Libreboot distribution release 20211122 has been published. This is the third release in the GNU project and continues to be presented as a test release, as it requires additional stabilization and testing. Libreboot develops a completely free fork from the CoreBoot project, providing a binary-free replacement for proprietary UEFI and BIOS firmware responsible for initializing the CPU, memory, peripherals, and other hardware components.
Libreboot aims to create a system environment that completely dispenses with proprietary software, not only at the level of the operating system, but also the firmware that provides booting. Libreboot not only cleans CoreBoot of non-free components, but also adds tools to make it easier for end users to use, creating a distribution that can be used by any user with no special skills.
Among the supported hardware in Libreboot:
- Desktop systems Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L, Intel D510MO, Intel D410PT, Intel D945GCLF and Apple iMac 5,2.
- Servers and workstations: ASUS KCMA-D8, ASUS KGPE-D16, ASUS KFSN4-DRE.
- Notebooks: ThinkPad X60/X60S/X60 Tablet, ThinkPad T60, Lenovo ThinkPad X200/X200S/X200 Tablet, Lenovo ThinkPad R400, Lenovo ThinkPad T400/T400S, Lenovo ThinkPad T500, Lenovo ThinkPad W500, Lenovo ThinkPad R500, Apple MacBook1,1 and MacBook2,1 ,XNUMX.
In the new version:
- Ported changes from CoreBoot 4.14 and new versions of SeaBIOS and GRUB.
- Support for Tianocore (an open source UEFI implementation) has been removed from the build system due to maintenance issues and unresolved issues. As a replacement, Libreboot will include a payload environment based on u-root, the Linux kernel and Busybox.
- Resolved issues using SeaBIOS (an open BIOS implementation) on ASUS KGPE-D16 and KCMA-D8 motherboards.
- The number of boards for which the formation of 16-MB assemblies has been expanded (with busybox and linux). For example, similar advanced builds have been added for ASUS KGPE-D16, ThinkPad X60 and T60.
- Increased the number of builds that include the memtest86+ application by default. Not the original memtest86+ is involved, but a fork from the Coreboot project, which is free from problems when working at the firmware level.
- A patch has been added to ThinkPad T400 builds to expand SATA/eSATA support, such as using additional SATA ports on T400S laptops.
- grub.cfg now has a definition for using LUKS with mdraid, optimizations have been made to speed up the search for encrypted LUKS partitions, the timeout has been increased from 1 to 10 seconds.
- For MacBook2,1 and Macbook1,1, support for the third "C state" mode was implemented, which made it possible to achieve a decrease in CPU temperature and increase battery life
- Reboot issues on GM45 platforms (ThinkPad X200/T400/T500) have been resolved.
Source: opennet.ru