[U-Boot-Users] the broken linker problem...

[U-Boot-Users] the broken linker problem...

[Gerhard Jaeger]

Hi list,

I followed the discussions about broken linker and wrong command table
relocation and decided to dig somewhat deeper. I have sent a report
to the binutils guys. Please see the short discussion on the binutils
list about that issue:
http://sourceware.org/ml/binutils/2005-08/msg00412.html

You'll also find the version information there, about the point the behaviour
of the linker changed and the explanation of Alan Modra why it has been
changed.

In the end, I got the expression, that we really need to introduce
a small change to the linker scripts to fix that issue:

  . = .;
  __u_boot_cmd_start = .;
  .u_boot_cmd : { *(.u_boot_cmd) }
  __u_boot_cmd_end = .;

The . = .; is the proposed fix. See ld.texinfo "dot outside sections"
for more explanations.

Hope that sheds some light on that issue.

Cheers
Gerhard

-- 
Gerhard Jaeger <gjaeger@sysgo.com>            
SYSGO AG                      Embedded and Real-Time Software
www.sysgo.com | www.elinos.com | www.pikeos.com | www.osek.de 

[U-Boot-Users] the broken linker problem...

[Wolfgang Denk]

In message <200508311014.33369.g.jaeger@sysgo.com> you wrote:
> 
> I followed the discussions about broken linker and wrong command table
> relocation and decided to dig somewhat deeper. I have sent a report
> to the binutils guys. Please see the short discussion on the binutils
> list about that issue:
> http://sourceware.org/ml/binutils/2005-08/msg00412.html

Thanks for all of this, this really helps a lot.

Umm... You write in this discussion:

| Hmmm, I get the impression, that I need to re-read the docs more carefully...

Well, I tried before. But the documentation for  2.15.94.0.2.2  which
is  for  example  used  in  Fedora Core 4 does not mention anythingof
this. Not even a hint. So this is obviously a new "feature", and they
even bothered to document  it.  I  wonder  why  they  broke  existing
behaviour  in  the  first place. In my opinion the ". = ." thing is a
workaround for a linke bug. But I have neither time nor nerves to  do
anything about it, so I'll give way.

> In the end, I got the expression, that we really need to introduce
> a small change to the linker scripts to fix that issue:
> 
>   . = .;

Will do that. Thanks again!!


Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
Software Engineering:  Embedded and Realtime Systems,  Embedded Linux
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd at denx.de
If a train station is a place where a train stops,
                                           then what's a workstation?

[U-Boot-Users] the broken linker problem...

[Gerhard Jaeger]

Hi Wolfgang,

On Wednesday 31 August 2005 12:03, Wolfgang Denk wrote:
> In message <200508311014.33369.g.jaeger@sysgo.com> you wrote:
> > 
> > I followed the discussions about broken linker and wrong command table
> > relocation and decided to dig somewhat deeper. I have sent a report
> > to the binutils guys. Please see the short discussion on the binutils
> > list about that issue:
> > http://sourceware.org/ml/binutils/2005-08/msg00412.html
> 
> Thanks for all of this, this really helps a lot.
> 
> Umm... You write in this discussion:
> 
> | Hmmm, I get the impression, that I need to re-read the docs more carefully...
> 
> Well, I tried before. But the documentation for  2.15.94.0.2.2  which
> is  for  example  used  in  Fedora Core 4 does not mention anythingof
> this. Not even a hint. So this is obviously a new "feature", and they
> even bothered to document  it.  I  wonder  why  they  broke  existing
> behaviour  in  the  first place. In my opinion the ". = ." thing is a
> workaround for a linke bug. But I have neither time nor nerves to  do
> anything about it, so I'll give way.

well, this IMHO strange behaviour seems to be really documented in
ld.texinfo, although the behaviour somehow interferes with the meaning
of the dot (current location counter)....

> > In the end, I got the expression, that we really need to introduce
> > a small change to the linker scripts to fix that issue:
> > 
> >   . = .;
> 
> Will do that. Thanks again!!

Thanks - hope the bleeding-edge-tool will then be satisfied too ;)
Gerhard

Gerhard Jaeger <gjaeger@sysgo.com>            
SYSGO AG                      Embedded and Real-Time Software
www.sysgo.com | www.elinos.com | www.pikeos.com | www.osek.de