From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: (from majordomo@localhost) by oss.sgi.com (8.11.2/8.11.3) id g0OHbpx19369 for linux-mips-outgoing; Thu, 24 Jan 2002 09:37:51 -0800 Received: from idiom.com (espin@idiom.com [216.240.32.1]) by oss.sgi.com (8.11.2/8.11.3) with SMTP id g0OHbkP19363 for ; Thu, 24 Jan 2002 09:37:47 -0800 Received: (from espin@localhost) by idiom.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) id IAA62727; Thu, 24 Jan 2002 08:37:23 -0800 (PST) Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 08:37:23 -0800 From: Geoffrey Espin To: Matthew Dharm Cc: linux-mips@oss.sgi.com Subject: Re: Does anyone know how HHL boots? Message-ID: <20020124083723.A47711@idiom.com> References: <20020124015042.B29933@momenco.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mutt 0.95.1i In-Reply-To: <20020124015042.B29933@momenco.com>; from Matthew Dharm on Thu, Jan 24, 2002 at 01:50:42AM -0800 Sender: owner-linux-mips@oss.sgi.com Precedence: bulk Matt, > MontaVista has HHL support for several MIPS boards... including one that my >... > I mean, our boards have an elementary boot loader that can load a kernel > from the network, and disk-booting is something we're trying to figure out. > But how does HHL accomplish this? And is it a general solution for > multiple platforms? I went thru the same pain and confusion myself 9 months ago. My understanding is MontaVista uses whatever the manufacturer supplies with the hardware. And/or they have an internal version of PMON. There are probably a dozen differernt MIPS loaders... some of which you might be able to find source for, but probably won't be even close to working on your board without weeks+ of effort. If you have some assembly startup code that turns off interrupts, sets up the memory controller then you maybe able to use my "LinuxMon" solution which only works on the Korva(Markham) NEC Vr41xx chip but is very generic. Sheese, every monitor says it's generic. After turning off interrupts and setting up the memory controller it copies (optionally gunzips) the remainder of flash then jumps to your linux kernel. A 1-stage boot. It can then be used to load a second linux kernel if it has been linked elsewhere. I wasn't successful in getting it submitted/accepted unfortunately. You can get a copy of my 2.4.16 release containing it, at: http://www.idiom.com/~espin/nec The important files are arch/mips/korva/{Boot.make,vrboot.S,misc.c} If you have an already working linux kernel then these few files should turn it into a boot monitor. These were posted to linux-mips-kernel@lists.sourceforge.net so you can find them in the mail archive in Nov/Dec. Or I can post. Geoff -- Geoffrey Espin espin@idiom.com