Dell OptiPlex 9010

This page describes how to run coreboot on Dell OptiPlex 9010 SFF.

../../_images/optiplex_9010.jpg

Technology

CPU Intel Core 2nd Gen (Sandybridge) or 3rd Gen (Ivybridge)
DRAM Up to 4 DIMM slots, up to 32GB 1600MHz non-ECC DDR3 SDRAM
Chipset Intel Q77 Express
Super I/O SMSC SCH5545 (or SCH5544) with Environmental Controller
TPM ST Microelectronics ST33ZP24
Boot From USB, SATA, NVMe (using PCIe x4 expansion card)
Power 200W-275W PSU

More specifications on Dell OptiPlex 9010 specifications.

Required proprietary blobs

Binary file Apply Required / Optional
smsc_sch5545.bin SMSC SCH5545 EC Optional
microcode CPU microcode Required

Microcode updates are automatically included into the coreboot image by build system from the 3rdparty/intel-microcode submodule.

SMSC SC5545 EC firmware is optional, however lack of the binary will result in EC malfunction after power failure and fans running at full speed. The blob can be extracted from original firmware. It should be located under a file with GUID D386BEB8-4B54-4E69-94F5-06091F67E0D3, raw section. The file begins with a signature SMSCUBIM. The easiest way to do this is to use UEFITool and Extract body option on the raw section of the file.

Flashing coreboot

Type Value
Socketed flash no
Model MX25L6406E/MX25L3206E
Size 8 + 4 MiB
Package SOIC-16 + SOIC-8
Write protection chipset PRR
Dual BIOS feature no
Internal flashing yes

Internal programming

The SPI flash can be accessed using flashrom.

flashrom -p internal -w coreboot.rom --ifd -i bios

Internal programming will not work when migrating from original UEFI firmware. One will have to short the SERVICE_MODE jumper to enable HMRFPO and then boot the machine to flash it.

External programming

The external access to flash chip is available through standard SOP-8 clip and/or SOP-16 clip on the right side of the CPU fan (marked on the board image). The voltage of SPI flash is 3.3V.

There are no restrictions as to the programmer device. It is only recommended to flash firmware without supplying power. There are no diodes connected to the flash chips. External programming can be performed, for example using OrangePi and Armbian. You can use linux_spi driver which provides communication with SPI devices. Example command to program SPI flash with OrangePi using linux_spi:

flashrom -w coreboot.rom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev1.0,spispeed=16000

Schematics

There are no schematics for SFF, but if one looks for MT/DT schematics, they can be found publicly. Most of the schematics should match the SFF (although MT/DT has additional PCIe and PCI slot).

Known issues

  • There seems to be a problem with DRAM clearing on reboot. The SSKPD register still contains 0xCAFE which leads to reset loop.

Untested

Not all mainboard’s peripherals and functions were tested because of lack of the cables or not being populated on the board case.

  • Internal USB 2.0 header
  • Wake from S3 using serial port
  • Wake-on-Lan from ACPI S4/S5

Working

  • USB 3.0 and 2.0 rear and front ports (SeaBIOS and Linux 4.19)
  • Gigabit Ethernet
  • VGA and 2x DP port using libgfxinit
  • flashrom
  • PCIe x1 WiFi in PCIe x4 slot
  • NVMe PCIe x4 using PCIe x4 expansion card
  • PCIe x16 PEG port using Dell Radeon HD 7570
  • SATA ports (SATA disks and DVD)
  • Super I/O serial port 0 (RS232 DB9 connector on the rear side)
  • SMBus (reading SPD from DIMMs)
  • CPU initialization using Intel i7-3770
  • Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge native RAM initialization
  • SeaBIOS payload (version rel-1.13.0)
  • PS/2 keyboard and mouse (including wake support)
  • LPC debug header (requires soldering of the pin header and shorting RF24 for LPC clock)
  • USB debug dongle (the most bottom USB 2.0 port under RJ45 on the read side)
  • SMSC SCH5545 Super I/O initialization
  • SMSC SCH5545 EC initialization and firmware update
  • SMSC SCH5545 EC automatic fan control
  • TPM 1.2
  • Booting Debian 10, Ubuntu 18.04, QubesOS R4.01
  • Boot with cleaned ME
  • Intruder detection
  • Wake-on-Lan from ACPI S3