On Tue, May 19, 2020 at 03:29:01PM +0100, Grant Likely wrote:
> On 11/03/2020 16:42, Daniel Thompson wrote:
> > On Wed, Mar 11, 2020 at 01:42:36PM +0100, Francois Ozog wrote:
> > > We have the following cases:
> > >
> > > - FW compatible with GPT (I mean firmware can be searched based on
> > > GUID partition)
> > > Ok
> > >
> > > - FW that uses offsets and can be positioned at LBA >= 33
> > > Ok
> > > Need to define a protective partition >>
> > > - FW that uses offsets and can be positioned such that space between LBA-2
> > > and LBA-33 is used.
> > > Ok in theory as the header states where the partition entries location is
> > > specified in a GPT_HEADER "Starting LBA of array of partition entries".
> > > Linux kernel properly loads the partition entries if we push them after
> > > 16MB.
> > >
> > > read_lba <https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/latest/ident/read_lba>(state,
> > > le64_to_cpu
> > > <https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/latest/ident/le64_to_cpu>(gpt->partition_entry_lba)
> > >
> > > But I bet 2 is hardcoded in many tools...
> >
> > Agree... but that's "just bugs" and I suspect we could get >90% test
> > coverage for Linux systems just by checking util-linux (and the kernel
> > itself). Maybe for extra style points also check on of the BSDs.
>
> It is worth stepping back from the details to take a look at the intent. The
> purpose of this entire section of EBBR is to describe how firmware and the
> OS can co-exist on the same media device. In broad strokes it means if
> firmware is stored on the block device, then the OS must constrain how it
> uses the device.
>
> On platforms with separate firmware storage (e.g., SPI flash or UFS boot
> partitions) this isn't an issue. The OS can blow away everything on the disk
> and recreate it.
>
> But when it is an issue, the rules need to lay down what regions (offsets,
> partitions, or file paths) firmware is allowed to own and what the OS is and
> is not allowed to do. e.g., the OS is allowed to erase and recreate the OS
> partitions, but it is not allowed to write a blank GPT or erase the system
> partition.
>
> I think the EBBR spec should focus on defining exactly what restrictions on
> the OS are, and how the restrictions are communicated. Then OS vendors have
> a fighting chance of supporting the restricted platforms well.
>
> Ultimately though this is a guide and the OS could choose to ignore the
> restrictions... in which case it gets to keep the unbootable brick when it
> does. :-)
Agree with all above.
Also I think we can turn at least part of the original issue into a
concrete question.
We have a SOC with some magic values hard coded into its boot ROM. The
System Firmware author wants to ship it with the following GPT on the
shared eMMC.
LBA0 Protective MBR
LBA1 Primary GPT header
LBA2..18001 Reserved, mixture of dead space and a system firmware
loaded by Boot rom
LBA18002 Start of partition arrray (Entry 1, 2, 3, 4)
...
LBA18033 End of partition arrray
LBA18034 Start of allocatable partition space
LBA-33..-1 End of disk is labelled as normal
(or in a shorter GPT jargon form, a system where PartitionEntryLBA is
18002).
Is such a system EBBR compliant? If yes, should it be?
Daniel.
PS 18002 is arbitrary but I think the example is sufficient in this
form and it was easier to diagram with a concrete number.
_______________________________________________
boot-architecture mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.linaro.org/mailman/listinfo/boot-architecture
