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AMD To Support Coreboot On All Upcoming Processors

Posted by timothy on from the you-had-me-at-hello dept.

nukem996 writes "AMD has just announced that they will be supporting Coreboot (previously LinuxBIOS) on all upcoming processors." That means a flexible Free software BIOS replacement with a nice list of benefits.

5 of 134 comments (clear)

  1. BIOS on a processor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Isn't it a motherboard, and not a CPU, that needs to support a BIOS?

    1. Re:BIOS on a processor? by vlm · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Isn't it a motherboard, and not a CPU, that needs to support a BIOS?

      I ran into a problem a few years ago with an AMD CPU and an Asys (was it Asus?) MB where the MB bios was old enough that it would read the CPU type info, learn the CPU was newer than it was programmed to understand, and give up all hope. Had to install the oldest AMD CPU I could find, flash the BIOS, then install the brand new fast CPU.

      I would assume this means they will give all CPU revision data to the coreboot guys so coreboot can support all (all future?) CPUs in a series without choking.

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
  2. And? by ledow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They "support" it now. So do Intel. The problem is not that the processor or even chipset supports it but that the bundled BIOS *IS* coreboot, which is unlikely.

    And even then, every tweak made by a motherboard manufacturer has to be taken account of. It's like saying the AMD "supports" running Linux on it. Course it does, but it doesn't mean that the computer can actually run Linux usefully (Argh! Flashback to the days when a lot machines *couldn't* get basic support under Linux working without patching an tweaking).

    It's a step forward but hardly worth shouting about - when Foxconn, MSI, etc. get on board, then you have a deal. Until then, it's like saying that my computer support FireWire. It does. It just doesn't have any FireWire ports, and I haven't installed the drivers for them on any OS.

  3. Did I miss something? by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Did I miss something?

    The problem is not the CPU support, is support for the motherboard... I went to see a list of motherboards "compatible" on Coreboot site and after seeing the definition of "compatible", I concluded that it would be madness to use Coreboot on any motherboard, especially if a newer type.

    Do not get me wrong, but if that Coreboot want to replace the BIOS of a motherboard then it should necessarily be 100% compatible, nothing less. How can they say that for example the Coreboot is compatible with the Asus A8N-E, when only one SATA port works and PCI-E 16X do not work?

    --
    Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
  4. Re:instant computing by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You can't patch ROM, and having an unpatched and unpatchable OS is a bad idea no matter which OS that is.