Board:lenovo/x60

Coreboot supports all variants of the ThinkPad X60 Series. (X60, X60s, X60 Tablet).

Aside from pre-sales configuration (display, processor speed, optional components) it looks like every X60 variant uses the same motherboard schematic.

Status

• Some ACPI issues with Windows needs to be fixed.
• Works well with GNU/Linux.
• The Wacom Digitizer now works on the X60 Tablet.

Installation and Flashing

Follow the tutorial below to install Coreboot on the ThinkPad X60 Series.

Board:lenovo/x60/Installation

Wifi chipsets

Lenovo BIOS has a whitelist of approved PCI ID's for wifi cards. Coreboot does not, so you are free to use any wifi chipset of your choosing once coreboot is installed.

The Libreboot distribution lists Wifi chipsets not needing proprietary software to work.

Status

Device/functionality	Status	Comments
CPU
CPU works	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	Core Duo Mobile (L2300), PBGA479
L1 cache enabled	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
L2 cache enabled	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
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 }}" | OK
Hardware virtualization	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	Has Intel VT-x
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 }}" | OK
DDR3	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Dual channel support	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
ECC support	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
On-board Hardware
On-board IDE 3.5"	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
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 }}" | OK
On-board SCSI	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
On-board USB	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
On-board VGA	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
On-board Ethernet	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	Intel 82573L
On-board Audio	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
On-board Modem	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Untested
On-board FireWire	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	Tested with a DV camera and dvgrab
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 }}" | OK	Ricoh rl5c476
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 }}" | OK	Works in GNU/Linux but fails to boot form it in SeaBIOS
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 }}" | N/A
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 }}" | OK
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 }}" | N/A
PCI Express x2 add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
PCI Express x4 add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
PCI Express x8 add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
PCI Express x16 add-on cards	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
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
Serial port 1 (COM1)	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	located in Ultrabase X6
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 }}" | Unknown
PS/2 keyboard	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
PS/2 mouse	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
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 }}" | WIP	Submited for review
PC speaker	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
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 }}" | OK
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 }}" | OK
Fingerprint Reader	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown
Laptop
Docking VGA	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
Docking LAN	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
Docking USB	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
Docking Audio	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
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 }}" | OK
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 }}" | OK	Without the microcode, some laptops have the following warning in linux's dmesg: "coretemp: Errata AE18 not fixed, update BIOS or microcode of the CPU!"
Hardware watchdog	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown	iTCO_wdt compatible watchdog
SMBus	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
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 }}" | OK
Other powersaving features	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
ACPI	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
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 }}" | OK
Nonstandard LEDs	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	LEDs are controlled by Embedded Controller (EC). Working without special support.
High precision event timers (HPET)	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK
Random number generator (RNG)	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | N/A
Wake on modem ring	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown
Wake on LAN	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown
Wake on keyboard	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown
Wake on mouse	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | Unknown
TPM	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | WIP
Flashrom	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	See Lenovo_x60x

Laptop specific
Tablet Touchscreen	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	x60 tablet wacom "penabled"
thinkpad_acpi module compatibility	OK=lime | TODO=red | No=red | WIP=orange | Untested=yellow | N/A=lightgray | yellow }}" | OK	modprobe thinkpad_acpi works

proprietary components (replacement) status

CPU Microcode (optional)

It can work fine without it

See http://download.intel.com/design/mobile/SPECUPDT/30922214.pdf for more details

VGA option rom (optional)

The non-free VGA option rom is not needed as it can be replaced by the native VGA intialisation.

To have a compatible free software VGA option rom, you can use SeaBIOS with SeaVGABIOS (coreboot linear framebuffer option in seabios menuconfig). It is however not as complete as the non-free option rom as it still lacks some functionality (INT 10H and VBT).

EC(Embedded Controller)

On this laptop, the Embedded Controller is chip that handles:

• The keyboard and its function keys
• Battery charging
• The Thinklight
• powering up the laptop
• and other similar things.

It has its own non-free firmware already flashed inside the chip and so it doesn't need a host computer to load it.

Building the ROM without proprietary blobs

This basically means:

• No microcode updates
• Native graphics (replacement for the proprietary Video BIOS / VGA Option ROM)
• GRUB2 payload

In this configuration, only GNU/Linux is known to work. If you plan to use other operating systems, you might be out of luck.

Download coreboot like usual:

git clone http://review.coreboot.org/coreboot
cd coreboot

At the time of writing for (for these instructions), the following git revision was used:

git reset --hard 8ffc085e1affaabbe3dca8ac6a89346b71dfc02e

Install all of the coreboot build dependencies listed at Build_HOWTO and then build the crossgcc toolchain:

make crossgcc-i386

Apply the following patches in this order:

# Text mode patch for X60 native graphics (main patch already merged in coreboot. See 6723 on coreboot gerrit)
git fetch http://review.coreboot.org/coreboot refs/changes/25/6725/3 && git cherry-pick FETCH_HEAD

# Permanently enable wlan/wwan/bluetooth/trackpoint
git fetch http://review.coreboot.org/coreboot refs/changes/58/7058/3 && git cherry-pick FETCH_HEAD

# If you want legacy brightness controls (if using this, make sure not to include the ACPI brightness patch below):
git fetch http://review.coreboot.org/coreboot refs/changes/48/7048/4 && git cherry-pick FETCH_HEAD

# OR if you want ACPI brightness controls (if using this, make sure not to include the legacy brightness patch above):
git fetch http://review.coreboot.org/coreboot refs/changes/31/6731/7 && git cherry-pick FETCH_HEAD
# Fix uneven backlight levels (for ACPI brightness controls):
git fetch http://review.coreboot.org/coreboot refs/changes/49/7049/1 && git cherry-pick FETCH_HEAD

# ACPI brightness patches above were abandoned due to Windows incompatibility. If you only want to use GNU/Linux, then it should work fine.

Now you will want this basic configuration for X60/X60s (in make menuconfig):

    General setup / Expert mode = enable
    General setup / Local version string = 7BETC7WW (2.08 )
    Mainboard / Mainboard vendor = Lenovo
    Mainboard / Mainboard model = ThinkPad X60 / X60s / X60t
    Mainboard / ROM chip size = 2048 KB (2 MB)
    Mainboard / SMBIOS Serial Number = L3BH242
    Mainboard / SMBIOS Version Number = ThinkPad X60s
    Mainboard / SMBIOS Manufacturer = LENOVO
    Mainboard / SMBIOS Product name = 1702L8G
    Chipset / Include CPU microcode in CBFS = Do not include microcode updates
    Devices / Use native graphics initialization = enable
    Display / Keep VESA framebuffer = disable (disable for text-mode graphics, enable for coreboot vesa framebuffer)
    Generic Drivers / Digitizer = Autodetect
    Console / Send console output to a CBMEM buffer = enable
    Payload / Add a payload = An ELF executable payload
    Payload / Payload path and filename = grub.elf

Now go back into Devices:

    Devices / Run VGA Option ROMs = disable
    Devices / Run Option ROMs on PCI devices = disable

Alternatively for X60 Tablet; it's the same as above, but with these differences:

    General setup / Local version string = 7JET23WW (1.08 )
    Mainboard / SMBIOS Serial Number = L3B8281
    Mainboard / SMBIOS Version Number = ThinkPad X60 Tablet
    Mainboard / SMBIOS Product name = 6364WJ1
    Generic Drivers / Digitizer = Present

SMBIOS values were taken by running dmidecode with the factory BIOS.

Note, the above assumes that you already built your grub.elf from source along with everything that you need. Building GRUB is not covered here.

Put your grub.elf in the coreboot directory and then run make. Alternatively, you could go back into menuconfig and select coreboot's own GRUB payload config, which will automatically download and build the GRUB payload. Building it yourself can be more flexible, though, since you get to choose what modules you want and you can use your own configs.

TODO

Non-free components replacements

• Improve native GPU initialization and/or SeaVGABIOS (part of SeaBIOS): INT 10H and VBT are missing in native graphics.

Windows currently doesn't boot (STOP A5 error)

Windows 7 was tested and fails to boot at the moment.

The native graphics implementation lacks INT 10H and VBT, and GRUB cannot boot it. Booting with SeaBIOS+SeaVGABIOS results in graphical corruption (and no boot).

Booting with SeaBIOS and the VGA ROM (vbios) can be used to boot it, but booting ends with the message outlined here: STOP A5

More information can be found here

high pitched noise from the board during low power states

During low power state (cstate 3), a high-pitched "humming" noise eminates from the board. Some discussion has been made about this; suggestions include "using an oscilliscope in clever ways" (to detect where the noise is coming from to debug the issue). There are some workarounds:

Use "idle=halt" (higher power consumption) or "processor.max_cstate=2" (higher power consumption, but not as bad) kernel parameter in GRUB. These increase heat and power consumption. The CPU noise on core duo CPUs is highly reduced by https://review.coreboot.org/#/c/16901/ and likely was not a problem on core 2 duo CPUs.

Another option (for increased battery life and lower temperatures) is to use powertop --auto-tune, or set 'Tunables' in powertop (without any parameters). This solves noise coming from the USB ports which is not related to the CPU low power states.

Other things

• Add support for more batteries in ACPI (Is that concern still valid?).
• Make the wifi card and/or the laptop produce less heat (Is that concern still valid?)..
• Sometimes some dock USB port aren't initialized (Is that concern still valid?).
• Fix that warning:

[   14.566817] ACPI Warning: 0x00000400-0x0000041f SystemIO conflicts with Region \_SB_.PCI0.SBUS.SMBI 1 (20130117/utaddress-251)

By using that advise:

<phcoder> GNUtoo-x60: in this case it looks like same range is declared twice in DSDT/SSDT

• cbmem -c doesn't work anymore after a suspend/resume.
• The TPM isn't recognized automatically by GNU/Linux distributions. An old patch for that is on gerrit. It has to be rebased and possibly adapted.
• IRDA: Preliminary work for that is on gerrit.

Documentation

• The touchscreen serial port is on irq 5 at port 0x0200. Some additional info from a x61t wacom