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Mastering Embedded Linux Programming

You're reading from Mastering Embedded Linux Programming Unleash the full potential of Embedded Linux

Product type Paperback

Published in Jun 2017

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781787283282

Length 478 pages

Edition 2nd Edition

Tools

Linux

Concepts

System Programming

Author (1):

Chris Simmonds

View More author details

Table of Contents (23) Chapters

Title Page

Credits

About the Author

About the Reviewers

www.PacktPub.com

Customer Feedback

Preface

1. Starting Out FREE CHAPTER

2. Learning About Toolchains

3. All About Bootloaders

4. Configuring and Building the Kernel

5. Building a Root Filesystem

6. Selecting a Build System

7. Creating a Storage Strategy

8. Updating Software in the Field

9. Interfacing with Device Drivers

10. Starting Up – The init Program

11. Managing Power

12. Learning About Processes and Threads

13. Managing Memory

14. Debugging with GDB

15. Profiling and Tracing

16. Real-Time Programming

Chapter 3. All About Bootloaders

The bootloader is the second element of embedded Linux. It is the part that starts the system up and loads the operating system kernel. In this chapter, I will look at the role of the bootloader and, in particular, how it passes control from itself to the kernel using a data structure called a device tree, also known as a flattened device tree or FDT. I will cover the basics of device trees, so that you will be able to follow the connections described in a device tree and relate it to real hardware.

I will look at the popular open source bootloader, U-Boot, and show you how to use it to boot a target device, and also how to customize it to run on a new device, using the BeagleBone Black as an example. Finally, I will take a quick look at Barebox, a bootloader that shares its past with U-Boot, but which has, arguably, a cleaner design.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

What does a bootloader do?
The boot sequence.
Booting with UEFI firmware.
Moving...

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Authors (1)

Chris Simmonds

Chris Simmonds

Chris Simmonds is a software consultant and trainer living in southern England. He has almost two decades of experience in designing and building open-source embedded systems. He is the founder and chief consultant at 2net Ltd, which provides professional training and mentoring services in embedded Linux, Linux device drivers, and Android platform development. He has trained engineers at many of the biggest companies in the embedded world, including ARM, Qualcomm, Intel, Ericsson, and General Dynamics. He is a frequent presenter at open source and embedded conferences, including the Embedded Linux Conference and Embedded World.

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