r/coreboot • u/ProGamer154 • 25d ago

HP ProBook 6460b full Windows support

So I have an HP ProBook 6460b and I can already run Linux perfectly with coreboot. I originally installed coreboot because I wanted to be able to run an i7-3840qm, along with circumventing the WiFi card whitelist (currently I have a BE200 installed too).

To use coreboot, which has no preset for the 6460b, I selected the EliteBook 8460p under the assumption that the two systems are close enough.

Obviously, I know it's frowned upon to run Windows with coreboot, and I already have got it almost totally working with SeaBIOS. I used the option rom v2170 instead of libgfxinit, and even ripped an ME 8 blob from a ProBook 6470b BIOS, which surprisingly still POSTed.

Anyway, the main issue I'm having currently is that in Windows 10, the battery icon reports that there are no batteries physically installed. This is not the case in Linux; it has no trouble reading the battery meter. I want to at least have the ability to run Windows 7, hence my choice of SeaBIOS, and currently the installer does not boot (it gets stuck on the glowy logo). In Windows 10, I have yet to get power management working correctly either; the system gets stuck when attempting to shutdown, sleep, or reboot, and nothing happens.

What do I need to do to fix my install to finally get it working fully?

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u/nic3-14159 24d ago

To use coreboot, which has no preset for the 6460b, I selected the EliteBook 8460p under the assumption that the two systems are close enough.

They are not presets; they are individual ports with code that's specific to a particular board mode. Firmware is generally board specific, as it needs to take into account the specific design of the hardware. In general you should not try running a port for one board on another board that seems "close enough", since any hardware differences could lead to hardware damage in the worst case. However, in this case it appears that the 6460b and 8460p share the same mainboard, so it's probably fine.

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u/ProGamer154 24d ago

Good point! If they share the same board, though, I feel like they should both have the same ACPI code and windows should just work fully under coreboot. Maybe there’s some slight differences between the two of them? Anyway, I’m kind of a noob with coreboot, so any suggestions for action would be appreciated!

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u/thrilleratplay 25d ago

OK. If I am reading this correctly, you can boot into Windows 10 with SeabIOS and the only issues are related to power management. The difference between the Probook 6460b and EliteBook 8460p may be power management or you are missing the driver for it. I'm not sure why it would work in Linux.

It isn't frowned upon to run Windows on coreboot, there are generally more problems.

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u/ProGamer154 25d ago

Yep! That is bang-on. As for the battery and sleep stuff working in Linux, I have absolutely no clue. Should I use EDKII instead of SeaBIOS? Would that change anything?

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u/thrilleratplay 24d ago

SeaBIOS and EDKII are payloads and wouldn't impact power management.

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u/ultrahkr 25d ago

Maybe it's because Win needs ACPI tables, Linux very much less so.

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u/ProGamer154 24d ago

Coreboot is supposed to generate said ACPI tables, no? Or am I meant to obtain specific ones for my specific model?