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Antonizoon edited this page Apr 11, 2016 · 26 revisions

NOTE: The Libreboot components of this wiki has been divested and merge upstream into the Official Libreboot Documentation here, as well as the Coreboot Wiki. Please use that from now on.

Coreboot is an open source BIOS for Intel PCs. Libreboot is a FSF-certified variant that reverse-engineers or removes all proprietary binary blobs from Coreboot; resulting in a fully open-source machine, from the BIOS down to the operating system.

The few laptops that support Libreboot are the only computers endorsed by the Free Software Foundation. Once Libreboot is installed and the original Intel wifi card is replaced, no proprietary software of any kind is utilized on the computer.


This wiki contains information on Libreboot laptops, Coreboot laptops (using proprietary VGABIOS), and Chromebooks as well.

Check the Sidebar for per-device guides.

All content on this wiki, and any future content is hereby released under the CC-BY 4.0 license.

Purchasing Preflashed Libreboot Laptops

Because of the significant danger involved in flashing Libreboot laptops, many users might prefer to purchase a preflashed one.

  • Gluglug UK
    • ThinkPad X60 ($350-400, 198 Pounds) - Pretty expensive for this sort of laptop, but currently it's the only choice around.
    • ThinkPad T60 (Intel) Flexview 4:3 SXGA+
    • Macbook 2,1

Supported Laptops

A larger list of supported laptops can be found at the Libreboot website.

  • ThinkPad X60 Series
  • ThinkPad T60/T60p Series with Intel GPU
    • T60 systems with XGA (1024x768) screens are NOT supported for some reason. But you'd definitely want to upgrade them to SXGA+, UXGA, or even QXGA Flexview displays anyway. Follow the T60 Screen Upgrade Guide for more details.
    • T60 systems with ATI discrete GPU are NOT supported by Libreboot, since they require proprietary blobs to display graphics. You could still try and install Coreboot on them, by extracting proprietary VGA code from the Lenovo BIOS. See T60 ATI GPU Coreboot for more details.
    • Widescreen T60 laptops have never been tested with Libreboot before. We assume that they might work; but who knows, maybe the screens might not display anything just like the XGA models. Install at your own risk.
  • MacBook 2,1

Make sure you identify the exact model of the laptop you have! This will be important later.

Custom Built Coreboot ROMs

Make your own coreboot roms, if you want to customize GRUB, or use SeaBIOS. Be sure to follow this procedure correctly, and test everything frequently; the laptop will be effectively bricked if the Coreboot ROM or the payload doesn't work.

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Bibliotheca Anonoma

Coreboot Laptops

Coreboot is an open source, user configurable BIOS. However, it does use a few proprietary blobs here and there.

ThinkPads

These require hardware flashing. Due to Intel Management Firmware, proprietary blobs are required for newer Intel motherboards to even power up.

Chromebooks

Most Intel Chromebooks come with Coreboot preinstalled. SeaBIOS can optionally be installed to add Windows support.

Just use John Lewis's Installation Script for All Models to autoinstall.

Build Notes

NOTE: The Libreboot components of this wiki was divested into the Official Libreboot Documentation here. Please use that from now on.

Libreboot laptops are certified by the FSF to protect your freedom.

They contain no proprietary blobs of any kind, and have the best support for FSF certified GNU/LInux.

ThinkPads

Macbooks

Other Tutorials

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