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Leah Rowe 98b3c81c4a Canoeboot 20240612 release 
Signed-off-by: Leah Rowe <info@minifree.org>
2024-06-12 10:32:34 +01:00

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% Canoeboot 20240504 released!
% Leah Rowe in GNU Leah Mode™
% 4 May 2024
**Do not use the Canoeboot 20240504 release, because it had problems with it.
Please use the [Canoeboot 20240612 release](canoeboot20240612.md) instead.**
Introduction
============
Canoeboot is a free/libre BIOS/UEFI replacement on x86 and ARM, providing
boot firmware that initialises the hardware in your computer, to then load an
operating system (e.g. Linux/BSD). It is specifically a *coreboot distribution*,
in the same way that Trisquel is a GNU+Linux distribution. It provides an automated
build system to produce coreboot ROM images with a variety of payloads such as
GNU GRUB or SeaBIOS, with regular well-tested releases to make coreboot as easy
to use as possible for non-technical users. From a project management perspective,
this works in *exactly* the same way as a GNU+Linux distro, providing the same type
of infrastructure, but for your boot firmware instead of your operating system.
It makes use of [coreboot](https://www.coreboot.org/) for hardware initialisation,
and then a payload such as [SeaBIOS](https://www.seabios.org/SeaBIOS)
or [GNU GRUB](https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/) to boot your operating
system; on ARM(chromebooks), we provide *U-Boot* (as a coreboot payload).
Canoeboot provides many additional benefits such as fast boot speeds, greater
security and greater customisation, but the *primary* benefit
is [software freedom](https://writefreesoftware.org/learn). With use of GRUB
in the flash, you can make use of many advanced features such as the ability
to [boot from an encrypted /boot partition](../docs/gnulinux/)
and [verify kernel GPG signature at boot time](../docs/gnulinux/grub_hardening.md).
Canoeboot's GRUB payload is *heavily* patched; for example, today's release
uses GRUB based on version 2.12, but Canoeboot adds argon2 KDF support (for
LUKS2) and xHCI support - you can use USB 3.0 devices natively, in GRUB,
including distro install media via USB3. Some desktops supported by Canoeboot
can have USB3 cards installed on them.
Another example of the type of benefit you could get from Canoeboot: you can
boot from NVMe SSDs in the SeaBIOS payload, if your board can take them (e.g.
desktop board with an NVMe adapter in the PCI-E slot). If your vendor's BIOS/UEFI
firmware only supports SATA, then this is a nice bonus for you. With Canoeboot,
you get continued firmware updates over time, adding new features on both older
and newer hardware. Canoeboot still provides updates for machines that are
nearly 20 years old, while also supporting newer machines. More hardware support
is being added all the time!
These and other examples are just the start. Canoeboot provides a *superior* boot
experience compared to proprietary BIOS/UEFI, giving you the same power and level of
control that a fully free GNU+Linux system would afford. It's *your* computer
to boot however you wish. Canoeboot lets you get more out of the hardware. All
your favourite GNU+Linux distros are compatible, even Qubes(on most machines).
If you're fed up of the control that proprietary UEFI vendors have over you,
then Canoeboot is *for you*. Although many would agree that it is a major step
forward for most users, it's actually a conservative idea socially. It used to
be that computers were much more open for learning, and tinkering. Canoeboot
implements this old idea in spirit and in practise, helping you wrest back control.
Unlike the hardware vendors, Canoeboot does not see *you* as a *security threat*;
we regard the ability to use, study, modify and redistribute software freely to
be a human right that everyone *must* have, and the same is true of hardware.
Your computer is *your property* to use as you wish. Free Software protects you,
by ensuring that you always have control of the machine.
Hardware supported in this release
==================================
This release supports the following hardware:
### Servers (AMD, x86)
- [ASUS KFSN4-DRE motherboard](../docs/hardware/kfsn4-dre.md)
- [ASUS KGPE-D16 motherboard](../docs/hardware/kgpe-d16.md)
### Desktops (AMD, Intel, x86)
- [Acer G43T-AM3](../docs/hardware/acer_g43t-am3.md)
- [Apple iMac 5,2](../docs/hardware/imac52.md)
- [ASUS KCMA-D8 motherboard](../docs/hardware/kcma-d8.md)
- [Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L motherboard](../docs/hardware/ga-g41m-es2l.md)
- [Intel D510MO and D410PT motherboards](../docs/hardware/d510mo.md)
- [Intel D945GCLF](../docs/hardware/d945gclf.md)
### Laptops (Intel, x86)
- [Apple MacBook1,1 and MacBook2,1](../docs/hardware/macbook21.md)
- [Dell Latitude E6400, E6400 XFR and E6400 ATG, with Intel
GPU](../docs/hardware/e6400.md)
- [Lenovo ThinkPad R400](../docs/hardware/r400.md)
- [Lenovo ThinkPad R500](../docs/hardware/r500.md)
- [Lenovo ThinkPad T400 / T400S](../docs/hardware/t400.md)
- [Lenovo ThinkPad T500](../docs/hardware/t500.md)
- [Lenovo ThinkPad W500](../docs/hardware/t500.md)
- [Lenovo ThinkPad X200 / X200S / X200 Tablet](../docs/hardware/x200.md)
- Lenovo ThinkPad X301
- Lenovo ThinkPad X60 / X60S / X60 Tablet
### Laptops (ARM, with U-Boot payload)
- [ASUS Chromebook Flip C101 (gru-bob)](../docs/install/chromebooks.md)
- [Samsung Chromebook Plus (v1) (gru-kevin)](../docs/install/chromebooks.md)
Highlights
==========
S3 fixed on GM45 thinkpads
-----------------------
This was broken in the previous Canoeboot release, but now it works again.
S3 suspend/resume (when you put the laptop to sleep and later wake it up).
Modest code size reduction
--------------------------
See: [Libreboot build system audit 4](https://libreboot.org/news/audit4.html)
These and subsequent changes were adapter for today's release. The build system
has been further optimised, both in terms of code size and performance.
Canoeboot is maintained in parallel with Libreboot, by the same person, so a
lot of code is shared back and forth between the two, while ensuring that
Canoeboot strictly complies with the *GNU Free System Distribution Guidelines*,
or *GNU FSDG* for short.
GRUB 2.12 revision now used
---------------------------
The previous Canoeboot release used a revision from GRUB 2.12-rc1, but now
it uses the GRUB 2.12 released during December 2023, with some additional
revisions and patches on top of that.
GRUB support for EFI System Partition
-------------------------------------
We don't use UEFI on x86, but the GRUB config in Canoeboot's GRUB payload
has now been modified, to also scan `grub.cfg` from `EFI/` directories.
It also now scans directly for extlinux and syslinux configs, in addition
to GRUB configs (GRUB can parse syslinux/extlinux configs). This should
make Canoeboot's GRUB payload more compatible with a wider variety
of distro setups.
The above change pertaining to ESP has also been applied to booting of
installers (e.g. USB media). Syslinux/Extlinux/GRUB config scanning has been
merged together there, so now a lot more distro installers should boot
automatically, without manual tweaking/intervention from the user.
U-Boot release script
---------------------
The script at `script/update/release` now supports generating standalone
U-Boot source archives, like so:
./update release -m u-boot
The usual `-d` option also works, for specifying a directory other
than `release/`. Canoeboot still provides U-Boot embedded within the larger
source release archive, and does not yet actually provide U-Boot as a
standalone project, but some people may find this useful.
Flashprog now used, not flashrom
---------------------------
Essentially, flashprog has better leadership and is more stable than flashrom;
flashrom has had new leadership for a while now, and in my view they are not
doing a very good job. That is the executive summary; the full reasoning, again,
can be found in the Libreboot 20240225 release.
Flashprog started due to disagreement between its founder (Nico Huber) and the
new leadership of the flashrom project. Flashprog focusus on stability, while
also adding newer chips all the time. Indeed, flashrom started becoming unreliable
on a lot of older platforms such as i945 thinkpads, whereas flashprog is more
stable.
Canoeboot will use flashprog from now on, not flashrom.
