New firmware versions, Libreboot 20240504 and Canoeboot 20240504, now available for bootable release

by

Presented release of free bootable firmware Libreboot 20240504, which received the status of a stable version (the last stable release was published in June 2023). The project develops a ready-made project assembly Corebootwhich provides a replacement for proprietary UEFI and BIOS firmware responsible for initializing the CPU, memory, peripherals and other hardware components, with minimization binary inserts.

Libreboot aims to create a system environment that allows you to do without proprietary software as much as possible, not only at the level of the operating system, but also the firmware that provides booting. Libreboot complements Coreboot with tools to make it easier for end users to use, creating a ready-made distribution that can be used by any user without special skills.

Advertisement

The new release adds support for the Dell Latitude E5420 laptop and resolves issues with resuming S3 from other supported Dell Latitude laptops. WiFi problems have been resolved for HP EliteBook 8560w laptops. Work has been done to improve stability and correct errors when working with previously supported boards. Includes changes accumulated over a year in Libreboot test branches.

The GRUB bootloader has been updated to version 2.12 and expanded with patches to support USB 3.0 and to use argon2 hashes when generating keys for LUKS2 encrypted partitions (instead of PBKDF2). SeaBIOS provides the ability to boot from NVMe SSD drives. The assembly system has been optimized to reduce code size. To flash Libreboot images into motherboards, instead of the flashrom utility, a toolkit is used flashprog.

Equipmentsupported in Libreboot:

  • Server motherboards:
    • ASUS KFSN4-DRE
    • ASUS KGPE-D16
  • Desktop systems:
    • Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L;
    • Acer G43T-AM3;
    • Intel D510MO/D410PT;
    • Apple iMac 5.2;
    • HP Elite 8200 SFF/MT;
    • HP Elite 8300 USDT;
    • ASUS KCMA-D8;
    • Dell Precision T1650.
    • Intel D945GCLF
    • Dell OptiPlex 7020 and 9020 SFF, XE2 SFF, MT and XE2 MT series;
  • Laptops:
    • ThinkPad X60/X60S/X60 Tablet;
    • ThinkPad T60;
    • Lenovo ThinkPad X200 / X200S / X200 / X220 / X220 eDP / X230 Tablet;
    • Lenovo ThinkPad X301;
    • Lenovo ThinkPad R400;
    • Lenovo ThinkPad T400 / T400S / T420 / T420S / T430 / T440;
    • Lenovo ThinkPad T500/T530;
    • Lenovo ThinkPad W530/W541;
    • Lenovo ThinkPad R500;
    • HP EliteBook 2560p / 2570p / 2170p / 8470p / Folio 9470m;
    • HP EliteBook 820 G2;
    • HP Compaq Elite 8300 CMT;
    • HP EliteBook 8460p;
    • HP EliteBook 8560w;
    • Dell Latitute E6400/E6430;
    • Dell Latitude E5420/E5520/E5530/E6520/E6530/E6420;
    • Apple MacBook1 and MacBook2;
    • ASUS Chromebook Flip C101 (ARM);
    • Samsung Chromebook Plus (ARM).

In addition to Libreboot formed project release Canoeboot 20240504which is positioned as a completely free build of Libreboot, corresponding to requirements Free Software Foundation to completely free distributions. The Canoeboot release is based on Libreboot version 20240504, which has removed components and changes that do not meet the Free Software Foundation criteria.

Advertisement

The need to create a separate assembly of Libreboot is explained by the fact that the requirements for free distribution kits formed by the Free Software Foundation do not allow the supply of binary firmware and any binary driver components. At the same time, starting in 2022, the Libreboot project switched to more pragmatic rules for the use of binary components, which made it possible to significantly expand the range of supported hardware. The new goal of the Libreboot project is to support all hardware supported in coreboot, with the exception of binary components that affect security and reliability (for example, Libreboot uses me_cleaner to disable Intel ME). With this approach, Libreboot lost its status as a completely free distribution from the position of the Free Software Foundation.

Devices supported in Canoeboot:

Thanks for reading:

Advertisement