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My Libreboot T480

To Do (For me)

  • Hardening Grub

Notice

This guide is unofficial, it was created to facilitate installation and help. I am human and prone to errors, if you notice any mistakes, please let me know. The most reliable source is the official page:

Good luck with the installation. Welcome to the community.

Index

Resources

Required Materials

  • External computer or something that can run a Linux/BSD/Mac terminal
  • USB drive
  • Programmer, in my case, Raspberry Pi Pico
  • SOIC-8 clip
  • Jumper wires
  • Internet
  • Screwdriver
  • Luck and patience

Downgrade/Upgrade Factory BIOS

wget https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n24ur39w.iso

git clone https://github.com/rainer042/geteltorito
chmod +x geteltorito/geteltorito.pl

geteltorito/geteltorito.pl -o t480_bios_update.img /path/to/your/downloaded.iso
sudo dd if=t480_bios_update.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M conv=fsync status=progress

In BIOS:

  • Disable Secure Rollback Prevention under UEFI BIOS Update Option.
  • Enable Flash BIOS Updating by End Users.
  • Disable SecureBoot.

Make sure the PC is well-charged or connected to power.

Then connect the USB drive and select it from the Boot menu (F12 before or during the LENOVO logo). Follow the instructions.

Before Flashing LIBREBOOT

In addition to the options above, add this and be careful with the following points on the T480:

  • Enable Legacy BIOS.
  • Remove the external battery.
  • Disconnect the internal battery.
  • Disconnect the CMOS battery.

Prepare Firmware/Flash Vendor Blobs

Next, on another PC:

Download the Libreboot image for the T480/T480s. Download from this page, scroll down, and select any link under HTTPS Mirror or other options, but those are recommended.

You should download the following file depending on your model, T480/T480s. In this case, T480:

stable -> 20241206 -> roms -> libreboot-20241206rev10_t480_vfsp_16mb.tar.xz

Also, download the sha512 (OPTIONAL):

stable -> 20241206 -> roms -> libreboot-20241206rev10_t480_vfsp_16mb.tar.xz.sha512

If you see this in the future, it may be in a higher revision, so it will say rev11 or higher, no problem.

sha512sum -c libreboot-20241206rev10_t480_vfsp_16mb.tar.xz.sha512

If they match, everything is fine.

Set up the git user:

sudo dnf install git
git config --global user.name "John Doe"
git config --global user.email "johnDoe123@email.com"

To flash the vendor blobs, we need lbmk:

git clone https://codeberg.org/libreboot/lbmk.git

Then:

cd lbmk
sudo ./mk dependencies fedora41

Or whichever distribution you are using (Check: config/dependencies/ for list of supported distros.):

sudo ./mk dependencies arch
sudo ./mk dependencies ubuntu
sudo ./mk dependencies debian
#...

Prepare Roms

Usually, you move the libreboot-20241206rev10_t480_vfsp_16mb.tar.xz inside lbmk. However, it can be anywhere, you just need to put the correct path.

Now, from rev8, the MAC address is automatically set with the following command:

cd lbmk
./mk inject libreboot-20241206rev10_t480_vfsp_16mb.tar.xz

Raspberry Pi Pico

Download here as before.

stable -> 20241206 -> roms -> libreboot-20241206rev10_serprog_pico.tar.xz

tar -xf libreboot-20241206rev8_serprog_pico.tar.xz
cd bin/serprog_pico/
  • Connect the Raspberry Pi Pico by pressing BOOTSEL, then mount it on /mnt.
  • Now copy serprog_pico.uf2 to the Raspberry Pi Pico, i.e., to /mnt.
  • That should be it. umount /mnt and sync, and you're done.

To check, remount it, and the .uf2 should disappear. Then:

sudo dmesg | grep -i "tty"

You should see something like:

[ 1196.211884] cdc_acm 1-2:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device

Remember ttyACM0 or the number that appears.

Flash

Install Flashprog

This should work, but it didn't for me, so I had to do it manually in Method 2.

METHOD 1:

cd lbmk
./mk -b flashprog

METHOD 2:

Official page.

Clone the repository:

git clone https://review.sourcearcade.org/flashprog.git

Then, install the corresponding dependencies. For Fedora:

sudo dnf install -y gcc meson ninja pkg-config pciutils libusb libftdi libgpiod libjaylink

To know which packages to install on other distributions, you can:

Go to flashprog/Documentation and check the building_meson.md file; it lists the dependencies for some distributions.

