Install Libreboot on Dell OptiPlex 9020/7020/XE2/T1700 MT/SFF

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Specifications
Manufacturer	Dell
Name	OptiPlex 9020 SFF/MT
Variants	OptiPlex **20/Xe2/T1700 SFF/MT
Chipset	Intel Q87/C226 for T1700
CPU	Intel haswell
Graphics	Intel HD 4600
Memory	32GB DDR3 DIMMs (4x8GB), ECC T1700
Architecture	x86_64
Original boot firmware	Dell UEFI firmware
Intel ME/AMD PSP	Present. Disabled with me_cleaner.
Flash chip	2x SOIC-8, 12MiB (8+4)

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

Features
Internal flashing with original boot firmware	W+
Display (if Intel GPU)	W+
Display (discrete GPU, SeaBIOS payload only)	W*
Audio	W+
RAM Init	W+

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)

Build from source

With Native Ram Init:

For the MT variants:

./mk -b coreboot dell_optiplex_9020_mt_12mb

For the SFF variants:

./mk -b coreboot dell_optiplex_9020_sff_12mb

With brmc (for ECC support on the T1700 boards only):

T1700 MT:

./mk -b coreboot dell_precision_t1700_mt_12mb

T1700 SFF:

./mk -b coreboot dell_precision_t1700_sff_12mb

It is important that you choose the right one. The MT variant is the full MTX tower.

Possible with the original Dell BIOS, if the SERVICE_MODE jumper near the PCIe slots is installed. Before flashing,

rmmod spi-intel-platform

needs to be run to prevent errors. Once Libreboot is installed, the SERVICE_MODE jumper can be removed.

Note: The Dell BIOS can write EFI variables to flash when shutting down, which could corrupt the newly flashed Libreboot ROM and render the system unusable. To prevent this, after flashing internally from the original Dell BIOS, remove power from the computer instead of shutting it down normally. It’s recommended to use a live USB instead of the internal drive to prevent potential filesystem corruption.

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

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.

There are two SOIC-8 chips. You can split up your 12MB ROM image like so:

dd if=libreboot.rom of=4mb.rom bs=1M skip=8
dd if=libreboot.rom of=8mb.rom bs=1M count=8

The side cover comes off easily, and you can find the flash ICs next to the RAM.

Here’s the SOIC8 ICs being flashed:

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

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

This platform uses an Intel Flash Descriptor, and defines an Intel GbE NVM region. As such, release/build ROMs will contain the same MAC address. To change the MAC address, please read nvmutil documentation.

5th gen. processors using Libreboot firmware supported, with the T1700 MT/SFF devices. Those even include an 128MB eDRAM (L4 cache) like AMD has X3D, but fundamentally different at the hardware level.

Does not works yet, even with native ram init.

(Unregistered) ECC memory works with some core i3,pentium,celeron & xeon e3 v3/v4 cpus on T1700 MT only.

ECC allows for more stable desktop experience (especially for prolonged usage) and ensuring data integrity with error corrections and mitigating certain defects that develop over time in the RAM (it will not account for all defects, and memory always needs to be replaced eventually)

List of Compatible 4th gen. Core i3, Pentium, Celeron & Compatible 4th gen. Xeons v3 & Compatible 5th gen. Xeons v4

QUBES: how to get it working

Qubes requires IOMMU to be turned on. Please now read the next section. Qubes WILL work, if you configure Libreboot as directed below, but otherwise it will fail by default. This is because Libreboot disables the IOMMU by default, on this board.

Graphics cards and IOMMU

IOMMU is buggy for some reason (we don’t know why yet), when you plug in a graphics card. The graphics card simply won’t work. On some of them, you can use the console but as soon as you start xorg/wayland, it will just b0rk.

Current Libreboot revisions disable IOMMU by default, on this board. The coreboot code for initialising IOMMU was modified by the Libreboot project, to make it a toggle. IOMMU works fine if you use only Intel graphics.

If you want to use IOMMU with a graphics card, you also can. Use this Linux kernel option at boot:

intel_iommu=enable,igfx_off

With the above option, IOMMU is enabled except for the Intel GPU. However, Libreboot also disables the Intel GPU in coreboot, entirely, when a graphics card is used. With the above option, it’s possible that something like Qubes may work, which requires an IOMMU to be turned on.

If you are using Intel graphics, and not a graphics card, you can ignore the above, and instead fully turn on the IOMMU, without any special kernel options.

The way coreboot works is this: if vt-d is present on the CPU, it enables an IOMMU, and only if vt-d is present. This is still the behaviour in Libreboot, but Libreboot adds an additional check: if iommu is not set in nvram, it defaults to on, but if it’s set to disabled, then IOMMU is not initialised.

Enable IOMMU

IOMMU is disabled by default, universally, on this board. You can turn it on, by modifying the ROM image prior to flashing, or modifying it prior to re-flashing.

On all other Haswell boards, LIbreboot enables IOMMU by default. To enable it on these boards, do this on your ROM:

nvramtool -C libreboot.rom -w iommu=Enable

If you’re using a graphics card, please make sure to read the above notes about how to use IOMMU; specifically, the part that talks about Linux kernel option intel_iommu=enable,igfx_off

Then flash the ROM image. You can find nvramtool under src/coreboot/default/util/nvramtool. Do this in lbmk if you don’t already havse src/coreboot/default/:

./mk -f coreboot default

Then do this:

make -C src/coreboot/default/util/nvramtool

The binary nvramtool will then live in that directory. More information available in Libreboot build instructions. Information about dumping/flashing the ROM can be found in Libreboot flashing instructions and Libreboot external flashing instructions.

NOTE: If IOMMU is enabled, you can still use a graphics card, but you must pass this on the Linux cmdline paramaters: iommu=off - or if you need IOMMU (e.g. for Qubes), use intel_iommu=enable,igfx_off instead.

NOTE2: Libreboot uses a static option table on all boards that have nvram, which is why you must use the -C option on your ROM, to change the static table that is baked into it.

Here is an example of the type of errors we got when testing graphics cards with IOMMU enabled:

https://av.vimuser.org/error.jpg

Make sure to configure your image accordingly.

• MT case modification to fit bigger gpu/accelerators

• Power On pin layout if the motherboard is inserted into a non-dell oem tower

Guide for mods

The Canoeboot version of this page is: https://canoeboot.org/docs/install/dell9020.html

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

Markdown file for this page: https://libreboot.org/docs/install/dell9020.md

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