Work done since Canoeboot 20231107
============================
The following log will now acount for changes since Canoeboot 20231107, from
most recent descending to very earliest commits. The most interesting changes
are highlighted in bold:
* `sript/update/release`: Report on the terminal when a tarball is being
created, to avoid giving the impression that the script has crashed when
making very large tar archives.
* dell-flash-unlock: Use a portable Makefile (GNU Make no longer required).
Patch courtesy of Nicholas Chin.
* dell-flash-unlock README updated for the BSDs (patch courtesy Nicholas Chin)
* **`dell_flash_unlock`: Add support for FreeBSD** (patch courtesy Nicholas Chin)
* `dell_flash_unlock`: Set iopl level back to 0 when done (patch by Nicholas Chin)
* `dell_flash_unlock`: Fix ec_set_fdo() signature (patch courtesy Nicholas Chin)
* QEMU: Corrected SMBIOS information in the coreboot config. Patch courtesy
of *livio*. (canoeboot provides coreboot images to run on QEMU)
* GRUB ATA boot: Fixed it so that it actually scans `ata` devices in GRUB,
rather than `ahci`. Patch courtesy of *livio*.
* GRUB hotkeys added: at boot, hold *shift* to disable gfxterm. Hold *CTRL* to
enable serial output. Hold *ALT* to enable spkmodem. Patch courtesy of *livio*.
* General code cleanup / simplification in cbmk.
* **Support SeaGRUB with SeaBIOS menu enabled**. This is when GRUB is the first
thing that SeaBIOS starts (GRUB from flash). We already supported it, but
we disabled the SeaBIOS menu when doing this. Now we provide options with
the menu retained. This is useful on desktops where you use a graphics card,
but you still mainly want to use the GRUB payload, because we don't initialise
VGA from coreboot, only from SeaBIOS (we provide a framebuffer from coreboot
for Intel graphics, but graphics cards are handled by SeaBIOS).
* `update/trees`: Simplified handling of defconfig files. The new code is
more reliable, and will not have to be modified as much when adding
new options for changing configs.
* Don't use `nproc` to decide build threads; set it to 1 instead. The user
can manually specify build threads when running cbmk. This is because nproc
is not available on all systems.
* IASL/acpica: Canoeboot now hosts these releases on the mirrors, and uses
them in cbmk. This is because Intel's own links often expire, or have
unstable hashes. Coreboot's build system is patched to use Libreboot's
mirror, when downloading these tarballs, and Canoeboot also uses it.
* Allow disabling status checks during build. Do: `export CBMK_STATUS=n`
* `./build roms list`: Allow filtering based on status. E.g.
command: `./build roms list stable`
* Allow setting *status* on coreboot targets, and warn about it during builds.
Set it in target.cfg; e.g. `status="stable"` or `status="untested"`. If it's
not marked stable, a given board will provide a y/n confirmation screen on
build, asking if you want to skip the build (this dialog is disabled
in release builds) - there is another: `release` variable in target.cfg
can be set to n, to always skip building that target, but only skip on
release builds. This is better than documenting board status on the website,
because it's automated in cbmk. A `warn.txt` file can be provided in
the board directory inside cbmk, with a message that will be printed when
building; you can use this to warn the user about specific issues.
* i945 targets (ThinkPad X60/T60, Macbook2,1): switch back to the February 2023
coreboot revision used in Libreboot 20230625 for now, to work around an issue
that was reported by some users; it will be updated again in a future release.
* Export environmental variables from `err.sh`, to ensure that they are always
exported and therefore universally consistent in all parts of cbmk, once
set (unless overridden by a given script).
* **GRUB:** Update to newer revision just after version 2.12. The new revision
has a fix bug fixes for file systems, most notably XFS.
* cbmk: Better handling of `/tmp` files. Fewer/no files are left behind now,
after a build has completed.
* **GRUB: Added xHCI (USB 3.0) native driver.** Patches courtesy Patrick Rudolph,
rebased by Leah Rowe for GRUB 2.12 series. GRUB keyboard input can now work,
on boards that only have xHCI (some newer boards lack EHCI and/or PS/2)
* Allow specifying the number of threads to build on, via environmental
variable `LBMK_THREADS`. This is useful if you're on a host with limited RAM.
