Coreboot/ToDo

Coreboot for POWER9

Goals

• Replace hostboot
• Speed up IPL
• Migrate from tangle of FSP routines to clean coreboot codebase
• Get simulator up and running for early POWER9 init -- qemu?
•  ???

Tasks

Roughly in logical order

• Update coreboot toolchain for POWER9
• Document
  • Exactly what coreboot needs to do in terms of hardware configuration
  • What state the processor is in at entry to coreboot (exit from SBE)
  • What state the processor needs to be left in at exit from coreboot (entry to skiboot)
• Determine extent of existing POWER9 emulation in coreboot
  • skiboot and skiroot are believed to work in the simulation environment
  • The hardware underlying hostboot is mostly un-emulated, though very basic ppc64 software remains able to be executed. May be enough to debug bootblock / exit from SBE?
• Determine if simulation or direct hardware development is going to be the better route
• Replace HBBL with coreboot bootblock
  • Load and cryptographically verify romstage
• Get romstage up and running
  • Nest start
  • Fabric setup
  • XBUS training / configuration
  • SMP init
  • DDR4 training(!)
• Get ramstage up and running
  • Handoff to skiboot

Resources

• Online Documentation