2015-04-28 15:12:32

by Thiago Farina

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: boot loader

Hi,

Does the kernel include a simple boot loader like FreeBSD does?

--
Thiago Farina


2015-04-28 21:49:30

by Richard Weinberger

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: boot loader

On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 5:12 PM, Thiago Farina <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Does the kernel include a simple boot loader like FreeBSD does?

Why don't you figure yourself?

--
Thanks,
//richard

2015-04-28 23:44:37

by Thiago Farina

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: boot loader

On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 6:49 PM, Richard Weinberger
<[email protected]> wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 5:12 PM, Thiago Farina <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> Does the kernel include a simple boot loader like FreeBSD does?
>
> Why don't you figure yourself?
>
I think it doesn't. I just wanted someone to confirm my thought.

--
Thiago Farina

2015-04-29 02:25:46

by Ken Moffat

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: boot loader

On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 08:44:34PM -0300, Thiago Farina wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 6:49 PM, Richard Weinberger
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> > On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 5:12 PM, Thiago Farina <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> Does the kernel include a simple boot loader like FreeBSD does?
> >
> > Why don't you figure yourself?
> >
> I think it doesn't. I just wanted someone to confirm my thought.
>
Does the FreeBSD kernel really include a boot loader ? Surely the
loader is what reads the kernel into memory and then hands control
to it.

If you look at FreeBSD as a whole, it has a boot loader for
whichever architecture it was built for. But linux is only the
kernel - different distros (in this context, android could be
regarded as a distro) and most importantly different
architectures or platforms all do different things - in my
fairly-limited experience I've used grub, lilo, uboot, yaboot -
there are many others.

But please remember that asking general questions not related to
kernel development on this list is generally regarded as off-topic.

ĸen
--
Nanny Ogg usually went to bed early. After all, she was an old lady.
Sometimes she went to bed as early as 6 a.m.

2015-04-29 08:28:42

by Geert Uytterhoeven

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: boot loader

On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 5:12 PM, Thiago Farina <[email protected]> wrote:
> Does the kernel include a simple boot loader like FreeBSD does?

No idea what FreeBSD does, but you can use the kernel as a boot loader
for something else with kexec.

Gr{oetje,eeting}s,

Geert

--
Geert Uytterhoeven -- There's lots of Linux beyond ia32 -- [email protected]

In personal conversations with technical people, I call myself a hacker. But
when I'm talking to journalists I just say "programmer" or something like that.
-- Linus Torvalds

2015-05-11 22:11:51

by Pavel Machek

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: boot loader

On Tue 2015-04-28 12:12:26, Thiago Farina wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Does the kernel include a simple boot loader like FreeBSD does?

Long time ago, Linux included ability to boot from floppy on PC. Not
any more, IIRC.
Pavel

--
(english) http://www.livejournal.com/~pavelmachek
(cesky, pictures) http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~pavel/picture/horses/blog.html

2015-05-12 00:17:06

by Thiago Farina

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: boot loader

Hi Pavel,

On Mon, May 11, 2015 at 7:11 PM, Pavel Machek <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Tue 2015-04-28 12:12:26, Thiago Farina wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> Does the kernel include a simple boot loader like FreeBSD does?
>
> Long time ago, Linux included ability to boot from floppy on PC. Not
> any more, IIRC.
Yeah. Maybe it was a right decision from Linus to isolate, focus and work
solely on kernel and not including everything else (like FreeBSD does)
that makes a usable system.

Regards,

--
Thiago Farina

Subject: Re: boot loader

Am 12.05.2015 um 02:17 schrieb Thiago Farina:

> Yeah. Maybe it was a right decision from Linus to isolate, focus and work
> solely on kernel and not including everything else (like FreeBSD does)
> that makes a usable system.

Just a little sidenote:

Plan9 uses a trimmed-down Kernel as bootloader, which gives interesting
opportunities (eg. using various services like filesystems, shells, etc
in the bootloader).

With modern bootloaders like Barebox, the need for that IMHO isn't
that huge anymore. OTOH, there're still several things, I'd wish to
have available in the bootloader (eg. iscsi- or bnlkdev support).

