Query on linker scripts

[vjoss197@gmail.com (Vaibhav Jain)]

Thanks a lot for the explanation and the link!! I have just one more
question about
linker scripts. I am not clear about alignment of sections. Is it necessary
to align sections?
Can the alignment be different from 4096?
In the script that I provided the text and data sections are aligned while
the bss section is not. Is there
a reason for it ?

Thanks
Vaibhav Jain



On Sun, Mar 25, 2012 at 11:41 PM, Pranay Kumar Srivastava <
Pranay.Shrivastava@hcl.com> wrote:

>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Vaibhav Jain [mailto:vjoss197 at gmail.com]
> > Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2012 3:19 AM
> > To: Pranay Kumar Srivastava
> > Subject: Re: Query on linker scripts
> >
> >
> > Hi Pranay,
> > Thanks for replying!. I am still not clear about this as I have not
> > reached
> > the part of the tutorial which talks about pte and pgd. Could you
> > please explain this point about safety of section with a simpler
> > example?
>
> I'll take example from your script.
> .bss :
> {
>          sbss = .;
>          *(COMMON)
>          *(.bss)
>          ebss = .;
> }
>
> What I wanted to say was instead of taking ebss within .bss section you
> should take it outside that section. You might need to do ABSOLUTE since .
> will give you relative values but you'd want absolute values since
> addresses that you are interested in will begin from the entry point not
> from a section. So you can try something like this
>
> .bss ALIGN(4096):
> {
>          sbss = .;
>          *(COMMON)
>          *(.bss)
> }
> ebss = ABSOLUTE(.); /*This should be a page aligned address*/
>
>
>
>  Also, from your reply I figured out that it is not compulsory
> > to define such symbols and the names can be different than sbss and
> > ebss. Am I right ?
>
> The names can be anything it's your choice entirely. But being descriptive
> helps. You should have a close look at the redhat tutorial for linker
> scripts instead of following someone else's linker script since you might
> not require all the variables chosen or you might need some additional
> variables due to the design you've chosen for your kernel.
>
>
> http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/4/html/Using_ld_the_GNU_Linker/simple-example.html
>
> >
> >
> > Thanks
> > Vaibhav Jain
>
> Please include kernelnewbies at kernelnewbies.org in cc when replying. You
> are likely to get more responses that way.
>
> >
> > On Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 11:45 AM, Pranay Kumar Srivastava
> > <Pranay.Shrivastava@hcl.com> wrote:
> > On 03/24/2012 11:52 PM, Pranay Kumar Srivastava wrote:
> > >
> > > ________________________________________
> > > From: kernelnewbies-
> > bounces+pranay.shrivastava=hcl.com at kernelnewbies.org [kernelnewbies-
> > bounces+pranay.shrivastava=hcl.com at kernelnewbies.org] On Behalf Of
> > kernelnewbies-request at kernelnewbies.org [kernelnewbies-
> > request at kernelnewbies.org]
> > > Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2012 9:30 PM
> > > To: kernelnewbies at kernelnewbies.org
> > > Subject: Kernelnewbies Digest, Vol 16, Issue 29
> > >
> > > Send Kernelnewbies mailing list submissions to
> > >          kernelnewbies at kernelnewbies.org
> > >
> > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> > >
> >  http://lists.kernelnewbies.org/mailman/listinfo/kernelnewbies
> > > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> > >          kernelnewbies-request at kernelnewbies.org
> > >
> > > You can reach the person managing the list at
> > >          kernelnewbies-owner at kernelnewbies.org
> > >
> > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> > > than "Re: Contents of Kernelnewbies digest..."
> > >
> > >
> > > Today's Topics:
> > >
> > >     1. Query on linker scripts (Vaibhav Jain)
> > >     2. Re: Query on linker scripts (Carlo Caione)
> > >
> > >
> > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > -
> > >
> > > Message: 1
> > > Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:43:40 -0700
> > > From: Vaibhav Jain<vjoss197@gmail.com>
> > > Subject: Query on linker scripts
> > > To: kernelnewbies at kernelnewbies.org
> > > Message-ID:
> > >
> >  <CAKuUYSw=_zZykPWeTbJsGEYPPSroWK+whm0o5L_PnCManVcrng@mail.gmail.com>
> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> > >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > Recently I have started reading tutorials for writing a small kernel.
> > All
> > > such tutorials mention use of linker scripts. I have
> > > read few articles on linker scritps but I am stuck on one thing. I am
> > > unable to understand the use of defining new symbols in linker
> > scripts.
> > > Using a linker script to arrange different sections in the object
> > file is
> > > understandable but defining symbols which are not referenced anywhere
> > in
> > > the script
> > > is confusing. An example is the use of symbols sbss and ebss in the
> > bss
> > > section as show in the script below
> > >
> > >
> > > ENTRY (loader)
> > > SECTIONS
> > > {
> > >      . = 0x00100000;
> > >      .text ALIGN (0x1000) :
> > >      {
> > >          *(.text)
> > >      }
