ASUS A88XM-E
This page describes how to run coreboot on the ASUS A88XM-E.
Technology
Both “Trinity” and “Richland” FM2 desktop processing units are working, the CPU architecture in these CPUs/APUs are Piledriver, and their GPU is TeraScale 3 (VLIW4-based).
Kaveri is non-working at the moment (FM2+), the CPU architecture in these CPUs/APUs are Steamroller, and their GPU is Sea Islands (GCN2-based).
A10 Richland is recommended for the best performance and working IOMMU.
A88XM-E |
|
DDR voltage IC |
Nuvoton 3101S |
Network |
Realtek RTL8111G |
Northbridge |
Integrated into CPU with IMC and GPU (APUs only) |
Southbridge |
Bolton-D4 |
Sound IC |
Realtek ALC887 |
Super I/O |
ITE IT8603E |
VRM controller |
DIGI VRM ASP1206 |
Flashing coreboot
Type |
Value |
|---|---|
Socketed flash |
yes |
Model |
[GD25Q64] |
Size |
8 MiB |
Package |
DIP-8 |
Write protection |
yes |
Dual BIOS feature |
no |
Internal flashing |
yes |
Internal programming
The main SPI flash can be accessed using flashrom, if the AmdSpiRomProtect modules have been deleted in the factory image previously.
External flashing
Using a PLCC Extractor or any other appropriate tool, carefully remove the DIP-8 BIOS chip from its’ socket while avoiding the bent pins, if possible. To flash it, use a flashrom-supported USB CH341A programmer - preferably with a green PCB - and double check that it’s giving a 3.3V voltage on the socket pins.
Integrated graphics
Retrieve the VGA optionrom (“Retrieval via Linux kernel” method)
Make sure a proprietary UEFI is flashed and boot Linux with iomem=relaxed flag. Some Linux drivers (e.g. radeon for AMD) make option ROMs like the video blob available to user space via sysfs. To use that to get the blob you need to enable it first. To that end you need to determine the path within /sys corresponding to your graphics chip. It looks like this:
# /sys/devices/pci<domain>:<bus>/<domain>:<bus>:<slot>.<function>/rom.
You can get the respective information with lspci, for example:
# lspci -tv
# -[0000:00]-+-00.0 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 16h Processor Root Complex
# +-01.0 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Kabini [Radeon HD 8210]
# ...
Here the the needed bits (for the ROM of the Kabini device) are:
# PCI domain: (almost always) 0000
# PCI bus: (also very commonly) 00
# PCI slot: 01 (logical slot; different from any physical slots)
# PCI function: 0 (a PCI device might have multiple functions... shouldn't matter here)
To enable reading of the ROM you need to write 1 to the respective file, e.g.:
# echo 1 > /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/rom
The same file should then contain the video blob and it should be possible to simply copy it, e.g.:
# cp /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/rom vgabios.bin
romheaders should print reasonable output for this file.
This version is usable for all the GPUs. 1002,9901 Trinity (Radeon HD 7660D) 1002,9904 Trinity (Radeon HD 7560D) 1002,990c Richland (Radeon HD 8670D) 1002,990e Richland (Radeon HD 8570D) 1002,9991 Trinity (Radeon HD 7540D) 1002,9993 Trinity (Radeon HD 7480D) 1002,9996 Richland (Radeon HD 8470D) 1002,9998 Richland (Radeon HD 8370D) 1002,999d Richland (Radeon HD 8550D) 1002,130f Kaveri (Radeon R7)
Known issues
AHCI hot-plug
S3 resume (sometimes)
Windows 7 can’t boot because of the incomplete ACPI implementation
XHCI
XHCI ports can break after using any of the blobs, restarting the
board with factory image makes it work again as fallback. Tested even with/without the Bolton and Hudson blobs.
Untested
audio over HDMI
TODOs
one ATOMBIOS module for all the integrated GPUs
manage to work with Kaveri/Godavary (they are using a binaryPI)
IRQ routing is done incorrect way - common problem of fam15h boards
Working
ACPI
CPU frequency scaling
flashrom under coreboot
Gigabit Ethernet
Hardware monitoring
Integrated graphics
KVM virtualization
Onboard audio
PCI
PCIe
PS/2 keyboard mouse (during payload, bootloader)
SATA
Serial port
SuperIO based fan control
USB (disabling XHCI controller makes to work as fallback USB2.0 ports)
IOMMU