Anyone here, who uses a Linux kernel as bootloader / preboot
environment ?


cu
--
Enrico Weigelt, metux IT consult
+49-151-27565287
MELAG Medizintechnik oHG Sitz Berlin Registergericht AG Charlottenburg HRA 21333 B

Wichtiger Hinweis: Diese Nachricht kann vertrauliche oder nur für einen begrenzten Personenkreis bestimmte Informationen enthalten. Sie ist ausschließlich für denjenigen bestimmt, an den sie gerichtet worden ist. Wenn Sie nicht der Adressat dieser E-Mail sind, dürfen Sie diese nicht kopieren, weiterleiten, weitergeben oder sie ganz oder teilweise in irgendeiner Weise nutzen. Sollten Sie diese E-Mail irrtümlich erhalten haben, so benachrichtigen Sie bitte den Absender, indem Sie auf diese Nachricht antworten. Bitte löschen Sie in diesem Fall diese Nachricht und alle Anhänge, ohne eine Kopie zu behalten.
Important Notice: This message may contain confidential or privileged information. It is intended only for the person it was addressed to. If you are not the intended recipient of this email you may not copy, forward, disclose or otherwise use it or any part of it in any form whatsoever. If you received this email in error please notify the sender by replying and delete this message and any attachments without retaining a copy.

2015-05-13 07:02:39

by Pavel Machek

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: boot loader

On Tue 2015-05-12 13:11:26, Enrico Weigelt, metux IT consult wrote:
> Am 12.05.2015 um 02:17 schrieb Thiago Farina:
>
> >Yeah. Maybe it was a right decision from Linus to isolate, focus and work
> >solely on kernel and not including everything else (like FreeBSD does)
> >that makes a usable system.
>
> Just a little sidenote:
>
> Plan9 uses a trimmed-down Kernel as bootloader, which gives interesting
> opportunities (eg. using various services like filesystems, shells, etc
> in the bootloader).
>
> With modern bootloaders like Barebox, the need for that IMHO isn't
> that huge anymore. OTOH, there're still several things, I'd wish to
> have available in the bootloader (eg. iscsi- or bnlkdev support).
>
> Anyone here, who uses a Linux kernel as bootloader / preboot
> environment ?

Yes. See kexec.

--
(english) http://www.livejournal.com/~pavelmachek
(cesky, pictures) http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~pavel/picture/horses/blog.html

Subject: Re: boot loader

Am 13.05.2015 um 09:02 schrieb Pavel Machek:

>> Anyone here, who uses a Linux kernel as bootloader / preboot
>> environment ?
>
> Yes. See kexec.

Can you tell us a bit more about your setup ?
Which platforms/archs are you on ?


cu
--
Enrico Weigelt, metux IT consult
+49-151-27565287
MELAG Medizintechnik oHG Sitz Berlin Registergericht AG Charlottenburg HRA 21333 B

Wichtiger Hinweis: Diese Nachricht kann vertrauliche oder nur für einen begrenzten Personenkreis bestimmte Informationen enthalten. Sie ist ausschließlich für denjenigen bestimmt, an den sie gerichtet worden ist. Wenn Sie nicht der Adressat dieser E-Mail sind, dürfen Sie diese nicht kopieren, weiterleiten, weitergeben oder sie ganz oder teilweise in irgendeiner Weise nutzen. Sollten Sie diese E-Mail irrtümlich erhalten haben, so benachrichtigen Sie bitte den Absender, indem Sie auf diese Nachricht antworten. Bitte löschen Sie in diesem Fall diese Nachricht und alle Anhänge, ohne eine Kopie zu behalten.
Important Notice: This message may contain confidential or privileged information. It is intended only for the person it was addressed to. If you are not the intended recipient of this email you may not copy, forward, disclose or otherwise use it or any part of it in any form whatsoever. If you received this email in error please notify the sender by replying and delete this message and any attachments without retaining a copy.

2015-05-13 07:56:50

by Pavel Machek

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: boot loader

On Wed 2015-05-13 09:53:09, Enrico Weigelt, metux IT consult wrote:
> Am 13.05.2015 um 09:02 schrieb Pavel Machek:
>
> >>Anyone here, who uses a Linux kernel as bootloader / preboot
> >>environment ?
> >
> >Yes. See kexec.
>
> Can you tell us a bit more about your setup ?
> Which platforms/archs are you on ?

It was very useful on sharp zaurus.
Pavel

--
(english) http://www.livejournal.com/~pavelmachek
(cesky, pictures) http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~pavel/picture/horses/blog.html