works:<br/>
+ # <b>./flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev1.0,spispeed=512</b><br/>
+ In this case, the output was:
+ </p>
+<pre>
+flashrom v0.9.7-r1854 on Linux 3.8.13-bone47 (armv7l)
+flashrom is free software, get the source code at http://www.flashrom.org
+Calibrating delay loop... OK.
+Found Macronix flash chip &quot;MX25L6405(D)&quot; (8192 kB, SPI) on linux_spi.
+Found Macronix flash chip &quot;MX25L6406E/MX25L6436E&quot; (8192 kB, SPI) on linux_spi.
+Found Macronix flash chip &quot;MX25L6445E/MX25L6473E&quot; (8192 kB, SPI) on linux_spi.
+Multiple flash chip definitions match the detected chip(s): &quot;MX25L6405(D)&quot;, &quot;MX25L6406E/MX25L6436E&quot;, &quot;MX25L6445E/MX25L6473E&quot;
+Please specify which chip definition to use with the -c &lt;chipname&gt; option.
+</pre>
+ <p>
+ How to backup factory.rom (change the -c option as neeed, for your flash chip):<br/>
+ # <b>./flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev1.0,spispeed=512 -r factory.rom</b><br/>
+ # <b>./flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev1.0,spispeed=512 -r factory1.rom</b><br/>
+ # <b>./flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev1.0,spispeed=512 -r factory2.rom</b><br/>
+ Note: the <b>-c</b> option is not required in libreboot's patched flashrom, because
+ the redundant flash chip definitions in <i>flashchips.c</i> have been removed.<br/>
+ Now compare the 3 images:<br/>
+ # <b>sha512sum factory*.rom</b><br/>
+ If the hashes match, then just copy one of them (the factory.rom) to a safe place (on a drive connected to another system, not
+ the BBB). This is useful for reverse engineering work, if there is a desirable behaviour in the original firmware
+ that could be replicated in coreboot and libreboot.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Follow the instructions at <a href="../hcl/gm45_remove_me.html#ich9gen">../hcl/gm45_remove_me.html#ich9gen</a>
+ to change the MAC address inside the libreboot ROM image, before flashing it.
+ Although there is a default MAC address inside the ROM image, this is not what you want. <b>Make sure
+ to always change the MAC address to one that is correct for your system.</b>
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Now flash it:<br/>
+ # <b>./flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev1.0,spispeed=512 -w path/to/libreboot/rom/image.rom -V</b>
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0015.jpg" alt="" />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ You might see errors, but if it says <b>Verifying flash... VERIFIED</b> at the end, then it's flashed and should boot.
+ If you see errors, try again (and again, and again); the message <b>Chip content is identical to the requested image</b>
+ is also an indication of a successful installation.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Example output from running the command (see above):
+ </p>
+<pre>
+flashrom v0.9.7-r1854 on Linux 3.8.13-bone47 (armv7l)
+flashrom is free software, get the source code at http://www.flashrom.org
+Calibrating delay loop... OK.
+Found Macronix flash chip &quot;MX25L6405(D)&quot; (8192 kB, SPI) on linux_spi.
+Reading old flash chip contents... done.
+Erasing and writing flash chip... FAILED at 0x00001000! Expected=0xff, Found=0x00, failed byte count from 0x00000000-0x0000ffff: 0xd716
+ERASE FAILED!
+Reading current flash chip contents... done. Looking for another erase function.
+Erase/write done.
+Verifying flash... VERIFIED.
+</pre>
+
+ <p>
+ <a href="#pagetop">Back to top of page.</a>
+ </p>
+
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="section">
+
+ <h1 id="wifi">Wifi</h1>
+
+ <p>
+ The X200 typically comes with an Intel wifi chipset, which does not
+ work without proprietary software. For a list of wifi chipsets that
+ work without proprietary software, see
+ <a href="../hcl/index.html#recommended_wifi">../hcl/index.html#recommended_wifi</a>.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Some X200 laptops come with an Atheros chipset, but this is 802.11g only.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ It is recommended that you install a new wifi chipset. This can only
+ be done after installing libreboot, because the original firmware has
+ a whitelist of approved chips, and it will refuse to boot if you
+ use an 'unauthorized' wifi card.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ The following photos show an Atheros AR5B95 being installed, to
+ replace the Intel chip that this X200 came with:<br/>
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0016.jpg" alt="" />
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0017.jpg" alt="" />
+ </p>
+
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="section">
+
+ <h1 id="wwan">WWAN</h1>
+ <p>
+ If you have a WWAN/3G card and/or sim card reader, remove them permanently.
+ The WWAN-3G card has proprietary firmware inside; the technology is
+ identical to what is used in mobile phones, so it can also track your movements.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Not to be confused with wifi (wifi is fine).
