[U-Boot] [PATCH v2 2/3] arm: relocate the exception vectors

Masahiro Yamada yamada.m at jp.panasonic.com
Tue Oct 21 07:41:14 CEST 2014


Hi Georges and Albert,

Sorry for late reply because I was out of office for ELCE2014
and missed this thread.



On Mon, 20 Oct 2014 23:08:30 +0200
Georges Savoundararadj <savoundg at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Albert,
> 
> Le 15/10/2014 00:11, Albert ARIBAUD a ecrit :
> > Hi Georges,
> >
> > On Tue, 14 Oct 2014 22:02:00 +0200, Georges Savoundararadj
> > <savoundg at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Hi Albert,
> >>
> >> Hi Masahiro,
> > (putting Masahiro in Cc: just in case)
> >
> >> As my issue is related to Kconfig, I would like you to give me your
> >> opinions.
> >>
> >>
> >> Le 11/10/2014 12:47, Albert ARIBAUD a ecrit :
> >>> Hi Georges,
> >>>
> >>> On Sat, 27 Sep 2014 21:48:10 +0200, Georges Savoundararadj
> >>> <savoundg at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> This commit relocates the exception vectors.
> >>>> As ARM1176 and ARMv7 have the security extensions, it uses VBAR.  For
> >>>> the other ARM processors, it copies the relocated exception vectors to
> >>>> the correct address: 0x00000000 or 0xFFFF0000.
> >>>>
> >>>> Signed-off-by: Georges Savoundararadj <savoundg at gmail.com>
> >>>> Cc: Albert Aribaud <albert.u.boot at aribaud.net>
> >>>> Cc: Tom Warren <twarren at nvidia.com>
> >>>>
> >>>> ---
> >>>> This patch needs some tests because it impacts many boards. I have
> >>>> tested it with my raspberry pi in the two cases: using VBAR and
> >>>> using the copied exception vectors.
> >>>>
> >>>> Changes in v2:
> >>>> - Relocate exception vectors also on processors which do not support
> >>>>     security extensions
> >>>> - Reword the commit message
> >>>>
> >>>>    arch/arm/cpu/armv7/start.S |  6 ------
> >>>>    arch/arm/lib/relocate.S    | 30 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> >>>>    2 files changed, 30 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
> >>>>
> >>>> diff --git a/arch/arm/cpu/armv7/start.S b/arch/arm/cpu/armv7/start.S
> >>>> index fedd7c8..fdc05b9 100644
> >>>> --- a/arch/arm/cpu/armv7/start.S
> >>>> +++ b/arch/arm/cpu/armv7/start.S
> >>>> @@ -81,12 +81,6 @@ ENTRY(c_runtime_cpu_setup)
> >>>>    	mcr     p15, 0, r0, c7, c10, 4	@ DSB
> >>>>    	mcr     p15, 0, r0, c7, c5, 4	@ ISB
> >>>>    #endif
> >>>> -/*
> >>>> - * Move vector table
> >>>> - */
> >>>> -	/* Set vector address in CP15 VBAR register */
> >>>> -	ldr     r0, =_start
> >>>> -	mcr     p15, 0, r0, c12, c0, 0  @Set VBAR
> >>>>    >>>>    	bx	lr
> >>>>    >>>> diff --git a/arch/arm/lib/relocate.S b/arch/arm/lib/relocate.S
> >>>> index 8035251..88a478e 100644
> >>>> --- a/arch/arm/lib/relocate.S
> >>>> +++ b/arch/arm/lib/relocate.S
> >>>> @@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
> >>>>     * SPDX-License-Identifier:	GPL-2.0+
> >>>>     */
> >>>>    >>>> +#include <asm-offsets.h>
> >>>> +#include <config.h>
> >>>>    #include <linux/linkage.h>
> >>>>    >>>>    /*
> >>>> @@ -52,6 +54,34 @@ fixnext:
> >>>>    	cmp	r2, r3
> >>>>    	blo	fixloop
> >>>>    >>>> +	/*
> >>>> +	 * Relocate the exception vectors
> >>>> +	 */
> >>>> +#if (defined(CONFIG_ARM1176) || defined(CONFIG_ARMV7))
> >>> I would prefer a single CONFIG_HAS_VBAR symbol defined through
> >>> Kconfig.
> >> 1)
> >> Actually, there is no Kconfig entry such as "config ARM1176" nor "config
> >> ARMV7" in U-Boot,
