Protectli Vault VP46xx series

This page describes how to run coreboot on the Protectli VP46xx.

Required proprietary blobs

To build a minimal working coreboot image some blobs are required (assuming only the BIOS region is being modified).

Binary file

Apply

Required / Optional

FSP-M, FSP-S

Intel Firmware Support Package

Required

microcode

CPU microcode

Required

FSP-M and FSP-S are obtained after splitting the Comet Lake FSP binary (done automatically by the coreboot build system and included into the image) from the 3rdparty/fsp submodule. VP4630 and VP4650 use CometLake2 FSP and VP4670 use CometLake1 FSP (see variants section), so be sure to select the correct board in the coreboot’s menuconfig, otherwise the platform will not succeed on memory initialization.

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

Flashing coreboot

Internal programming

The main SPI flash can be accessed using flashrom. The first version supporting the chipset is flashrom v1.2. Firmware an be easily flashed with internal programmer (either BIOS region or full image).

External programming

The system has an internal flash chip which is a 16 MiB socketed SOIC-8 chip. This chip is located on the top side of the case (the lid side). One has to remove 4 top cover screws and lift up the lid. The flash chip is near the M.2 WiFi slot connector. Remove the chip from socket and use a clip to program the chip. Specifically, it’s a KH25L12835F (3.3V) which is a clone of Macronix MX25L12835F - datasheet.

Known issues

  • After flashing with external programmer it is always required to reset RTC with a jumper or disconnect the coin cell temporarily. Only then the platform will boot after flashing.

Working

  • USB 3.0 front ports (SeaBIOS, Tianocore UEFIPayload and Linux)

  • 6 Ethernet ports

  • HDMI, DisplayPort and USB-C Display Port with libgfxinit and FSP GOP

  • flashrom

  • M.2 WiFi

  • M.2 4G LTE

  • M.2 SATA and NVMe

  • 2.5’’ SATA SSD

  • eMMC

  • Super I/O serial port 0 via front microUSB connector (Fintek F81232 USB to UART adapter present on board)

  • SMBus (reading SPD from DIMMs)

  • Initialization with CometLake FSP 2.0

  • SeaBIOS payload (version rel-1.16.0)

  • TianoCore UEFIPayload

  • LPC TPM module (using Protectli custom-designed module with Infineon SLB9660)

  • Reset switch

  • Booting Debian, Ubuntu, FreeBSD

Variants

There are 3 variants of VP46xx boards: VP4630, VP4650 and VP4670. They differ only in used SoC and some units may come with different Super I/O chips, either ITE IT8786E or IT8784E, but the configuration is the same on this platform.

  • VP4630:

CPU

Intel Core i3-10110U

PCH

Intel Comet Lake U Premium

Super I/O, EC

ITE IT8786E/IT8784E

Coprocessor

Intel Management Engine

  • VP4650:

CPU

Intel Core i5-10210U

PCH

Intel Comet Lake U Premium

Super I/O, EC

ITE IT8786E/IT8784E

Coprocessor

Intel Management Engine

  • VP4670:

CPU

Intel Core i7-10810U

PCH

Intel Comet Lake U Premium

Super I/O, EC

ITE IT8786E/IT8784E

Coprocessor

Intel Management Engine