- 7 Posts
- 40 Comments
I own a Dell T1650 and Dell Optiplex 9020, and yes you are correct about them making everything proprietary, but the motherboard can still be used as long as you have the adapters for it. You will need to DIY, or buy a custom cable from a vendor that makes them for the motherboard. I use a Dell Optiplex 9020 MT motherboard in my NZXT case, I use a EVGA 700BR, a custom 24 pin to 8 pin connector, and a molex to fan adapter cable for my other fans, and everything works great! Also, I added Libreboot support for it as well :D
28 PIN TO 8 PIN ADAPTER: https://www.moddiy.com/products/Dell-OptiPlex-9020-PSU-Main-Power-24-Pin-to-8-Pin-Adapter-Cable-30cm.html
MOLEX TO CASE FAN ADAPTER: https://www.amazon.com/Molex-Case-Sleeved-Adapter-Cable/dp/B08393S29W/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=YC96W76081OT&keywords=molex+to+fan+adapter&qid=1707797145&sprefix=molex+to+fan+%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-4
If you’re interested, the Dell T1650 is currently supported by Libreboot. I use it for everything; it has a Xeon E3 1275 V2, 32GB DDR3L ECC RAM, NVIDIA 2080 SUPER, 2x4TB HDD (RAID 1), 1TB NVMe M.2 (PCIe x4 adapter needed), and a 700W PSU (EVGA 700BR). It handles all my games, and I use Proxmox VE as my host, allowing me to create virtual machines where I can passthrough my GPU and use anything proprietary in the VM. Even the GPU drivers can be passed through (no need to install on the host), so essentially, I’m running 100% free software on my host.
Obviously, nothing can be 100% FOSS in the hardware (proprietary ECs, proprietary CPU microcode, proprietary storage firmware, etc.), BUT you can free the BIOS. There is currently a blob needed for the PCIe x16 slot, but it can be reverse-engineered in the future – not sure if there is anything else; I’ll have to ask. There is one board coming soon that I know can be made blobless in the BIOS, and that is the Dell Optiplex 9020 MT. It’s a Haswell board capable of using an i7 4790K with AVX2 instructions. I’m actually the first person to use this board, as I’m the one who made the port along with some help from the Libreboot team. The board is currently in its testing phase still, but soon in the next couple weeks we will make it freely availble.
This is super cheap hardware; you can find the whole PC on eBay for like $50-$60, or you can just buy the motherboard for like $15-$25. I bought only the motherboard because I’m using it in my gaming computer case. Also, you don’t even need any fancy flashing equipment, all you need is a insulated screwdriver to short one of the SERVICE_MODE pins on the motherboard to unlock the BIOS chip, which then allows you to flash Libreboot through your OS. Libreboot is more secure than any non-free BIOS/UEFI. At least with Libreboot, you can have transparency, and you get new updates with better features coming out.
For example, Libreboot supported Argon2 encryption in GRUB for fully encrypting your storage drive. This allows you to encrypt the /boot partition and fully encrypt your disk with ease when installing a fresh operating system. Also, you can run Windows on the host with Libreboot, it is supported but not officially. I highly recommend Libreboot, as you can tell.
1524·9 months agoThe word “fascist” has truly lost its meaning. Please stop using this word if you don’t understand the historical context behind it.
11·9 months agoI’m sorry if I came off as rude or anything. This issue just frustrates me so much.
While I understand the challenges you’re pointing out, it’s crucial to acknowledge that not everyone working on personal projects expects immediate financial gains. Some individuals are motivated by a passion for exploration and a desire to contribute to open and accessible technology. Even if replicating a professional-grade computer at home is challenging, there’s value in fostering a community-driven approach to technology, aiming for transparency and independence from corporate interests. The pursuit of knowledge and the potential for positive societal impact can be significant motivators, transcending immediate financial returns.
Absolutely, creating a complete modern computer is an incredibly complex task. Building a 3GHz CPU from scratch is a monumental challenge, and even assembling components like stm32 or Pis requires a level of expertise. Developing your own drivers, dealing with various peripherals, and ensuring compatibility is tough shit.
