Hi Michael, Michal Widlok wrote: > I am thinking about trying coreboot on a server (dell 2850) and > after reading of some manuals I fall into doubts. My question is > how coreboot work with other bioses / firmwares that are usually > presented on a server boards? For example on my PE2850 I can see > messages (during boot-up) from: 1) Original Bios, 2) RAID > controller, 3) BMC controller, 4) Backplane 1, 5) Backplane 2, 6) > IPMI. Some of them (BMC, Raid, Backplane) can be even upgraded from > OS or boot disk. Also some of them have a setup screen similar to > original Bios, that can be accessed by special key press. > How coreboot will handle them?
Short answer: It won't. It can be made to call the ROMs for initialization, but I don't think it does so by default on any board. I guess RAID would be the minimum to have a usable system. I would start there. I know that RAID ROMs have been done. FWIW I also have a 2850, just that mine is in production. I could do occasional testing on it. > Next problem is that I am not sure how to find Bios flash memory on > mainboard. The are about 3 candidates (flash chips with stickers), > however they are all very similar - how to pick the right one? Can you read the part numbers off the chips? > I never though about coreboot before, however some time ago I have > seen a Work In Progress for dell 1850 (very similar to mine) Are they really similar? > Was coreboot really installed on this dell? If yes then how > physically it was done? I think the flash chip was desoldered and programmed externally. I'm not sure. //Peter -- coreboot mailing list: [email protected] http://www.coreboot.org/mailman/listinfo/coreboot
