Hello, anyone here has coreboot or any distribution like libreboot? I think of buying something compatible. I mainly make music in reaper with few plugins, browse internet, sometimes do graphic design and sometimes play left 4 dead 2 and games like that. I use artix linux. If you have done this could you share your experience? What to look for?
Depends on the degree of coreboot support. If the vendor or a firm like 3mdeb officially supports coreboot on your model of choice, it’ll have first-class support and you won’t miss out on anything compared to your typical proprietary BIOS.
If you plan on installing it yourself, do read carefully through the coreboot docs since some systems will have a few quirks (e.g. audio jack issues on T480/T470). But once coreboot is up and running on your computer, it’s smooth sailing on Linux. Compiling and flashing can be a bit of a rabbit hole, but I’m happy to give some pointers if you go this route.
I daily drive a ThinkPad X230 with Libreboot and haven’t had any issues. The only significant differences I’ve noticed are
- Faster boot times (1 to 2 seconds to reach LUKS prompt)
- Config menu (
nvramcuipayload) has very few options - (Libreboot exclusive) Full-disk encryption by having GRUB with LUKS2 support directly on the BIOS
- I left out UEFI support since it’s complicated on the X230 and it’s not necessary for Linux to boot
I have old Thinkpad 230 with Coreboot. From the user’s point of view, when using the Linux distributions, I don’t feel any difference between Coreboot and a regular BIOS. Coreboot or Libreboot installation can sometimes be difficult, you may need a separate hardware programmer and it can be difficult to connect the wires to the contacts.
You may have come across this already – and if you have, you are on the right path. Here is a solid list from the coreboot docs on mainboards they support.
You should be able to derive a few vendors from this list, as well as compare any possible candidates you have found to it. Some vendors on this list produce hardware that is Linux-forward, such as System76 and Purism. Linux-forwad vendors are good place to start.
System76 has laptops and small profile desktops, servers, etc. Purism has most of that, as well. Both are gonna be a little pricier than a typical vendor, but the hardware – and their respective missions – are worth it if you have the means. I have owned and / or used PCs from both these vendors, and they have been quality.
Otherwise, that linked list above will be helpful to determine if what you are researching has a mainboard that works. Best of luck!
i use libreboot with a samsung chromebook, running postmarketos. works fine, no need to fiddle with it.
Did you need to flash with a programmer or was it installable from within the OS?
I don’t know specifically about samsung chromebook, but many devices require an external hardware programmer.
Libreboot is amazing. But unless you are technical or have someone technical in your life. It isn’t something that you need to deal with. It basically works and you can ignore it exists.
I am not using them myself but I have heard that some ThinkPads support Libreboot. Also, System76 sells laptops with Coreboot.
I don’t think choosing a particular Linux distro matters with them.
