This HOWTO explains how to use coreboot on the M4A785T-M board. The main difference between the ASUS M4A785-M and the M4A785T-M is the support of DDR3 on the latter.

Status

RAM issue

• 32bit untested.
• 64bit was tested and works with 2G of RAM.
  • When using more than 4G of RAM, I can't boot GNU/Linux anymore:
    • USB devices not seen, some errors -71), with mem=4000M, that works ok again.
    • SATA devices are also not seen, and with mem=4000M, it also works ok again.

Status

Device/functionality	Status	Comments
CPU
CPU works	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	Tested: AMD Athlon64 X2 240e.
L1 cache enabled	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown	How to test?
L2 cache enabled	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown	How to test?
L3 cache enabled	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Multiple CPU support	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Multi-core support	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown
Hardware virtualization	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown
RAM
EDO	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
SDRAM	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
SO-DIMM	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
DDR	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
DDR2	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown
DDR3	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | No	2G works, 4G or more have issues.
Dual channel support	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
ECC support	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested	I'm not sure if hardware supports it.
On-board Hardware
On-board IDE 3.5"	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
On-board IDE 2.5"	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
On-board SATA	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested	At least 2 of the 6 SATA port works. The rest is untested.
On-board SCSI	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown
On-board USB	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	tested in SeaBIOS and with the linux-libre kernel.
On-board VGA	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested	I only tested the external GPU, see below for more informations.
On-board Ethernet	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	Tested in linux-libre and ipxe, works flawlessly.
On-board Audio	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested	Not tested but it boots fine with it and the sound card appears.
On-board Modem	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
On-board FireWire	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
On-board Smartcard reader	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
On-board CompactFlash	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
On-board PCMCIA	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
On-board Wifi	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
On-board Bluetooth	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
On-board SD card reader	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Add-on slots/cards
ISA add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Audio/Modem-Riser (AMR/CNR) cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
PCI add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	Tested booting on an ATA sil card: booting on it works when adding its PCI ID to coreboot.
Mini-PCI add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Mini-PCI-Express add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown
PCI-X add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
AGP graphics cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
PCI Express x1 add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
PCI Express x2 add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
PCI Express x4 add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
PCI Express x8 add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
PCI Express x16 add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	Works with "02:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GT218 [GeForce 210] [10de:0a65] (rev a2)"
PCI Express x32 add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
HTX add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Legacy / Super I/O
Floppy	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A	There is no floppy connector. There seem to be an unpopulated header for it.
Serial port 1 (COM1)	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	10 pins intel header
Serial port 2 (COM2)	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Parallel port	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested	Headers on board only.
PS/2 keyboard	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
PS/2 mouse	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
Game port	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Infrared	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
PC speaker	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
DiskOnChip	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Input
Trackpoint	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Touchpad	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Fn Hotkeys	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Fingerprint Reader	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Laptop
Docking VGA	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Docking LAN	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Docking USB	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Docking Audio	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Docking Displayport	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Thinklight	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Webcam	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Miscellaneous
Sensors / fan control	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
Hardware watchdog	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
SMBus	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown
CAN bus	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
CPU frequency scaling	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
Other powersaving features	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
ACPI	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
Reboot	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
Poweroff	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
Suspend	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown
Nonstandard LEDs	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
High precision event timers (HPET)	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
Random number generator (RNG)	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
Wake on modem ring	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
Wake on LAN	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
Wake on keyboard	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
Wake on mouse	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
TPM	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown
Flashrom	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	Works fine from coreboot to coreboot, and from BIOS to coreboot. From coreboot to BIOS works but you may have to do some tricks like clearing CMOS to make it start again.

proprietary components status

• Optional CPU Microcode
• Optional VGA option rom: wihtout it you will get no graphics, Note that if you use an external graphic card, SeaBIOS load the option rom with its default configuration from the graphic card.
  • You can also patch SeaBIOS to put the option rom in memory without running it. That way the linux driver will then find the option rom bytecodes and tables to initialize that GPU.

From 83bbd30b3ef76fc346c417fa08ba716b4e2fb179 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli <GNUtoo@no-log.org>
Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2015 15:39:52 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Kconfig: Add option not to run option roms

Signed-off-by: Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli <GNUtoo@no-log.org>
---
 src/Kconfig      | 8 ++++++++
 src/optionroms.c | 2 ++
 2 files changed, 10 insertions(+)

diff --git a/src/Kconfig b/src/Kconfig
index b873cd3..2438ab7 100644
--- a/src/Kconfig
+++ b/src/Kconfig
@@ -403,6 +403,14 @@ menu "BIOS interfaces"
         default y
         help
             Support Post Memory Manager (PMM) entry point.
+    config OPTIONROMS_NORUN
+        depends on OPTIONROMS
+        bool "Put the option roms in memory, but don't run them"
+        default n
+        help
+            Some GPU drivers are capable of initializing the display alone,
+            but they still require some data from the option rom.
+
     config BOOT
         bool "Boot interface"
         default y
diff --git a/src/optionroms.c b/src/optionroms.c
index c81eff2..c7c89da 100644
--- a/src/optionroms.c
+++ b/src/optionroms.c
@@ -53,7 +53,9 @@ __callrom(struct rom_header *rom, u16 offset, u16 bdf)
 void
 callrom(struct rom_header *rom, u16 bdf)
 {
+#if (!CONFIG_OPTIONROMS_NORUN)
     __callrom(rom, OPTION_ROM_INITVECTOR, bdf);
+#endif
 }
 
 // Execute a BCV option rom registered via add_bcv().
-- 
2.6.2

Building the serial port adapter

The serial port is available on the 10 pin "intel" header.

Adapting GNU/Linux

Add mem=4000M to the kennel cmdline, that can be done by adding the following to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT in /etc/default/grub and regenerating grub.cfg:

mem=4096M

TODO

• Add defaults for the nvram settings.
• find a clean way to merge the patch for the PCIe graphic card.
• fix the Audio CODEC(it's the same than the x60 and it works on the x60)Test audio
• Fix RAM layout to prevent issues with more than 4G of RAM
• lock SMM/SMI if it's not already
• make it possible to run the BIOS under serialICE
• Native GPU init for ATI and Nvidia GPUs

SerialICE

• Selecting the ASUS M4A77TD-PRO mainboard makes the serialICE shell appear once flashed(however running the BIOS under SerialICE fails at some point).

Howto

git clone http://review.coreboot.org/p/serialice.git
cd serialice
make menuconfig
make

cd ../
cd qemu-0.15.x
sh build.sh
ln -s ../SerialICE/simba/*.lua ./

Add the following to asus_m4a77td_pro.lua:

microcode_patchlevel_eax = 0x010000b7

function do_mainboard_setup()
	do_minimal_setup()
	do_default_setup()
	enable_hook(cpumsr_hooks, filter_amd_microcode)
end

Failing

It fails like that(it inits the 2 cores and we have 1 core(qemu)):

[fffc06a:0c0f] e25f.e260   LAPIC: [00000380] <= 00000000
[fffc06a:1321] e26b.e26d   PCI: 0:18.0 [60] => 00010000
[fffc06a:12e3] e273.e275   PCI: 0:18.3 [e8] => 00075f79
[fffc06a:1397] e27e.e27f   CPUID: eax: 00000001; ecx: 0000001b => 00100f62.00020800.00802009.178bfbff
[fffc06a:1321] e290.e292   PCI: 0:18.3 [e8] => 00075f79
[fffc06a:1397] e297.e298   CPUID: eax: 00000001; ecx: 0000001b => 00100f62.00020800.00802009.178bfbff
[fffc06a:121e] e2a5.e2a6   CPUID: eax: 80000001; ecx: 0000001b => 00100f62.10001b26.000037ff.efd3fbff
[fffc06a:12ff] e2bb.e2bc   CPUID: eax: 80000008; ecx: 0000001b => 00003030.00000000.00002001.00000000
[fffc06a:130c] e2bf.e2c0   CPU MSR: [c001001f] => 00584000.00000008
[fffc06a:131d] e2c4.e2c5   CPU MSR: [c001001f] <= 00584000.00000008
[fffc06a:131d] e2cf.e2d1   PCI: 0:18.3 [90] => 00000000
[fffc06a:1348] e2dc.e2dd   CPUID: eax: 80000008; ecx: 0000001b => 00003030.00000000.00002001.00000000
[fffc06a:135d] e2e2.e2e3   CPU MSR: [c001001f] <= 00584000.00000008
[fffc06a:0b7d] e2f2.e2f3   CPU MSR: [0000001b] => 00000000.fee00900
[fffc06a:0b7d] e2f4.e2f5   LAPIC: [00000020] => 00000000
[fffc06a:127a] e2f9.e2fa   CPUID: eax: 00000001; ecx: 0000001b => 00100f62.00020800.00802009.178bfbff
[fffc06a:1289] e2f9.e2fb   CPUID: eax: 80000008; ecx: 00802009 => 00003030.00000000.00002001.00000000
[fffc06a:1057] e302.e304   PCI: 0:18.0 [68] => 004fac0f
[fffc06a:1071] e30d.e30f   PCI: 0:18.0 [68] <= 004fac2f
Readback error! 30/72
Readback error! a/63
Readback error! 72/30
Readback error! 3e/30
Readback error! 20/30
Readback error! 63/30
Readback error! 66/30
Readback error! 45/30
Readback error! a/31
Readback error! 52/62
Readback error! 3e/2e
Readback error! 52/66
Readback error! 20/66
Readback error! 4f/66
Readback error! 30/65
Readback error! 52/62
Readback error! a/30
Readback error! a/30
Readback error! 3e/30
[fffc06a:0c50] e31d.e31e   CPU MSR: [0000001b] => 00000000.00000000