linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 12/12] i386 boot: Add an ELF header to bzImage

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Date:	Wed, 04 Oct 2006 13:27:49 -0700
From:	"H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@...or.com>
To:	vgoyal@...ibm.com
CC:	"Eric W. Biederman" <ebiederm@...ssion.com>,
	Andrew Morton <akpm@...l.org>,
	linux kernel mailing list <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	Reloc Kernel List <fastboot@...ts.osdl.org>, ak@...e.de,
	horms@...ge.net.au, lace@...kratochvil.net, magnus.damm@...il.com,
	lwang@...hat.com, dzickus@...hat.com, maneesh@...ibm.com
Subject: Re: [PATCH 12/12] i386 boot: Add an ELF header to bzImage

Vivek Goyal wrote:
> 
> Eric/Peter,
> 
> How about just extending bzImage format to include some info in real mode
> kernel header. Say protocol version 2.05. I think if we just include two
> more fields, is kernel relocatable and equivalent of ELF memsz, then probably
> this information should be enough for kexec bzImage loader to load and run
> a relocatable kernel from a different address.
> 

What would be the exact semantics of the "equivalent of ELF memsz"?  I 
have balked on that one in the past, because the proposed semantics were 
unsafe.

I suspect we need at least one more piece of data, which is the required 
alignment of a relocated kernel.  Either which way, it seems clear that 
there is some re-engineering that needs to be done, and I think we need 
to better understand *why* the proposed patch failed.

Can this failure be reproduced in a simulator?

	-hpa

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