* Simpler, safer error handling in the build system
* **util/autoport:** New utility, imported from coreboot's version but with extra
patches merged for Haswell platforms. This can be used in future, tied heavily
to Canoeboot's own coreboot trees, to more easily add new mainboards.
* **util/dell-flash-unlock: NetBSD support added**, courtesy of the developer
who goes by the name *Linear Cannon*. Here is that person's website as of
today: <https://linear.network/>
* Enable the serial console by default, on AMD boards (kgpe-d16, kcma-d8)
* U-Boot: support setting `xarch` too, to define which coreboot tree to use
for crossgcc. Although cbmk uses coreboot/default for u-boot, a special tree
of canoeboot had gru bob/kevin in `coreboot/cros` again, and it was seen that
u-boot was being compiled from crossgcc for coreboot/default, not coreboot/cros,
while the latter was used for actual coreboot firmware. In such a scenario,
cbmk can now correctly re-use the same crossgcc build, thus saving time.
* Re-use crossgcc builds across coreboot trees, when possible, to speed up the
overall build time when building across multiple trees. This is done
using the `xtree` and `tree_depend` variables in `target.cfg` files, for
each coreboot tree and, in the case of xtree, it can be defined in a given
coreboot board target.
* coreboot/fam15h: More fixes, e.g. disable `-Werror` on binutils 2.32, and
patch GNAT to make it work a bit nicer when built with newer host toolchains.
These boards were build-tested in mid-January 2024, confirmed to once again
build on Debian Sid, Gentoo and Arch Linux, up to date as of that time.
* GRUB: Disable `-Werror` when building, to prevent treating warnings as errors.
This fixes the build on several distros, where CFLAGS is very strict.
* Updated the dependencies config for archlinux packages (added pandoc)
* `build/roms`: general code cleanup and optimisations, for example `grub.elf`
is no longer re-built if it already exists. Dependency checking is simplified.
* Greatly simplified `include/git.sh` which handles downloading of sources.
* GRUB: bumped the revision again, to the 2.12 release which came out
on 20 December 2023. We previously bumped this to a November revision,
mentioned earlier in this changelog, but now we can use the officia/
GRUB 2.12 release.
* `target.cfg` files are now possible for single-tree projects, not just
multi-tree projects. For single-tree projects, it goes
at `config/projectname/target.cfg`, and it goes on the
existing `config/projectname/tree/target.cfg` location for multi-tree projects.
* `script/update/trees`: Support adding custom arguments to the make command,
when running a makefile within a project. This is defined by `makeargs` in
the `target.cfg` file for a given project.
* Generic cmake handling now supported, in `script/update/trees` - it is no
longer hardcoded, for the `uefitool` package (from which we
run `uefiextract`). Simply: define `cmakedir` in a project `target.cfg` file.
It could even be `cmakedir="."` if you wish, so that all of it is built,
though we specify `cmakedir="UEFIExtract"` for uefitool.
* Unify `script/update/trees` and `script/build/grub` - now, generic autoconf
handling is present in `script/update/trees`, so it can be used for any
project, including GRUB, and arguments for configure/autogen/bootstrap scripts
are configurable in project `target.cfg` files. The actual running
of `grub-mkstandalone` is now handled from `script/build/roms`. This reduces
the number of shell scripts from 12 to 11, in cbmk.
* disable u-boot on x86 qemu for now (prevents a build error in cbmk)
* `script/build/serprog`: Return error status (exit) if basename fails, when
processing various board targets available on stm32/rp2040 projects. Patch
courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* `script/build/roms`: Rename `check_target` to `configure_target`
and `prepare_target` to `configure_dependencies`, for increased code clarity.
* `git/pico-serprog`: Use Riku's newer revision, which sets the drive level
to 12mA by default, up to the previous default of 4mA. The new level is
within safety specifications on all flash ICs, but will result in greater
reliability, especially on ISP-based flashing setups. Also merged a fix by
Riku Viitanen, fixing a build error on boards where `PICO_DEFAULT_LED_PIN` is
not defined by the pico sdk; in these cases, the status LED is simply unused.