> >> unlike in Linux (arch/arm/mm/Kconfig).
> >>
> >> If there were such entries, we would simply do like the following (in
> >> arch/arm/Kconfig):
> >>
> >> config HAS_VBAR
> >>       bool
> >>
> >> config ARM1176
> >>       select HAS_VBAR
> >>
> >> config ARMV7
> >>       select HAS_VBAR
> >>
> >> Should we go in this direction?
> >> It is the cleanest way to use Kconfig but it requires some work in order
> >> to convert all
> >> "#define CONFIG_<cpu>" into Kconfig entries.
> >>
> >> 2)
> >> Otherwise, we can insert a "select HAS_VBAR" in all boards that have a
> >> ARM1176 or a ARMv7
> >> processor in arch/arm/Kconfig. It is not logical but this is what has
> >> been done with the Kconfig
> >> entry ARM64. And, it does not require much change.
> >>
> >> 3)
> >> The last thing we can do is as follows:
> >>
> >> config HAS_VBAR
> >>           bool
> >>           depends on SYS_CPU = "arm1176" || SYS_CPU = "armv7"
> >>           default y
> >>
> >> CONFIG_HAS_VBAR will be defined if SYS_CPU are arm1176 or armv7. It does
> >> not require much
> >> change as well but, I think, it is bad code.
> >>
> >> What do you think is the best way to introduce CONFIG_HAS_VBAR symbol?
> >> (1, 2 or 3)
> > I believe you have already sorted the options in order of decreasing
> > 'quality' -- 1 being the best option, and 3 being the worst... Indeed
> > option 1 would be the best and cleanest, and it could possibly open the
> > way for other per-CPU options.
> >
> > We could try and limit the effort to converting only ARM1176 and ARMV7
> > and leaving other CONFIG_<cpu> #define'd until some later point in the
> > future, but experience shows that such half-hearted attempts are never
> > completed.
> >
> > Amicalement,
> 
> I am currently trying to implement solution 1. only for ARM1176 and ARMV7 but I wonder
> if this work worth the effort just for one CPU feature.
> Do you expect more CPU feature like HAS_VBAR coming in the future?
> 
> I add the following lines in arch/arm/Kconfig:
> config HAS_VBAR
>         bool
> 
> config ARM1176
>         bool
>         select HAS_VBAR
> 
> config ARMV7
>          bool
>          select HAS_VBAR
> 
> config SYS_CPU
>         default "arm1176" if ARM1176
>         default "armv7" if ARMV7
> 
> Then, in the same file, under each "config TARGET_<board>",  I add "select ARM1176" or "select ARMV7".
> Also, I delete the Kconfig entries "config SYS_CPU" in all Kconfig of *all* boards that use ARM1176 and ARMV7.
> 
> Actually, I find the change quite big. What do you think about this implementation?
> Should I continue in this direction?
> 

Agreed on 1).

I was thinking about this since I introduced Kconfig at 2014.10-rc1.
It is good to know you're working on this since it can save my time.  :-)

My only request is, can you use CPU_ARM1176, CPU_V7 instead of ARM1176, ARMV7 ?
It looks like arm/arm/mm/Kconfig uses this way and CONFIG_CPU_ prefix makes things clear.


CONFIG_ARM1176 and CONFIG_ARMV7 are never referenced at all.
Also, CONFIG_ARMV7 is only defined in some armv7 boards.
For instance, Zynq boards define it but Tegra boards don't.
It is useless and should be removed someday.



I have a question:

You are covering only arm1176 and armv7.
What about arm1136?

I am not sure, but arm1136 and arm1176 both belong to ARMv6 generation?
If so, does arm1136 have VBAR register, doesn't it?





Best Regards
Masahiro Yamada



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