Install Libreboot on Dell OptiPlex 5050 SFF

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W+: Works without vendor firmware; 
N: Doesn't work; 
W*: Works with vendor firmware; 
U: Untested; 
P+: Partially works; 
P*: Partially works with vendor firmware
?: UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME

Download from release

If you’re using a release ROM, please ensure that you’ve inserted extra firmware required refer to the guide for that (, failure to adhere to this advice will result in a bricked machine):

• Intel ME (vendor blob)
• Intel FSP (vendor blob)

Avaliable only after 26.01ver1 ( <– this release excluded)

Build from source

./mk -b coreboot dell_optiplex_5050_sff_16mb

TODO: photo

Short the service jumper. It’s near the RAM, under where the HDD goes (click the photos shown above). Just put a short on it when booting, and all flash protection is disabled; the factory firmware write might EFI variables to flash during shutdown sequence, so you should pull the plug to shut it down (remove the power by pulling the plug) after flashprog says VERIFIED.

After the jumper set, follow the guide to backup and flash.

The side cover comes off easily, and you can find the flash ICs next to the RAM. Simply remove the screw at the back. The top panel then slides forward, and you can remove the SSD caddy; from then on, the flash is accessible.

Observe the following photo of the flash (SOIC-8):

TODO: photo

REMOVE all power sources and connectors from the machine, before doing this. This is to prevent short circuiting and power surges while flashing.

Check the hw-flashing guide before moving onto the next step below.

Flash it: (With rpi-pico as an example, edit the line if needed.)

flashprog -p serprog:dev=/dev/ttyACM0,spispeed=16M -w filename.rom

• A pin mod is needed.

Guide for mod

Mate Kukri’s deguard utility disables the Intel Boot Guard on this machine. Libreboot uses this by default, along with me_cleaner to provide a neutered ME setup; unlike on other platforms, arbitrary code execution is also possible inside the ME on this motherboard, giving it much higher potential for software freedom in the future.

TODO: more testing needed

Dell precision T3420 sff, only difference might be the ecc support.

SPDX-License-Identifier: GFDL-1.3-or-later

Markdown file for this page: https://libreboot.org/docs/install/dell5050.md

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