Embedded Linux Kernel and Drivers

EmbeddedLinuxdriverdevelopment
EmbeddedLinux
kernelanddriver
development
MichaelOpdenacker
ThomasPetazzoni
FreeElectrons
1
FreeElectrons.Kernel,driversandembeddedLinuxdevelopment,consulting,trainingandsupport.http//freeelectrons.com
Rightstocopy
Copyright20042008,FreeElectrons
feedback@freeelectrons.com
Documentsources,updatesandtranslations:
http://freeelectrons.com/docs/kernel
Corrections,suggestions,contributionsand
translationsarewelcome!
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Licensetext:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bysa/3.0/legalcode
2
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orwithOpenOffice.orgitself!
Takeadvantageofinternalorexternalhyperlinks.
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Findpagesquicklythankstoautomaticsearch
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IfyourereadingapaperorHTMLcopy,youshouldgetyour
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3
Hyperlinksinthisdocument
Linkstoexternalsites
UsableinthePDFandODPformats
Example:http://kernel.org/ Trythemonthispage!
Kernelsourcefiles
Ourlinksletyouviewtheminyourbrowser.
Example:kernel/sched.c
click
KernelsourcecodeIdentifiers:functions,macros,type
definitions...
Yougetaccesstotheirdefinition,implementationandwherethey
areused.Thisinvitesyoutoexplorethesourcebyyourself!
wait_queue_head_tqueue;
init_waitqueue_head(&queue);
TableofcontentsDirectlyjumptothecorrespondingsections.
Example:Kernelconfiguration
4
Courseprerequisites
Skillstomaketheselecturesandlabsprofitable
FamiliaritywithUnixconceptsanditscommandlineinterface
Essentialtomanipulatesourcesandfiles
Essentialtounderstandanddebugthesystemthatyoubuild
Youshouldreadhttp://freeelectrons.com/training/intro_unix_linux
ThisUnixcommandlineinterfacetrainingalsoexplainsUnixconcepts
notrepeatedinthisdocument.
ExperiencewithCprogramming
OnlineCcoursescanbefoundon
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Programming/Languages/C/Tutorials/
5
Contents(1)
Kerneloverview
Linuxfeatures
Kernelcode
Kernelsubsystems
Linuxversioningschemeanddevelopmentprocess
Legalissues
Kerneluserinterface
6
Contents(2)
Compilingandbooting
Bootloaders
Linuxkernelsources
Linuxdevicefiles
Kernelsourcemanagers
Crosscompilingthekernel
Kernelconfiguration
Basicdriverdevelopment
Compilingthekernel
Loadablekernelmodules
Overallsystemstartup
Moduleparameters
Addingsourcestothetree
7
Contents(3)
Driverdevelopment
Memorymanagement
Sleeping,Interruptmanagement
I/Omemoryandports
Handlingconcurrency
Characterdrivers
mmap
Debugging
Devicemodel,sysfs
Processesandscheduling
8
Contents(4)
Adviceandresources
Annexes
Gettinghelpandcontributions
Quizanswers
Bugreportandpatchsubmission
Kernelsources
References
Slabcachesandmemorypools
Lastadvice
Initrunlevels
9
Kerneloverview
Linuxfeatures
10
Studiedkernelversion:2.6
Linux2.6
Linux2.6.0wasreleasedinDecember2003.
Lotsoffeaturesandnewdrivers
havebeenaddedataquickpacesincethen.
Itisgettingmoreandmoredifficulttogetsupportordrivers
forrecenthardwarein2.4.Nocommunitysupportatall!
Thesetrainingslidesshouldbecompliantwithatleast
Linux2.6.26.Wealsomentionfeaturesinmorerecent
kernels.
11
Linuxkernelkeyfeatures
Portabilityandhardware
support
Runsonmostarchitectures.
Security
Itcan'thideitsflaws.Itscode
isreviewedbymanyexperts.
Scalability
Canrunonsupercomputers
aswellasontinydevices
(4MBofRAMisenough).
Stabilityandreliability.
Compliancetostandardsand
interoperability.
Exhaustivenetworking
support.
Modularity
Canincludeonlywhata
systemneedsevenatrun
time.
Easytoprogram
Youcanlearnfromexisting
code.Manyusefulresources
onthenet.
12
Supportedhardwarearchitectures
Seethearch/directoryinthekernelsources
Minimum:32bitprocessors,withorwithoutMMU
32bitarchitectures(arch/subdirectories)
arm,avr32,cris,frv,h8300,i386,m32r,m68k,
m68knommu,mips,parisc(canhavea64bitkernelbutalways
a32bituserspace),powerpc,ppc,s390,sh,sparc,um,v850,
xtensa
64bitarchitectures:
alpha,ia64,mips,powerpc,sh64,sparc64,x86_64
Seearch/<arch>/Kconfig,arch/<arch>/README,or
Documentation/<arch>/fordetails
13
Kerneloverview
Kernelcode
14
ImplementedinC
ImplementedinClikeallUnixsystems.
(CwascreatedtoimplementthefirstUnixsystems)
AlittleAssemblyisusedtoo:
CPUandmachineinitialization,exceptions,
andcriticallibraryroutines.
Seehttp://www.tux.org/lkml/#s153
forreasonsfornotusingC++
(mainreason:thekernelrequiresefficientcode).
15
CompiledwithGNUC
NeedGNUCextensionstocompilethekernel.
So,youcannotuseanyANSICcompiler!
YoucanalsousetheIntelandMarvellcompilers(onlyontheir
respectiveplatforms)whichidentifythemselvesasaGNUcompiler.
SomeGNUCextensionsusedinthekernel:
InlineCfunctions
Inlineassembly
Structurememberinitializationinanyorder(alsoinANSIC99)
Branchannotation(seenextpage)
Requiresatleastgcc3.2.
SeeDocumentation/Changesinkernelsources.
16
Helpgcctooptimizeyourcode!
Usethelikelyandunlikelystatements
(include/linux/compiler.h)
Example:
if(unlikely(err)){
...
}
TheGNUCcompilerwillmakeyourcodefaster
forthemostlikelycase.
Usedinmanyplacesinkernelcode!
Don'tforgettousethesestatements!
17
NoClibrary
Thekernelhastobestandaloneandcan'tuseuserspace
code.
Userspaceisimplementedontopofkernelservices,notthe
opposite.
Kernelcodehastosupplyitsownlibraryimplementations
(stringutilities,cryptography,uncompression...)
So,youcan'tusestandardClibraryfunctionsinkernelcode.
(printf(),memset(),malloc()...).
YoucanalsousekernelCheaders.
Fortunately,thekernelprovidessimilarCfunctionsforyour
convenience,likeprintk(),memset(),kmalloc()...
18
Managingendianism
Linuxsupportsbothlittleandbigendianarchitectures
Eacharchitecturedefines__BIG_ENDIANor
__LITTLE_ENDIANin<asm/byteorder.h>
Canbeconfiguredinsomeplatformssupportingboth.
Tomakeyourcodeportable,thekerneloffersconversion
macros(thatdonothingwhennoconversionisneeded).Most
usefulones:
u32cpu_to_be32(u32); //CPUbyteordertobigendian
u32cpu_to_le32(u32); //CPUbyteordertolittleendian
u32be32_to_cpu(u32); //BigendiantoCPUbyteorder
u32le32_to_cpu(u32); //LittleendiantoCPUbyteorder
19
Kernelcodingguidelines
Neverusefloatingpointnumbersinkernelcode.Your
codemayberunonaprocessorwithoutafloatingpoint
unit(likeonarm).Floatingpointcanbeemulatedbythe
kernel,butthisisveryslow.
Defineallsymbolsasstatic,exceptexportedones
(toavoidnamespacepollution)
SeeDocumentation/CodingStyleformore
guidelines
20
Kerneloverview
Kernelsubsystems
21
Kernelarchitecture
App1
App2
...
User
space
Clibrary
Systemcallinterface
Process
management
Memory
management
Filesystem
support
Device
control
Networking
Character
devicedrivers
Network
devicedrivers
Filesystem
types
CPUsupport
code
CPU/MMU
supportcode
Storage
drivers
Kernel
space
Hardware
CPU
RAM
Storage
22
Kernelmemoryconstraints
Whocanlookafterthekernel?
User
process
Nomemoryprotection
Accessingillegalmemory
locationsresultin(oftenfatal)
kerneloopses.
Attempt
toaccess
Fixedsizestack(8or4KB)
Unlikeinuserspace,
nowaytomakeitgrow.
Illegal
memory
location
Kernelmemorycan'tbe
swappedout(forthesame
reasons).
