Re: FreeBSD and Coreboot

On 5/27/2019 10:13, Eric McCorkle wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> I'm through enough of my job change that I can start working on FreeBSD
> again.  One thing I've had on my list to examine is using FreeBSD with
> coreboot, so I wanted to put out a call for anyone who has done work on
> this, or knows anything about it.
>
> Here is what I know:
>
> * Coreboot _can_ boot kernels directly, but this requires two things: 1)
> you must flash your BIOS every time you update a kernel, 2) the kernel
> must be able to work without the usual device initialization that the
> BIOS does.
>
> * Coreboot has two significant payload options beyond a kernel: Seabios
> and GRUB (supposedly Tianocore EFI is an option, but it apparently
> doesn't really work).
>
> * Scrounging the coreboot wiki seems to produce some conflicting
> information.  One page claims that the FreeBSD kernel can boot directly
> as a coreboot payload; another claims GRUB or Seabios to be the only
> options.
>
> * The PC Engines boards evidently use coreboot, and I've heard multiple
> reports of them running FreeBSD systems without a problem.  I don't know
> whether they use GRUB or Seabios.  (Aside: I'm thinking about ordering
> some of these boards for my own use, so I'm generally interested in how
> well they function with FreeBSD)
>
PCEngines machines run just fine with FreeBSD; I use and support a bunch
of them around here for various purposes, mostly as edge firewall and
gateway devices.
-- 
Karl Denninger
karl_at_denninger.net <mailto:karl_at_denninger.net>
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