ASUS KFSN4-DRE server/workstation board

This is a server board using AMD hardware (Fam10h). It can also be used for building a high-powered workstation. Powered by libreboot.

NOTE: This board is unsupported in libreboot 20150518. To use it in libreboot, for now, you must build for it from source using the libreboot git repository.

Flashing instructions can be found at ../install/index.html#flashrom

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Form factor

These boards use the SSI EEB 3.61 form factor; make sure that your case supports this. This form factor is similar to E-ATX in that the size is identical, but the position of the screws are different.

Flash chips

These boards use LPC flash (not SPI), in a PLCC socket. The default flash size 1MiB (8Mbits), and can be upgraded to 2MiB (16Mbits). SST49LF080A is the default that the board uses. SST49LF016C is an example of a 2MiB (16Mbits) chip, which might work. It is believed that 2MiB (16Mbits) is the maximum size available for the flash chip.

DO NOT hot-swap the chip with your bare hands. Use a PLCC chip extractor. These can be found online. See http://www.coreboot.org/Developer_Manual/Tools#Chip_removal_tools

Native graphics initialization

Native graphics initialization exists (XGI Z9s) for this board. Framebuffer- and text-mode both work. A serial port is also available.

Memory

DDR2 533/667 Registered ECC. 16 slots. Total capacity up to 64GiB.

Hex-core CPUs

PCB revision 1.05G is the best version of this board (the revision number will be printed on the board), because it can use dual hex-core CPUs (Opteron 2400/8400 series). Other revisions are believed to only support dual quad-core CPUs.

Current issues

• There seems to be a 30 second bootblock delay (observed by tpearson); the system otherwise boots and works as expected. See text/kfsn4-dre/bootlog.txt - this uses the 'simple' bootblock, while tpearson uses the 'normal' bootblock, which tpearson suspects may be a possible cause. He says that he will look into it. This config doesn't have the issue.
• Text-mode is a bit jittery (but still usable). (the jitter disappears if using KMS, once the kernel starts. The jitter will remain, if booting the kernel in text-mode).

Other information

specifications

Copyright © 2015 Francis Rowe <info@gluglug.org.uk>
This document is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License and all future versions. A copy of the license can be found at ../cc-by-sa-4.txt.

This document is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See ../cc-by-sa-4.txt for more information.