[PATCH] Revert "fdt: Make sure there is no stale initrd left"
Sam Protsenko
semen.protsenko at linaro.org
Tue Sep 30 00:19:26 CEST 2025
This reverts commit 9fe2e4b46458f9c4ec6b8115ebf18b4b26fe6127.
Commit 9fe2e4b46458 ("fdt: Make sure there is no stale initrd left")
introduces a regression in case when U-Boot transfers control to an EFI
app which acts as a subsequent bootloading program. Such an app might
try to set "linux,initrd-start" and "linux,initrd-end" fdt properties,
but by that time those properties are already removed by the code added
in the mentioned commit.
Particularly, the issue was observed on the E850-96 board where GBL EFI
app [1] can't run Android successfully anymore. More specifically, the
kernel can't see the ramdisk and panics with next messages:
/dev/root: Can't open blockdev
VFS: Cannot open root device "" or unknown-block(0,0): error -6
Please append a correct "root=" boot option; ...
Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on
unknown-block(0,0)
fdt_initrd() function (where initrd dts properties are removed) is
called two times:
1. First it's called by EFI boot manager (e.g. as a part of U-Boot
Standard Boot mechanism) when it's installing FDT:
fdt_initrd
image_setup_libfdt
efi_install_fdt
efi_bootmgr_run
efi_mgr_boot
It's already enough for EFI app to malfunction. But then it's also
called second time:
2. From the EFI app, via EFI DT fixup protocol:
fdt_initrd
image_setup_libfdt
efi_dt_fixup
struct efi_dt_fixup_protocol efi_dt_fixup_prot = {
.fixup = efi_dt_fixup
};
See [2] for specific GBL code which sets those fdt properties and then
runs DT fixup protocol callback.
This issue was discussed [3], but no action was taken since then. Revert
this patch for now, until a proper solution can be found.
[1] https://source.android.com/docs/core/architecture/bootloader/generic-bootloader/gbl-dev
[2] https://android.googlesource.com/platform/bootable/libbootloader/+/refs/heads/gbl-mainline/gbl/libgbl/src/android_boot/mod.rs#208
[3] https://lists.denx.de/pipermail/u-boot/2025-July/593879.html
Fixes: 9fe2e4b46458 ("fdt: Make sure there is no stale initrd left")
Signed-off-by: Sam Protsenko <semen.protsenko at linaro.org>
---
boot/fdt_support.c | 17 ++++-------------
1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)
diff --git a/boot/fdt_support.c b/boot/fdt_support.c
index b7331bb76b3e..92f2f534ee02 100644
--- a/boot/fdt_support.c
+++ b/boot/fdt_support.c
@@ -224,24 +224,15 @@ int fdt_initrd(void *fdt, ulong initrd_start, ulong initrd_end)
int is_u64;
uint64_t addr, size;
+ /* just return if the size of initrd is zero */
+ if (initrd_start == initrd_end)
+ return 0;
+
/* find or create "/chosen" node. */
nodeoffset = fdt_find_or_add_subnode(fdt, 0, "chosen");
if (nodeoffset < 0)
return nodeoffset;
- /*
- * Although we didn't setup an initrd, there could be a stale
- * initrd setting from the previous boot firmware in the live
- * device tree. So, make sure there is no setting left if we
- * don't want an initrd.
- */
- if (initrd_start == initrd_end) {
- fdt_delprop(fdt, nodeoffset, "linux,initrd-start");
- fdt_delprop(fdt, nodeoffset, "linux,initrd-end");
-
- return 0;
- }
-
total = fdt_num_mem_rsv(fdt);
/*
--
2.39.5
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