-U-boot new uImage source file format (bindings definition)
+U-Boot new uImage source file format (bindings definition)
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Author: Marian Balakowicz <m8@semihalf.com>
replace direct passing of 'struct bd_info' which was used to boot pre-FDT
kernels.
-However, U-boot needs to support both techniques to provide backward
+However, U-Boot needs to support both techniques to provide backward
compatibility for platforms which are not FDT ready. Number of elements
playing role in the booting process has increased and now includes the FDT
blob. Kernel image, FDT blob and possibly ramdisk image - all must be placed
Libfdt has been selected for the new uImage format implementation as (1) it
provides needed functionality, (2) is actively maintained and developed and
-(3) increases code reuse as it is already part of the U-boot source tree.
+(3) increases code reuse as it is already part of the U-Boot source tree.
b) Terminology
This document defines new uImage structure by providing FDT bindings for new
-uImage internals. Bindings are defined from U-boot perspective, i.e. describe
-final form of the uImage at the moment when it reaches U-boot. User
+uImage internals. Bindings are defined from U-Boot perspective, i.e. describe
+final form of the uImage at the moment when it reaches U-Boot. User
perspective may be simpler, as some of the properties (like timestamps and
-hashes) will need to be filled in automatically by the U-boot mkimage tool.
+hashes) will need to be filled in automatically by the U-Boot mkimage tool.
To avoid confusion with the kernel FDT the following naming convention is
proposed for the new uImage format related terms:
The following picture shows how the new uImage is prepared. Input consists of
image source file (.its) and a set of data files. Image is created with the
-help of standard U-boot mkimage tool which in turn uses dtc (device tree
+help of standard U-Boot mkimage tool which in turn uses dtc (device tree
compiler) to produce image tree blob (.itb). Resulting .itb file is the
actual binary of a new uImage.
|- kernel = "kernel sub-node unit name"
|- ramdisk = "ramdisk sub-node unit name"
|- fdt = "fdt sub-node unit-name"
+ |- loadables = "loadables sub-node unit-name"
Mandatory properties:
"fdt type").
- setup : Unit name of the corresponding setup binary (used for booting
an x86 kernel). This contains the setup.bin file built by the kernel.
+ - loadables : Unit name containing a list of additional binaries to be
+ loaded at their given locations. "loadables" is a comma-separated list
+ of strings. U-Boot will load each binary at its given start-address.
The FDT blob is required to properly boot FDT based kernel, so the minimal
configuration for 2.6 FDT kernel is (kernel, fdt) pair.