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Liberating a X200

operand.ca

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Re: Liberating a X200

#11
post #10
post #6

Recently did something similar with a Pocket CHIP and an X230. This is a wonderful SPI programming setup: https://imgur.com/5KEo4Y5

Do you have a link to documentation? I have the pokcetCHI@ and the laptop, and would be interested in giving this a go.

I did this kind of in my spare time, but I'd be happy to write up something quick later tonight or this weekend.

Most important bit is a SOIC8 Pomona 5250 clip and some wires to connect it up properly. I ended up soldering some right-angle headers onto my CHIP so I can do other things besides SPI programming with it.

Re: Liberating a X200

#12
post #9
post #6

Recently did something similar with a Pocket CHIP and an X230. This is a wonderful SPI programming setup: https://imgur.com/5KEo4Y5

That thing looks great, never heard of it before :) You can do that with an Android phone, too, btw.

Android phone doesn't have gpio sitting right there waiting for you to plug something in to it.

Re: Liberating a X200

#17
post #2

Welcome to the bright side. I've been enjoying my Chromebook with coreboot and nerf'ed Intel ME for years. It's not as hard as many of us would think. By the way, Chromebooks are cheap and is a fantastic platform to experiment with coreboot/de-intel-ME. Acer C720s are $100 right now. There are 2 spererate tasks: Flashing coreboot and De-blob'ing Intel ME. If you just want to try coreboot with the Chromebook, then you…

> I noticed OP has a blog post complaining about Acer 720s having problems.

OP here - I've since been able to install 64 bit Debian on my C720, still not sure what the original issue was.

I also tried to compile my own C720 coreboot and flash that, but ran into problems. The X200 was way easier :) I may follow up with another C720 post if I get that working.

Re: Liberating a X200

#18
post #2

Welcome to the bright side. I've been enjoying my Chromebook with coreboot and nerf'ed Intel ME for years. It's not as hard as many of us would think. By the way, Chromebooks are cheap and is a fantastic platform to experiment with coreboot/de-intel-ME. Acer C720s are $100 right now. There are 2 spererate tasks: Flashing coreboot and De-blob'ing Intel ME. If you just want to try coreboot with the Chromebook, then you…

> I noticed OP has a blog post complaining about Acer 720s having problems. OP here - I've since been able to install 64 bit Debian on my C720, still not sure what the original issue was. I also tried to compile my own C720 coreboot and flash that, but ran into problems. The X200 was way easier :) I may follow up with another C720 post if I get that working.

>The X200 was way easier.

I think to most people, the idea that one can have coreboot by just messing with the software seems appealing. From what I understand, one always need an external flasher for the Thinkpad while you don't with Chromebooks. So that's a huge factor in accessibility in favor of Chromebooks.

>I also tried to compile my own C720 coreboot and flash that, but ran into problems.

I actually didn't compile my own version of Coreboot. I guess at some point I'd have to trust someone. But it feels very funny to me that I trust a random guy on the internet nicknamed MrChromebox to do the right thing instead of Intel. But then, even when I compile my own firmware, I have to trust thousands of other people who work on Coreboot to not have performed any underhanded tricks, my compiler to be free of defects, etc. "Reflections on trusting trust" hits home hard. I think all in all it does sound like that "having software/hardware we can control when we want to" (aka Stallmanism) is a more realistic goal than "better security."

For the ezpi4me project though, I tried to make the scripts as simple and easy to understand as possible, so you do see all it does. This is one project that I completed recently that I'm quite fond of, especially given I haven't been very productive and inspired to do things for a while :)

Re: Liberating a X200

#20
post #11
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a link to documentation? I have the pokcetCHI@ and the laptop, and would be interested in giving this a go.

I did this kind of in my spare time, but I'd be happy to write up something quick later tonight or this weekend. Most important bit is a SOIC8 Pomona 5250 clip and some wires to connect it up properly. I ended up soldering some right-angle headers onto my CHIP so I can do other things besides SPI programming with it.

That would be awesome, and appreciated, I would love to give it a try.
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