* `script/build/roms`: Improved error handling for ROM image build functions,
which run inside subshells. They now more reliably cause an exit from cbmk,
under error conditions, and those exits are guaranteed now to be non-zero.
Patch courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* `script/build/roms`: Remove redundant check on cros roms, where it
checked whether initmode was normal; on these setups, it's always libgfxinit.
* set projectname/version strings properly, in scripts that call it. It was
previously done unconditionally in err.sh, without being called, but this
was later changed, and scripts that use it weren't adapted, so it turned
out that the strings were empty when used. Now the strings are properly set,
in all scripts that need them. These strings are provided by the build system,
which checks itself at startup. Patch courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* `script/update/trees`: Fix infinite loop caused in some conditions, when
vendor files are being used. The trees script calls the vendor download
script, which in turn calls the trees script; an additional check has been
introduced, to prevent a runaway condition where the two scripts endlessly
call each other, thus preventing an infinite loop. Patch courtesy Leah Rowe.
* `script/vendor/download`: check whether a config file exists, before trying
to read it. This reduces the chance of crashing the build system, when running
the script on certain targets. Patch courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* `script/vendor/inject`: Fixed a bad error check, when running `cd` to switch
to the ROM images directory, when creating archives. Patch courtesy Leah Rowe.
* `script/update/release`: Don't insert crossgcc tarballs into release
archives. These are re-inserted needlessly, when they are already hosted by
the GNU project and have decent mirrors in general. I always keep backups of
these anyway, and do several mirrors, and not including them reduces the
size of the Canoeboot release archives. This means that the release archives
now require an internet connection to use, because crossgcc tarballs will be
downloaded at build time, but they are the same tarballs that you would
download as part of a release anyway, but now if you're only building for
one coreboot tree within cbmk, you only need to download one set of archives
instead of getting them all. Patch courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* `script/build/serprog`: general code cleanup, generalising a lot more code,
especially the if/else chains for checking what type of firmware is build.
Patch courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* main build script: simplified TMPDIR handling. There were cases where the
TMPDIR variable was already set, and being re-set needlessly. The new code
is simpler, and less error-prone. Patch courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* `include/mrc.sh`: general code cleanup, removing dead code and optimising the
general style of it, to reduce sloccount. Patch courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* Corresponding to the change below by Riku, the vendor filenames were also
changed to match the 68\* naming scheme.
* `config/vendor/sources`: document HP laptop ROM families, for certain models,
according to name scheme 68SFC, 68SCE, 68ICE and 68ICF. Some of these boards
iare part of the same families, and use the same blobs. Patch courtesy of
Riku Viitanen.
* `script/build/roms`: remove the `modify_coreboot_rom` function. Fake PIKE2008
ROMs are now inserted by defining option roms in the coreboot config, where
the given path is `/dev/null`. The *top swap* setting on i945 is now enabled
via `CONFIG_INTEL_ADD_TOP_SWAP_BOOTBLOCK` in the coreboot build system -
basically, what this does is cat two identical copies of the bootblock together
and insert the larger bootblock file (twice the size) at the end of the flash,
whereas previously we did this in cbmk using dd. The benefit of the new setup
is that it results in higher build speeds, and now the duplicated bootblock
now appears in CBFS, so cbfstool will prevent overwriting it.
* `include/mrc.sh`: Also don't use the dedicated unzip logic in the script.
Re-use the generic logic provided by `include/git.sh` instead. Patch courtesy
of Leah Rowe.
* `script/update/trees`: Greatly simplified crossgcc handling. Now the list of
crossgcc targets are directly defined in `target.cfg` files, and the for loop
in update/trees just goes through it, checking the relevant toolchain. Patch
courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* `include/git.sh`: Simplified submodule handling by not using subshells for
running `cd` to a git repository. Instead, the `-C` option is used in Git.
