Is there a ‘app’ similar to BIOS that is untouched before, during and after flashing from the near extinct Amber to Byzantium?
WHY:?
because after 10 flashing’s, it’s worse than before. Too, I have read in some posts mentions of “core”. Is “core” like BIOS/CMOS?
~s
Rephrase your questions and provide references to the definitions.
It’s simple enough. I’m not going to say I’m sorry I don’t write like you want, but won’t because I’m not sorry.
I’m not sure what you don’t understand. Please rephrase your demand and explain what you don’t get.
Yes. A number of firmware blobs are not altered by reflashing.
About coreboot: coreboot - Wikipedia
See also coreboot, and PureBoot, within this article: Librem - Wikipedia
How does one write to these blobs?
I bricked a Librem 5 recently by trying to run a silly Android i.MX 8M Quad image from NXP website. But at some point after dos helped me boot it, I booted into an SD card and used dd command to write over the mmcblk with a copy of its contents from before the bricking. And that seemed to recover things.
But does that miss things? Is there state stored outside of eMMC? I suppose I should read the uboot documentation.
OK, but Coreboot / Pureboot / BIOS / UEFI etc. don’t actually apply to the Librem 5.
Probably best to pursue in e.g. Librem 5 firmware updates or topic linked therein.
The procedure to update a blob varies from blob to blob.
Or pursue in one of your existing topics relating to your Android saga. 
I know. I was only answering the OP’s question. 
Wiki says:
This article’s factual accuracy is disputed .
There are several definitions for blob. One might be related as Mozilla says:
The Blob interface represents a blob , which is a file-like object of immutable, raw data; they can be read as text or binary data, …
To really find out if a ‘blob’ or ‘coreboot’ is or isn’t part of the L5, and what they do requires a lot of knowledge that includes the techinese terms used in both novels. I can’t start a long learning curve just to find out if there is a startup similar to BIOS.
Thank you. From that I gather the problem with my L5 and inability to send/receive texts with pics and that the L5 had ancient Amber that was replaced with Byzantium may be the problem.
Maybe it is also the cause of Chat, when opened will load everything, and copies of copies of deleted Chats over and over, and add to or is the problem the L5 can no longer send/receive texts with pics.
Charging overnight and start in the morning requires battery be removed, wait a few seconds, replace battery and L5 loads.
Might be why the Store loads, but L5 can’t put the thumbnails or text on-screen.
May be the reason when docking, the screen drops to zero from 200 zoom with barely visible text.
I’m looking for any possibility that might be the causes. So far, @support can’t duplicate my problems. I’m responding to that - it’s a mini-train wreck.
Now, I’m desperate now because I’m paying the carrier for no phone, and those that brought me in to their text-loop expect me to be there.
This isn’t a toy for me, it’s a necessity. I don’t like it, but one must be “connected” - as I’m told.
If the L5 is too blobbed-out (or whatever) and can’t or won’t work with Canadian carriers then I won’t be getting either of the stalker-phones.
The story on the disputed part(s) can be found here, I guess: Talk:coreboot - Wikipedia
But in any case, you can just search the internet for alternate info about coreboot and PureBoot.
The L5, being based on ARM architecture, uses a minimal bootloader called uboot, I believe. So neither coreboot nor PureBoot.
But I don’t know for sure if “uboot” is pronounced the German way (oo- 
), like its namesake, or the English way (you- 
). 
This is right. A Blob is often Firmware, or a Driver for some Hardware. Some definitions like in EU Law for WLAN usage defines that a driver have to control and stay in some range of usage to fit the legislation have to ensure that some user or Admin who install the driver, can not set the device into some illegal mode. And that is why we have some drivers with closed source. - I thinks its to to discover third party exploitation and information sneaking too, but that’s another story.
So yes you have a driver as a blob as a firmware on your phone. But you can still interact by the Kernel which loads this and have some parameters as Boot or initialize arguments to interact with it as runtime or during boot. And too, on the Librem5 you have the hardware kill switches to disconnect the hardware physically.
Sharon try to buy a jumpdrive and run that firemware update by some USB/JTAG or ask the support to fix it for you for some money. Or buy a new phone.
What you describe sounds like an Android Stage… exploit issue where one layer add another one to boot some kernel or Boot System to just have a launch on your hardware.
You should be able to install the official Librem5 Software like initialize a Biosupdate on your phone too. Coreboot is your Bios, but if i am not wrong its still takes place like a BIOS Update on your hardware.
Oh, after some searching the internet suggest that the jumpdrive is really only a USB Stick with Booting header like (boot from) external USB? I thought it was some USB Wire to some JTAGS on the Mainboard of the Librem5, with physical access after dissemble it and offer some physical access.
Sharon keep in mind that, every layer before the boot. Is kind of a safe zone and a stage if something goes wrong, to debug the Device on an easy way before the brick with higher effort or knowledge. So that is why we have this different stages and some try to ensure a chain of trust during boot and to hide DRM firmware. To take care that no evil or superworm can intervene and keeps owners out.
The Android Community however, often do not share knowledge and use exploits to got install in the first place so there on old Hardware often some old Kernel or Driver exploit was replaced and launch a Bootmanager, and this itself a new or uptodate Android Kernel and Android SDK environment to be able to run modern versions of Android. And if you just use some creepy homemade Android Versions you might have stacked up some of these layers and it do not cares of a clean fresh installation as it should have… and that way you could end up like to speak in images - use one VM in another… after every installation. If you are not sure how to access and interact or change the firmware on the top layers (which is always risky - cause use could end up with a brick) you will not get easily rid of it.
I think the official firmware upgrade of coreboot and L5 update should get it done. If you are not sure and you have valuable information on your L5 and can not back up it - i would buy another one at second hand and try it there first. You just can collect more experience / win.
In your case, the state that mattered was stored inside eMMC. eMMC contains two small boot partitions that can be used to hold the bootloader independently from the main storage partition and to implement a simple A/B scheme. PureOS does not use them by default; apparently the image you flashed did and enabled booting from one of those partitions.
This is a standard thing lots of eMMCs implement and there are standard utilities in both u-boot and under Linux that let you configure it.
OK - now I’m getting somewhere. unfortunately, the phone is not with me. It’s somewhere in California at @support testing the battery.
If I get it back, and the problems still exists, and it’s been re-flashed at least 10 times, might I assume the coreboot may have issues but can be rectified by replacing the coreboot again?
I ask because the phone was a Amber L5. Then I, and when I say I, followed advice from here ‘we’ managed a “successful” re-flash. But phone was in even worse shape.
TIA
~s
No, Coreboot is not used on the Librem 5.
Blob in this context doesn’t mean “a file-like object of immutable, raw data”. 1
Blob in this context means … any piece of software where the source code is not available - hence the resulting binary must be treated as …
So in this context, a blob is not technically immutable and not really opaque, raw data - but in practice may be.
So a blob-free computer is a good computer because it is 100% open source.
1 In the other context, less relevant here, “blob” is short for “binary large object” - although that is reportedly a backronym - and refers to a data type in a database system. In the database context a blob may be completely transparent and mutable e.g. if someone stores logos or photos, using a well-known image format, as a column in a relational database.
There are some similarities between, say, a firmware file as a blob and the database meaning.
