Today I discovered that CPU is indeed socket-ed on G505s, so it is possible to get G505s with less powerful CPU (e.g. A8) , and - if it turns out to be not compatible, or not fast enough for your needs, then you could get A10-5750M and install by yourself. Saw it for ~$50-$80 at Aliexpress (higher price for not used yet)
There are three slightly different motherboards which could be found in Lenovo G505s, all made by Compal Electronics : *1) *LA-A092P for only 8650G, which is built-in into APU (no dual graphics) *2)* LA-A091P rev 1.0 for 8650G + AMD HD 8570M (dual graphics) *3)* LA-A091P rev 1.A for 8650G + AMD R5 M230 ( dual graphics, slightly more powerful than "2)" ) And, some other Lenovo laptops have the same Compal motherboards, e.g. G405s has LA-A091P. If I am correct: there are more Lenovo AMD laptops supported by Coreboot, they are just not tested yet... Also, on my motherboard there was no MXIC chip, but cFeon QH32-104HIP bios chip instead. As you see, lots of things could be added to Coreboot G505s wiki. I've asked a coreboot wiki account so that I could improve g505s page: add new information, and clarify older as well On 17 April 2015 at 11:45, Vladimir <[email protected]> wrote: > Problem with Librem is not just that it isn't fully free yet and doesn't > seem to become so in future, but also that it is an Intel-based product. > > Intel is totally NOT friendly to coreboot project (and open source > community in general) - that could be seen by their malevolent actions, > such as introduction of Boot Guard "feature". Intel tries to justify them > by "it's for your safety" preaching; but, "anytime someone puts a lock on > something you own, against your wishes, and doesn't give you the key, > they're not doing it for your benefit" (Doctorow's Law) > > By purchasing a product of a company, you are fully supporting their > policy. And that is why it is not good to support Intel by getting > Intel-based products and developing for Intel, despite ~75% of x86/x86_64 > CPU market is owned by them. > > You are right, there are some difficulties about AMD products, such as the > need to reverse engineer SMU and Atombios firmwares for their APUs. But at > least they're not putting deliberate hardware obstacles in their new > products, and if they don't become "evil" like Intel (hope so) AMD could be > a future of coreboot x86/x86_64 branch. > > P.S. In addition to Lenovo G505s, I was very happy to find out that - > thanks to latest contributors - coreboot is now supporting the ASROCK > IMB-A180 and Biostar AM1ML which are based on AMD AM1 platform > (architecture family 16h, Puma/Jaguar SoCs are compatible) Maybe some of > these products have a potential to be RYF'ed, will see... > > Best regards, > Vladimir Shipovalov > > On 11 April 2015 at 19:33, Peter Stuge <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Alexandru Gagniuc wrote: >> > figured out how to fuse the PCH to disable ME >> >> Please read ISBN 9781430265719. >> >> The ME firmware controls the host CPU reset. >> >> //Peter >> >> On 10 April 2015 at 08:45, Alexandru Gagniuc <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> On Monday, April 06, 2015 01:45:32 PM Vladimir wrote: >>> > Dear coreboot developers, >>> > >>> > Francis Rowe (main Libreboot developer) has hinted an idea about adding >>> > Lenovo G505S to Coreboot LTS Candidates list of laptops, which is >>> hosted at >>> > MrNuke's User talk coreboot wiki page. I believe it is an excellent >>> idea, >>> > because: >>> > >>> You are free to add it, but keep in mind that anything with an AMD APU >>> will >>> fail the RYF-certifiable criteria due to SMU and atombios. >>> >>> If we're going to lower the bar, we should also consider Librem 15. At >>> least >>> that one has (should have) a much more durable construction and much >>> better >>> screen. If those guys aren't as full of it as they sound, and have >>> figured out >>> how to fuse the PCH to disable ME, then RYF'ing a Librem should be less >>> work >>> than anything APU. >>> >>> > Best regards, >>> Alex >>> >>> On 8 April 2015 at 12:49, Vladimir <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> What if A8 model is supported as well, just not tested yet? These APUs >>>> are very similar to each other, after all ;) >>>> Maybe a knowledgeable coreboot developers, especially those who have >>>> ported coreboot to G505S, could tell what parts of code are A10-specific - >>>> and, if there is indeed such a code, how to change the parameters of that >>>> code to make