* main build script, in the `initialise_command` (now `initcmd`) function:
simplify handling of arguments, when determining what command was passed,
and how to run it. Patch courtesy Leah Rowe.
* `script/update/release`: remove unnecessary "continue" command at the end of
a for loop.
* `include/option.sh`: general code cleanup in the `scan_config()` function,
on the if/else block assigning variables after scanning configs.
* `include/option.sh`: print errors to stdout instead, on the `item()` function
* `include/git.sh`: reduced code indentation, on the part that applies patches
in a git repository.
* `include/git.sh`: simplify tree name check, by breaking earlier when the
correct tree name is found on a multi-tree project. Patch courtesy of
Leah Rowe.
* `grub.cfg`: Support scanning for *extlinux* configs, which are essentially the
same as syslinux ones. If found, they are passed through GRUB's syslinux
parser, which then presents a menu as if it were a GRUB configuration. This
should increase compatibility with distros that use extlinux.
* `grub.cfg`: Handle GRUB *and* syslinux/extlinux configs, on the USB boot menu
option. Now it scans for both, thus increasing compatibility with many modern
GNU+Linux distro installers. Before this change, Canoeboot's design was made with
BIOS systems in mind, because we historically only supported systems that were
BIOS-based, whereas GRUB is more common as a bootloader on UEFI-based install
media, but in the past we mostly assumed isolinux/syslinux for that.
* `grub.cfg`: support ESP and extlinux setups. The so-called EFI System Partition
is basically a FAT32 partition that can contain bootloaders and configurations,
and it is commonly used on some machines that Libreboot supports, prior to
Libreboot installation. GRUB also supports parsing syslinux configs, and extlinux
configs are essentially the same. So now Libreboot GRUB automatically scans
for GRUB *and* syslinux/extlinux configs by default, including on the ESP.
This will increase compatibility with a wide variety of distros, *without*
introducing UEFI support yet on x86, because those same Linux kernels can
also run on bare metal (and this is exactly how it works, when you use GRUB
as a payload). NOTE: This change probably doesn't benefit Canoeboot much,
since none of the supported Canoeboot hardware implements UEFI in factory
firmware, but this change is relatively harmless so it's included.
* `grub.cfg`: Don't boot linux unless there is a grub.cfg file provided on
the HDD/SSD. Previously, a fallback entry existed as a last resort, if all
else failed, but it made several assumptions that are mostly no longer valid
in 2023. Patch courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* `grub.cfg`: scan LVMs first. This makes it more likely that an encrypted
system (encrypted `/boot`) will boot first, once found and unlocked. Patch
courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* `dell-flash-unlock`: in the README, link to several useful guides including
Open Security Training section about BIOS and SMM internals on x86. Patch
courtesy of Nicholas Chin. In general, update the README to include instructions
related to disabling /dev/mem protection, and info about the newer boards
now added to cbmk, that the utility can be used on.
* `grub.cfg`: Added BTRFS subvolume support, by default. Patch courtesy of
the contributor, alias `semigel`.
* cbmk: remove support for the DEBUG environmental variable. It was never very
useful anyway, and introduced about 10 years ago when the Libreboot build
system was much less advanced than it is now. We already have much better
debugging these days, when dealing with build system issues. Patch courtesy
of Leah Rowe.
* cbmk scripts: Did a general sweep with shellcheck, fixing errors that it
flagged, such as lack of double quotes in some places, and non-standard
behaviour being used. The actual [patch](https://browse.libreboot.org/lbmk.git/commit/?id=1eb4df6748f94a08d44c623a56417199b99b371d)
shows what is meant by this. Patch courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* cbmk scripts: Handle exit status correctly, when dealing with subshells. This
continues on from the other fix below, after doing a sweep of the entire
build system. Patch courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* `script/update/trees`: Correctly return error status when `git am` fails,
while applying patches. Although it was printing an error message, the
script was making improper use of subshells, leading to a zero exit, when
it should have exited with non-zero status in such situations. Patch/fix
courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* Debian dependencies config: Fixed the freetype dependency, as tested on
modern Debian Sid
* GRUB modules: re-added fat/ntfs file system support. Some users on EFI-based
setups transferring to Libreboot couldn't boot their linux systems, which had
files installed onto EFI System Partitions. The next release after
Libreboot 20231106 will once again work correctly on such setups. Patch
courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* **GRUB revision:** bumped it to November 2023 revision, which contains
several important fixes. Look at the [patch](https://browse.libreboot.org/cbmk.git/commit/?id=47ef411efb6b669b7befd2a1cf22f999d4521999)
for actual fixes, listed in the code import. It's a lot.