> > >      .rodata ALIGN (0x1000) :
> > >      {
> > >          *(.rodata*)
> > >      }
> > >      .data ALIGN (0x1000) :
> > >      {
> > >          *(.data)
> > >      }
> > >      .bss :
> > >      {
> > >          sbss = .;
> > >          *(COMMON)
> > >          *(.bss)
> > >          ebss = .;
> > >      }
> > > }
> > >
> > > Please explain how defining such symbols is useful.
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > > Vaibhav Jain
> > > -------------- next part --------------
> > > An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> > > URL:
> > http://lists.kernelnewbies.org/pipermail/kernelnewbies/attachments/2012
> > 0323/6e1741da/attachment-0001.html
> > >
> > > ------------------------------
> > >
> > > Message: 2
> > > Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:26:38 +0100
> > > From: Carlo Caione<carlo.caione@gmail.com>
> > > Subject: Re: Query on linker scripts
> > > To: Vaibhav Jain<vjoss197@gmail.com>
> > > Cc: kernelnewbies at kernelnewbies.org
> > > Message-ID:<4F6DE7AE.9070808@gmail.com>
> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
> > >
> > > On 24/03/2012 05:43, Vaibhav Jain wrote:
> > >> Hi,
> > > [cut]
> > >> is confusing. An example is the use of symbols sbss and ebss in the
> > bss
> > >> section as show in the script below
> > >> ENTRY (loader)
> > >> SECTIONS
> > >> {
> > >>       . = 0x00100000;
> > >>       .text ALIGN (0x1000) :
> > >>       {
> > >>           *(.text)
> > >>       }
> > >>       .rodata ALIGN (0x1000) :
> > >>       {
> > >>           *(.rodata*)
> > >>       }
> > >>       .data ALIGN (0x1000) :
> > >>       {
> > >>           *(.data)
> > >>       }
> > >>       .bss :
> > >>       {
> > >>           sbss = .;
> > The sbss will tell you the start of the section bss.
> > >>           *(COMMON)
> > >>           *(.bss)
> > >>           ebss = .;
> > The ebss will tell you the end of the section bss. The use of these
> > symbols is since you'd like to have the kernel's section be safe from
> > every other process.
> >
> > This way you can know where your kernel code starts and ends. So you
> > can set up the pages( ptes and pgds as well) in a sensible manner for
> > your kernel.
> >
> > So in the above case you'd have like two variables in your C code like
> > extern long sbss,ebss and then to get the location where the bss begins
> > you'd do &sbss while to get its ending address you'd do &ebss. So when
> > you subtract these two that should give you the size of your bss
> > section.
> >
> > However you should do ebss=. after your .bss section and make it
> > ALIGN(0x1000) like others so you get page aligned section values cuz it
> > makes easier to arrange for the pte and pgd for kernel. Also you should
> > set the GDT values for kernel only code separately accordingly from the
> > values you get after an initial temporary GDT has been setup earlier by
> > GRUB or by you.
> >
> > More appropriate would be to get the size of text and data sections as
> > well since you wouldn't want to accidentally bump into kernel code.
> >
> >
> >
> > >>       }
> > >> }
> > >
> > > I'm not sure if you are OT, anyway...
> > >
> > > i.e. they are useful if you want to clear the bss section before
> > execution.
> > >
> > > [snippet for ARM proc]
> > > ...
> > >          ldr     r2, =_sbss
> > >          b       LoopFillZerobss
> > > /* Zero fill the bss segment. */
> > > FillZerobss:
> > >          movs    r3, #0
> > >          str     r3, [r2], #4
> > >
> > > LoopFillZerobss:
> > >          ldr     r3, = _ebss
> > >          cmp     r2, r3
> > >          bcc     FillZerobss
> > > ...
> > >
> > > --
> > > Carlo Caione
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ------------------------------
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Kernelnewbies mailing list
> > > Kernelnewbies at kernelnewbies.org
> > > http://lists.kernelnewbies.org/mailman/listinfo/kernelnewbies
> > >
> > >
> > > End of Kernelnewbies Digest, Vol 16, Issue 29
> > > *********************************************
> >
> > ::DISCLAIMER::
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ------------------------------------------------
> >
> > The contents of this e-mail and any attachment(s) are confidential and
> > intended for the named recipient(s) only.
> > It shall not attach any liability on the originator or HCL or its
> > affiliates. Any views or opinions presented in
> > this email are solely those of the author and may not necessarily
> > reflect the opinions of HCL or its affiliates.
> > Any form of reproduction, dissemination, copying, disclosure,
> > modification, distribution and / or publication of
> > this message without the prior written consent of the author of this e-
> > mail is strictly prohibited. If you have
> > received this email in error please delete it and notify the sender
> > immediately. Before opening any mail and
> > attachments please check them for viruses and defect.
> >
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ------------------------------------------------
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.kernelnewbies.org/pipermail/kernelnewbies/attachments/20120326/7479779b/attachment-0001.html