QEMU: arm64: bloblist not found and alloc space exhausted

[Johannes Krottmayer]

Hello Tom!

I have found the memory allocation issue.

src/common/board_f.c:

In function initcall_run_f() there will be fdtdec_setup() called
BEFORE the memory allocate functions are initialized. Placing
INITCALL(initf_malloc) before INITCALL(fdtdec_setup) fixes the
issue. fdtdec_setup() also calls the bloblist functions which
try to allocate some memory, but because the memory allocation
system isn't initialized yet (current source) it fails.

But I don't know if this breaks other systems or boards.


On 2/24/26 8:52 PM, Tom Rini wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 24, 2026 at 07:51:22PM +0000, Johannes Krottmayer wrote:
>> Hello Tom!
>>
>> On 2/24/26 8:33 PM, Tom Rini wrote:
>>> On Tue, Feb 24, 2026 at 07:23:54PM +0000, Johannes Krottmayer wrote:
>>>> Hello Tom!
>>>>
>>>> On 2/24/26 6:09 PM, Tom Rini wrote:
>>>>> On Tue, Feb 24, 2026 at 10:26:35AM +0000, Johannes Krottmayer wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hello,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm tried to compile U-Boot for an QEMU AArch64 environ
ment, but get
>>>>>> some error messages in SPL:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Bloblist at 0 not found (err=-2)
>>>>>> alloc space exhausted ptr 400 limit 0
>>>>>> Bloblist at 0 not found (err=-2)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> U-Boot 2026.01 (Feb 24 2026 - 10:22:15 +0100)
>>>>>> [...]
>>>>>> --
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Started the QEMU instance with the command line:
>>>>>> $ qemu-system-aarch64 -m 4G -machine virt -cpu cortex-a53 /
>>>>>> bios u-boot.bin
>>>>>> $
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Also the same errors when I use TF-A and OP-TEE with enabled
>>>>>> EL3 and EL2 in QEMU and "u-boot.bin" as BL33.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Has somebody noticed the same issue?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I used the configuration "qemu_arm64_defconfig"
>> .
>>>>>
>>>>> That's odd. We run it in CI, but as cortex-a57 not a53 with otherwise
>>>>> similar arguments. Running with TF-A/OP-TEE is also in CI, but more
>>>>> difficult to configure.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I have tried it now with the Cortex-A57 but running into the same
>>>> issue 
without OP-TEE and TF-A. Using OP-TEE and TF-A works now
>>>> without the issue because I have forgotten to pass the option
>>>> TRANSFER_LIST=1 to TF-A and CFG_TRANSFER_LIST=y and
>>>> CFG_MAP_EXT_DT_SECURE=y to OP-TEE.
>>>>
>>>> Host OS: Debian 13 (Trixie)
>>>> QEMU version:
>>>> $ qemu-system-aarch64 --version
>>>> QEMU emulator version 10.0.7 (Debian 1:10.0.7+ds-0+deb13u1+b1)
>>>> Copyright (c) 2003-2025 Fabrice Bellard and the QEMU Project developers
>>>> $
>>>>
>>>> BTW: doc/board/emulation/qemu-arm.rst doesn't mention how to build
>>>> U-Boot with OP-TEE and TF-A. Should I include the build steps into the
>>>> docs and create a patch for the doc? I think it's also useful for
>>>> other users.
>>>
>>> Yes, some doc updates woul
>> d be appreciated and please CC the board
>>> maintainers as well. And perhaps the question I forgot to ask earlier
>>> is, are you seeing those as fatal errors, or just noting they exist?
>>>
>>
>> My personal opinion:
>>
>> I s
ee the "bloblist not found" personally only as
>> warning. But I think the memory allocation issue should be
>> investigated and maybe fixed, because I think it could have
>> site effects.
>>
>> But I don't know the memory allocation code fully from U-Boot,
>> so therefore the "site effects" is only a guess as normal user.
> 
> Ah, yes, thank you. Yes, it's a bit scarrier of a message than is
> warranted and we should look in to clarifying things. I seem to recall
> it's just what happens in the case of having started and no bloblist
> found, but not expected. I'll dig around a bit more myself now.
> 

-- 
Kind regards,

Johannes K.

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