coreboot is a Free Software project aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS (firmware) found in most computers. coreboot performs a little bit of hardware initialization and then executes additional boot logic, called a payload.
This repository is dedicated to maintaining/building coreboot for the ASUS KGPE-D16 motherboard, which has lost upstream support in coreboot ... and was never very stable to begin with (ie: boot stalls, runtime crashes, memory issues).
Information is also provided to assist others in building reliable firmware for the D16 motherboard. The included files are configured to build a firmware image without any closed-source components. Example commands are provided to customize the firmware and include various closed-source components. The coreboot-4.11 version is recommended, fan control in the tested coreboot-4.15 version is unreliable and may lead to harmful CPU temperatures.
Development of coreboot 4.11 and 4.15 by mrothfuss has ceased. Work on coreboot for AMD Fam15h has moved to coreboot-fam15, but currently does not support the ASUS motherboards. Initial configs for ASUS KGPE-D16 and KCMA-D8 have been created and are bootable with debugging output, but should only be considered by programmers interested in working on firmware for these boards. This separate codebase uses source code provided by AMD (AGESA) and performs better than the code developed by Raptor Engineering or Dasharo.
Missing Features: no fan control (can be provided by OpenBMC/fand or linux/fancontrol)
Consistency: the boot process is reliable (1000+ boots with no hangs/issues)
Stability: can crash under very high load
Issues: stability
Debian 9 or 10 (amd64)
apt-get install -y bison build-essential curl flex git gnat libncurses5-dev m4 zlib1g-dev acpica-tools libgmp-dev libmpfr-dev libmpc-dev- coreboot-4.11 source code.
- The mainboard specific code was originally developed by Raptor Engineering.
- A few patches were developed here to fix bugs and improve stability.
Missing Features: bootsplash support with dedicated graphics
Consistency: the boot process is reliable (160+ boots with no hangs/issues)
Stability: can crash under very high load
Issues: stability, native fancontrol can fail to adapt to higher temperatures, GPU support is incomplete
Debian 11 (amd64)
apt-get install -y bison build-essential curl flex git gnat libncurses5-dev m4 zlib1g-dev- coreboot-4.15 source code.
- The mainboard specific code is in development by Dasharo / 3mdeb, which includes both new code and reworked code previously developed by Raptor Engineering.
- A few patches were developed here to fix bugs and improve stability. All patches developed here have been merged into Dasharo's upstream codebase.
### switch to the desired version
# cd coreboot-D16/coreboot-4.11
### build the cross compiler
make crossgcc-i386 CPUS=$(nproc)
### configure the firmware (optional)
# make menuconfig
### build the coreboot rom
make# cd coreboot-D16
### CPU Microcode
mkdir -p blobs/amd && cd blobs/amd
curl -O "https://httpredir.debian.org/debian/pool/non-free/a/amd64-microcode/amd64-microcode_3.20191218.1.tar.xz"
tar xf amd64-microcode_3.20191218.1.tar.xz
cd ../../
### ASUS VGABIOS
mkdir -p blobs/asus && cd blobs/asus
curl -O "https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketG34(1944)/KGPE-D16/BIOS/KGPE-D16-ASUS-3309.zip"
unzip KGPE-D16-ASUS-3309.zip
dd if=./KGPE-D16-ASUS-3309.ROM of=./vgabios.bin bs=1024 skip=1856 count=32
cd ../../### switch to the desired version
# cd coreboot-D16/coreboot-4.11
# copy the base firmware image for modification
cp ./build/coreboot.rom ./
# set SeaBIOS option ROM settings
# 0 = no roms, 1 = VGA only, 2 = all roms (default)
./build/cbfstool coreboot.rom add-int -i 1 -n etc/pci-optionrom-exec
# set SeaBIOS boot menu wait time (ms)
./build/cbfstool coreboot.rom add-int -i 10000 -n etc/boot-menu-wait
# add AMD microcode
./build/cbfstool coreboot.rom add -n microcode_amd.bin -f ../blobs/amd/amd64-microcode-3.20191218.1/microcode_amd.bin -t microcode
./build/cbfstool coreboot.rom add -n microcode_amd_fam15h.bin -f ../blobs/amd/amd64-microcode-3.20191218.1/microcode_amd_fam15h.bin -t microcode
# replace SeaVGABIOS with ASUS VGABIOS
./build/cbfstool coreboot.rom remove -n vgaroms/seavgabios.bin
./build/cbfstool coreboot.rom add -n pci1a03,2000.rom -f ../blobs/asus/vgabios.bin -t optionrom
# add coreboot bootsplash (requires ASUS VGABIOS)
./build/cbfstool coreboot.rom add -n bootsplash.jpg -f ../blobs/coreboot/bootsplash_fs.jpg -t bootsplash
Mainboard Revisions: 1.03G, 1.04, 1.05
Flash Chips: W25Q128FVIQ
Processors: 6282, 6328, 6380, 6386
Memory: Crucial CT16G3ERSLD4160B, Samsung M393B2G70BH0-CK0
KVM Modules: ASMB4 (running openBMC)
RAID Cards: PIKE 2008 (IT Mode)
GPUs: RX 550 (PCI passthrough compatible)
PCIe: MHQJRH Dual M.2 Adapter (NVMe drive is bootable by SeaBIOS)
Microcode: amd64-microcode-3.20160316.3, amd64-microcode-3.20191218.1
VGA BIOS: extracted from ASUS Firmware v3309
ASUS Motherboard Manual (https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketG34(1944)/KGPE-D16/Menual_QVL/E8847_KGPE-D16.pdf)
AMD Fam15h BIOS and Kernel Developers Guide (https://www.amd.com/system/files/TechDocs/42301_15h_Mod_00h-0Fh_BKDG.pdf)
AMD SR5690 BIOS Developers Guide (https://www.amd.com/system/files/TechDocs/43870.pdf)
AMD SR5690 Register Programming Requirements (https://www.amd.com/system/files/TechDocs/43872.pdf)
ASUS Firmware v3309 (https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketG34(1944)/KGPE-D16/BIOS/KGPE-D16-ASUS-3309.zip)
AMD64 Microcode (https://httpredir.debian.org/debian/pool/non-free/a/amd64-microcode/)
Raptor Engineering OpenBMC (https://www.raptorengineering.com/coreboot/kgpe-d16-bmc-port-status.php)
Coreboot VBIOS Extraction (https://www.coreboot.org/VGA_support#How_to_retrieve_a_good_video_bios)
ASUS PIKE 2008 IT Mode (https://gist.github.com/pjobson/9ec25f7fc991f28d132ca813ab1bd541)
The copyright on coreboot is owned by quite a large number of individual developers and companies. Please check the individual source files for details.
coreboot is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). Some files are licensed under the "GPL (version 2, or any later version)", and some files are licensed under the "GPL, version 2". For some parts, which were derived from other projects, other (GPL-compatible) licenses may apply. Please check the individual source files for details.
This makes the resulting coreboot images licensed under the GPL, version 2.