* main build script: set `--author` in Git, when re-initialising the Git
history on release archives. Patch courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* cbmk return status: don't rely on return status for unconditional returns.
There were some parts of cbmk that, in practise, would always exit, but could
theoretically not, even when they are supposed to, regardless of exit status.
Patch courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* cbmk help text: support showing the Libreboot version, project name and
the version date, based on git metadata. Patch courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* Re-added GRUB modules: f2fs, json, read, scsi, sleep, diskfilter, hashsum,
loadenv, setjump - needed on some setups. Patch courtesy of Leah Rowe.
* `util/nvmutil`: Added useful help dialog, showing usage instructions when
no/invalid arguments are given. Patch courtesy of Riku Viitanen.
* Fixed the `util/nvmutil` Makefile, courtesy of Riku Viitanen. It was not
properly formatted to include `nvmutil.c`, when running make-all.
Disabled boards
===============
Canoeboot's build system can be configured to exclude certain boards in
release archives, while still permitting them to be re-built.
All of the following boards have been disabled in the build system:
D510MO and D945GCLF images not included either, due to lack of testing.
*All other boards have ROM images in this release.*
Errata
======
See: <https://codeberg.org/libreboot/lbmk/issues/216>
This bug has been *fixed* in lbmk.git, and the fix will be included in
the next release, but it wasn't caught in the 20240504 release. The same
fix has been applied to Canoeboot's build system, cbmk.
It is almost certainly guaranteed that *no* Canoeboot users were ever
affected by this, but extreme measures have been taken to ensure that it
is *entirely* guaranteed from now on. Read on to know more:
The bug is quite serious, and it was previously decided that documentation
should be written warning about it (in docs/install/). The bug was *only*
triggered on Intel Sandybridge hardware (e.g. ThinkPad X220) and was never
reported on other boards, but there's no way to fully know; what is known
is that the offending patch that caused the bug has been *removed*; namely,
xHCI GRUB patches, which are now only provided on Haswell and Broadwell
hardware (where the bug has not occured) in *Libreboot*; in Canoeboot, the
GRUB tree with xHCI support is provided, but not currently used on any
mainboards in Canoeboot. **Therefore, we know that the bug will no longer occur.**
The next release will exclude xHCI support on machines that don't need it, which
is *every machine that Canoeboot supports* (as of Canoeboot 20240504/20240510),
and a mitigation is in place that makes SeaBIOS the primary payload, to prevent
effective bricks in the future; the bug was in GRUB, but if SeaBIOS is the
first payload then the machine remains bootable even if a similar bug occurs.
It is now the default behaviour, in the next release, that certain images
contain a bootorder file in CBFS, making SeaBIOS try GRUB first, but you can
still press ESC to access the SeaBIOS boot menu if you want to directly boot
an OS from that. This, and the other change mentioned above, will guarantee
stability. GRUB is *no longer* the primary payload, on any mainboard.
However, it was later decided to put this release in the `testing`
directory instead; it was initially designated as a stable release.
All ROM images for the 20240504/20240510 releases have been *removed* from
rsync, but the source tarball remains in place.
For now, you are advised to use the November 2023 release, or build from
cbmk.git at revision `4f6fbfde81f5176e5892d1c00627f8f680fd3780` (which is known
to be reliable and is the current revision as of this time of writing) - or,
alternatively, you are advised to use the next release after 20240510.
A new [audit](audit1.md) has been conducted, marked complete as of 9 June 2024,
fixing this and many issues; a new *true* stable release will be made available
some time in June 2024.
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