Re: Guix on the MNT Reform

[Christine Lemmer-Webber <cwebber@dustycloud.org>]

Christine Lemmer-Webber <cwebber@dustycloud.org> writes:

> Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli <GNUtoo@cyberdimension.org> writes:
>
>> Christine Lemmer-Webber <cwebber@dustycloud.org> wrote:
>>
>>> I had thought looking at the manual of the MNT Reform that only the
>>> HDMI port required a blob.  This will be disappoiting if we can't get
>>> the Reform into Guix proper soon.  There are of course channels, and
>>> maybe the work here might have to move to one of those locations
>>> rather than getting committed to the main guix repo, but I hope not.
>>
>> In their "Re-Introducing Reform" blog post[3], MNT Research states the
>> following:
>>
>>> Unfortunately, during the boot process, i.MX8M requires a
>>> closed-source firmware for an embedded ARCompact processor in the
>>> Synopsys DDR4 PHY. This firmware, which is only a few kilobytes in
>>> size, is responsible for regulating the physical connection to the
>>> DDR chips in the face of changing temperatures. We are in contact
>>> with reverse engineers with the goal of analyzing what the
>>> capabilities of this so called PHY Utility Block (PUB) are, and to
>>> find out if we have a chance to replace this firmware at some point
>>> in the future.
>
> So, that is disappointing, but also a space for optimism I guess?  I
> would be curious to know more about this reverse engineering effort.
>
>> So it would also be a good idea to remind them about that and
>> potentially look for other declarations from MNT Research about the
>> DDR4 firmware.
>
> Yeah.

I talked with them a bit today btw.  There hasn't been progress, and the
conversation might have reignited some interest, but it was made clear
that this was not a current focus at the moment.