SIGSEGV,kill
Kernel
Exception
(MMU)
Userspacememory
management
Usedtoimplement:
memoryprotection
stackgrowth
memoryswappingtodisk
demandpaging
23
I/Oschedulers
MissionofI/Oschedulers:reorderreadsandwritestodisk
tominimizediskheadmoves(timeconsuming!)
Slower
Faster
Notneededinembeddedsystemswithnoharddisks
(dataaccesstimeindependentoflocationonflashstorage)
BuildyourkernelwithnoopI/Oschedulerthen!
24
Kerneloverview
Linuxversioningschemeanddevelopmentprocess
25
Until2.6(1)
Onestablemajorbranchevery2or3years
Identifiedbyanevenmiddlenumber
Examples:1.0,2.0,2.2,2.4
Onedevelopmentbranchtointegratenewfunctionalitiesand
majorchanges
Identifiedbyanoddmiddlenumber
Examples:2.1,2.3,2.5
Aftersometime,adevelopmentversionbecomesthenew
baseversionforthestablebranch
Minorreleasesonceinwhile:2.2.23,2.5.12,etc.
26
Until2.6(2)
Stableversion
2.4.0
2.4.1
2.4.2
2.4.3
2.4.4
2.5.0
2.4.5
2.5.1 2.5.2
2.4.6
2.5.3
Development
2.4.7
2.5.4
2.6.0
2.4.8
2.6.1
Stable
Note:inreality,manymoreminor
versionsexistinsidethestableand
developmentbranches
27
ChangessinceLinux2.6(1)
Since2.6.0,kerneldevelopershavebeenableto
introducelotsofnewfeaturesonebyoneonasteadypace,
withouthavingtomakemajorchangesinexisting
subsystems.
OpeninganewLinux2.7(or2.9)developmentbranchwill
berequiredonlywhenLinux2.6isnolongerableto
accommodatekeyfeatureswithoutundergoingtraumatic
changes.
Thankstothis,morefeaturesarereleasedtousersata
fasterpace.
28
ChangessinceLinux2.6(2)
Since2.6.14,thekerneldevelopersagreedonthefollowingdevelopment
model
Afterthereleaseofa2.6.xversion,atwoweeksmergewindow
opens,duringwhichmajoradditionsaremerged
Themergewindowisclosed
bythereleaseoftestversion2.6.(x+1)rc1
Thebugfixingperiodopens,forsixtotenweeks
Atregularintervalsduringthebugfixingperiod,
2.6.(x+1)rcYtestversionsarereleased
Whenconsideredsufficientlystable,
kernel2.6.(x+1)isreleased,andtheprocessstartsagain
29
Mergeandbugfixingwindows
2weeks
6to10weeks
Mergewindow
2.6.21
Bugfixingperiod
2.6.22rc1
2.6.22rc2
2.6.22rc3
2.6.22rc5
2.6.22rc4
2.6.22
30
Morestabilityforthe2.6kerneltree
Issue:securityfixesonlyreleasedforlast(orlasttwo)stable
kernelversions(like2.6.16and2.6.17),andofcourseby
distributionsfortheexactversionthatyou'reusing.
Somepeopleneedtohavearecentkernel,butwithlong
termsupportforsecurityupdates.
That'swhyAdrianBunkproposedtomaintaina2.6.16
stabletree(March2006),foraslongasneeded(years!).
StillsupportedinJuly2008(2.6.16.62).
31
NostableLinuxinternalAPI(1)
Ofcourse,theexternalAPImustnotchange(systemcalls,/proc,/sys),
asitcouldbreakexistingprograms.Newfeaturescanbeadded,butkernel
developerstrytokeepbackwardcompatibilitywithearlierversions,atleast
for1orseveralyears.
TheinternalkernelAPIcannowundergochangesbetweentwo2.6.x
releases.Astandalonedrivercompiledforagivenversionmaynolonger
compileorworkonamorerecentone.
SeeDocumentation/stable_api_nonsense.txt
inkernelsourcesforreasonswhy.
WheneveradeveloperchangesaninternalAPI,(s)healsohastoupdateall
kernelcodewhichusesit.Nothingbroken!
Worksgreatforcodeinthemainlinekerneltree.
Difficulttokeepinlineforoutoftreeorclosedsourcedrivers!
32
NostableLinuxinternalAPI(2)
USBexample
LinuxhasupdateditsUSBinternalAPIatleast3times(fixes,
securityissues,supportforhighspeeddevices)andhasnowthe
fastestUSBbusspeeds(comparedtoothersystems)
WindowsXPalsohadtorewriteitsUSBstack3times.But,
becauseofclosedsource,binarydriversthatcan'tbeupdated,they
hadtokeepbackwardcompatibilitywithallearlierimplementation.
Thisisverycostly(development,security,stability,performance).
SeeMyths,Lies,andTruthsabouttheLinuxKernel,byGregK.H.,
fordetailsaboutthekerneldevelopmentprocess:
http://kroah.com/log/linux/ols_2006_keynote.html
33
What'snewineachLinuxrelease?(1)
commit3c92c2ba33cd7d666c5f83cc32aa590e794e91b0
Author:AndiKleen<ak@suse.de>
Date:TueOct1101:28:332005+0200
[PATCH]i386:Don'tdiscardupper32bitsofHWCRonK8
Needtouselonglong,notlongwhenRMWingaMSR.Ithink
it'sharmlessrightnow,butstillshouldbebetterfixed
ifAMDaddsanybitsintheupper32bitofHWCR.
BugwasintroducedwiththeTLBflushfilterfixfori386
Signedoffby:AndiKleen<ak@suse.de>
Signedoffby:LinusTorvalds<torvalds@osdl.org>
...
?? !
TheofficiallistofchangesforeachLinuxreleaseisjusta
hugelistofindividualpatches!
Verydifficulttofindoutthekeychangesandtogetthe
globalpictureoutofindividualchanges.
34
What'snewineachLinuxrelease?(2)
Fortunately,asummaryofkeychanges
withenoughdetailsisavailableon
http://wiki.kernelnewbies.org/LinuxChanges
?? !
Foreachnewkernelrelease,youcanalsogetthe
changesinthekernelinternalAPI:
http://lwn.net/Articles/2.6kernelapi/
What'snext?
Documentation/featureremovalschedule.txt
liststhefeatures,subsystemsandAPIsthatare
plannedforremoval(announced1yearinadvance).
35
Kerneloverview
Legalissues
36
Linuxlicense
ThewholeLinuxsourcesareFreeSoftwarereleased
undertheGNUGeneralPublicLicenseversion2(GPLv2).
Seeourhttp://freeelectrons.com/articles/freesw/training
fordetailsaboutFreeSoftwareanditslicenses.
37
Linuxkernellicensingconstraints
Constraintsatreleasetime(noconstraintbefore!)
ForanydeviceembeddingLinuxandFreeSoftwarelicensedundera
copyleftlicense,youhavetoreleasesourcestotheenduser.Youhave
noobligationtoreleasethemtoanybodyelse!
AccordingtotheGPL,allderivedworksofaworkmustbereleasedunder
thesamelicense,theGPL
GreyareaaroundLinuxdrivers:
aretheyderivedworksofthekernelornot?
Proprietarydriversarelessandlesstolerated,
http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/Kernel_Driver_Statement
Proprietarydriversmustnotbestaticallycompiledintothekernel.
Youarenotallowedtoreusecodefromotherkerneldrivers(GPL)
inaproprietarydriver.
38
AdvantagesofGPLdrivers
Fromthedriverdeveloper/decisionmakerpointofview
Youdon'thavetowriteyourdriver
fromscratch.Youcanreusecode
fromsimilarfreesoftwaredrivers.
Yougetfreecommunity
contributions,support,codereview
andtesting.Proprietarydrivers
(evenwithsources)don'tgetany.
Yourdriverscanbefreelyshipped
byothers(mainlybydistributions).
Closedsourcedriversoftensupport
agivenkernelversion.Asystem
withclosedsourcedriversfrom2
differentsourcesisunmanageable.
Usersandthecommunitygeta
positiveimageofyourcompany.
Makesiteasiertohiretalented
developers.
Youdon'thavetosupplybinary
driverreleasesforeachkernel
versionandpatchversion(closed
sourcedrivers).
Drivershaveallprivileges.You
needthesourcestomakesurethat
adriverisnotasecurityrisk.
Yourdriverscanbestatically
compiledintothekernel.
39
Advantagesofintreekerneldrivers
Advantagesofhavingyourdriversinthemainlinekernelsources
Onceyoursourcesareacceptedinthemainlinetree,theyare
maintainedbypeoplemakingchanges.
