[U-Boot-Users] mkimage multi file use?

[U-Boot-Users] mkimage multi file use?

[Tom Guilliams]

I know this has been addressed before but I no longer have access to my 
U-Boot list archive on my PC and finding on the SourceForge list has 
proved troublesome such as it keeps telling me it's not accessible right 
now on the SoureForge page!  Is there any place I can dowload the archives?

I haven't been successful referencing the include/image.h file on how to 
use "mkimage -T multi".  Any examples out there?  Basically I just want 
to create an U-Boot image of a gzipped kernel and ramdisk.

Also, I received some pointers on how to extract the U-Boot header from 
an image (thanks Wolfgang and Marc Singer!).  Now I'm going to want to 
see if I can extract the kernel from a multi-file image.  I think this 
will be similar to the header extract but any pointers are greatly 
appreciated. Fightin the clock on this one!

Tom

[U-Boot-Users] Re: mkimage multi file use?

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear Tom,

in message <3F4112FD.6080204@san.rr.com> you wrote:
>
> now on the SoureForge page!  Is there any place I can dowload the archives?

Sorry,  I  have  no  idea.  If  really  needed,  I  can  arrange   to
(temporarily) put a copy of the U-Boot archive on our FTP server (the
bzip2ed tarball for U-Boot-Users is 22 MB, and 40 MB for PPCBoot).


> I haven't been successful referencing the include/image.h file on how to 
> use "mkimage -T multi".  Any examples out there?  Basically I just want 
> to create an U-Boot image of a gzipped kernel and ramdisk.

"mkimage" will print a help message when called without arguments:

	bash$ mkimage
	Usage: mkimage -l image
		  -l ==> list image header information
	       mkimage -A arch -O os -T type -C comp -a addr -e ep -n name -d data_file[:data_file...] image
		  -A ==> set architecture to 'arch'
		  -O ==> set operating system to 'os'
		  -T ==> set image type to 'type'
		  -C ==> set compression type 'comp'
		  -a ==> set load address to 'addr' (hex)
		  -e ==> set entry point to 'ep' (hex)
		  -n ==> set image name to 'name'
		  -d ==> use image data from 'datafile'


So try:

	bash$ mkimage -T multi -C gzip -a 0 -e 0 -n 'test multifile' \
	-d /path/to/kernel_image:/path/to/ramdisk_image uMulti


> Also, I received some pointers on how to extract the U-Boot header from 
> an image (thanks Wolfgang and Marc Singer!).  Now I'm going to want to 
> see if I can extract the kernel from a multi-file image.  I think this 
> will be similar to the header extract but any pointers are greatly 
> appreciated. Fightin the clock on this one!

See the README (section "More About U-Boot Image Types") for the file
format. This explains that with a mutlifile image with a kernel and a
ramdisk you will  have  to  skip  a  total  of  76  bytes  of  header
information (64 for U-Boot header + 4 for kernel size + 4 for ramdisk
size + 4 for terminating null).

So I recommend a three step approach:

	bash$ mkimage -l uMulti
	Image Name:   Linux-2.4.4-2003-04-05 Multiboot
	Created:      Sun Apr  6 12:44:18 2003
	Image Type:   PowerPC Linux Multi-File Image (gzip compressed)
	Data Size:    2610664 Bytes = 2549.48 kB = 2.49 MB
	Load Address: 0x00000000
	Entry Point:  0x00000000
	Contents:
	   Image 0:   715859 Bytes =  699 kB = 0 MB
	   Image 1:  1894792 Bytes = 1850 kB = 1 MB

	bash$ dd if=uMulti bs=76 skip=1 of=foo
	34350+1 records in
	34350+1 records out
	bash$ dd if=foo of=kernel.gz bs=715859 count=1
	1+0 records in
	1+0 records out
	bash$ gzip -vt kernel.gz 
	kernel.gz:       OK

The "bs=715859" uses the kernel data size as printed by the  "mkimage
-l" command.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
Software Engineering:  Embedded and Realtime Systems,  Embedded Linux
Phone: (+49)-8142-4596-87  Fax: (+49)-8142-4596-88  Email: wd at denx.de
White dwarf seeks red giant for binary relationship.

[U-Boot-Users] Re: mkimage multi file use?

[Tom Guilliams]

Wolfgang Denk wrote:

>Sorry,  I  have  no  idea.  If  really  needed,  I  can  arrange   to
>(temporarily) put a copy of the U-Boot archive on our FTP server (the
>bzip2ed tarball for U-Boot-Users is 22 MB, and 40 MB for PPCBoot).
>
OK, well I may take you up on that but I'll get back to you.  I hate 
having to ask questions I know have been answered already.

>So try:
>
>	bash$ mkimage -T multi -C gzip -a 0 -e 0 -n 'test multifile' \
>	-d /path/to/kernel_image:/path/to/ramdisk_image uMulti
>
Hmmm... include/image.h talks about having byte counts in there as 
well.  Maybe I'm just confused.  I'll recheck it.

>See the README (section "More About U-Boot Image Types") for the file
>format. This explains that with a mutlifile image with a kernel and a
>ramdisk you will  have  to  skip  a  total  of  76  bytes  of  header
>information (64 for U-Boot header + 4 for kernel size + 4 for ramdisk
>size + 4 for terminating null).
>
Thank you.  Very helpful.  Can't believe I missed the README reference!  
Ugh!

>
>So I recommend a three step approach:
>
>	bash$ mkimage -l uMulti
>	Image Name:   Linux-2.4.4-2003-04-05 Multiboot
>	Created:      Sun Apr  6 12:44:18 2003
>	Image Type:   PowerPC Linux Multi-File Image (gzip compressed)
>	Data Size:    2610664 Bytes = 2549.48 kB = 2.49 MB
>	Load Address: 0x00000000
>	Entry Point:  0x00000000
>	Contents:
>	   Image 0:   715859 Bytes =  699 kB = 0 MB
>	   Image 1:  1894792 Bytes = 1850 kB = 1 MB
>
>	bash$ dd if=uMulti bs=76 skip=1 of=foo
>	34350+1 records in
>	34350+1 records out
>	bash$ dd if=foo of=kernel.gz bs=715859 count=1
>	1+0 records in
>	1+0 records out
>	bash$ gzip -vt kernel.gz 
>	kernel.gz:       OK
>
>The "bs=715859" uses the kernel data size as printed by the  "mkimage
>-l" command.
>  
>
Very much appreciated.  Thanks again!

Tom

[U-Boot-Users] Re: mkimage multi file use?

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear Tom,

in message <3F4119EC.4030401@san.rr.com> you wrote:
> 
> OK, well I may take you up on that but I'll get back to you.  I hate 
> having to ask questions I know have been answered already.

I am dissatisfied with the availability and efficiency of the  search
options at SF, too.

> >	bash$ mkimage -T multi -C gzip -a 0 -e 0 -n 'test multifile' \
> >	-d /path/to/kernel_image:/path/to/ramdisk_image uMulti
> >
> Hmmm... include/image.h talks about having byte counts in there as 
> well.  Maybe I'm just confused.  I'll recheck it.

The byte counts are generated and inserted by the mkimage tool.

> Thank you.  Very helpful.  Can't believe I missed the README reference!  
> Ugh!

That text was added less than 6 months ago, so you might have  missed
it when you read an older version of the README.

> Very much appreciated.  Thanks again!

You are welcome.

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
Software Engineering:  Embedded and Realtime Systems,  Embedded Linux
Phone: (+49)-8142-4596-87  Fax: (+49)-8142-4596-88  Email: wd at denx.de
Fascinating is a word I use for the unexpected.
	-- Spock, "The Squire of Gothos", stardate 2124.5