I have been trying to get the Ubuntu precise kernel booting on the apple tv. I used the initrd and vmlinuz to create the mach_kernel. I had no luck in booting into trying every option to vga that people have tried. I finally downloaded the latest 3.2.17 kernel from kernel.org. I created the kernel configuring it using the i386_defconfig, I only modified the processor type to pentium-m from pentium-pro. This doesnt boot either, I am left with display stuck showing "ATV: Staring Linux...". I was wondering what I need to change in the kernel config to get the kernel to boot directly. I am able to kexec into this kernel without any issues.
I would look into kernel framebuffer issues, in addition the atv efi firmware does not contain any traditional pc bios so any bios calls the kernel makes will fail. This includes vbios. While there does exist an nvidia vbios, it has not been setup. Only when X11 launches with, does the nvidia X11 driver search, find and setup vbios.
The existing boot kernel used to construct the mach_kernel is carefully configured to support the efi handoff that the code in atv-bootloader does. Step outside this configuration and your kernel will not boot or might boot and panic later but you will have no indication. Also, any code changes that have occurred to boot structures that are expected in atv-bootloader.
FYI, it took about three hard months to figure out the boot and handoff to the kernel. I seriously doubt that just picking the i386_defconfig and setting the processor is enough. You must match how the existing boot kernel is configured and also take account any code changes to the boot sequence.
The code in atv-bootloader is well commented, if none of that code makes sense, then you need to spend some time learning how the linux kernel boots before you can achieve your goal.
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