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  1. # Skulls - [Thinkpad X230](https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkpad-x-series-laptops/thinkpad-x230) with FHD mod
  2. ![seabios_bootmenu](front.jpg)
  3. ## Supported Hardware Modifications
  4. The motherboard may be modified to use the 2nd Display Port from the dock
  5. as the integrated panel's connection, which allows using a Full HD (FHD)
  6. eDP panel instead of the stock LVDS display.
  7. To make this work with coreboot a [patch](https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/28950)
  8. is automatically applied. It disables the internal LVDS connector and also allows
  9. brightness controls to work out of the box.
  10. *Note: this is currently only tested with the [Nitrocaster FHD mod](https://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=122640).*
  11. ## Latest release
  12. Get it from our [release page](https://github.com/merge/skulls/releases)
  13. * __coreboot__: We take coreboot's master branch at the time we build a release image.
  14. * __microcode update__: revision `0x21` from 2019-02-13
  15. * __SeaBIOS__: version [1.13.0](https://seabios.org/Releases) from 2019-12-09
  16. ### release images to choose from
  17. We release multiple different, but _very similar_ images you can choose from.
  18. They all should work on all versions of the X230 FHD. These are the
  19. differences; (xxxxxxxxxx stands for random characters in the filename):
  20. * `x230_fhd_coreboot_seabios_xxxxxxxxxx_top.rom` includes the _proprietary_
  21. [VGA BIOS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_BIOS) from [Intel](https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/intelligent-systems/intel-embedded-graphics-drivers/faq-bios-firmware.html)
  22. which is non-free software. It is executed in "secure" mode.
  23. * `x230_fhd_coreboot_seabios_free_xxxxxxxxxx_top.rom` includes the
  24. [VGA BIOS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_BIOS)
  25. [SeaVGABIOS](https://www.seabios.org/SeaVGABIOS) which is free software.
  26. While technically more interesting, visually this is currently not as
  27. beautiful:
  28. * The [bootspash image is not shown](https://github.com/merge/skulls/issues/59).
  29. * Early boot console messages (after your HDD's bootloader has started a kernel) might be [missing](https://github.com/merge/skulls/issues/46).
  30. ## table of contents
  31. * [TL;DR](#tldr)
  32. * [First-time installation](#first-time-installation)
  33. * [Updating](#updating)
  34. * [Moving to Heads](#moving-to-heads)
  35. * [Why does this work](#why-does-this-work)
  36. * [How to rebuild](#how-to-reproduce-the-release-images)
  37. * [How to replace the splashscreen image](#how-to-replace-the-splashscreen-image)
  38. ## TL;DR
  39. 1. run `sudo ./x230_fhd_skulls.sh` on your current X230 Linux system
  40. 2. Power down, remove the battery. Remove the keyboard and palmrest. Connect
  41. a hardware flasher to an external PC (or a Raspberry Pi with a SPI 8-pin chip clip
  42. can directly be used), and run
  43. `sudo ./external_install_bottom.sh` on the lower chip
  44. and `sudo ./external_install_top.sh` on the top chip of the two.
  45. 3. For updating later, run `./x230_fhd_skulls.sh`. No need to disassemble.
  46. And always use the latest [released](https://github.com/merge/skulls/releases)
  47. package. This will be tested. The git master
  48. branch is _not_ meant to be stable. Use it for testing only.
  49. ## First-time installation
  50. Same steps as the X230 without FHD mod (see [First-time installation](https://github.com/jyvet/skulls/blob/master/x230/README.md#first-time-installation)).
  51. ## Updating
  52. If you have locked your flash (i.e. `./external_install_bottom -l`) you can
  53. flash externally using `external_install_top.sh` just like the
  54. first time, see above. Only the "upper" 4MB chip has to be written.
  55. It is recommended to do the the update directly on your X230 using Linux
  56. though. This is considered more safe for your hardware and is very convenient -
  57. just install the "flashrom" program and run `./x230_fhd_skulls.sh`, see below.
  58. 1. boot Linux with the `iomem=relaxed` boot parameter (for example in /etc/default/grub `GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT`)
  59. 2. [download](https://github.com/merge/skulls/releases) the latest Skulls release tarball and unpack it or check for updates by running `./x230_fhd_skulls.sh -U`.
  60. 3. run `sudo ./x230_fhd_skulls.sh` and choose the image to flash.
  61. Hint: In case your Linux distribution's GRUB bootloader doesn't use the full
  62. screen, put the line `GRUB_GFXMODE=1366x768x32` in your `/etc/default/grub` file
  63. (and run `update_grub`).
  64. ## Moving to Heads
  65. *Not supported yet.*
  66. ## Why does this work?
  67. On the X230, there are 2 physical "BIOS" chips. The "upper" 4MB
  68. one holds the actual bios we can generate using coreboot, and the "lower" 8MB
  69. one holds the rest that you can [modify yourself once](#first-time-installation),
  70. if you like, but strictly speaking, you
  71. [don't need to touch it at all](https://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/x230#Building_Firmware).
  72. What's this "rest"?
  73. Mainly a tiny binary used by the Ethernet card and the Intel Management Engine.
  74. Read the [coreboot documentation](https://doc.coreboot.org/mainboard/lenovo/xx30_series.html)
  75. for more details.
  76. ## How to reproduce the release images
  77. * `git clone https://github.com/merge/skulls`
  78. * `cd skulls/x230_fhd`
  79. * `git checkout 0.1.0` for the release you want to build. In this example 0.1.5.
  80. * `./build.sh` and choose the configuration you want to build
  81. ## How to replace the splashscreen image
  82. In order to create your own splashscreen image, before building,
  83. overwrite the `splashscreen.jpg` with your own JPEG, using
  84. * "Progressive" turned off, and
  85. * "4:2:0 (chroma quartered)" Subsampling