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Can Libreboot enable SATA II ?

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owen_r61
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Can Libreboot enable SATA II ?

#1 Post by owen_r61 » Mon Sep 18, 2017 12:25 am

I'd like to know if Libreboot can enable Sata II system speeds, like the Middleton bios firmware can.

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Re: Can Libreboot enable SATA II ?

#2 Post by ajkula66 » Mon Sep 18, 2017 7:44 am

Libreboot is not supported on 61 generation
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Re: Can Libreboot enable SATA II ?

#3 Post by owen_r61 » Mon Sep 18, 2017 11:24 am

I'm asking concerning the X60, but in my case it's a bit more complicated. I have an X61 now, which also is not supported by Libreboot, and it will require an X60 system board in order to Libreboot it. Middleton bios firmware flash gives the X61 Sata II speed. I'm wanting a Libreboot system and am weighing out whether or not I want to buy the X60 board to accomplish this.

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Re: Can Libreboot enable SATA II ?

#4 Post by axur-delmeria » Mon Sep 18, 2017 11:29 am

More bad news for you then: the X60 doesn't support SATA II speeds (hardware limitation).
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Re: Can Libreboot enable SATA II ?

#5 Post by owen_r61 » Mon Sep 18, 2017 12:22 pm

That's what I needed to know. Thank you! Can I also assume that this hardware limitation is also effecting the T60 in this regard?

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Re: Can Libreboot enable SATA II ?

#6 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Sep 18, 2017 12:32 pm

X60/T60/R60 are all limited to 3GB RAM and SATA I.
X61/T61/R61 can get up to 8GB RAM and Middleton's BIOS with SATA II.
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Re: Can Libreboot enable SATA II ?

#7 Post by axur-delmeria » Mon Sep 18, 2017 2:03 pm

owen_r61 wrote:
Mon Sep 18, 2017 12:22 pm
That's what I needed to know. Thank you! Can I also assume that this hardware limitation is also effecting the T60 in this regard?
Yes. The limitation is the ICH7-M southbridge chip common to R/T/X60 (and Z61). For some reason it lacks SATA II support, even though the desktop variant of this southbridge supports it. :?
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
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Re: Can Libreboot enable SATA II ?

#8 Post by dr_st » Mon Sep 18, 2017 2:22 pm

axur-delmeria wrote:
Mon Sep 18, 2017 2:03 pm
Yes. The limitation is the ICH7-M southbridge chip common to R/T/X60 (and Z61). For some reason it lacks SATA II support, even though the desktop variant of this southbridge supports it. :?
You want something even weirder? For some reason, ICH7-M has AHCI support, even though the desktop ICH7 does not. :twisted:
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Re: Can Libreboot enable SATA II ?

#9 Post by owen_r61 » Mon Sep 18, 2017 2:39 pm

I just want to say, thank you for the replies! I may still go ahead and get the X60 board though, as the X60 and T60 are the easiest to Libreboot as it's all done through software. The X200 is probably the machine that I want to Libreboot, but buying a Rasberry pi and flashing individual components seems very complex to me and I don't know if I can do it. Thanks for all of your help!

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Re: Can Libreboot enable SATA II ?

#10 Post by axur-delmeria » Mon Sep 18, 2017 3:00 pm

dr_st wrote:
Mon Sep 18, 2017 2:22 pm
axur-delmeria wrote:
Mon Sep 18, 2017 2:03 pm
Yes. The limitation is the ICH7-M southbridge chip common to R/T/X60 (and Z61). For some reason it lacks SATA II support, even though the desktop variant of this southbridge supports it. :?
You want something even weirder? For some reason, ICH7-M has AHCI support, even though the desktop ICH7 does not. :twisted:
Market segmentation, perhaps? One way to force motherboard manufacturers to buy the more expensive ICH7R. :x
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
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Re: Can Libreboot enable SATA II ?

#11 Post by dr_st » Mon Sep 18, 2017 3:27 pm

axur-delmeria wrote:
Mon Sep 18, 2017 3:00 pm
Market segmentation, perhaps? One way to force motherboard manufacturers to buy the more expensive ICH7R. :x
Most likely. Except it didn't work so well, based on the meager number of boards with ICH7R.
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
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Re: Can Libreboot enable SATA II ?

#12 Post by jaspen-meyer » Sun Sep 24, 2017 2:28 pm

X60(s) boards are under twenty bucks. What are you weighing out? If you don't mind slow, get an L2400 or L2500. If you want fast, T5600.

I have a few x200's with libreboot available. PM me if you're interested.

I've got lots of x60(s)'s and find them to be plenty snappy. I moved from an x61s to an x60s to x60s with libreboot, to an x62...the x60s with a low-latency SSD and an unbloated version of Linux, complete with 'tmpfs' set up in /etc/fstab for temporary folders, can be very snappy. Lately I go back and forth between my x60s (L2400) and my x62 (i5-5200u) and only rarely notice the difference.

One board to consider is the T5600. I only used one once, for 10 minutes, and it was much faster than my L2400. I'm not sure if it runs much hotter than my L2400...
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led

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Re: Can Libreboot enable SATA II ?

#13 Post by owen_r61 » Mon Sep 25, 2017 12:06 am

It's already done! I got an entire X60, with bad screen, for $15. Saturday I did the work, took most of the day, but now I have a Librebooted X61/X60. I'm running triquel 7.0 i686. It works great... just love it!

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