Learn the fundamentals of coreboot, an open-source firmware replacement project, through this comprehensive course covering architecture, development, and practical implementation. Explore what coreboot is and understand essential firmware terminology, including where firmware resides in computer systems and the Open Source Firmware (OSF) ecosystem. Discover coreboot's history, industry adoption, and government commitment to open-source firmware solutions. Master the development environment setup, including git guidelines, useful git tricks, and the coreboot toolchain and SDK. Understand the contribution process, development rules, documentation standards, committing procedures, code review processes, and community engagement. Dive deep into the coreboot boot process, examining the various stages including reset vector, bootblock, verstage, romstage, postcar, ramstage, and payload execution. Gain hands-on experience with the build system, including Makefile and Kconfig overviews, menuconfig usage, and building coreboot for QEMU emulation. Learn about CBFS (coreboot File System) and cbfstool utilities for firmware image management. Practice running coreboot in QEMU virtual environments, utilizing debug consoles, QEMU monitor features, and CBMEM (coreboot Memory Console) for system analysis. Develop debugging skills using GDB for firmware development and troubleshooting.

Syllabus

Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 01 What is coreboot?
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 02 Firmware Jargon
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 03 Where is Firmware?
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 04 OSF Ecosystem
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 05 coreboot History
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 06 Industry and Government Commitment
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 07 Development Environment Preparation
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 08 git Guidelines
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 09 Useful git Tricks
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 10 coreboot Toolchain
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 11 coreboot SDK
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 12 coreboot Contribution Overview
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 13 Development Rules
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 14 Developer Documentation
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 15 Committing
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 16 Before You Push
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 17 Code Review
Arch4031 01 coreboot Fundamentals 18 Community
Arch4031 02 coreboot Boot Process 00 About Michal
Arch4031 02 coreboot Boot Process 01 Introduction
Arch4031 02 coreboot Boot Process 02 coreboot Stages
Arch4031 02 coreboot Boot Process 03 Reset Vector
Arch4031 02 coreboot Boot Process 04 Bootblock
Arch4031 02 coreboot Boot Process 05 Verstage
Arch4031 02 coreboot Boot Process 06 Romstage
Arch4031 02 coreboot Boot Process 07 Postcar
Arch4031 02 coreboot Boot Process 08 Ramstage
Arch4031 02 coreboot Boot Process 09 Payload
Arch4031 03 coreboot Building 01 Makefile Overview
Arch4031 03 coreboot Building 02 Kconfig Overview
Arch4031 03 coreboot Building 03 Build System
Arch4031 03 coreboot Building 04 Menuconfig Overview
Arch4031 03 coreboot Building 05 coreboot for QEMU
Arch4031 03 coreboot Building 06 Kconfig Output
Arch4031 03 coreboot Building 07 Makefile Kconfig Connection
Arch4031 03 coreboot Building 08 Toolchain
Arch4031 03 coreboot Building 09 Building coreboot for QEMU
Arch4031 03 coreboot Building 10 CBFS and cbfstool
Arch4031 04 Running coreboot In Qemu 01 About QEMU
Arch4031 04 Running coreboot In Qemu 02 Practice5 Run coreboot in QEMU
Arch4031 04 Running coreboot In Qemu 03 Practice6 QEMU Debug Console
Arch4031 04 Running coreboot In QEMU 04 Practice7 QEMU Monitor
Arch4031 04 Running coreboot In QEMU 05 More QEMU Features
Arch4031 04 Running coreboot In Qemu 06 CBMEM
Arch4031 04 Running coreboot In Qemu 07 Practice9 CBMEM Usage
Arch4031 04 Running coreboot In QEMU 08 Debugging Using GDB