Costfreemaintenance,securityfixesandimprovements.
Easyaccesstoyoursourcesbyusers.
Manymorepeoplereviewingyourcode.
40
LegalproprietaryLinuxdrivers(1)
Linuxkernel
Wrapper
SpecialAPI
WorkingaroundtheGPLbycreatingaGPLwrapper:
Binary
blob
(proprietary
driver)
Theproprietaryblobisnotbrokenwhenyourecompileorupdate
thekerneland/ordriver.Hence,theproprietarydrivermaynotbe
consideredasaderivativework.However,thekernelismonolithic
andtheblobstillbelongstoasingleexecutable.Thisisstill
controversial!
41
LegalproprietaryLinuxdrivers(2)
2examplecases
Nvidiagraphiccarddrivers
Supportingwirelessnetworkcards
usingWindowsdrivers.
TheNdisWrapperproject
(http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/)
implementstheWindowskernelAPI
andNDIS(NetworkDriverInterface
Spec.)APIwithintheLinuxkernel.
Usefulforusingcardsforwhichno
specificationsarereleased.
Drawbacks
Stillsomemaintenanceissues.
Example:Nvidiaproprietarydriver
incompatiblewithX.org7.1.
Performanceissues.
Wrapperoverheadandoptimizations
notavailable.
Securityissues.Thedriversare
executedwithfullkernelprivileges.
...andallotherissueswith
proprietarydrivers.Userslosemost
benefitsofFreeSoftware.
42
Kerneloverview
Kerneluserinterface
43
Mountingvirtualfilesystems
Linuxmakessystemandkernelinformationavailablein
userspacethroughvirtualfilesystems(virtualfilesnot
existingonanyrealstorage).Noneedtoknowkernel
programmingtoaccessthis!
Mounting/proc:
sudomounttprocnone/proc
Mounting/sys:
sudomounttsysfsnone/sys
Filesystemtype
Mountpoint
Rawdevice
orfilesystemimage
Inthecaseofvirtual
filesystems,anystringisfine
44
Kerneluserspaceinterface
Afewexamples:
/proc/cpuinfo:processorinformation
/proc/meminfo:memorystatus
/proc/version:kernelversionandbuildinformation
/proc/cmdline:kernelcommandline
/proc/<pid>/environ:callingenvironment
/proc/<pid>/cmdline:processcommandline
...andmanymore!Seebyyourself!
45
Userspaceinterfacedocumentation
Lotsofdetailsaboutthe/procinterfaceareavailablein
Documentation/filesystems/proc.txt
(almost2000lines)inthekernelsources.
Youcanalsofindotherdetailsintheprocmanualpage:
manproc
SeetheNewDeviceModelsectionfordetailsabout/sys
46
Userspacedevicedrivers(1)
Possibletoimplementdevicedriversinuserspace!
Suchdriversjustneedaccesstothedevicesthrough
minimum,generickerneldrivers.
Examples
Printerandscannerdrivers
(ontopofgenericparallelport/USBdrivers)
Xdrivers:lowlevelkerneldrivers+userspaceXdrivers.
UserspacedriversbasedonUIO,frameworkintroducedin
2.6.23
47
Userspacedevicedrivers(2)
Advantages
Noneedforkernelcodingskills.Easiertoreusecodebetween
devices.
Driverscanbewritteninanylanguage,evenPerl!
Driverscanbekeptproprietary.
Drivercodecanbekilledanddebugged.Cannotcrashthekernel.
Canbeswappedout(kernelcodecannotbe).
Canusefloatingpointcomputation.
Lessinkernelcomplexity.
Drawbacks
Lessstraightforwardtohandleinterrupts.
Increasedlatencyvs.kernelcode.
SeeUIOHowtointhekerneldocumentationfordetailedinformations
andtheUsingUIOonanEmbeddedplatformtalkatELC2008,
http://www.celinux.org/elc08_presentations/uio080417celfelc08.pdf.
48
CompilingandbootingLinux
Linuxkernelsources
49
kernel.org
Downloadkernel
sourcesfrom
http://kernel.org
50
Linuxsourcesstructure(1)
arch/<arch>
arch/<arch>/<mach>
block/
COPYING
CREDITS
crypto/
Documentation/
drivers/
fs/
include/
include/asm<arch>
include/linux
init/
Architecturespecificcode
Machine/boardspecificcode
Blocklayercore
Linuxcopyingconditions(GNUGPL)
Linuxmaincontributors
Cryptographiclibraries
Kerneldocumentation.Don'tmissit!
Alldevicedriversexceptsoundones(usb,pci...)
Filesystems(fs/ext3/,etc.)
Kernelheaders
Architectureandmachinedependentheaders
Linuxkernelcoreheaders
Linuxinitialization(includingmain.c)
51
Linuxsourcesstructure(2)
ipc/
Kbuild
kernel/
lib/
MAINTAINERS
Makefile
mm/
net/
README
REPORTINGBUGS
samples/
scripts/
security/
sound/
usr/
Codeusedforprocesscommunication
Partofthekernelbuildsystem
Linuxkernelcore(verysmall!)
Misclibraryroutines(zlib,crc32...)
Maintainersofeachkernelpart.Veryuseful!
TopLinuxmakefile(setsarchandversion)
Memorymanagementcode(smalltoo!)
Networksupportcode(notdrivers)
Overviewandbuildinginstructions
Bugreportinstructions
Samplecode(markers,kprobes,kobjects)
Scriptsforinternalorexternaluse
Securitymodelimplementations(SELinux...)
Soundsupportcodeanddrivers
Codetogenerateaninitramfscpioarchive.
52
Linuxkernelsize(1)
Linux2.6.26sources:
Rawsize:264MB(25700files,approx8.5millionlinesofcode)
gzipcompressedtararchive:60MB
bzip2compressedtararchive:48MB(better)
lzmacompressedtararchive:39MB(best)
MinimumcompiledLinuxkernelsize(withLinuxTinypatches)
approx300KB(compressed),800KB(raw)(Linux2.6.14)
Whyarethesesourcessobig?
Becausetheyincludethousandsofdevicedrivers,manynetwork
protocols,supportmanyarchitecturesandfilesystems...
TheLinuxcore(scheduler,memorymanagement...)isprettysmall!
53
Linuxkernelsize(2)
SizeofLinuxsourcedirectories(KB)
arch
block
crypto
Documentation
drivers
fs
include
init
ipc
kernel
lib
mm
net
scripts
security
sound
usr
Linux2.6.17
Measuredwith:
dusapparentsize
0
50000
100000
150000
54
GettingLinuxsources:2possibilities
Fullsources
Theeasiestway,butlongertodownload.
Example:
http://kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux2.6.14.7.tar.bz2
Orpatchagainstthepreviousversion
Assumingyoualreadyhavethefullsourcesofthepreviousversion
Example:
http://kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/patch2.6.14.bz2(2.6.13to2.6.14)
http://kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/patch2.6.14.7.bz2(2.6.14to2.6.14.7)
55
Downloadingfullkernelsources
Downloadingfromthecommandline
Withawebbrowser,identifytheversionyouneedon
http://kernel.org
Intherightdirectory,downloadthesourcearchiveanditssignature
(copyingthedownloadaddressfromthebrowser):
wgethttp://kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux2.6.11.12.tar.bz2
Extractthecontentsofthesourcearchive:
tarjxflinux2.6.11.12.tar.bz2
~/.wgetrcconfigfileforproxies:
http_proxy=<proxy>:<port>
ftp_proxy=<proxy>:<port>
proxy_user=<user>(ifany)
proxy_password=<passwd>(ifany)
56
Downloadingkernelsourcepatches(1)
Assumingyoualreadyhavethelinuxx.y.<n1>version
Identifythepatchesyouneedonhttp://kernel.orgwithaweb
browser
Downloadthepatchfilesandtheirsignature:
Patchfrom2.6.10to2.6.11
wgetftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/patch2.6.11.bz2
Patchfrom2.6.11to2.6.11.12(lateststablefixes)
wgethttp://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/patch2.6.11.12.bz2
57
Downloadingkernelsourcepatches(2)
Applythepatchesintherightorder:
cdlinux2.6.10/
bzcat../patch2.6.11.bz2|patchp1
bzcat../patch2.6.11.12.bz2|patchp1
cd..
mvlinux2.6.10linux2.6.11.12
58
Anatomyofapatchfile
Apatchfileistheoutputofthediffcommand
diffcommandline
diffNrua/Makefileb/Makefile
a/Makefile2005030409:27:1508:00
Filedateinfo
+++b/Makefile2005030409:27:1508:00
@@1,7+1,7@@
Linenumbersinfiles
VERSION=2
Contextinfo:3linesbeforethechange
PATCHLEVEL=6
Usefultoapplyapatchwhenlinenumbers
SUBLEVEL=11
changed
EXTRAVERSION=
Removedline(s)ifany
+EXTRAVERSION=.1
Addedline(s)ifany
NAME=WoozyNumbat
#*DOCUMENTATION*
Contextinfo:3linesafterthechange
59
Usingthepatchcommand
Thepatchcommandapplieschanges
tofilesinthecurrentdirectory:
Youcanreverse
apatch
withtheR
option
Makingchangestoexistingfiles
Creatingordeletingfilesanddirectories
patchusageexamples:
patchp<n><diff_file
catdiff_file|patchp<n>
bzcatdiff_file.bz2|patchp<n>
zcatdiff_file.gz|patchp<n>
Youcantestapatchwith
thedryrun
option
n:numberofdirectorylevelstoskipinthefilepaths
60
ApplyingaLinuxpatch
Linuxpatches...
Alwaystoapplytothex.y.<z1>version
Downloadableingzip
andbzip2(muchsmaller)compressedfiles.
Alwaysproducedforn=1
(that'swhateverybodydoes...doittoo!)
Youcanmakepatch30%
fasterbyusingsp1
insteadofp1
(silent)
Linuxpatchcommandlineexample:
cdlinux2.6.10
bzcat../patch2.6.11.bz2|patchp1
cd..;mvlinux2.6.10linux2.6.11
Testedonpatch2.6.23.bz2
Keeppatchfilescompressed:usefultochecktheirsignaturelater.
Youcanstillview(orevenedit)theuncompresseddatawithvi:
vipatch2.6.11.bz2(onthefly(un)compression)
61
Accessingdevelopmentsources(1)
Kerneldevelopmentsourcesarenowmanagedwithgit:
http://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/
YoucanbrowseLinus'gittree(ifyoujustneedtocheckafewfiles):
http://www.kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux2.6.git;a=tree
Youcanalsodirectlyusegitonyourworkstation
Debian/Ubuntu:installthegitcorepackage
Ifyouarebehindaproxy,setUnixenvironmentvariablesdefining
proxysettings.Example:
exporthttp_proxy="proxy.server.com:8080"
exportftp_proxy="proxy.server.com:8080"
62
Accessingdevelopmentsources(2)
Chooseagitdevelopmenttreeonhttp://git.kernel.org/
Getalocalcopy(clone)ofthistree.
Example(Linustree,theoneusedforLinuxstablereleases):
gitclonegit://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux2.6.git
Updateyourcopywheneverneeded(Linustreeexample):
cdlinux2.6
gitpull
Moredetailsavailable
onhttp://git.or.cz/orhttp://linux.yyz.us/githowto.html
63
Onlinekerneldocumentation
http://freeelectrons.com/kerneldoc/
Providedforallrecentkernelreleases
Easierthandownloadingkernelsourcestoaccess
documentation
IndexedbyInternetsearchengines
Makeskernelpiecesofdocumentationeasiertofind!
Unlikemostothersitesofferingthisservicetoo,alsoincludesan
HTMLtranslationofkerneldocumentsintheDocBookformat.
Neverforgetdocumentationinthekernelsources!It'savery
valuablewayofgettinginformationaboutthekernel.
64
Kernelsourcemanagementtools
65
Cscope
http://cscope.sourceforge.net/
Tooltobrowsesourcecode
(mainlyC,butalsoC++orJava)
SupportshugeprojectsliketheLinuxkernel
Takeslessthan1min.toindexLinux2.6.17
sources(fast!)
Canbeusedfromeditorslikevimandemacs.
InLinuxkernelsources,runitwith:
cscopeRk
(seemancscopefordetails)
Allowssearchingcodefor:
allreferencestoasymbol
globaldefinitions
functionscalledbyafunction
functionscallingafunction
textstring
regularexpressionpattern
afile
filesincludingafile
66
Cscopescreenshot
67
KScope
http://kscope.sourceforge.net
AgraphicalfrontendtoCscope
MakesiteasytobrowseandedittheLinuxkernelsources
Candisplayafunctioncalltree
Niceeditingfeatures:symbolcompletion,spellingchecker,
automaticindentation...
Usageguidelines:
UsetheKernelsettingtoignorestandardCincludes.
Makesuretheprojectnamedoesn'tcontainblank
characters!
68
KScopescreenshots(1)
Symbols
incurrent
file
Project
files
Mainwindow
Querywindow
69
KScopescreenshots(2)
Calledfunctionstree
70
LXR:LinuxCrossReference
http://sourceforge.net/projects/lxr
Genericsourceindexingtool
andcodebrowser
Webserverbased
Veryeasyandfasttouse
Identifierortextsearchavailable
Veryeasytofindthedeclaration,
implementationorusagesofsymbols
SupportsCandC++
Supportshugecodeprojects
suchastheLinuxkernel
(264Minversion2.6.26).
Takessometimeandpatiencetosetup
(configuration,indexing,server
configuration).
Initialindexingveryslow:
Linux2.6.17:severalhoursonaserver
withanAMDSempron2200+CPU.
UsingKscopeistheeasiestandfastest
solutionformodifiedkernelsources.
Youdon'tneedtosetupLXRbyyourself.
Useourhttp://lxr.freeelectrons.comserver!
OtherserversavailableontheInternet:
http://freeelectrons.com/community/kernel/lxr/
ThismakesLXRthesimplestsolution
tobrowsestandardkernelsources.
71
LXRscreenshot
72
KetchupEasyaccesstokernelsources
http://www.selenic.com/ketchup/
Makesiteasytogetthelatestversionofagivenkernelsource
tree(2.4,2.6,2.6rc,2.6git,2.6mm,2.6rt...)
Onlydownloadstheneededpatches.
Revertspatcheswhenneededtoapplyamorerecentpatch.
Alsochecksthesignatureofsourcesandpatches.
73
Ketchupexamples
Gettheversioninthecurrentdirectory:
>ketchupm
2.6.10
Upgradetothelateststableversion:
>ketchupG2.6tip
2.6.10>2.6.12.5
Applyingpatch2.6.11.bz2
Applyingpatch2.6.12.bz2
Applyingpatch2.6.12.5.bz2
Youcangetbackto2.6.8:
>ketchupG2.6.8
TheGoptionofketchup
disablessourcesignature
checking.
SeeourKernelsourcesannex
fordetailsaboutenabling
kernelsource
integritychecking.
74
PracticallabKernelsources
TimetostartLab1!
Getthesources
Applypatches
Getfamiliarwiththesources
Useakernelsourceindexingtool
75
Kernelconfiguration
76
Kernelconfiguration
Defineswhatfeaturestoincludeinthekernel:
Storedinthe.configfileattherootofkernelsources.
Mostusefulcommandstocreatethisconfigfile:
make[xconfig|gconfig|menuconfig|oldconfig]
TomodifyakernelinaGNU/Linuxdistribution:
configfilesusuallyreleasedin/boot/,togetherwithkernel
images:/boot/config2.6.1711generic
Theconfigurationfilecanalsobefoundinthekernelitself:
>zcat/proc/config.gz
(ifenabledinGeneralSetup>Kernel.configsupport)
77
makexconfig
makexconfig
Themostcommongraphicalinterface
toconfigurethekernel.
Makesureyouread
help>introduction:usefuloptions!
Filebrowser:easiertoloadconfigurationfiles
Newsearchinterfacetolookforparameters
RequiredDebian/Ubuntupackages:
libqt3mtdev,g++
78
makexconfigscreenshot
79
makexconfigsearchinterface
Looksforakeyword
inthedescription
string
Allowstoselect
orunselectfound
parameters.
80
Kernelconfigurationoptions
Compiledasamodule(separatefile)
CONFIG_ISO9660_FS=m
Driveroptions
CONFIG_JOLIET=y
CONFIG_ZISOFS=y
Compiledstaticallyintothekernel
CONFIG_UDF_FS=y
81
Corresponding.configfileexcerpt
#
#CDROM/DVDFilesystems
#
CONFIG_ISO9660_FS=m
CONFIG_JOLIET=y
CONFIG_ZISOFS=y
CONFIG_UDF_FS=y
CONFIG_UDF_NLS=y
Sectionname
(helpstolocatesettingsintheinterface)
Allparametersareprefixed
withCONFIG_
#
#DOS/FAT/NTFilesystems
#
#CONFIG_MSDOS_FSisnotset
#CONFIG_VFAT_FSisnotset
CONFIG_NTFS_FS=m
#CONFIG_NTFS_DEBUGisnotset
CONFIG_NTFS_RW=y
82
makegconfig
makegconfig
NewGTKbased
graphicalconfiguration
interface.Functionality
similartothatofmake
xconfig.
Justlackingasearch
functionality.
RequiredDebian
packages:
libglade2dev
83
makemenuconfig
makemenuconfig
Usefulwhennographics
areavailable.Pretty
convenienttoo!
Sameinterfacefoundin
othertools:BusyBox,
buildroot...
RequiredDebian
packages:
libncursesdev
84
makeoldconfig
makeoldconfig
Neededveryoften!
Usefultoupgradea.configfilefromanearlierkernel
release
Issueswarningsforobsoletesymbols
Asksforvaluesfornewsymbols
Ifyouedita.configfilebyhand,it'sstrongly
recommendedtorunmakeoldconfigafterwards!
85
makeallnoconfig
makeallnoconfig
Onlysetsstronglyrecommendedsettingstoy.
Setsallothersettingston.
Veryusefulinembeddedsystemstoselectonlythe
minimumrequiredsetoffeaturesanddrivers.
Muchmoreconvenientthanunselectinghundredsof
featuresonebyone!
86
Undoingconfigurationchanges
Afrequentproblem:
Afterchangingseveralkernelconfigurationsettings,
yourkernelnolongerworks.
Ifyoudon'trememberallthechangesyoumade,
youcangetbacktoyourpreviousconfiguration:
>cp.config.old.config
Alltheconfigurationinterfacesofthekernel
(xconfig,menuconfig,allnoconfig...)
keepthis.config.oldbackupcopy.
87
makehelp
makehelp
Listsallavailablemaketargets
Usefultogetareminder,ortolookforneworadvancedoptions!
88
Customizingtheversionstring
Toidentifyyourkernelimagewithothersbuiltfromthe
samesources(butadifferentconfiguration),usethe
LOCALVERSIONsetting(inGeneralSetup)
Example:
#
#Generalsetup
#
CONFIG_LOCALVERSION="acme1"
Theunamercommand
(intherunningsystem)willreturn:
2.6.20acme1
89
Compilingthekernel
90
Compilingandinstallingthekernel
Compilingstep
make
Installsteps
sudomakeinstall
sudomakemodules_install
91
Compilingfasteronmultiprocessorhosts
Ifyouareusingaworkstationwithnprocessors,youmay
roughlydivideyourcompiletimebynbycompilingseveralfiles
inparallel
makej<n>
Runsseveraltargetsinparallel,wheneverpossible
Usingmakej2ormakej3onsingleprocessor
workstations.Thisdoesn'thelpmuch.Intheory,severalparallel
compilejobskeeptheprocessorbusywhileotherprocessesare
waitingforfilestobereadofwritten.Inpractice,youdon'tget
anysignificantspeedup(notmorethan10%),unlessyourI/Os
areveryslow.
92
Compilingfasterwithccache
http://ccache.samba.org/
CompilercacheforCandC++,alreadyshippedbysome
distributions
Muchfasterwhencompilingthesamefileasecondtime!
Veryusefulwhen.configfilechangearefrequent.
Useitbyaddingaccacheprefix
totheCCandHOSTCCdefinitionsinMakefile:
CC=ccache$(CROSS_COMPILE)gcc
HOSTCC=ccachegcc
Performancebenchmarks:
63%:withaFedoraCore3configfile(manymodules!)
82%:withanembeddedLinuxconfigfile(muchfewermodules!)
93
Kernelcompilingtips
Viewthefull(gcc,ld...)commandline:
makeV=1
Cleanupgeneratedfiles
(toforcerecompilingdrivers):
makeclean
Removeallgeneratedfiles
Caution:alsoremovesyour.configfile!
makemrproper
Alsoremoveeditorbackupandpatchrejectfiles:
(mainlytogeneratepatches):
makedistclean
94
Generatedfiles
Createdwhenyourunthemakecommand
vmlinux
RawLinuxkernelimage,noncompressed.
arch/<arch>/boot/zImage
zlibcompressedkernelimage
(defaultimageonarm)
arch/<arch>/boot/bzImage
(defaultimageoni386)
Alsoazlibcompressedkernelimage.
Caution:bzmeansbigzippedbutnotbzip2compressed!
(bzip2compressionsupportonlyavailableoni386asatactical
patch.Notveryattractiveforsmallembeddedsystemsthough:
consumes1MBofRAMfordecompression).
95
Filescreatedbymakeinstall
/boot/vmlinuz<version>
Compressedkernelimage.Sameastheonein
arch/<arch>/boot
/boot/System.map<version>
Storeskernelsymboladdresses
/boot/config<version>
Kernelconfigurationforthisversion
96
Filescreatedbymakemodules_install(1)
/lib/modules/<version>/:Kernelmodules+extras
build/
Everythingneededtobuildmoremodulesforthiskernel:
Makefile,.configfile,modulesymbolinformation
(module.symVers),kernelheaders(include/andinclude/
asm/)
kernel/
Module.ko(KernelObject)files,inthesamedirectorystructure
asinthesources.
97
Filescreatedbymakemodules_install(2)
/lib/modules/<version>/(continued)
modules.alias
Modulealiasesformoduleloadingutilities.Exampleline:
aliassoundservice?0snd_mixer_oss
modules.dep
Moduledependencies
(seetheLoadablekernelmodulessection)
modules.symbols
Tellswhichmoduleagivensymbolbelongsto.
Allthefilesinthisdirectoryaretextfiles.
Don'thesitatetohavealookbyyourself!
98
Compilingthekernelinanutshell
makexconfig
make
sudomakeinstall
sudomakemodules_install
99
Linuxdevicefiles
100
Characterdevicefiles
Accessedthroughasequentialflowofindividual
characters
Characterdevicescanbeidentifiedbytheirctype
(lsl):
crwrw1rootuucp4,64Feb232004/dev/ttyS0
crww1jdoetty136,1Feb232004/dev/pts/1
crw1rootroot13,32Feb232004/dev/input/mouse0
crwrwrw1rootroot1,3Feb232004/dev/null
Exampledevices:keyboards,mice,parallelport,IrDA,
Bluetoothport,consoles,terminals,sound,video...
101
Blockdevicefiles
Accessedthroughdatablocksofagivensize.
Blockscanbeaccessedinanyorder.
Blockdevicescanbeidentifiedbytheirbtype(lsl):
brwrw1rootdisk3,1Feb232004hda1
brwrw1jdoefloppy2,0Feb232004fd0
brwrw1rootdisk7,0Feb232004loop0
brwrw1rootdisk1,1Feb232004ram1
brw1rootroot8,1Feb232004sda1
Exampledevices:hardorfloppydisks,ramdisks,loop
devices...
102
Devicemajorandminornumbers
Asyoucouldseeinthepreviousexamples,
devicefileshave2numbersassociatedtothem:
Firstnumber:majornumber
Secondnumber:minornumber
Majorandminornumbersareusedbythekerneltobinda
drivertothedevicefile.Devicefilenamesdon'tmattertothe
kernel!
Tofindoutwhichdriveradevicefilecorrespondsto,
orwhenthedevicenameistoocryptic,
seeDocumentation/devices.txt.
103
Devicefilecreation
Devicefilesarenotcreatedwhenadriverisloaded.
Theyhavetobecreatedinadvance:
sudomknod/dev/<device>[c|b]<major><minor>
Examples:
sudomknod/dev/ttyS0c464
sudomknod/dev/hda1b31
104
PracticallabConfiguringandcompiling
TimetostartLab2!
Configureyourkernel
Compileit
BootitonavirtualPC
Modifyarootfilesystemimageby
addingentriestothe/dev/
directory
105
Overallsystemstartup
106
Linux2.4bootingsequence
Bootloader
ExecutedbythehardwareatafixedlocationinROM/Flash
Initializessupportforthedevicewherethekernelimageisfound(localstorage,
network,removablemedia)
LoadsthekernelimageinRAM
Executesthekernelimage(withaspecifiedcommandline)
Kernel
Uncompressesitself
Initializesthekernelcoreandstaticallycompileddrivers(neededtoaccesstheroot
filesystem)
Mountstherootfilesystem(specifiedbytherootkernelparameter)
Executesthefirstuserspaceprogram(specifiedbytheinitkernelparameter)
Firstuserspaceprogram
Configuresuserspaceandstartsupsystemservices
107
Bootloader
Initializessupportforthedevicewheretheimagesarefound(localstorage,network,removablemedia)
LoadsthekernelimageinRAM
Kernel
unchanged
Linux2.6bootingsequence
Uncompressesitself
Initializesthekernelcoreandstaticallycompileddrivers
Uncompressestheinitramfscpioarchiveincludedinthekernelfilecache(nomounting,nofilesystem).
Iffoundintheinitramfs,executesthefirstuserspaceprogram:/init
Userspace:/initscript(whatfollowsisjustatypicalscenario)
Runsuserspacecommandstoconfigurethedevice
(suchasnetworksetup,mounting/procand/sys...)
Mountsanewrootfilesystem.Switchtoit(switch_root)
Runs/sbin/init(orsometimesanew/linuxrcscript)
Userspace:/sbin/init
Runscommandstoconfigurethedevice(ifnotdoneyetintheinitramfs)
Startsupsystemservices(daemons,servers)anduserprograms
108
Linux2.6bootingsequencewithinitrd
Bootloader
Initializessupportforthedevicewheretheimagesarefound(localstorage,network,removablemedia)
Loadsthekernelandinitramdisk(initrd)imagesinRAM
Kernel
Uncompressesitself
Initializesstaticallycompileddrivers
Uncompressestheinitramfscpioarchiveincludedinthekernel.Mountsit.No/initexecutablefound.
Sofallsbacktotheoldwayoftryingtolocateandmountarootfilesystem.
Mountstherootfilesystemspecifiedbytherootkernelparameter(initrdinourcase)
Executesthefirstuserspaceprogram:usually/linuxrc
Userspace:/linuxrcscriptininitrd(whatfollowsisjustatypicalsequence)
Runsuserspacecommandstoconfigurethedevice(suchasnetworksetup,mounting/procand/sys...)
Loadskernelmodules(drivers)storedintheinitrd,neededtoaccessthenewrootfilesystem.
Mountsthenewrootfilesystem.Switchtoit(pivot_root)
Runs/sbin/init(orsometimesanew/linuxrcscript)
Userspace:/sbin/init
Runscommandstoconfigurethedevice(ifnotdoneyetintheinitrd)
Startsupsystemservices(daemons,servers)anduserprograms
109
Linux2.4bootingsequencedrawbacks
Tryingtomountthefilesystemspecified
bytherootkernelparameteriscomplex:
Needdeviceandfilesystemdriverstobeloaded
Specifyingtherootfilesystemrequiresuglyblackmagic
devicenaming(suchas/dev/ram0,/dev/hda1...),
while/doesn'texistyet!
Canrequireacomplexinitializationtoimplementwithinthe
kernel.Examples:NFS(setupanIPaddress,connectto
theserver...),RAID(rootfilesystemonmultiplephysical
drives)...
Inanutshell:toomuchcomplexityinkernelcode!
110
Extrainitramdiskdrawbacks
Initramdisksareimplementedasstandardblockdevices
Needaramdiskandfilesystemdriver
Fixedinsize:cannoteasilygrowinsize.
Anyfreespacecannotbereusedbyanythingelse.
Needstobecreatedandmodifiedlikeanyblockdevice:
formatting,mounting,editing,unmounting.
Rootpermissionsneeded.
Likeinanyblockdevice,filesarefirstreadfromthestorage,
andthencopiedtothefilecache.
SlowandduplicationinRAM!!!
111
Initramfsfeaturesandadvantages(1)
Rootfilesystembuiltinthekernelimage
(embeddedasacompressedcpioarchive)
Veryeasytocreate(atkernelbuildtime).
Noneedforrootpermissions(formountandmknod).
Comparedtoinitramdisks,
just1filetohandleinthebootloader.
Justaplaincompressedcpioarchive
extractedinthefilecache.
Neitherneedsablocknorafilesystemdriver.
112
ramfs:implementedinthefilecache.NoduplicationinRAM,nofile
systemlayertomanage.Justusesthesizeofitsfiles.Cangrowifneeded.
Access
tofile
Regular
blockdevice
VirtualFile
System
File
cache
Filesystem
driver
Block(disk)
driver
VirtualFile
System
Filesystem
driver
Block
(ramdisk)
driver
Copy
Blockstorage
Access
tofile
RAM
Ramdisk
blockdevice
File
cache
Access
tofile
VirtualFile
System
ramfs
File
cache
Copy
Blockstorage
RAM
RAM
113
Loadedbythekernelearlier.
Moreinitializationcodemovedtouserspace!
Simplertomountcomplexfilesystemsfromflexible
userspacescriptsratherthanfromrigidkernelcode.More
complexitymovedouttouserspace!
Nomoremagicnamingoftherootdevice.
114
PossibletoaddnonGPLfiles(firmware,proprietarydrivers)
inthefilesystem.Thisisnotlinking,justfileaggregation
(notconsideredasaderivedworkbytheGPL).
Possibilitytoremovethesefileswhennolongerneeded.
Moretechnicaldetailsaboutinitramfs:
seeDocumentation/filesystems/ramfsrootfsinitramfs.txt
andDocumentation/earlyuserspace/READMEinkernelsources.
Seealsohttp://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT4017834659.htmlfora
niceoverviewofinitramfs(byRobLandley).
115
Howtopopulateaninitramfs
UsingCONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE
inkernelconfiguration(GeneralSetupsection)
Eithergiveanexistingcpioarchive
(filenameendingwith.cpio)
Orgiveadirectorytobearchived.
Anyotherregularfilewithbetakenasatextspecificationfile(see
nextpage).
YoucanbuildyourinitramfswithatinyClibrary
andthetinyexecutablesitships:
klibc:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klibc
116
Initramfsspecificationfileexample
major minor
dir/dev75500
nod/dev/console64400c51
permissions
nod/dev/loop064400b70
dir/bin75510001000
file/bin/busybox/stuff/initramfs/busybox75500
slink/bin/shbusybox77700
dir/proc75500
dir/sys75500
dir/mnt75500
file/init/stuff/initramfs/init.sh75500
Noneedforrootuseraccess!
userid groupid
117
Howtohandlecpioarchives
Usefulwhenyouwanttobuildthekernelwithareadymadecpio
archive,insteadoflettingthekerneldoitforyou.
Extracting:
cpioid<dir.cpio
Creating:
cddir
find.|cpioHnewco>../dir.cpio
NotethattheHnewcoptionisrequiredtogenerateacpioarchive
thatcanbeusedbytheLinuxkernel.
118
Howtocreateaninitrd
Incaseyoureallyneedaninitrd(why?).
sudomkdir/mnt/initrd
ddif=/dev/zeroof=initrd.imgbs=1kcount=2048
mkfs.ext2Finitrd.img
sudomountoloopinitrd.img/mnt/initrd
Filltheramdiskcontents:BusyBox,modules,/linuxrcscript
MoredetailsintheFreeSoftwaretoolsforembeddedsystems
training!
sudoumount/mnt/initrd
gzipbestcinitrd.img>initrd
MoredetailsonDocumentation/initrd.txtinthekernel
sources!Alsoexplainspivotrooting.
119
Bootingvariants
XIP(ExecuteInPlace)
Thekernelimageisdirectlyexecutedfromthestorage
CanbefasterandsaveRAM
However,thekernelimagecan'tbecompressed
Noinitramfs/initrd
Directlymountingthefinalrootfilesystem
(rootkernelcommandlineoption)
Nonewrootfilesystem
Runningthewholesystemfromtheinitramfs.
120
Bootloaders
121
x86bootloaders
LILO:LInuxLOad.OriginalLinuxbootloader.Nowrare.
http://freshmeat.net/projects/lilo/
Supports:x86
GRUB:GRandUnifiedBootloaderfromGNU.Morepowerful.
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/
Supports:x86
SeeourGrubpresentationfordetails.
SYSLINUX:Utilitiesfornetworkandremovablemediabooting
http://syslinux.zytor.com
Supports:x86
122
Genericbootloaders
DasUBoot:UniversalBootloaderfromDenxSoftware
Themostusedonarm.
http://www.denx.de/wiki/UBoot/WebHome
Supports:arm,ppc,mips,x86,m68k,nios...
SeeourUbootpresentationfordetails.
RedBoot:eCosbasedbootloaderfromRedHat
http://sources.redhat.com/redboot/
Supports:x86,arm,ppc,mips,sh,m68k...
uMon:MicroMonitorgeneralpurpose,multiOSbootloader
http://microcross.com/html/micromonitor.html
Supports:ARM,ColdFire,SH2,m68k,MIPS,PowerPC,
Xscale...
