This is a desktop board using intel hardware (circa ~2009, ICH7 southbridge, similar performance-wise to the Libreboot X200. It can make for quite a nifty desktop. Powered by libreboot.
IDE on the board is untested, but it might be possible to use a SATA HDD using an IDE SATA adapter. The SATA ports do work.
You need to set a custom MAC address in GNU+Linux for the NIC to work. In /etc/network/interfaces on debian-based systems like Debian or Devuan, this would be in the entry for your NIC:
hwaddress ether macaddressgoeshere
Alternatively:
cbfstool libreboot.rom extract -n rt8168-macaddress -f rt8168-macaddress
Modify the MAC address in the file rt8168-macaddress and then:
cbfstool libreboot.rom remove -n rt8168-macaddress cbfstool libreboot.rom add -f rt8168-macaddress -n rt8168-macaddress -t raw
Now you have a different MAC address hardcoded. In the above example, the ROM image is named libreboot.rom for your board. You can find cbfstool under coreboot/default/util/cbfstool/ after running the following command in the build system:
./build module cbutils
You can learn more about using the build system, lbmk, here:
Libreboot build instructions
Flashing instructions can be found at ../install/
Kingston 8 GiB Kit KVR800D2N6/8G with Elpida Chips E2108ABSE-8G-E
this is a 2x4GB setup and these work quite well, according to a user on IRC.
Many other modules will probably work just fine, but raminit is very picky on this board.
Markdown file for this page: https://gnu.org/software/gnuboot/web/docs/hardware/ga-g41m-es2l.md