Open Source Firmware?

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Stephen Polkowski

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Aug 12, 2013, 12:56:43 PM8/12/13
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Hello,

Does the minnowboard come with an open source bios/firmware?  If so
where can I download the source, etc.

Thanks,

Stephen

Scott Garman

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Aug 12, 2013, 1:50:11 PM8/12/13
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Hi Stephen,

The MinnowBoard ships with UEFI firmware, which is an open firmware
environment. It does require a couple of binary blobs for the platform
initialization code, but the remainder should be open and rebuildable.

This site is the main source of information to get you started with
firmware development on the MinnowBoard:

http://uefidk.intel.com/content/minnowboard-uefi-firmware

Scott

--
Scott Garman
Embedded Linux Engineer - Yocto Project
Intel Open Source Technology Center

FEI WANG

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Aug 18, 2013, 9:25:34 AM8/18/13
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Scot,

It looks only the binary is released, but the source code is till not ready yet.

Is there a schedule or road map of source code release? 

-Fei

FEI WANG

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Aug 18, 2013, 10:04:23 AM8/18/13
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Scot,

Two questions about "a couple of binary blobs for the platform initialization code" you mentioned, technically I believe these binaries could be integrated with open sourced boot loader, such as coreboot, instead of UEFI.

1, Will Intel provide a spec to describe how to integrate these binaries to boot loader?
2, Any legal issue of doing this?

-Fei

On Monday, 12 August 2013 18:50:11 UTC+1, Scott Garman wrote:

Scott Garman

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Aug 20, 2013, 11:36:15 AM8/20/13
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Hi Fei,

I'm hoping to hear from one of our UEFI developers soon regarding your
questions. Have you not found what you're looking for here?:

http://uefidk.intel.com/content/minnowboard-uefi-firmware

Scott

FEI WANG

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Aug 20, 2013, 7:55:43 PM8/20/13
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Scott,

I'm very interesting with Minnow's open sourced firmware, but only a released binary file exist in following link.

-Fei

Scott Garman

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Aug 21, 2013, 11:54:47 PM8/21/13
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Hi Fei,

My UEFI contact tells me what you're describing should be possible.
There are no legal issues with doing this for a MinnowBoard. The UEFI
team is working on the source code development kit, but I was not given
an ETA on that.

Scott

FEI WANG

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Aug 23, 2013, 10:35:00 AM8/23/13
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Thanks, Scott. 

I'm glad to know this, I will keep an eye on the Minnow Board's firmware release.

-Fei

Vitaly Repin

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Sep 21, 2013, 4:50:18 AM9/21/13
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Hello,


Eager to see it.  I have the problem with booting process described here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/minnowboard/newbie/rL9x-OM20zM
It would be a little bit easier for me if I am able to dig into the problem myself. As of now I have no idea it is hardware defect or firmware bug.
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