+ </p>
+
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="section">
+
+ <h1 id="memory">Memory</h1>
+
+ <p>
+ You need DDR3 SODIMM PC3-8500 RAM installed, in matching pairs
+ (speed/size). Non-matching pairs won't work. You can also install a
+ single module (meaning, one of the slots will be empty) in slot 0.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ NOTE: according to users repors, non matching pairs (e.g. 1+2 GiB) might work in some cases.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Make sure that the RAM you buy is the 2Rx8 density.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ In this photo, 8GiB of RAM (2x4GiB) is installed:<br/>
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0018.jpg" alt="" />
+ </p>
+
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="section">
+
+ <h2 id="boot">
+ Boot it!
+ </h2>
+ <p>
+ You should see something like this:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <img src="images/x200/disassembly/0019.jpg" alt="" />
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Now <a href="../gnulinux/index.html">install GNU/Linux</a>.
+ </p>
+
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="section">
+ <h2 id="gpio33">
+ X200S and X200 Tablet users: GPIO33 trick will not work.
+ </h2>
+ <p>
+ sgsit found out about a pin called GPIO33, which can be grounded to disable the flashing protections
+ by the descriptor and stop the ME from starting (which itself interferes with flashing attempts).
+ The theory was proven correct; however, it is still useless in practise.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Look just above the 7 in TP37 (that's GPIO33):<br/>
+ <img src="../hcl/images/x200/gpio33_location.jpg" alt="" />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ By default we would see this in lenovobios, when trying flashrom -p internal -w rom.rom:
+ </p>
+<pre>
+FREG0: Warning: Flash Descriptor region (0x00000000-0x00000fff) is read-only.
+FREG2: Warning: Management Engine region (0x00001000-0x005f5fff) is locked.
+</pre>
+ <p>
+ With GPIO33 grounded during boot, this disabled the flash protections as set
+ by descriptor, and stopped the ME from starting. The output changed to:
+ </p>
+<pre>
+The Flash Descriptor Override Strap-Pin is set. Restrictions implied by
+the Master Section of the flash descriptor are NOT in effect. Please note
+that <b>Protected Range (PR) restrictions still apply.</b>
+</pre>
+ <p>
+ The part in bold is what got us. This was still observed:
+ </p>
+<pre>
+PR0: Warning: 0x007e0000-0x01ffffff is read-only.
+PR4: Warning: 0x005f8000-0x005fffff is locked.
+</pre>
+
+ <p>
+ It is actually possible to disable these protections. Lenovobios does,
+ when updating the BIOS (proprietary one). One possible way to go about this
+ would be to debug the BIOS update utility from Lenovo, to find out
+ how it's disabling these protections. Some more research is available here:
+ <a href="http://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/x200/internal_flashing_research">http://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/x200/internal_flashing_research</a>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ On a related note, libreboot has a utility that could help with investigating this:
+ <a href="../hcl/gm45_remove_me.html#demefactory">../hcl/gm45_remove_me.html#demefactory</a>
+ </p>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="section">
+
+ <p>
+ Copyright &copy; 2014, 2015 Leah Rowe &lt;info@minifree.org&gt;<br/>
+ Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
+ under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3
+ or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
+ with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
+ A copy of the license can be found at <a href="../gfdl-1.3.txt">../gfdl-1.3.txt</a>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Updated versions of the license (when available) can be found at
+ <a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html">https://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html</a>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ UNLESS OTHERWISE SEPARATELY UNDERTAKEN BY THE LICENSOR, TO THE
+ EXTENT POSSIBLE, THE LICENSOR OFFERS THE LICENSED MATERIAL AS-IS
+ AND AS-AVAILABLE, AND MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF
+ ANY KIND CONCERNING THE LICENSED MATERIAL, WHETHER EXPRESS,
+ IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHER. THIS INCLUDES, WITHOUT LIMITATION,
+ WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
+ PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ABSENCE OF LATENT OR OTHER DEFECTS,
+ ACCURACY, OR THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF ERRORS, WHETHER OR NOT
+ KNOWN OR DISCOVERABLE. WHERE DISCLAIMERS OF WARRANTIES ARE NOT
+ ALLOWED IN FULL OR IN PART, THIS DISCLAIMER MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE, IN NO EVENT WILL THE LICENSOR BE LIABLE
+ TO YOU ON ANY LEGAL THEORY (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION,
+ NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INDIRECT,
+ INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, OR OTHER LOSSES,
+ COSTS, EXPENSES, OR DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THIS PUBLIC LICENSE OR
+ USE OF THE LICENSED MATERIAL, EVEN IF THE LICENSOR HAS BEEN
+ ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSSES, COSTS, EXPENSES, OR
+ DAMAGES. WHERE A LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS NOT ALLOWED IN FULL OR
+ IN PART, THIS LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability provided
+ above shall be interpreted in a manner that, to the extent
+ possible, most closely approximates an absolute disclaimer and
+ waiver of all liability.
+ </p>
+
+ </div>
+
+</body>
+</html>