Re:PinePhone Misconceptions
by phh on Saturday January 25, 2020 @09:25AM
(#22146354)
Uh, no? This is much more free-er than typical laptop, be it recent or old.
The vast majority of laptops have closed-source BIOS.
The vast majority of laptops have components with closed-source firmware with access to RAM (Intel ME comes to mind), which includes BIOS (because it keeps running after boot).
Also, only modern laptops have IO-MMUs to prevent PCI-Express devices from accessing the RAM directly. (PinePhone simply doesn't use PCI-E)
And I don't think there is /any/ x86 laptop on which we know how to do DRAM initialization without closed-source blobs.
The vast majority of laptops have closed-source BIOS. The vast majority of laptops have components with closed-source firmware with access to RAM (Intel ME comes to mind), which includes BIOS (because it keeps running after boot).
Also, only modern laptops have IO-MMUs to prevent PCI-Express devices from accessing the RAM directly. (PinePhone simply doesn't use PCI-E)
And I don't think there is /any/ x86 laptop on which we know how to do DRAM initialization without closed-source blobs.