Impending Kexec interface change

Impending Kexec interface change

[Richard Purdie]

Anyone watching mainline kernels will note that ARM kexec support got
merged and will be in 2.6.21 which is good. The issue is that the
syscall number had to change since the one its using at the moment is a
big hack.

This means we will have to change kexec-tools and at that point it
becomes incompatible with older kernels.

We can wait a bit and change when 2.6.21 is released, or update all our
patches now to use the new proper syscall number and update OE now.

I know the NSLU2 people are users of this and would value their input.

Cheers,

Richard

Re: Impending Kexec interface change

[Justin Patrin]

On 2/20/07, Richard Purdie <rpurdie@rpsys.net> wrote:
> Anyone watching mainline kernels will note that ARM kexec support got
> merged and will be in 2.6.21 which is good. The issue is that the
> syscall number had to change since the one its using at the moment is a
> big hack.
>
> This means we will have to change kexec-tools and at that point it
> becomes incompatible with older kernels.
>
> We can wait a bit and change when 2.6.21 is released, or update all our
> patches now to use the new proper syscall number and update OE now.
>
> I know the NSLU2 people are users of this and would value their input.
>

I use kexec on my Zaurus to test new kernels (and run multiple "ROM"s)
so I'd be ineterested in the fix as well. I don't particularly care
how it's done, though. Please let the list know again once something
is decided and done. :-)

-- 
Justin Patrin

Re: Impending Kexec interface change

[Richard Purdie]

On Tue, 2007-02-20 at 14:36 -0800, Justin Patrin wrote:
> On 2/20/07, Richard Purdie <rpurdie@rpsys.net> wrote:
> > Anyone watching mainline kernels will note that ARM kexec support got
> > merged and will be in 2.6.21 which is good. The issue is that the
> > syscall number had to change since the one its using at the moment is a
> > big hack.
> >
> > This means we will have to change kexec-tools and at that point it
> > becomes incompatible with older kernels.
> >
> > We can wait a bit and change when 2.6.21 is released, or update all our
> > patches now to use the new proper syscall number and update OE now.
> >
> > I know the NSLU2 people are users of this and would value their input.
> >
> 
> I use kexec on my Zaurus to test new kernels (and run multiple "ROM"s)
> so I'd be ineterested in the fix as well. I don't particularly care
> how it's done, though. Please let the list know again once something
> is decided and done. :-)

After discussion with the NSLU2 people, it was agreed we should just get
on with it. I've updated the zaurus kernels (linux-rp) and kexec-tools
itself. The NSLU2 kernels will follow. Anyone else using ARM kexec needs
to ensure their kernel uses the new syscall number 347.

OE users should ensure their kernels and kexec-tools versions match.

Regards,

Richard

Re: Impending Kexec interface change

[Rod Whitby]

Richard Purdie wrote:
> Anyone watching mainline kernels will note that ARM kexec support got
> merged and will be in 2.6.21 which is good. The issue is that the
> syscall number had to change since the one its using at the moment is a
> big hack.
> 
> This means we will have to change kexec-tools and at that point it
> becomes incompatible with older kernels.
> 
> We can wait a bit and change when 2.6.21 is released, or update all our
> patches now to use the new proper syscall number and update OE now.
> 
> I know the NSLU2 people are users of this and would value their input.

I say we change ASAP.  We'll upgrade the ixp4xx kernel in sync with your
changes.

-- Rdo