If not, search your distribution for the names of the dependencies listed on the Official Page. Then, to install flashprog:

cd flashprog
make
sudo make install

Connect SOIC-8

Connect the Raspberry Pi Pico to the SOIC-8 as shown in this image. Raspberry Pi Pico Image from Mission_Catanloupe23

The order of the jumpers is important, make sure to align them physically with the one in the image above.

Here are some of my images:

1 2

In the last one, it appears green because the flashprog command is being used.

BIOS Backup

We will need. ttyACM0 (use the one you noted before) and the chip's name (appears physically).

In my case, they are as follows, and we will perform some backups of BIOS and verify the connection of the clip:

sudo flashprog -p serprog:dev=/dev/ttyACM0 -c "W25Q128.V" -r t480_stockbios_1.bin
sudo flashprog -p serprog:dev=/dev/ttyACM0 -c "W25Q128.V" -r t480_stockbios_2.bin
sudo flashprog -p serprog:dev=/dev/ttyACM0 -c "W25Q128.V" -r t480_stockbios_3.bin
sha256sum t480_stockbios*.bin

If they don't match, disconnect FIRST FROM THE PC, then disconnect the clip and reconnect it. When all the sha256 values match, you can proceed.

Select Rom and Flash

Extract libreboot-20241206rev10_t480_vfsp_16mb.tar.xz:

tar -xf libreboot-20241206rev10_t480_vfsp_16mb.tar.xz
cd /bin/t480_vfsp_16mb

Select the one you want and run:

sudo flashprog -p serprog:dev=/dev/ttyACM0 -c "W25Q128.V" -w seagrub_t480_vfsp_16mb_libgfxinit_corebootfb_usqwerty.rom

Congratulations!! Enjoy your new Libreboot.

Internal Flashing

This work for updates. If you already installed Libreboot using the above method, you can now do it internally without problems.

sudo vim /etc/default/grub

Search for GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX and add iomem, if it has another parameter, place it next to it:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="iomem=relaxed other parameters"

In Fedora:

sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

In Debian:

sudo update-grub

In other distros search it.

Then, reboot.

This steps are necesary:

Quick review

Download got to https.

stable -> 20241206 -> roms -> libreboot-20241206rev11_t480_vfsp_16mb.tar.xz

git clone https://codeberg.org/libreboot/lbmk.git
cd lbmk
sudo ./mk dependencies fedora41
cd lbmk
./mk inject libreboot-20241206rev11_t480_vfsp_16mb.tar.xz
./mk -b flashprog # O revisar metodo 2 en Flashprog 
tar -xf libreboot-20241206rev11_t480_vfsp_16mb.tar.xz
cd /bin/t480_vfsp_16mb

Optional:

sudo flashprog -p internal -r bios-backup.bin

Internal Flashing:

sudo flashprog -p internal -w seagrub_t480_vfsp_16mb_libgfxinit_corebootfb_usqwerty.rom

Problems

Fedora Won't Boot

It's an easy problem to fix. It’s explained Here. Basically, for modern versions, it's fixed by modifying the following line in /etc/default/grub:

GRUB_ENABLE_BLSCFG=false

Then:

sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

Time Synchronization Problem

If you have time issues due to removing the CMOS battery.

sudo timedatectl set-ntp false
sudo date -s -u "HH:MM:SS" # Check UTC time on any reliable website
sudo timedatectl set-timezone UTC # You can set your timezone here
sudo hwclock --systohc
sudo timedatectl set-ntp true

If it doesn't work, it should be something similar. Use timedatectl to check times.

Sound Problem

This issue was mentioned by Mission_Catanloupe23. The jack works, but with Pulseaudio. When you plug in headphones, you need to manually change them in Pulseaudio Volume Control or pavucontrol, as they won’t be automatically detected.

Thunderbolt Flash

I couldn’t get it to work, but I haven’t had any issues.

Doesn’t Turn On

An issue that happened to me was the following: the PC suddenly turned off and wouldn’t turn back on. The only thing it did was blink the power button light when plugged into a charger, but it wouldn’t power on or do anything else.

The solution is to open it up, disconnect the CMOS battery (and the internal battery too, if it has one), and to be sure, press and hold the power button for 30 seconds (with everything disconnected) to fully discharge the computer. Then reconnect everything and it should work.

My theory is that it might be an error related to the Thunderbolt port, but I have no idea why. Still, this is a simple and quick fix, so don’t panic if it ever happens to you.

Others

For more doubts or issues, check these official resources: