More scripting:

coreboot-t440p/steps/clone_coreboot.sh

@@ -12,18 +12,23 @@ step_clone_coreboot() {
       info "Using existing coreboot directory."
       cd "$COREBOOT_DIR" || return 1
 
-      _current=$(git rev-parse HEAD 2>/dev/null)
-      if [ "$_current" = "$COREBOOT_COMMIT" ]; then
-        success "Already on correct commit."
-        return 0
-      else
-        warn "Current commit ($_current) differs from expected ($COREBOOT_COMMIT)."
-        if prompt_yes_no "Checkout the correct commit?"; then
-          run_cmd "git checkout $COREBOOT_COMMIT" || return 1
-          run_cmd "git submodule update --init --checkout" || return 1
-        fi
+      # Resolve the target ref (may be a tag or a SHA) to a SHA for comparison.
+      run_cmd "git fetch --tags origin" || return 1
+      _target_sha=$(git rev-parse --verify "$COREBOOT_COMMIT^{commit}" 2>/dev/null)
+      _current_sha=$(git rev-parse HEAD 2>/dev/null)
+
+      if [ -n "$_target_sha" ] && [ "$_current_sha" = "$_target_sha" ]; then
+        success "Already on $COREBOOT_COMMIT."
         return 0
       fi
+
+      warn "Current HEAD ($_current_sha) differs from target ($COREBOOT_COMMIT)."
+      if prompt_yes_no "Checkout $COREBOOT_COMMIT?"; then
+        run_cmd "git checkout $COREBOOT_COMMIT" || return 1
+        run_cmd "git submodule update --init --checkout" || return 1
+        success "Checked out $COREBOOT_COMMIT."
+      fi
+      return 0
     fi
   fi
 
@@ -32,11 +37,14 @@ step_clone_coreboot() {
 
   cd "$COREBOOT_DIR" || return 1
 
-  info "Checking out commit: $COREBOOT_COMMIT"
+  info "Fetching tags..."
+  run_cmd "git fetch --tags origin" || return 1
+
+  info "Checking out: $COREBOOT_COMMIT"
   run_cmd "git checkout $COREBOOT_COMMIT" || return 1
 
   info "Initializing submodules..."
   run_cmd "git submodule update --init --checkout" || return 1
 
-  success "Coreboot repository ready."
+  success "Coreboot repository ready on $COREBOOT_COMMIT."
 }

coreboot-t440p/steps/combine_bios.sh

@@ -6,6 +6,18 @@ step_combine_bios() {
 
   cd "$WORK_DIR" || return 1
 
+  # Short-circuit if the combined ROM already exists at the right size.
+  if [ -f t440p-original.rom ]; then
+    _existing=$(wc -c < t440p-original.rom)
+    if [ "$_existing" -eq "$SIZE_12MB" ]; then
+      info "Existing 12MB ROM found: $WORK_DIR/t440p-original.rom"
+      if prompt_yes_default "Use the existing combined ROM?"; then
+        success "Using existing t440p-original.rom."
+        return 0
+      fi
+    fi
+  fi
+
   info "Combining 8MB (bottom) + 4MB (top) into a single 12MB ROM..."
   run_cmd "cat 8mb_backup1.bin 4mb_backup1.bin > t440p-original.rom" || return 1
 

coreboot-t440p/steps/extract_bios.sh

@@ -134,6 +134,25 @@ _read_with_retry() {
 step_extract_bios() {
   section "Extract Original BIOS"
 
+  cd "$WORK_DIR" || return 1
+
+  # Short-circuit: if all four backups already exist and are the right size,
+  # assume the user already pulled them off the board and offer to skip.
+  if [ -f 4mb_backup1.bin ] && [ -f 4mb_backup2.bin ] \
+     && [ -f 8mb_backup1.bin ] && [ -f 8mb_backup2.bin ]; then
+    _s1=$(wc -c < 4mb_backup1.bin)
+    _s2=$(wc -c < 8mb_backup1.bin)
+    if [ "$_s1" -eq "$SIZE_4MB" ] && [ "$_s2" -eq "$SIZE_8MB" ]; then
+      info "Existing backups found in $WORK_DIR:"
+      echo "    4mb_backup1.bin, 4mb_backup2.bin, 8mb_backup1.bin, 8mb_backup2.bin"
+      echo ""
+      if prompt_yes_default "Skip re-reading the chips and use the existing backups?"; then
+        success "Using existing backups. Skipping extraction."
+        return 0
+      fi
+    fi
+  fi
+
   info "The T440p has two EEPROM chips beside the SODIMM slots:"
   echo "  - 4MB (top)    — smaller SOIC-8, farther from CPU"
   echo "  - 8MB (bottom) — larger SOIC-8, closer to CPU (holds ME firmware)"
@@ -141,8 +160,6 @@ step_extract_bios() {
   info "Each chip is read twice so we can diff the results and catch flaky reads."
   echo ""
 
-  cd "$WORK_DIR" || return 1
-
   # --- 4MB chip (do first: smaller = faster iteration on setup) ---
   echo ""
   show_image "eeprom_chip_4mb.webp" "Reference: 4MB (top) chip location on T440p"