I compiled openpower firmware but it only produced skiboot, a kernel, and an initramfs (no hostboot, and no single firmware image that I can flash). there is no hostboot config for zz (the codename for the type of power9 server that I have) in the op-build repo. there is one for fsp systems (fsp = flexible service processor, which is a ppc476 core that serves a similar purpose to the bmc on openpower systems), but I am also missing an xml file which would be used for creating the firmware image.

now I’m stuck and don’t know what to do

(for context: I have a power9 server running the proprietary powervm firmware and I would like to replace it with openpower. I assumed this would be possible because openpower was initially developed on power7 (which never shipped openpower firmware), power8 L-series systems apparently supported both opal/openpower and phyp/powervm, and there was a config for zz in the op-build repo (and the documentation for it mentions systems using fsp) (also, there is an openbmc port for the fsp2), but I didn’t know that it was missing hostboot or those xml files. I still think it’s possible to get it running somehow, just very difficult and I’m not sure that I can do it.)

I’m starting to think buying it was a bad idea. it’s:

• expensive
• huge (77cm long 2U server)
• heavy (30kg)
• loud (I have to turn it off at night or I wouldn’t be able to sleep, and even the PSU fan when it’s switched off and only the FSP is active is annoying)
• power-hungry (actually less than I expected, but still a lot (~211W at idle))
• really slow to boot

my reasons for buying it despite these issues were that:

• it can run fully free firmware! (this was the primary reason, but if I can’t replace the firmware with openpower it doesn’t apply)
• power isa is cool (this still applies, except if I can’t replace the firmware with openpower I can only run linux within pHyp (the powervm hypervisor), which means I can’t use KVM-HV (I have to use the slower KVM-PV virtualization, and I can’t just use powervm for that because that would require an HMC, which is another very expensive computer or at least some more proprietary software that I haven’t been able to find), or query the cpu temperature or frequency via normal methods (or seemingly at all for temperature))
• it’s fast (this still applies, except it’s stuck at 2.164GHz for some reason (possibly I could fix this by changing some energy saving settings, at the cost of making it even more power hungry and loud))

if I just wanted a fast computer and didn’t care about the firmware then I could have just got a modern x86_64 desktop and it would have been much more practical and probably cheaper