Libreboot 26.10 makes EDK2 UEFI default, imports 233 Chromebooks

Libreboot, the free and open source boot firmware that replaces proprietary BIOS/UEFI on supported Intel/AMD and ARM64 machines, published release 26.10, "Ominous Olive", on 15 October 2026. The announcement is written by Leah Rowe, and the changelog is relative to the previous release, 26.01. Rowe calls it a very special release with several major design changes and tells users to read the changelog twice.

The item she names as the most important change is not technical in the usual sense: a strongly anti-AI policy was added in a new file, AGENTS.md, in lbmk (Libreboot's build system). The article does not spell out what that policy contains.

The biggest design change is the payload. Libreboot now uses EDK2 as the default payload. EDK2 is Intel's reference implementation of the UEFI specification, normally used by vendors in proprietary forks; Libreboot ships it with full source. It uses a fork of EDK2 from MrChromebox that works as a generic coreboot payload, which Rowe describes as a complete, industry-standard UEFI implementation able to boot any compliant operating system. Nearly all boards get it, even old ones such as the ThinkPad X200 and T500. Older 32-bit-only mainboards keep the setup from the previous release. GRUB and SeaBIOS are still in flash, but as EFI builds (GRUB EFI and SeaBIOS as a CSM) reachable from the EDK2 setup menu by pressing ESC at boot, so existing Linux and BSD installations keep working. Bare metal SeaBIOS/GRUB payloads are deprecated and may be removed in a future release, though they can be re-enabled by building from source. Rowe says Windows is now compatible too, because of the full UEFI support. Previously Libreboot offered no UEFI except U-Boot on a few mainboards.

The second major change is hardware. Using a utility she wrote, util/mrimport/, Rowe imported all 233 Chromebooks currently supported by MrChromebox's coreboot distro, covering everything up to recent Intel and AMD hardware. She says they all compile. They are source-only in this release (no binaries), and only Baytrail (Kip) is stated as tested; the others need testing. The import is not a fork: MrChromebox is treated as Libreboot's upstream on Intel/AMD Chromebooks, and Libreboot aims to stay in sync with it. Rowe says MrChromebox's own installation scripts should work with Libreboot images. She also says MrChromebox implemented CBFS-based VBT and GOP handling at her request, which she will integrate after the release. This is enabled by a new build system feature: support for an arbitrary number of upstreams per project.

On AMD Fam15h mainboards such as the ASUS KGPE-D16, Libreboot now uses the coreboot fork from 15h.org instead of the old 4.11_branch tree. It uses AMD AGESA source code rather than custom init code, and Rowe says it has much more reliable raminit and CPU initialisation, supports more RAM, and fixes IOMMU and TPM. Regular binaries with SeaBIOS and GRUB are provided; experimental EDK2 images are source-only and meant for use with graphics cards, because EDK2 needs a framebuffer and the board's integrated AST2050 chip only starts in text mode.

For graphics, EDK2 with PCI-E relocatable BAR (rebar) lets modern graphics cards that need allocations above 4GB work. Rebar is disabled by default: in testing, enabling it broke Intel GPU video output on libgfxinit, and no fix has been found. Linux video output still works, since the i915 driver initialises the framebuffer. It can be enabled in coreboot menuconfig, and Rowe says it will be enabled by default in a future release. PCI-E Option ROMs are enabled by default where needed for EDK2 builds, tested on Dell OptiPlex 9020 SFF and 5050 SFF desktops.

The coreboot update brings in GCC 15.2, MPC 1.4.1, Nasm 3.02, acpica 20251212 and binutils 2.46.1 on crossgcc. Other items include a ./mk import_uboot command for importing U-Boot configs (not yet used), the mrimport utility, and a fwsetup command in the EFI GRUB menu that boots back into the EDK2 setup menu. Rowe says EDK2 will make newer hardware easier to support and that she expects Libreboot to become much more popular and useful as a result. Releases are at rsync.libreboot.org/stable/26.10/ and on mirrors.

Key facts

Libreboot 26.10 "Ominous Olive" was published on 15 October 2026 by Leah Rowe, with the changelog relative to Libreboot 26.01.
EDK2, an open source UEFI implementation, is now the default payload on nearly all boards; GRUB and SeaBIOS remain as EFI builds, and 32-bit-only boards keep the old setup.
All 233 Chromebooks currently supported by MrChromebox's coreboot distro were imported, source-only; only Baytrail (Kip) is stated as tested.
A new AGENTS.md in lbmk holds a strongly anti-AI policy, which the author calls the most important change in the release.
Rebar is off by default because enabling it broke Intel GPU video output on libgfxinit in testing; ASUS KGPE-D16 and similar boards move to the 15h.org coreboot fork.

Why it matters

Libreboot is a firmware project whose goal is to replace proprietary BIOS/UEFI with free software. Until now it offered almost no UEFI. This release makes a complete open source UEFI (EDK2) the default on nearly every supported board, so standard UEFI-booting operating systems, Windows included according to the author, can run on it. It also opens the project to Chromebooks through MrChromebox's work. The author says EDK2 removes limits on supporting newer hardware and will be the focus from now on. Separately, the release carries an explicit anti-AI policy in AGENTS.md, which the author ranks above every technical change.

Who it affects

Existing Libreboot users on supported Intel/AMD boards, who the author warns may see their setups affected by the major design change. Owners of older 32-bit-only mainboards, who stay on bare GRUB/SeaBIOS. Chromebook owners who are willing to build from source. Users of AMD Fam15h boards such as the ASUS KGPE-D16, which get a different coreboot fork. Desktop users who want modern graphics cards. People who maintain or contribute to lbmk, since the repository now carries an AI policy.

How to use it

The release is at rsync.libreboot.org/stable/26.10/ and on mirrors. At boot, pressing ESC opens the EDK2 setup menu, where the EFI builds of GRUB and SeaBIOS can be reached for existing Linux and BSD installs. The Chromebook boards, and the experimental EDK2 images for the KGPE-D16 class of boards, ship no binaries and must be built from source. For Chromebook installation the author says MrChromebox's own scripts and documentation should work with Libreboot images. Rebar can be turned on in coreboot menuconfig. The author says to read the changelog carefully, twice, and points to migration notes at the end of the release page.

How solid is it

This is the project's own release announcement, written in first person by Leah Rowe, so all claims are the maintainer's. She says the EDK2 setup was tested on all platforms and that the code is battle-tested in coreboot, but also that more testing is required. For the imported Chromebooks, she states that all 233 compile, while only Baytrail (Kip) is stated as tested. The Windows compatibility and the expected popularity gains are the author's claims and expectations, not independent results. No outside reaction is quoted.

Risks and caveats

The author warns that major design changes may affect many existing setups. Bare metal SeaBIOS/GRUB payloads are deprecated and may be removed in a future release. Imported Chromebook builds are untested apart from one board and come without binaries. Rebar is disabled by default because it broke Intel GPU video output on libgfxinit in testing, with no fix found; if it is enabled by accident on a machine with working integrated graphics, payload video can break, though Linux video output reportedly still works. The experimental EDK2 images on KGPE-D16-type boards are source-only and need a graphics card. The article does not say what rules the AGENTS.md anti-AI policy contains.

“A strongly anti-AI policy was added to a new file: AGENTS.md in lbmk. This is the most important change in the release.”

— Leah Rowe, Libreboot 26.10 release announcement