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• D900TCoreboot

D900T Coreboot Support

Introduction

I have a Clevo D900T based p4 laptop which does not natively support the processor I've installed in it. Previously, I've used a Modified DSDT to solve this, but this is a kludge (at best), and only works for me under Linux. Even though Linux is the only OS I currently use, I'd still like to solve this a better way.

I figure, the best way to solve this is with a new bios. Unfortunately, Clevo/Alienware have not released a new bios for this card in years, so it's not likely one is going to pop up any time soon. I've decided to attempt to get Coreboot running on it.

The basic plan of action:

1. Get inteltool to support p4 6xx/ich6/915P chipsets

2. Get flashrom working ¹

3. Add Motherboard Target to Coreboot

4. Add CPU Socket and Chip to Coreboot

5. Add Northbridge Support to Coreboot
6. Add Southbridge Support to Coreboot
7. Add Super I/O Chip Support to Coreboot
8. Add EC Support to Motherboard Target in Coreboot
9. Finish Motherboard Target

Chip Info

All details still unverified

As we can see, I've amassed a good amount of data, just needing some verifications. Having a scrap mobo would be helpful, as cracking open the system to find this info out is not high on my priority list. In the mean time, I've e-mailed Clevo to see if they can provide some more insight.

Post Support

I've ordered 2 POST cards for my laptop. Will Probably have to do some sort of hardware mod if I'm to use the Mini-PCI[1] post card. If the LPT[2] one works, I'll probably use that.

inteltool Support

This was the first thing I did. While I was getting a feel for the interactions of all the different parts of the mobo, I added the code to inteltool to detect my CPU, read it's MSRs, and to detect my North/South Bridges and read their MSRs. Commited upstream

Flash Chip Support

Before enabling flashrom for this board, I'm going to add a PLCC socket, possibly to the spot on the motherboard that looks like it was meant to hold a second flash chip, possibly piggybacked on top of the current PLCC flash, with a switch to select between the bios chip and socket. I ordered my socket, PLCC chip remover, and Chips from Grains BIOS Repair in the .eu. Paul was very helpful in my finding a compatible chip, even going so far as to add it to their site for me to order.

We'll see how quick shipping is:

The Glue to Hold it all Together, Mainboard Support

CPU/Socket Support

Northbridge Support

Southbridge Support

Super I/O Support

Embedded Controller Support

Hardware Wishlist

to get 100% support, I'd need: