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Intel Atom z35xx SoC UEFI support

OPris
Beginner
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Hello.

I am seeking some binary knowledge. I would like to know if the Intel Atom z35xx SoC supports UEFI.

If it does, can someone point me to documentation? (soucre code or drivers would be awesome too)

Or has it some sort of a bios that could be accessed?

My best regards,

Ondrej

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
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You should think of UEFI today as being a set of building blocks that can be used to build a BIOS. Whether or not a particular BIOS implementation will support a particular processor (and chipset) or SOC package is dependent upon the targeted hardware for that BIOS. UEFI itself doesn't provide support for any specific hardware and thus there is nothing about UEFI that precludes it being used on the Atom z35xx SOC. It is the overall BIOS (built around the UEFI core) that must provide the support for running on this particular hardware.

To learn more about UEFI - and to get access to the reference code - you need to consult the following site: http://www.uefi.org/ Welcome to Unified Extensible Firmware Interface Forum.

Hope this helps,

...S

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idata
Employee
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Hi Ondrej_SK: Thank you very much for contacting the Intel® Processors communities. We will do our best to try to provide the information you are looking for.

 

 

In order to provide the most accurate response we will do further research on this matter, as soon as I get any updates I will post all the details on this thread.

 

 

Any further questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alberto R

 

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OPris
Beginner
2,117 Views

Hi Alberto, thank you, I will wait for your response

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
2,118 Views

You should think of UEFI today as being a set of building blocks that can be used to build a BIOS. Whether or not a particular BIOS implementation will support a particular processor (and chipset) or SOC package is dependent upon the targeted hardware for that BIOS. UEFI itself doesn't provide support for any specific hardware and thus there is nothing about UEFI that precludes it being used on the Atom z35xx SOC. It is the overall BIOS (built around the UEFI core) that must provide the support for running on this particular hardware.

To learn more about UEFI - and to get access to the reference code - you need to consult the following site: http://www.uefi.org/ Welcome to Unified Extensible Firmware Interface Forum.

Hope this helps,

...S

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OPris
Beginner
2,117 Views

Hi N. Scott Pearson (reminds me of Scotty from Star Trek) and thank you for the explanation and the link.

I will dive into the presentations and documentation to understand UEFI.

Quote: "It is the overall BIOS (built around the UEFI core) that must provide the support for running on this particular hardware." - Does this mean that i cannot use UEFI alone to boot an os, but i am dependent on the BIOS ?

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
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Everything is dependent upon the BIOS. While the UEFI firmware will provide most of the support for the booting process, it is still, for example, reliant on the BIOS for the code that actually knows how to read the boot device.

...S

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OPris
Beginner
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Hello Scott. After reading the documentation and watching videos about UEFI i think i start understanding the concept. I have been digging aroung in the Atom z35xx SoC bootloader and found out this:

The boot loader is build using Simple Firmware Interface (SFI) v0.81 and Intel Corporation CloverTrail/CloverTrail, BIOS 406 2013.10.16:10.18.10

SFI was developed by Intel Corporation for hand-held Moorestown platform, which is supported by Linux from kernel 2.6.32

It seems SFI is not able to boot Windows OS and i have not found a way to use Legacy boot with the SoC.

There seems to be no implementation of UEFI for the SoC done by someone, but i presume it is possible someone could code (or port?) UEFI for the SoC.

I am not a coder (powershell is the closest to coding i use) so i will be most probably not be able to resolve this.

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
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Hhmmm, sounds like this unit has purpose-built firmware that only supports the booting of their target. You maybe out of luck...

...S

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OPris
Beginner
2,117 Views

Well, my last hope is that Alberto R comes with some good news. Otherwise i can forget about it.

I like to make devices work, and when i fail no matter what how hard i try, i have a strange sad feeling.

Ondrej

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
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Well, there are open source packages that you could use to roll your own BIOS. This seems like a lot too much work to contemplate just to use an old piece of equipment like this...

...S

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OPris
Beginner
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It is not just me. There are the 5 others that i know of What open source packages do you mean? I have only found tianocore but that seems to support bay trail atom as oldest SoC.

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
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Do internet search using "open source bios projects". The results will answer your question.

...S

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OPris
Beginner
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The internet searching is what actually lead me here. As mentioned i have found EFIdroid, and other tianocore platforms as well as different projects like coeboot, libreboot, ect

The issue is all the support seems to stat at C2000 or E38xx atoms. So when you mentioned the open source packages i thought you were being specific.

Thank you for explaining the UEFI basics to me and pointing me to the documentation for it. I understand now that UEFI is not hardware dependent as i imagined.

Most probably if the Intel Boot Loader Development Kit would be available for this platform, it would be possible to build UEFI with it.

Lorenzo from Intel didn't come back so i probably close this thread.

Peace and long life.

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idata
Employee
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Hi Ondrej_SK: I just received some updates on the research we were doing on this matter, and in order to get the information requested about the processor, please submit your inquiry in our Intel® Embedded Design Center, in there you will also receive peer to peer assistance:

 

https://embedded.communities.intel.com/community/en/ https://embedded.communities.intel.com/community/en/

 

 

Additionally, there is another site where you can submit your inquiry, it is the Intel® Premier Support (IPS). Please contact your Intel FAE (Field Application Engineer) directly to get your IPS account setup and activated:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/design/support/ips/training/welcome.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/design/support/ips/training/welcome.html

Let me apologize for any inconvenience.

Any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

 

Alberto R
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OPris
Beginner
2,117 Views

Thank you for your response Alberto. I have registered on an Resource and Design account for Intel® Embedded Design Center (your link is not working)

Lets see if i get access.

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idata
Employee
2,117 Views

Ondrej_SK: Perfect, thank you very much for letting us know that information, they should be able to further assist you in there.

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alberto R

 

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