123
Kernelbooting
124
Kernelcommandlineparameters
LikemostCprograms,theLinuxkernelaccepts
commandlinearguments
Kernelcommandlineargumentsarepartofthebootloader
configurationsettings.
Usefultomodifythebehaviorofthekernel
atboottime,withouthavingtorecompileit.
Usefultoperformadvancedkernelanddriverinitialization,
withouthavingtousecomplexuserspacescripts.
125
Kernelcommandlineexample
HPiPAQh2200PDAbootingexample:
root=/dev/ram0\
rw\
init=/linuxrc\
console=ttyS0,115200n8\
console=tty0\
ramdisk_size=8192\
cachepolicy=writethrough
Rootfilesystem(firstramdisk)
Rootfilesystemmountingmode
Console(serial)
Otherconsole(framebuffer)
Miscparameters...
Hundredsofcommandlineparametersdescribedon
Documentation/kernelparameters.txt
126
UsefulnessofrootfsonNFS
Oncenetworkingworks,yourrootfilesystemcouldbeadirectory
onyourGNU/Linuxdevelopmenthost,exportedbyNFS(Network
FileSystem).Thisisveryconvenientforsystemdevelopment:
Makesitveryeasytoupdatefiles(drivermodulesinparticular)
ontherootfilesystem,withoutrebooting.Muchfasterthan
throughtheserialport.
Canhaveabigrootfilesystemevenifyoudon'thavesupport
forinternalorexternalstorageyet.
Therootfilesystemcanbehuge.Youcanevenbuildnative
compilertoolsandbuildallthetoolsyouneedonthetarget
itself(bettertocrosscompilethough).
127
NFSbootsetup(1)
Onthehost(NFSserver)
Addthebelowlinetoyour/etc/exportsfile:
/home/rootfs192.168.0.202(rw,no_root_squash,no_subtree_check)
clientaddress
NFSserveroptions
StartorrestartyourNFSserver(Example:Debian,Ubuntu)
/etc/init.d/nfskernelserverrestart
128
NFSbootsetup(2)
Onthetarget(NFSclient)
CompileyourkernelwithCONFIG_NFS_FS=y,
CONFIG_IP_PNP=y(configureIPatboottime)
andCONFIG_ROOT_NFS=y
Bootthekernelwiththebelowcommandlineoptions:
root=/dev/nfs
virtualdevice
ip=192.168.1.111:192.168.1.110:192.168.1.100:255.255.255.0:at91:eth0
localIPaddress serverIPaddress gateway
netmask
hostnamedevice
nfsroot=192.168.1.110:/home/nfsroot
NFSserverIPaddressDirectoryontheNFSserver
129
Specifiedbytheinitkernelcommandlineparameter
Examples:init=/bin/shorinit=/sbin/init
Executedattheendofbootingbythekernel
Takescareofstartingallotheruserspaceprograms
(systemservicesanduserprograms).
Getsthe1processnumber(pid)
Parentorancestorofalluserspaceprograms
Thesystemwon'tletyoukillit.
130
/linuxrc
Programexecutedbydefaultwhenbootingfromaninit
ramdiskandnoinitparameterisgiventothekernel.
Ismostofthetimeashellscript,basedonaverylightweight
shellsuchasnashandbusyboxsh
Thisscriptcanimplementcomplextasks:detectingdrivers
toload,settingupnetworking,mountingpartitions,switching
toanewrootfilesystem...
131
Theinitprogram
/sbin/initistheseconddefaultinitprogram
Takescareofstartingsystemservices,andeventuallythe
userinterfaces(sshd,Xserver...)
Alsotakescareofstoppingsystemservices
Lightweight,partialimplementationavailablethrough
BusyBox.
SeetheInitrunlevelsannexsectionformoredetailsabout
startingandstoppingsystemserviceswithinit.
However,simplestartupscriptsareoftensufficient
inembeddedsystems.
132
133
WhenyoucompileaLinuxkernelforanotherCPUarchitecture
Muchfasterthancompilingnatively,whenthetargetsystemis
muchslowerthanyourGNU/Linuxworkstation.
MucheasierasdevelopmenttoolsforyourGNU/Linux
workstationaremucheasiertofind.
Tomakethedifferencewithanativecompiler,crosscompiler
executablesareprefixedbythenameofthetargetsystem,
architectureandsometimeslibrary.Examples:
mipslinuxgcc
m68klinuxuclibcgcc
armlinuxgnueabigcc
134
Specifyingacrosscompiler(1)
TheCPUarchitectureandcrosscompilerprefixaredefinedthrough
theARCHandCROSS_COMPILEvariablesinthetoplevelMakefile.
TheMakefiledefinesCC=$(CROSS_COMPILE)gcc
SeecommentsinMakefilefordetails
TheeasiestsolutionistomodifytheMakefile.
Example,ARMplatform,crosscompiler:armlinuxgcc
ARCH
?=arm
CROSS_COMPILE ?=armlinux
135
AnothersolutionistosetARCHandCROSS_COMPILE
throughthemakecommandline
Explanation:anyvariablesetthroughthemakecommandline
overridesanysettingintheMakefile.
Examples:
makeARCH=shCROSS_COMPILE=shlinuxxconfig
makeARCH=shCROSS_COMPILE=shlinux
makeARCH=shCROSS_COMPILE=shlinuxmodules_install
Bigdrawback:
Youshouldneverforgetthesesettingswhenyourunmake!
That'serrorproneandnotconvenientatall.
136
Anothersolution:setARCHandCROSS_COMPILE
asenvironmentvariablesinyourterminal:
exportARCH=arm
exportCROSS_COMPILE=armlinux
Canbesetinprojectspecificenvironments.
NothardcodedintheMakefile.
Donotinterferewithpatches.
Youdon'tforgettosetthemwhenyourunanymake
command.
Caution:onlyapplytoshells
inwhichthesevariableshavebeenset.
137
Configuringthekernel
makexconfig
Sameasinnativecompiling.
Don'tforgettosettherightboard/machinetype!
138
Readymadeconfigfiles
assabet_defconfigintegrator_defconfigmainstone_defconfig
badge4_defconfigiq31244_defconfigmx1ads_defconfig
bast_defconfigiq80321_defconfigneponset_defconfig
cerfcube_defconfigiq80331_defconfignetwinder_defconfig
clps7500_defconfigiq80332_defconfigomap_h2_1610_defconfig
ebsa110_defconfigixdp2400_defconfigomnimeter_defconfig
edb7211_defconfigixdp2401_defconfigpleb_defconfig
enp2611_defconfigixdp2800_defconfigpxa255idp_defconfig
ep80219_defconfigixdp2801_defconfigrpc_defconfig
epxa10db_defconfigixp4xx_defconfigs3c2410_defconfig
footbridge_defconfigjornada720_defconfigshannon_defconfig
fortunet_defconfiglart_defconfigshark_defconfig
h3600_defconfiglpd7a400_defconfigsimpad_defconfig
h7201_defconfiglpd7a404_defconfigsmdk2410_defconfig
h7202_defconfiglubbock_defconfigversatile_defconfig
hackkit_defconfiglusl7200_defconfig
arch/arm/configsexample
139
Usingreadymadeconfigfiles
Defaultconfigurationfilesavailableformanyboards/machines!
Checkifoneexistsinarch/<arch>/configs/foryourtarget.
Example:ifyoufoundanacme_defconfigfile,youcanrun:
makeacme_defconfig
Usingarch/<arch>/configs/isaverygoodgoodwayof
releasingadefaultconfigurationfileforagroupofusersor
developers.
Likeallmakecommands,youmust
runmake<machine>_defconfig
inthetoplevelsourcedirectory.
140
Crosscompilingsetup
Example
IfyouhaveanARMcrosscompilingtoolchain
in/usr/local/arm/3.3.2/
YoujusthavetoaddittoyourUnixsearchpath:
exportPATH=/usr/local/arm/3.3.2/bin:$PATH
(Caution:thescopeofthisdefinitionislimitedtothecurrentshell).
Choosingatoolchain
SeetheDocumentation/Changesfileinthesources
fordetailsaboutminimumtoolversionsrequirements.