them suitable for A8 ? >>>> >>>> In case they don't reply: if you have SPI clip as well as BIOS >>>> programmer that supports many chips including MX25L1606E , could try a >>>> following scenario: >>>> 1) get A8 G505S locally & try to install coreboot >>>> 2) if it works, announce it to a mailing list that there's a support >>>> and keep a laptop to yourself ; but if it doesn't work - even after playing >>>> with parameters - and a laptop is bricked, you could restore a >>>> manufacturer's BIOS using SPI clip & BIOS programmer, and then return a >>>> laptop to seller... >>>> >>>> About A10 model - it does not seem to be US-only: there are a lot of >>>> offers in Russia, as well as at "developing countries" such as >>>> Thailand/India (maybe that stock was inherited from EU countries) But, >>>> because of huge quantity of different laptop models/modifications, and >>>> dependence of their local availability on local retailers' preference, >>>> there are countries which got either a small stock of G505S or none at all! >>>> :P And that returns us to "reasonable availability" debate... In my >>>> perception: >>>> >>>> "Reasonable availability" for a laptop model, is when a person is able >>>> to get a new laptop (not used/refurbished) - for a price that does not >>>> exceed the manufacturer's list price by more than X % of it. (e.g. 25%). >>>> That additional condition regarding the list price is necessary, because if >>>> there would be some greedy retailers left - who didn't sold out their large >>>> stock just because of outrageous unreasonable prices - I wouldn't call this >>>> as "reasonably available" ;) >>>> >>>> As you see, "reasonable availability" is a quite subjective term, >>>> because if your country doesn't have a stock of this laptop: >>>> *) your price would be not just price of unit but also a shipping price >>>> from other country, + possible import taxes >>>> *) there are various risks: if, because of your location, you cannot >>>> buy a laptop in store after checking its quality, >>>> a laptop could have manufacturing defects that are not enough to >>>> request a replacement/partial refund, e.g. laws based on ISO 13406-2 >>>> standard could allow a seller to refuse a replacement of laptop if there >>>> are a few annoying dead pixels. >>>> These risks have a different "weight" in the eyes of different people, >>>> e.g. many people wouldn't consider it as "reasonably available" even if >>>> it's available from neighbor country with a low shipping price, because >>>> they do not want to risk. And that makes this term even more subjective and >>>> hard to measure by automatic metrics... >>>> >>>> P.S. Indeed, some laptops that are listed in coreboot "LTS Candidates" >>>> list ( http://www.coreboot.org/User_talk:MrNuke/LTS_Candidates ) have >>>> A10-5750M as well and seem to be more "reasonably available" than G505S, at >>>> least for your country. But, despite having a somewhat similar hardware, >>>> nobody ported a coreboot to them yet :P >>>> >>>> Best regards, >>>> Vladimir Shipovalov >>>> >>>> >>>> On 7 April 2015 at 16:17, Emilian Bold <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> My point is not to limit your LTS list to US laptops. US has >>>>> *extraordinary* availability for a lot of gear. >>>>> >>>>> There's also the matter of procurement and warranty. A company won't >>>>> bother importing some laptop from outside the EU just because a developer >>>>> wants it -- they will look locally and as a last resort within the EU. >>>>> >>>>> Except some brands (Apple comes to mind) warranty becomes a hassle if >>>>> the laptop breaks. Transport costs, long wait time and language issues >>>>> complicate matters. >>>>> >>>>> Amazon Germany seems to have 2 laptops in stock with A10. Amazon >>>>> Spain/France/Italy/Netherlands has none. Only Amazon UK seems to have it >>>>> without giving a stock warning (but it's sold by a 3d party). >>>>> >>>>> Anyhow, I don't want to sidetrack this, but the first criteria for the >>>>> LTS laptop is "reasonable availability"... >>>>> >>>>> Perhaps you should have some metric for availability (this could even >>>>> be automated somewhat). Pick a list of top electronics sites/stores from a >>>>> list of countries and define a formula based on model availability. >>>>> >>>>> Alternatively, it would be great to support the A8 too! >>>>> >>>>> To me the the G505S would clearly be a better machine to recommend >>>>> compared to an ancient Thinkpad X2xx! >>>>> >>>>> --emi >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 