ASUS KFSN4-DRE server/workstation board

*Specifications*
Manufacturer	ASUS
Name	KFSN4-DRE
Released	?
Chipset	nVIDIA nForce Professional 2200
CPU	AMD Opteron 2000 series (Barcelona Family)
Graphics	XGI Z9s VGA Controller
Display	None.
Memory	512MB, 1GB, 2GB, 4GB
Architecture	x86_64
Original boot firmware	AMIBIOS
Intel ME/AMD PSP	Not present.
Flash chip	PLCC 1MiB (Upgradable to 2MiB)

W+: Works without blobs; 
N: Doesn't work; 
W*: Works with blobs; 
U: Untested; 
P+: Partially works; 
P*: Partially works with blobs

*Features*
Internal flashing with original boot firmware	W+
Display	-
Audio	W+
RAM Init	W+
External output	W+
Display brightness	-

*Payloads supported*
GRUB	Partially works
SeaBIOS	Partially works
SeaBIOS with GRUB	Partially works

This is a server board using AMD hardware (Fam10h). It can also be used for building a high-powered workstation. Powered by libreboot.

Flashing instructions can be found at ../install/#flashprog

NOTE: Libreboot standardises on flashprog now, as of 27 January 2024, which is a fork of flashrom.

Form factor

These boards use the SSI EEB 3.61 form factor; make sure that your case supports this. This form factor is similar to E-ATX in that the size is identical, but the position of the screws are different.

Flash chips

These boards use LPC flash (not SPI), in a PLCC socket. The default flash size 1MiB (8Mbits), and can be upgraded to 2MiB (16Mbits). SST49LF080A is the default that the board uses. SST49LF016C is an example of a 2MiB (16Mbits) chip, which might work. It is believed that 2MiB (16Mbits) is the maximum size available for the flash chip.

DO NOT hot-swap the chip with your bare hands. Use a PLCC chip extractor. These can be found online. See http://www.coreboot.org/Developer_Manual/Tools#Chip_removal_tools

Native graphics initialization

Native graphics initialization exists (XGI Z9s) for this board. Framebuffer- and text-mode both work. A serial port is also available.

Memory

DDR2 533/667 Registered ECC. 16 slots. Total capacity up to 64GiB.

Hex-core CPUs

PCB revision 1.05G is the latest version of this board and the best one (the revision number is be printed on the board), if you want to use dual hex-core CPUs (Opteron 2400/8400 series), though only two board configurations are believed to support them. Other revisions are believed to only support dual quad-core CPUs.

To be sure your board supports a CPU check the official ASUS website here: https://www.asus.com/support/cpu_support. Note: not all CPUs are listed.

If you are running a Hex-Core CPU on any board version, please contact us.

Board configurations

There are 7 different configurations of this board: “standard”, 2S, iKVM, iKVM/IST, SAS, SAS/iKVM and SAS/iKVM/IST.

The 2S boards have two PCI-E slots with the numbers of lanes shared, making each slot have 8 lanes.

The iKVM boards are so called because they offer a remote real-time access to the machine through a removable PCI management card, their hardware is the same as the non-iKVM ones.

The SAS versions have a 4-port SAS controller and a four 7-pin SAS connectors instead of the PCI-E 8x slot which is present in all the other board configurations. Note: the SAS functionality is not supported by libreboot.

The IST versions with PCB revision 1.05G are the ones who are believed to support the six core Opteron Istanbul processors (2400 and 8400 series).

Current issues

There seems to be a 30 second bootblock delay (observed by tpearson); the system otherwise boots and works as expected. See text/kfsn4-dre/bootlog.txt - this uses the ‘simple’ bootblock, while tpearson uses the ‘normal’ bootblock, which tpearson suspects may be a possible cause. This person says that they will look into it. This config doesn’t have the issue.
Text-mode is jittery and it may not be usable, so it’s recommended to flash the BIOS with the coreboot frame-buffer image (kfsn4-dre_corebootfb.rom). The jitter disappears if using KMS once the kernel starts, but it will remain, if booting the kernel in text-mode.
Booting from USB mass storage devices is not possible; neither GRUB nor SeaBIOS detect USB drives when present. USB keyboards function under both GRUB and SeaBIOS, albeit slowly under GRUB (several seconds per character typed).
To install an operating system you will need a hard disk with a pre-installed OS otherwise you have to plug in another hard disk or a CD/DVD reader in order to boot a copy of the installer of your OS, since the USB booting doesn’t work.

Other information

specifications

Markdown file for this page: https://libreboot.org/docs/install/kfsn4-dre.md

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