However, once the software is written and released under a Free Software license, it will be there forever. As you’ve already stated, it’s hard, but not impossible. I share your hope that one day we will reach the point where such endeavors become more feasible.
It’s sad but true. I’m just so baffled as to why? Wouldn’t anyone just be curious to figure out how stuff works? Think of all the brilliant minds out there who are being cut off simply because of corporate greed. Not only that, but they’re deemed as criminals for making it do something it wasn’t intended to do (e.g. Xbox 360 w/ RGH). I just think we’re wasting so much potential to make the world a better place. And we can already see the love behind just using and creating software while following the Free Software philosophy.
My goal is to help people, maybe you or anyone else might be interested, to get to actually USE their computers, understand how they work, etc.
The creator of Libreboot, Leah Rowe, and I are making support for the Dell Optiplex 9020 MT. It’s a Haswell motherboard that supports a i7 4790K, 32GB DDR3 RAM, you can also use a 2080 SUPER (or anything else), without the need for any proprietary BIOS firmware (eventually, we still need to reverse engineer 1-2 blobs). It has internal flashing capabilites, so no need to buy flashing equipment, all you need is an insulated screwdriver to short one of the SERVICE_MODE pins, which unlocks the flash chip basically. This allows you to flash the firmware through the OS, which makes it 10x easier for anyone to start using Libreboot. The motherboard you can buy on eBay right now for about $20, or you can buy the whole PC for like $100-$120. Still though, isn’t enough but it will be a step in the right direction.
3·9 months agoOr just use it in a virtual machine
After Windows 11 came out, I said HELL NO! The whole UI and look of everything is just so awful. I feel bad for my fellow lads who are stuck on Windows still. The only people I get annoyed with are the ones who glorify Windows. Look I’m not forcing people to switch their OS, but god please don’t glorify Windows spying features and say ‘I don’t have anything to hide’. Just say fuck it and make the switch, take back control of your life! RISE THE FUCK UP!
1·9 months agoThe rom for the T1650 is weird, I tried updating mine and got no display, so I’m sticking with my old rom right now. Are you having the same issue? You can build the rom in lbmk or download the roms from one of the Libreboot mirrors.
I am currently adding support for the Dell Optiplex 9020 MT, it supports a i7 4790K and 32GB of DDR3 1.5v RAM (Non-ECC). The i7-4790K is a little bit faster, like 6% overall, but it’s main feature is having AVX2 support. This increases the peformance drastically for machine learning (e.g. LLMs), compiling peformance, and even virtual machines. It’s basically modern-like gaming computer. It’s actually the first Libreboot desktop computer to support AVX2.
Happy to hear I inspired you to build a Libreboot gaming machine! Stay tuned for the next port, you can expect a release by next week!
How is the OpenBSD experience? I have 2x4TB hard drives in my Libreboot server (Dell T1650 motherboard), can I easily setup RAID 1 through the OS?
Proprietary 🤮
“Ubuntu” 🤢
T440p if you’re comfortable upgrading it yourself. It’s very easy to customize, parts are cheap, and it has a socketed CPU slot. You can buy upgrades for it like a i7 4900MQ, 2x8GB RAM, and a nice 1080p IPS display. It can also be Librebooted (you have to take it apart), and it has a SD card slot, CD tray, and a option to upgrade the standard keyboard to a backlit keyboard.
I’ve been using it everyday and could honestly use it for another 5-6 years and I’d be fine with it. I just do browsing, coding, etc.
I meant it more as a communication platform, not nescessarily for hosting documentation. Either way, using a forum is still pretty good alternative
There is FOSS alternatives out there like Revolt or just plain old IRC which is good enough imo. The Discord bullshit is so annoying.
2·9 months agoRunning Vulkan on integrated graphics isn’t the point here. Integrated graphics in a CPU are not what people typically refer to as a GPU. So, if someone asks what GPU I have, I wouldn’t say ‘Intel HD Graphics’ or such; that’s just the integrated graphics capability of the processor, not a discrete GPU.
Referring to integrated graphics as a ‘second GPU’ is somewhat misleading. They do provide additional graphics processing, but they’re part of the CPU and not a separate, dedicated graphics card.
I swiped up, then left, and saw this: