Laptop: Difference between revisions

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(Moved out EC stuff on EC wiki page)
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* coreboot now supports the Roda RK886EX (Rocky III+) Laptop, based on Intel 82945GM/ICH7.
* coreboot now supports the Roda RK886EX (Rocky III+) Laptop, based on Intel 82945GM/ICH7.
* VIA has recently released open documentation for the VX700 and VX800 chipsets at the [http://linux.via.com.tw/support/downloadFiles.action VIA Download Portal].
* VIA has recently released open documentation for the VX700 and VX800 chipsets at the [http://linux.via.com.tw/support/downloadFiles.action VIA Download Portal].


== Embedded Controllers ==
== Embedded Controllers ==


The remaining issue with supporting netbooks may be open firmware support for the Embedded Controller (EC).
The remaining issue with supporting netbooks may be open firmware support for the [[Embedded controller]] (EC).
These ECs used to support keyboard scan, lid open/closed, battery charging, power management, etc.
These ECs used to support keyboard scan, lid open/closed, battery charging, power management, etc.


coreboot should work with the "stock" EC firmware. This may still be a challenge because "we don't know what we don't know". Behavior at runtime is fairly standardized, but we don't know what we need to do for initialization - do we need to set up registers, put in tables, kick things, or will it all Just Work (TM)?
coreboot should work with the "stock" EC firmware. This may still be a challenge because "we don't know what we don't know". Behavior at runtime is fairly standardized, but we don't know what we need to do for initialization - do we need to set up registers, put in tables, kick things, or will it all Just Work (TM)?
=== Renesas M3885/M3886 ===
These ECs are supported by coreboot. There are several versions, with flash and with mask roms. Only the flash versions are update-able. These ECs are Family 740 based. A development environment including compiler and simulator is available from Renesas.
=== ENE KB3310/KB3910/KB3920 ===
Very common ECs in netbooks are the KB3310, KB3910 and KB3920 from [http://www.ene.com.tw/en/index.asp ENE Technology]. The ENE ECs are 8051 based.
The Quanta IL1 reference design seems to use ENE3310 controller. The q1d25i.rom was examined. The EC code is on 0xFFF00000 on One Mini A110. Its 64KB big HOLE0.ROM.
More discussion and info on the ENE EC's:
* ENE [http://wiki.laptop.org/images/a/ab/KB3700-ds-01.pdf KB3700 datasheet].
* [http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?pid=99076 eeeUser Discussion]
* [http://code.google.com/p/eeetune/wiki/KBMemoryMap Memory map of ENE KB3310]
* [https://sdcc.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/sdcc/trunk/ 8051 simulator]
* [http://dev.laptop.org/git?p=projects/olpcflash;a=blob;f=olpcflash.c;hb=HEAD OpenEC Firmware]
* [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OpenEC OpenEC Project]
* [http://www.cagnulein.com/tmp/eee.c-20080812 Example code] that makes use of the KB3310's "Index IO" access functions.
=== Renesas H8 ===
Some ECs are H8 based.
* [http://www.gnuh8.org/ port of the GNU compiler suite to the H8]
* [http://wunderkis.de/h8-gcc/h8tools.tar.gz H8 bootloader]
* [http://h8300-hms.sourceforge.net/ sourceforge project for H8/300]


== Laptop Survey ==
== Laptop Survey ==

Revision as of 18:52, 15 May 2010

Recent Progress of coreboot on Laptops

  • coreboot supports the Getac P470 semi rugged notebook, based on Intel 82945GM/ICH7
  • coreboot now supports the Roda RK886EX (Rocky III+) Laptop, based on Intel 82945GM/ICH7.
  • VIA has recently released open documentation for the VX700 and VX800 chipsets at the VIA Download Portal.


Embedded Controllers

The remaining issue with supporting netbooks may be open firmware support for the Embedded controller (EC). These ECs used to support keyboard scan, lid open/closed, battery charging, power management, etc.

coreboot should work with the "stock" EC firmware. This may still be a challenge because "we don't know what we don't know". Behavior at runtime is fairly standardized, but we don't know what we need to do for initialization - do we need to set up registers, put in tables, kick things, or will it all Just Work (TM)?

Laptop Survey

This page attempts to list chipsets, Super I/Os, flash chips, and especially embedded controllers used in various laptops.

