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+news/libreplanet2018-workshop.md
 news/release-testing-20171221.md
 news/lenovo-recall.md
 news/alyssa-resignation.md
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+% Libreboot installation workshop at FSF LibrePlanet 2018 conference
+% Leah Rowe
+% 21 March 2018
+
+LibrePlanet is the annual conference held by the Free Software Foundation in
+Boston, MA, USA. This year, it's being held at MIT university on March 24th
+and 25th. More details about it are here:
+<https://libreplanet.org/2018/>
+
+The FSF isn't officially hosting a libreboot workshop at libreplanet
+this year. At the 2015 and 2016 LibrePlanet conference, there were workshops
+there run by myself and Patrick McDermott, a former member of the Libreboot
+project. The FSF has confirmed that they don't have a dedicated room for it
+this year, due to increasing number of conference goers.
+
+Therefore, an unofficial workshop is being set up. I've already issued a news
+post about this on the libreplanet-discuss mailing list:
+<https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/libreplanet-discuss/2018-03/msg00037.html>
+
+With John Sullivan's blessing:
+<https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/libreplanet-discuss/2018-03/msg00039.html>
+
+If you, the reader, are attending LibrePlanet this year, and you would like to
+get a libreboot system flashed for you, then take it with you to LibrePlanet.
+There will be knowledgeable people there who can flash libreboot for you.
+
+Find one of the people on the list below (list will be updated if more people
+volunteer to flash). If it's Kurt, they'll flash for you at the technoethical
+booth. If it's someone else, they can take you into the speakers lounge - does
+not matter if they're not a speaker. John Sullivan of FSF has approved this.
+There are tables, chairs and power sockets in that room.
+There are also tables and chairs outside the speakers lounge, in the common
+area at the conference, but I highly recommend using the speakers lounge.
+That's where I took people, on Libreplanet 2015 and 2016 :)
+It's really comfy in there.
+
+John Sullivan of FSF has also confirmed that that there is a dedicated
+*alcohol-free social and hacking time* at the FSF office on Saturday 24th
+March, between 1900 to 2130 hours. You could also flash someones laptop for
+them there, in the conference room at the FSF, or on a table outside. Or the
+sysadmin room, if that's OK with them.
+
+I've been asking around. The following people have confirmed so far that they
+will be providing Libreboot flashing services at the conference:
+
+- Kurt from Technoethical, an FSF-endorsed libreboot hardware seller. They will
+  also have their own samples. They'll be at the Technoethical booth there.
+  IRC nick sensiblemn\_ or sensiblemn on #libreboot IRC
+- zyliwax from #libreboot IRC - has not committed fully, but is *very likely
+  to attend*, in their own words.
+- Patrick McDermott (pehjota) of Libiquity. I've emailed them to ask,
+  though I'm not sure if they'll be there - they're usually there though, each
+  year.
+- You could also find an FSF sysadmin and ask them to flash Libreboot for you.
+
+I would be grateful if anyone else would also be willing to provide flashing.
+I myself am not attending the conference physically, unfortunately.
+
+See mailing list post for more info. If you would like to help Kurt and
+zyliwax out, please either reply to that mailing list post on
+libreplanet-discuss or email me directly:
+[leah@libreboot.org](mailto:leah@libreboot.org) and I'll add your name in
+the above list.
+
+Basically, all you need for flashing someones laptop at the conference is:
+
+- Portable SPI flasher (USB powered. SSH into it via your laptop, use the SPI
+  flasher's own 3v3, etc). Make sure to use the workaround-mx patch on
+  flashrom, so that you can use --workaround-mx on Macronix chips, if flashing
+  an X200, otherwise flashing will be unreliable (see mailing list post linked
+  above) - portability is important, in case you sit down with someone in
+  a place without power sockets.
+  See guides on libreboot.org for setting up SPI flashers, but ignore the notes
+  about external PSUs and instead just wire up the flasher's own 3v3 connection.
+  The workaround-mx patch is here:
+  <https://notabug.org/consts/libreboot/raw/2caaac00972d9ea56b0fcd7c95897e90283b05b8/projects/flashrom/patches/0005-Workaround-MX25-reliable-operation.patch>
+  apply this on flashrom src and build with that. To use it, just pass the
+  --workaround-mx option in flashrom.
+- Screwdrivers (phillips head 0 *and* 00 - sometimes labelled PH0 or PH00,
+  respectively)
+- Thermal paste and thermal cleaning material, for T400 flashing
+  - arctic mx-4 paste recommended. For cleaning material, use anti-static cloth
+  and isopropyl alcohol - as pure as possible! ideally close to 100%! 70%
+  rubbing alcohol is common in USA, and not suitable for electronics
+- Anti-ESD wrist/ankle strap, to protect against damage fro electrostatic
+  discharge when working with circuit boards.
+
+Optionally:
+
+- Bring DIP8 25xx SPI chips with libreboot, for ASUS KCMA-D8 or KGPE-D16, for the
+  conference goer to put in their D8/D16 when they get home. Also PLCC32 LPC
+  1MB (or bigger, with padding at the beginning) chips for ASUS KFSN4-DRE
+- Soldering equipment (knife tip, hot air, etc) for X200T flashing. NOTE: FSF has
+  soldering equipment in their offire, you could ask them to lend it to you
+  if you're flashing a laptop there at the FSF office. NOTE2: Kurt from Techno
+  is also bringing soldering equipment.