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Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +00001-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +00002coreboot README
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +00003-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +00005coreboot is a Free Software project aimed at replacing the proprietary
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +00006BIOS you can find in most of today's computers.
7
8It performs just a little bit of hardware initialization and then executes
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +00009one of many possible payloads, e.g. a Linux kernel or a bootloader.
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +000010
11
12Payloads
13--------
14
15After the basic initialization of the hardware has been performed, any
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +000016desired "payload" can be started by coreboot.
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +000017
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +000018See http://www.coreboot.org/Payloads for a list of supported payloads.
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +000019
20
21Supported Hardware
22------------------
23
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +000024coreboot supports a wide range of chipsets, devices, and mainboards.
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +000025
26For details please consult:
27
Stefan Reinauerf8ee1802008-01-18 15:08:58 +000028 * http://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Motherboards
29 * http://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Chipsets_and_Devices
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +000030
31
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +000032Build Requirements
33------------------
34
35 * gcc / g++
36 * make
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +000037
38Optional:
39
40 * doxygen (for generating/viewing documentation)
41 * iasl (for targets with ACPI support)
42 * gdb (for better debugging facilities on some targets)
Stefan Reinauer6acc0a12010-01-18 12:01:10 +000043 * ncurses (for 'make menuconfig')
Patrick Georgi7e8c9aa2010-04-08 11:37:43 +000044 * flex and bison (for regenerating parsers)
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +000045
46
47Building coreboot
48-----------------
49
Uwe Hermanndbbecb52010-02-25 16:09:53 +000050Please consult http://www.coreboot.org/Build_HOWTO for details.
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +000051
52
53Testing coreboot Without Modifying Your Hardware
Uwe Hermann16db6c32010-09-23 18:48:27 +000054------------------------------------------------
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +000055
56If you want to test coreboot without any risks before you really decide
57to use it on your hardware, you can use the QEMU system emulator to run
58coreboot virtually in QEMU.
59
60Please see http://www.coreboot.org/QEMU for details.
61
62
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +000063Website and Mailing List
64------------------------
65
66Further details on the project, a FAQ, many HOWTOs, news, development
Stefan Reinauerf8ee1802008-01-18 15:08:58 +000067guidelines and more can be found on the coreboot website:
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +000068
Stefan Reinauerf8ee1802008-01-18 15:08:58 +000069 http://www.coreboot.org
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +000070
Stefan Reinauerf8ee1802008-01-18 15:08:58 +000071You can contact us directly on the coreboot mailing list:
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +000072
Stefan Reinauerf8ee1802008-01-18 15:08:58 +000073 http://www.coreboot.org/Mailinglist
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +000074
75
76Copyright and License
77---------------------
78
Stefan Reinauerf8ee1802008-01-18 15:08:58 +000079The copyright on coreboot is owned by quite a large number of individual
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +000080developers and companies. Please check the individual source files for details.
81
Uwe Hermann0346c222009-04-17 17:11:39 +000082coreboot is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +000083Some files are licensed under the "GPL (version 2, or any later version)",
Uwe Hermanndbbecb52010-02-25 16:09:53 +000084and some files are licensed under the "GPL, version 2". For some parts, which
85were derived from other projects, other (GPL-compatible) licenses may apply.
86Please check the individual source files for details.
Uwe Hermann10d55b42006-10-20 21:50:01 +000087
Stefan Reinauerf8ee1802008-01-18 15:08:58 +000088This makes the resulting coreboot images licensed under the GPL, version 2.
Uwe Hermann3f5411c2007-02-27 22:21:59 +000089