3:28 PM, Vladimir <[email protected]> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> If I am not mistaken, your country is Romania... Unfortunately - if I >>>>>> didn't skip something - it looks like Romania went out of A10 stock just >>>>>> a >>>>>> couple of weeks ago! However, I found many offers from Hungary, which is >>>>>> very close! Some offers are listed on "price list"-type websites (e.g. >>>>>> http://www.arukereso.hu/CategorySearch.php?st=g505s+a10 ) while >>>>>> others are not listed anywhere (e.g. >>>>>> http://www.notebookspecialista.hu/lenovo_ideapad_g505s_59_422983_notebook-11928.html >>>>>> ) >>>>>> Nice thing is that these offers usually have A10 + R5 230M, slightly >>>>>> faster dual graphics. But the majority of G505S models selling in Europe >>>>>> have Win8 pre-installed, so I'm afraid it would be hard to avoid paying >>>>>> extra for this bloatware, in your case :P >>>>>> >>>>>> As for other European countries, it is difficult for me to look >>>>>> through the entire EU because there are many countries with many >>>>>> languages. >>>>>> I only know English as foreign language, and thats why the majority of >>>>>> foreign offers I'm able to find, are in UK/US... >>>>>> >>>>>> On 6 April 2015 at 23:12, Emilian Bold <[email protected]> >>>>>> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> Well, the G505S with A10-5750M is explicitly listed as no longer >>>>>>> being sold. So it's the A8 or nothing. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Could you provide links within the EU with (online) shops still >>>>>>> selling the A10 variant and having some actual stock? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> --emi >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Mon, Apr 6, 2015 at 6:45 PM, Vladimir <[email protected]> >>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Yes, in addition to A10-5750M based G505S there are also A8 and A6 >>>>>>>> ones. But there are some possible problems regarding them: >>>>>>>> 1) their price is just slightly lower than with A10 - as result, >>>>>>>> price/performance ratio seems to be worse for these models >>>>>>>> 2) I'm not sure if it is possible could upgrade their APU from >>>>>>>> A6/A8 to A10-5750M after purchase >>>>>>>> 3) most importantly: some parameters inside a coreboot source code >>>>>>>> for G505S could be A10-specific ; >>>>>>>> I am not sure if a current "A10-inclined build" would run on A8/A6 >>>>>>>> out of the box, without additional tweaking >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> A question from my last letter - about compatibility of G505S >>>>>>>> coreboot build with various graphics solutions found in different >>>>>>>> modifications, is not addressed yet... to remind, there are three >>>>>>>> groups of >>>>>>>> modifications: >>>>>>>> *) only 8650G (no dual graphics) >>>>>>>> *) 8650G + AMD HD 8570M (dual graphics) >>>>>>>> *) 8650G + AMD R5 M230 (dual graphics, slightly faster) >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> P.S. Below is an =incomplete= list of SKUs for A10 G505S models >>>>>>>> that I was able to find. If there is a shortage in your country, maybe >>>>>>>> this >>>>>>>> list could assist you in search (those mods with windows 8 are about >>>>>>>> $50 >>>>>>>> more expensive and support evil M$, please dont get them ;-) ) >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> 1) only 8650G (no dual graphics) + 4GB + FreeDOS = 59-410323 >>>>>>>> 2) only 8650G (no dual graphics) + 8GB + FreeDOS = 59-405169 >>>>>>>> 3) only 8650G (no dual graphics) + 4GB + Windows 8 = 59-380131 >>>>>>>> 4) only 8650G (no dual graphics) + 6GB + Windows 8 = 59-373010 / >>>>>>>> 59-406417 >>>>>>>> 5) only 8650G (no dual graphics) + 8GB + Windows 8 = 59-403088 >>>>>>>> 6) 8650G + AMD HD 8570M (dual graphics) + 4GB + FreeDOS = 59-405168 >>>>>>>> 7) 8650G + AMD HD 8570M (dual graphics) + 6GB + FreeDOS = 59-409773 >>>>>>>> 8) 8650G + AMD HD 8570M (dual graphics) + 8GB + FreeDOS = 59-380146 >>>>>>>> / 59-387536 >>>>>>>> 9) 8650G + AMD HD 8570M (dual graphics) + 4GB + Windows 8 = >>>>>>>> 59-407135 / 59410966 >>>>>>>> 10) 8650G + AMD HD 8570M (dual graphics) + 6GB + Windows 8 = >>>>>>>> 59-382102 >>>>>>>> 11) 8650G + AMD HD 8570M (dual graphics) + 8GB + Windows 8 = >>>>>>>> 59-401209 >>>>>>>> 12) 8650G + AMD R5 M230 (dual graphics, slightly faster) + 4GB + >>>>>>>> FreeDOS = 59-410881 >>>>>>>> 13) 8650G + AMD R5 M230 (dual graphics, slightly faster) + 8GB + >>>>>>>> FreeDOS = 59-410885 >>>>>>>> 14) 8650G + AMD R5 M230 (dual graphics, slightly faster) + 4GB + >>>>>>>> Windows 8 = 59-408604 >>>>>>>> 15) 8650G + AMD R5 M230 (dual graphics, slightly faster) + 8GB + >>>>>>>> Windows 8 = 59-410883 >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On 6 April 2015 at 14:20, Emilian Bold <[email protected]> >>>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> I can confirm I'm still able to buy a G505S in my country but it >>>>>>>>> seems to have the quad core A8-4500M (not the A10) with a dedicated >>>>>>>>> Radeon HD 8570M. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> It's a decent machine and it would be great to have it on the >>>>>>>>> official LTS list. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Speaking of the list, I cannot find any store selling the Toshiba >>>>>>>>> Satellite C50D-A mentioned in the wiki. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> --emi >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> On Mon, Apr 6, 2015 at 1:45 PM, Vladimir <[email protected] >>>>>>>>> > wrote: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Dear coreboot developers, >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Francis Rowe (main Libreboot developer) has hinted an idea about >>>>>>>>>> adding Lenovo G505S to Coreboot LTS Candidates list of laptops, >>>>>>>>>> which is >>>>>>>>>> hosted at MrNuke's User talk coreboot wiki page. I believe it is an >>>>>>>>>> excellent idea, because: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> *1)* Lenovo G505S contains AMD APU, so there is no need to deal >>>>>>>>>> with Intel ME/AMT so-called "features" >>>>>>>>>> *2)* this APU has Richland architecture: as result (unlike the >>>>>>>>>> more recent AMD offerings) it doesn't have "AMD Secure" feature -- >>>>>>>>>> based on >>>>>>>>>> ARM Trustzone technology which already has some exploits against it; >>>>>>>>>> there >>>>>>>>>> are security concerns about ARM Trustzone that are similar to >>>>>>>>>> concerns >>>>>>>>>> about Intel vPro "feature" (remote management etc.) >>>>>>>>>> *3)* this APU is A10-5750M, the most powerful mobile APU among >>>>>>>>>> Richland designs - as result, this laptop is still very competitive >>>>>>>>>> regarding its performance, and also price/performance >>>>>>>>>> *4)* Unlike the older HP M6-1035DX amd laptop, Lenovo G505S >>>>>>>>>> seems to be a very popular model: even now, more than 1.5 years >>>>>>>>>> after its' >>>>>>>>>> introduction, there are >200 Internet shops in my large city still >>>>>>>>>> selling >>>>>>>>>> it new in box - not used/refurbished >>>>>>>>>> *5)* Lenovo G505s works without microcode updates, and already >>>>>>>>>> has a working Coreboot build (although Video BIOS and SMU firmware >>>>>>>>>> have >>>>>>>>>> blobs that are still not reverse-engineered; and some minor issues - >>>>>>>>>> e.g. >>>>>>>>>> ACPI not perfect yet ) >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> These great points are making me wonder, why this interesting >>>>>>>>>> laptop still haven't been added to that LTS Candidates list? Does it >>>>>>>>>> fail >>>>>>>>>> to meet some requirement for LTS candidates in a not-obvious way >>>>>>>>>> (RYF-certifiable,Sturdy,Long shelf-life,Cool factor) or there is some >>>>>>>>>> not-listed AMD laptop that could be a better candidate? >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> By the way, I have discovered that there are many modifications >>>>>>>>>> of Lenovo G505S, which could be divided into three primary groups by >>>>>>>>>> their >>>>>>>>>> major difference - GPU *(minor differences, such as different >>>>>>>>>> size of RAM or hard drive, are not interesting)* >>>>>>>>>> GPU modification groups: >>>>>>>>>> *1)* only 8650G, which is built-in into APU (no dual graphics) >>>>>>>>>> *2)* 8650G + AMD HD 8570M (dual graphics) >>>>>>>>>> *3)* 8650G + AMD R5 M230 ( dual graphics, slightly more powerful >>>>>>>>>> than "2)" ) >>>>>>>>>> Are these modifications all supported by Coreboot? And would be >>>>>>>>>> there any additional difficulties regarding modifications with dual >>>>>>>>>> graphics? >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Your answers and opinions will be very welcome >>>>>>>>>> Best regards, >>>>>>>>>> Vladimir Shipovalov >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>>>> coreboot mailing list: [email protected] >>>>>>>>>> http://www.coreboot.org/mailman/listinfo/coreboot >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>> >> >
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