Vendor Model CPU Chipset NB Chipset SB Super I/O EC Flash Chip Flash Size Flash S. Flash T. Owner
ASUS S96F/Z96F Intel Core™2 Duo T7400 Intel i945 Intel ICH7 ITE IT8510E in Super I/O ? ? ? ? macavity
Acer Aspire One ZG5 Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz Intel 82945GME Intel NH82801GBM ICH7-M Winbond WPCE775LA0DG in Super I/O Winbond 25x80AVSIG 8Mb no SOIP/DIP XVilka
Acer Aspire 3613LC Intel Celeron M 370 1.5GHz L2: 1MB Intel 82910GML Intel FW82801FBM SL7W6 ICH6-M ? ? PMC 0537 PM39LV040-70JCE 1Mb no SOIP/DIP XVilka
Dell Latitude CPi A366XT PII, 360 MHz Intel 440BX SMSC FDC37N958FR in Super I/O AMD AM29F040B 512KB yes PLCC UH
Dell Latitude C610 PIII, 1.2 GHz Intel i830 SMSC LPC47N252 in Super I/O SST SST49LF004A 512KB no PLCC CybFr
Dell Dell Vostro V13 Intel Celeron 743 1.2GHz, L2: 1MB (Ultra Low Voltage) Mobile Intel GS45 Express GHMC Intel 82801IEM ICH9M-E ITE IT8512E in Super I/O ? 2Mb no PLCC XVilka
Fujitsu-S. Lifebook S-4572 PIII, 750 MHz Intel 82440MX SMSC FDC37N769 ? Fujitsu MBM29F400T1 ? no TSOP(?) UH
Fujitsu-S. Lifebook S7110 Intel Core™2 Duo T7200 Intel i945 Intel ICH7 SMSC LPC47N217 Fujitsu MB90378 Spansion S25FL008A2 1024 kB no SO8 / SPI twice11
Gericom Webboy 340S2 PIII SiS630 NSC PC87393VJG NSC PC87570 Winbond 29C020 256 kB yes PLCC NS
Gateway W730-K8X Socket 754 ?? ?? ?? SST 39VF040 ?? yes PLCC Juri
Gateway 6020GZ Celeron M 1.4Ghz Intel 855GME ?? ?? ?? ?? no ?? Juri
Highscreen XD 14-C1700 Intel Celeron 1.7 GHz SiS650 NSC PC87391(?) ? EON EN29F040(A) 512 kB yes PLCC UH
HP Omnibook XE3(L) PIII, 750 MHz Intel 82371MB Intel PIIX4M SMSC FDC37N869 NSC PC87570 SST 28SF040A 512 kB no PLCC UH
IBM Thinkpad T30 Intel P4 Mobile, 1.8 GHz Intel i845 Intel ICH3-M NSC PC87392 Renesas H8S 64F3169ATE10 ST M50FW080N5 1024 kB no TSOP40 / FWH edgecase
One A110 VIA C7-M ULV 1.0 GHz VIA VX800 none ENE KB3310 ? ? no ? UH
Panasonic Toughbook CF-25 P166MMX FW82439TX (430TX) FW82371AB NSC PC87336VJG Renesas 3886 SST SST29EE020 256 kB no ? Miernik
Roda Rocky III+ RK886EX Intel® Core 2 Duo Mobile T5500 Intel 945 Intel ICH7 SMSC® LPC47N227 Renesas M38859 ? ? ? ? ?
Roda Rocky II+ RT686 Intel Pentium III Intel 430BX Intel FW82371EB SMSC® FDC37N769 Renesas M38867M8A SST SST29LE020 256KB yes PLCC/parallel UH
Sony Vaio Picturebook PCG-C1XD P2 400 443ZX ? ? ST M29W004BT 512 kB no Miernik
Sony Vaio Picturebook PCG-C1X P266MMX 430TX ? ? ? ? ? ? Miernik
Toshiba Libretto 50M PA1243CM P133 custom FPGA ? ? ? ? ? ? Miernik
Toshiba Satellite A80-117 Intel Celeron Intel 915GM Intel ICH6 SMSC LPC47N217 ENE KB910 ? 1024 kB no TSOP (?) UH

1 According to the vendor BIOS update tool.
2 Nice thing: EC/Flash is not shared, so you can erase the whole flash during system operation (this was tested).

Further Links:

Mailinglist Discussion

A few earlier coreboot discussions on laptops are linked here, you might get useful information out of them:


Who really makes your laptop?

There are several various brands of laptops, but there are only a few actual laptop makers.

Name brand companies like Hewlet Packard, Compaq, IBM, Dell, Gateway, Sony, Micron, Toshiba and others; including Alienware and Voodoo do not make their own laptops. The exceptions are Asus and Apple, and even Apple doesn't make all of their laptops.

Original Design Manufacturers (ODM) make the laptops for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). They in turn, add their preloaded hard drives and sell them to consumers. This is why a laptop is a bit more complicated to support with coreboot. The OEM's may not even have all the specifications for the laptop since the ODM has done all the design and assembly.

Some Laptop ODMs are:

  • Quanta makes laptops for Sony, Dell, and IBM
  • Inventec and Arima make the Compaq line
  • Compal also makes IBM and Dell lines, as well as Hewlett Packard
  • Clevo makes the popular Alienware and Voodoo gaming laptops

Further Links:


Random Product Links

VIA has a list of many netbooks at VIA Partner Mobility Devices.

VIA also has information on other mobile platforms at VIA Mobility Platform.

The Quanta IL1 vx800 based reference design covers similar models/clones such as:

Other vx800 based netbooks:

There are still a few netbook designs currently on the market that use the VIA vx700 chipset.

There are also several AMD 690/600 laptops still available that may be candidates as well:

Intel Atom with i945 chipset netbooks:

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