You can run a free OS pretty effortless, but when wanting 100% free software, you have to dig deeper and replace the proprietary BIOS firmware.
System76, starlabs, protectli, raptor computing…
Besides the already mentioned Star Labs and System76, there’s also Insurgo, Nitropad and NovaCustom.
As for an exhaustive list on the matter, unfortunately, I don’t think something like that is out there. Though both Canoeboot (formerly known as Libreboot) and Dasharo do have their own respective lists.
Canoeboot is more of a sister to libreboot than a replacement
Thanks for the correction!
Canoeboot is engineered to a high standard, basing off of each Libreboot release, but you should still use Libreboot. Canoeboot is only a proof of concept.
I just got myself a Clevo NV41MZ, supported by Dasharo! Lets see if this machine would like to boot my damn usb sticks XD
Hehe :P , consider to keep us updated on how it goes ;) !
Clevo MZ41
Would that be the Clevo model that NovaCustom’s NV41 Series is ‘based’ on?
Yes, model names, its a NV41MZ. Very rare to find actually and an older model than novacustoms.
So far, the build quality… they saved on material. Keyboard and chassis are very cheap. I wish I could swap in my Thinkpad keyboard, would probably be possible.
It’s unfortunate to hear that; with the chassis being my biggest concern as I don’t think you would be able to find suitable replacement for that. As for the keyboard, perhaps an affordable and portable external keyboard might help you with that.
The keyboard is okaaay. I will post a review of the laptop soon. I am simply very spoiled by my Thinkpad.
I am not sure what material the chassis is, top around the keyboard is like metal, the screen thing too, meanwhile when opening it up you can see the metallic spray paint inside?
It is easy to open, not sure how easy to find spare parts but everything is very well removable. I think modern Thinkpad keyboards are the best ones ever, one could get a usb variant and wire somehow inside.
Or you would need an arduino board, a custom mini firmware and all, just to translate the different keyboards. But that was “random keyboard to usb”, and not “random keyboard to random keyboard”.
Man it would be great if you could just swap keyboards
spare parts
It seems NovaCustoms offer some spareparts. I wonder if the ones not explicitly stating NV4xMZ can be used on your device as well.
No the NV41MZ for example has no numpad. Its the compact 14in model which I would always choose for my tasks. Maybe not all, but it was the only clevo on like all Europes Ebay. Literally shipped it in from Great Britain
Just get a 20 or 30 series Thinkpad that has no nvidia GPU, and flash coreboot on it.
No, you cannot get 100% free firmware these days, but you can get something close this way.
I mean… Depends what you mean by 100% free firmware… If you mean only the boot firmware, that’s the case for PCs like the ThinkPads T400, T500, R500, W500, X200, as well as the Dell Latitude E6400. Note Libreboot even recommends the latter for new full libre buys, as it can be software-flashed without disassembly.
But if you mean 100% free including EC firmware, wireless firmware, and disk firmware, then this will probably never happen, or at least not until a very very long time.
What I’m trying to say is that it’s an uphill battle, arguably pointless too.
Before going with the current 30 series, I was using X200 and X60. They’re both good machines, don’t get me wrong. However, their age shows when trying to do modern tasks, even something as simple as web browsing.
The X60 doesn’t even have the hardware acceleration capability for my usual KDE setup. By the way, you’d be stuck with DDR2.
The X200 is much more capable than X60, but try to browse most modern sites and you’ll feel the machine getting hot. You could turn off javascript, but then you’ll be missing quite a bit of functionalities. I definitely wouldn’t run VSCodium on it for work. I’m currently using this one as a testbed for distrohopping.
To me, the 30 series is a sweet spot. The Ivy bridge is not too old for demanding computations of modern days. If you opt for the highest tier i7, you could beat a lot of the average ones from the following generations. If you don’t get the processor you want, you can always replace it since it’s socketed, at least for my W530, which should apply for T430 &T530 (not X230).
You might want to ask yourself: what are you trying to achieve, and more importantly, how can you measure what you’ve actually achieved? No, blindly following online articles is not a good measurement.
I found out later on that I had no way of actually verifying anything with libreboot. The build system is a pain in the neck to follow thru. I then tried doing it with coreboot upstream, and my experience building with it was much better. Even with it, I wouldn’t have the chance to look thru every line of code, I still need to just “trust” somebody.
You can definitely play around, but if that’s all you do, you’d be asking yourself why you did all that when you get bored.
yes you can, read other comments
Is the deer the Libreboot logo? Mine has a rabbit (Coreboot). I flashed Coreboot on my old Chromebook a couple of years ago and it’s been running different flavours of linux since without any fuss.
Yes the deer is the Libreboot logo
honestly… why? i really get why open source software is great, but there’s no benefit in replacing the bios, right?
Star Labs’ take on the matter.
Furthermore, if one is sensitive regarding their cybersecurity, then one is likely to adhere to the zero trust security model and thus choose to simply not trust; which would include the closed source BIOS. coreboot, on the other hand, at least allows one to audit it themselves. As Linus Torvalds has been approached for implementing backdoors, it should surprise nobody that (some) of the vendors we buy our devices from have been as well and thus our BIOSes might not have been as safe as one would like to believe. Qubes OS, the most secure OS on desktop, shares the view that coreboot is preferred over closed source BIOSes due to reasons related to trust.