Книга: Embedded Linux Primer: A Practical, Real-World Approach

16.2.1. Prerequisites and Assumptions

16.2.1. Prerequisites and Assumptions

The Linux kernel makes some fundamental assumptions when it is passed control from a bootloader. Most important among them is that the bootloader must have initialized the DRAM controller. Linux does not participate in chip-level SDRAM controller setup. Linux assumes that system RAM is present and fully functional. The PowerDNA Controller we are targeting contains the U-Boot bootloader, which has initialized the CPU, DRAM, and other related hardware required for minimal system operation.

The bootloader should also initialize the system memory map. This is usually done via a set of processor registers that define what chip select signals are active within a given memory address range. Chapter 3 in the Freescale MPC5200 User's Guide describes the registers used for this task.

The bootloader might have additional hardware-related initialization tasks. On some boards, the kernel assumes that the serial port is configured. This makes it possible to display early kernel boot messages to the serial port, long before the kernel's own serial driver has been installed. Some architectures and hardware platforms contain functions such as *_serial_putc(), which can send strings to a serial port that has been preconfigured by the bootloader or by some simple early kernel setup code. You can find examples of this in the PowerPC architecture branch using grep and searching for CONFIG_SERIAL_TEXT_DEBUG.

In summary, the fundamental prerequisite for porting Linux to our new board is that a bootloader has been ported and installed on our board, and any board-specific low-level hardware initialization has been completed. It is not necessary to initialize devices for which Linux has direct device driver support, such as Ethernet controllers or I2C controllers; the kernel handles these.

It is a good idea to configure and build your Linux kernel for the board closest to your own. This provides you with a known good starting pointa Linux kernel source tree configured for your board that compiles without error. Recall from Chapter 5, "Kernel Initialization," the command to compile a Linux 2.6 kernel:

$ make ARCH=ppc CROSS_COMPILE=ppc_82xx- uImage

This command line results in a Linux bootable image compatible with the U-Boot bootloader. The uImage target specifies this.

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