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Title: ThinkPad x301 Restoration: Software
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Author: Alessandro Mauri
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# ThinkPad x301 Restoration Project: Software Side
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Of course me being me I can't just modify the hardware, I also have to do
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something about the software side of things. After all if I just slapped
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Windows 10 on it, it would just be an old slow laptop. But I want more, I want
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lightning fast boot times, I want a good experience and most of all I want
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freedom where I can get it.
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## [Libreboot][lboot]
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Yes! After some 5 years of dormancy the Libreboot project came out with a
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[new beta release][newboot] that [adds support for the x301][xboot].
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Basically Libreboot is a BIOS replacement, it completely replaces all of the
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old BIOS stuff with a _libre_ alternative, which has many advantages:
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1. MUCH faster boot times
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2. Completely respects your freedom
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3. Completely disables the intel ME and replaces all proprietary firmware with
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libre software
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4. While being simpler (no menu, no live configuration, etc.) it actually
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allows for much greater flexibility in the boot process
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Libreboot works by setting up a minimal environment, enough to load
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[GRUB][grub], then GRUB proceeds to load the OS or other things.
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Libreboot has also other _payload_ options like [SeaBIOS][sbios] or
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[Tianocore][tcore] (an open-source UEFI implementation), they allow to load
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other operating systems normally (not via GRUB) but generally this is slower.
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The method I will use is an hybrid, Libreboot will load GRUB, which when a key
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is pressed like shift, during the boot process, will load a menu of options
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containing all the operating systems, some diagnostic, Tianocore and SeaBIOS
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(everything needs to boot). Otherwise when no key is pressed it should boot
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straight into the first available OS.
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Disclaimer: I have not seen this elsewhere and although I think it should be
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possible, I don't really know.
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[lboot]: https://libreboot.org/
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[newboot]: https://libreboot.org/docs/release/libreboot20210522.html
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[xboot]: https://libreboot.org/docs/release/libreboot20210522.html#lenovo-thinkpad-x301
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[grub]: https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/
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[sbios]: https://www.seabios.org/SeaBIOS
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[tcore]: https://www.tianocore.org/
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