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author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2012-06-03 03:17:03 +0400 |
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committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2012-06-03 03:17:03 +0400 |
commit | 63004afa718b1506fe9a286075b3b2d8c6ca2b9b (patch) | |
tree | 2ca957b939f36c7b6a8d85e162fec9d5a4bcca99 /Documentation | |
parent | f309532bf3e1cc1b787403d84e3039812a7dbe50 (diff) | |
parent | 40b46a7d2938589a5abab132a7824fd17ae18f62 (diff) | |
download | linux-63004afa718b1506fe9a286075b3b2d8c6ca2b9b.tar.xz |
Merge branch 'x86-urgent-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip
Pull straggler x86 fixes from Peter Anvin:
"Three groups of patches:
- EFI boot stub documentation and the ability to print error messages;
- Removal for PTRACE_ARCH_PRCTL for x32 (obsolete interface which
should never have been ported, and the port is broken and
potentially dangerous.)
- ftrace stack corruption fixes. I'm not super-happy about the
technical implementation, but it is probably the least invasive in
the short term. In the future I would like a single method for
nesting the debug stack, however."
* 'x86-urgent-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip:
x86, x32, ptrace: Remove PTRACE_ARCH_PRCTL for x32
x86, efi: Add EFI boot stub documentation
x86, efi; Add EFI boot stub console support
x86, efi: Only close open files in error path
ftrace/x86: Do not change stacks in DEBUG when calling lockdep
x86: Allow nesting of the debug stack IDT setting
x86: Reset the debug_stack update counter
ftrace: Use breakpoint method to update ftrace caller
ftrace: Synchronize variable setting with breakpoints
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/x86/efi-stub.txt | 65 |
1 files changed, 65 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/x86/efi-stub.txt b/Documentation/x86/efi-stub.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..44e6bb6ead10 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/x86/efi-stub.txt @@ -0,0 +1,65 @@ + The EFI Boot Stub + --------------------------- + +On the x86 platform, a bzImage can masquerade as a PE/COFF image, +thereby convincing EFI firmware loaders to load it as an EFI +executable. The code that modifies the bzImage header, along with the +EFI-specific entry point that the firmware loader jumps to are +collectively known as the "EFI boot stub", and live in +arch/x86/boot/header.S and arch/x86/boot/compressed/eboot.c, +respectively. + +By using the EFI boot stub it's possible to boot a Linux kernel +without the use of a conventional EFI boot loader, such as grub or +elilo. Since the EFI boot stub performs the jobs of a boot loader, in +a certain sense it *IS* the boot loader. + +The EFI boot stub is enabled with the CONFIG_EFI_STUB kernel option. + + +**** How to install bzImage.efi + +The bzImage located in arch/x86/boot/bzImage must be copied to the EFI +System Partiion (ESP) and renamed with the extension ".efi". Without +the extension the EFI firmware loader will refuse to execute it. It's +not possible to execute bzImage.efi from the usual Linux file systems +because EFI firmware doesn't have support for them. + + +**** Passing kernel parameters from the EFI shell + +Arguments to the kernel can be passed after bzImage.efi, e.g. + + fs0:> bzImage.efi console=ttyS0 root=/dev/sda4 + + +**** The "initrd=" option + +Like most boot loaders, the EFI stub allows the user to specify +multiple initrd files using the "initrd=" option. This is the only EFI +stub-specific command line parameter, everything else is passed to the +kernel when it boots. + +The path to the initrd file must be an absolute path from the +beginning of the ESP, relative path names do not work. Also, the path +is an EFI-style path and directory elements must be separated with +backslashes (\). For example, given the following directory layout, + +fs0:> + Kernels\ + bzImage.efi + initrd-large.img + + Ramdisks\ + initrd-small.img + initrd-medium.img + +to boot with the initrd-large.img file if the current working +directory is fs0:\Kernels, the following command must be used, + + fs0:\Kernels> bzImage.efi initrd=\Kernels\initrd-large.img + +Notice how bzImage.efi can be specified with a relative path. That's +because the image we're executing is interpreted by the EFI shell, +which understands relative paths, whereas the rest of the command line +is passed to bzImage.efi. |