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review.coreboot.org / coreboot / 0b29a7b37c19200516dadc5c4bf0a1eb9d1290ec / . / README
blob: 2c25bef8a8fac2f995da4cada648693f3a4fdf13 [file] [log] [blame]
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]1-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +0000[diff] [blame]2coreboot README
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]3-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4
Stefan Reinauer5eef65b2011-06-10 20:05:53 +0200[diff] [blame]5coreboot is a Free Software project aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS
6(firmware) found in most computers. coreboot performs a little bit of
7hardware initialization and then executes additional boot logic, called a
8payload.
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]9
Stefan Reinauer5eef65b2011-06-10 20:05:53 +0200[diff] [blame]10With the separation of hardware initialization and later boot logic,
11coreboot can scale from specialized applications that run directly
12firmware, run operating systems in flash, load custom
13bootloaders, or implement firmware standards, like PC BIOS services or
14UEFI. This allows for systems to only include the features necessary
15in the target application, reducing the amount of code and flash space
16required.
17
18coreboot was formerly known as LinuxBIOS.
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]19
20
21Payloads
22--------
23
24After the basic initialization of the hardware has been performed, any
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +0000[diff] [blame]25desired "payload" can be started by coreboot.
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]26
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +0000[diff] [blame]27See http://www.coreboot.org/Payloads for a list of supported payloads.
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]28
29
30Supported Hardware
31------------------
32
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +0000[diff] [blame]33coreboot supports a wide range of chipsets, devices, and mainboards.
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]34
35For details please consult:
36
Stefan Reinauerf8ee1802008-01-18 15:08:58 +0000[diff] [blame]37 * http://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Motherboards
38 * http://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Chipsets_and_Devices
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]39
40
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +0000[diff] [blame]41Build Requirements
42------------------
43
44 * gcc / g++
45 * make
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +0000[diff] [blame]46
47Optional:
48
49 * doxygen (for generating/viewing documentation)
50 * iasl (for targets with ACPI support)
51 * gdb (for better debugging facilities on some targets)
Stefan Reinauer6acc0a12010-01-18 12:01:10 +0000[diff] [blame]52 * ncurses (for 'make menuconfig')
Patrick Georgi7e8c9aa2010-04-08 11:37:43 +0000[diff] [blame]53 * flex and bison (for regenerating parsers)
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +0000[diff] [blame]54
55
56Building coreboot
57-----------------
58
Uwe Hermanndbbecb52010-02-25 16:09:53 +0000[diff] [blame]59Please consult http://www.coreboot.org/Build_HOWTO for details.
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +0000[diff] [blame]60
61
62Testing coreboot Without Modifying Your Hardware
Uwe Hermann16db6c32010-09-23 18:48:27 +0000[diff] [blame]63------------------------------------------------
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +0000[diff] [blame]64
65If you want to test coreboot without any risks before you really decide
66to use it on your hardware, you can use the QEMU system emulator to run
67coreboot virtually in QEMU.
68
69Please see http://www.coreboot.org/QEMU for details.
70
71
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]72Website and Mailing List
73------------------------
74
75Further details on the project, a FAQ, many HOWTOs, news, development
Stefan Reinauerf8ee1802008-01-18 15:08:58 +0000[diff] [blame]76guidelines and more can be found on the coreboot website:
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]77
Stefan Reinauerf8ee1802008-01-18 15:08:58 +0000[diff] [blame]78 http://www.coreboot.org
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]79
Stefan Reinauerf8ee1802008-01-18 15:08:58 +0000[diff] [blame]80You can contact us directly on the coreboot mailing list:
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]81
Stefan Reinauerf8ee1802008-01-18 15:08:58 +0000[diff] [blame]82 http://www.coreboot.org/Mailinglist
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]83
84
85Copyright and License
86---------------------
87
Stefan Reinauerf8ee1802008-01-18 15:08:58 +0000[diff] [blame]88The copyright on coreboot is owned by quite a large number of individual
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]89developers and companies. Please check the individual source files for details.
90
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +0000[diff] [blame]91coreboot is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]92Some files are licensed under the "GPL (version 2, or any later version)",
Uwe Hermanndbbecb52010-02-25 16:09:53 +0000[diff] [blame]93and some files are licensed under the "GPL, version 2". For some parts, which
94were derived from other projects, other (GPL-compatible) licenses may apply.
95Please check the individual source files for details.
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +0000[diff] [blame]96
Stefan Reinauerf8ee1802008-01-18 15:08:58 +0000[diff] [blame]97This makes the resulting coreboot images licensed under the GPL, version 2.
Uwe Hermann3f5411c2007-02-27 22:21:59 +0000[diff] [blame]98