Moreabouttoolchains:FreeSoftwaretoolsforembeddedsystems
training:http://freeelectrons.com/training/devtools/
141
Buildingthekernel
Run
make
Copy
arch/<arch>/boot/zImage
tothetargetstorage
Youcancustomizearch/<arch>/boot/install.shso
thatmakeinstalldoesthisautomaticallyforyou.
makeINSTALL_MOD_PATH=<dir>/modules_install
andcopy<dir>/to/lib/modules/onthetargetstorage
142
Crosscompilingsummary
EditMakefile:setARCHandCROSS_COMPILE
Getthedefaultconfigurationforyourmachine:
make<machine>_defconfig(ifexistingin
arch/<arch>/configs)
Refinetheconfigurationsettingsaccordingtoyourrequirements:
makexconfig
AddthecrosscompilerpathtoyourPATHenvironmentvariable
Compilethekernel:make
Copythekernelimagefromarch/<arch>/boot/tothetarget
Copymodulestoadirectorywhichyoureplicateonthetarget:
makeINSTALL_MOD_PATH=<dir>modules_install
143
PracticallabCrosscompiling
TimetostartLab3!
Setupacrosscompiling
environment
ConfigurethekernelMakefile
accordingly
Crosscompilethekernelforanarm
targetplatform
144
Driverdevelopment
145
Modules:addagivenfunctionalitytothekernel
(drivers,filesystemsupport,andmanyothers).
Canbeloadedandunloadedatanytime,onlywhen
theirfunctionalityisneed.Onceloaded,havefull
accesstothewholekerneladdressspace.No
particularprotection.
Usefultokeepthekernelimagesizetotheminimum
(essentialinGNU/LinuxdistributionsforPCs).
Usefultodeliverbinaryonlydrivers(badidea)
withouthavingtorebuildthekernel.
Modulesmakeiteasytodevelopdriverswithout
rebooting:load,test,unload,rebuild,load...
146
Symbolsexportedtomodules
Fromakernelmodule,
onlyalimitednumberofkernelfunctionscanbecalled
Functionsandvariableshavetobeexplicitlyexported
bythekerneltobevisiblefromakernelmodule
Twomacrosareusedinthekernel
toexportfunctionsandvariables:
EXPORT_SYMBOL(symbolname),whichexportsa
functionorvariabletoallmodules
EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(symbolname),whichexportsa
functionorvariableonlytoGPLmodules
Anormaldrivershouldnotneedanynonexportedfunction.
147
Moduledependencies
Moduledependenciesstoredin
/lib/modules/<version>/modules.dep
Theyareautomaticallycomputedduringkernelbuildingfrom
moduleexportedsymbols.module2dependsonmodule1if
module2
usesasymbolexportedbymodule1.
Example:usb_storagedependsonusbcore,
becauseitusessomeofthefunctionsexportedbyusbcore.
Youcanalsoupdatethemodules.depfile
byyourself,byrunning(asroot):
depmoda[<version>]
148
hellomodule
/*hello.c*/
#include<linux/init.h>
#include<linux/module.h>
#include<linux/kernel.h>
staticint__inithello_init(void)
{
printk(KERN_ALERT"Goodmorrow");
printk(KERN_ALERT"tothisfairassembly.\n");
return0;
}
staticvoid__exithello_exit(void)
{
printk(KERN_ALERT"Alas,poorworld,whattreasure");
printk(KERN_ALERT"hastthoulost!\n");
}
__init:
removedafterinitialization
(statickernelormodule).
__exit:discardedwhen
modulecompiledstatically
intothekernel.
module_init(hello_init);
module_exit(hello_exit);
MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
MODULE_DESCRIPTION("Greetingmodule");
MODULE_AUTHOR("WilliamShakespeare");
Exampleavailableonhttp://freeelectrons.com/doc/c/hello.c
149
Modulelicenseusefulness
Usedbykerneldeveloperstoidentifyissuescomingfrom
proprietarydrivers,whichtheycan'tdoanythingabout
(Taintedkernelnoticeinkernelcrashesandoopses).
Usefulforuserstocheckthattheirsystemis100%free
(check/proc/sys/kernel/tainted)
UsefulforGNU/Linuxdistributors
fortheirreleasepolicychecks.
150
Possiblemodulelicensestrings
Availablelicensestringsexplainedininclude/linux/module.h
GPL
GNUPublicLicensev2or
later
DualBSD/GPL
GNUPublicLicensev2orBSD
GPLv2
GNUPublicLicensev2
DualMPL/GPL
GNUPublicLicensev2
orMozilla
GPLandadditional
rights
Proprietary
Nonfreeproducts
DualMIT/GPL
GNUPublicLicensev2or
MIT
151
Compilingamodule
ThebelowMakefileshouldbereusableforanyLinux2.6
module.
Justrunmaketobuildthehello.kofile
Caution:makesurethereisa[Tab]characteratthe
beginningofthe$(MAKE)line(makesyntax)
#Makefileforthehellomodule
[Tab]!
(nospaces)
objm:=hello.o
KDIR:=/lib/modules/$(shellunamer)/build
PWD:=$(shellpwd)
default:
$(MAKE)C$(KDIR)SUBDIRS=$(PWD)modules
Either
fullkernel
sourcedirectory
(configuredand
compiled)
orjustkernel
headersdirectory
(minimum
needed)
Exampleavailableonhttp://freeelectrons.com/doc/c/Makefile
152
Kernellog
Ofcourse,thekerneldoesn'tstoreitslogintoafile!
Filesbelongtouserspace.
Thekernelkeepsprintkmessagesinacircularbuffer
(sothatdoesn'tconsumemorememorywithmanymessages)
Kernellogmessagescanbeaccessedfromuserspacethrough
systemcalls,orthrough/proc/kmsg
Kernellogmessagesarealsodisplayedinthesystemconsole.
153
Accessingthekernellog
Manywaysareavailable!
Watchthesystemconsole
syslogd/klogd
Daemongatheringkernel
messages
in/var/log/messages
Followchangesbyrunning:
tailf/var/log/messages
Caution:thisfilegrows!
Uselogrotatetocontrolthis
cat/proc/kmsg
Waitsforkernelmessagesand
displaysthem.
Usefulwhennoneoftheabove
userspaceprogramsare
available(tinysystem)
dmesg(diagnosticmessage)
Foundinallsystems
Displaysthekernellogbuffer
154
Usingthemodule
Loadthemodule:
sudoinsmod./hello.ko
Youwillseethefollowinginthekernellog:
Goodmorrow
tothisfairassembly
Nowremovethemodule:
sudormmodhello
Youwillsee:
Alas,poorworld,whattreasure
hastthoulost!
155
Understandingmoduleloadingissues
Whenloadingamodulefails,
insmodoftendoesn'tgiveyouenoughdetails!
Detailsareavailableinthekernellog.
Example:
>sudoinsmod./intr_monitor.ko
insmod:errorinserting'./intr_monitor.ko':1
Deviceorresourcebusy
>dmesg
[17549774.552000]Failedtoregisterhandlerfor
irqchannel2
156
Moduleutilities(1)
modinfo<module_name>
modinfo<module_path>.ko
Getsinformationaboutamodule:parameters,license,
descriptionanddependencies.
Veryusefulbeforedecidingtoloadamoduleornot.
sudoinsmod<module_path>.ko
Triestoloadthegivenmodule.
157
Moduleutilities(2)
sudomodprobe<module_name>
Mostcommonusageofmodprobe:triestoloadallthe
modulesthegivenmoduledependson,andthenthis
module.Lotsofotheroptionsareavailable.
lsmod
Displaysthelistofloadedmodules
Compareitsoutputwiththecontentsof
/proc/modules!
158
Moduleutilities(3)
sudormmod<module_name>
Triestoremovethegivenmodule
sudomodprober<module_name>
Triestoremovethegivenmoduleandalldependent
modules(whicharenolongerneededafter
themoduleremoval)
159
Createyourmoduleswithkdevelop
http://kdevelop.orgAvailableinmostdistros.
Makesiteasytocreate
amodulecodeskeleton
fromareadymade
template.
Canalsobeusedto
compileyourmodule.
160
Driverdevelopment
Moduleparameters
161
hellomodulewithparameters
/*hello_param.c*/
#include<linux/init.h>
#include<linux/module.h>
#include<linux/moduleparam.h>
MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
Thanksto
JonathanCorbet
fortheexample!
/*Acoupleofparametersthatcanbepassedin:howmanytimeswesay
hello,andtowhom*/
staticchar*whom="world";
module_param(whom,charp,0);
staticinthowmany=1;
module_param(howmany,int,0);
staticint__inithello_init(void)
{
inti;
for(i=0;i<howmany;i++)
printk(KERN_ALERT"(%d)Hello,%s\n",i,whom);
return0;
}
staticvoid__exithello_exit(void)
{
printk(KERN_ALERT"Goodbye,cruel%s\n",whom);
}
module_init(hello_init);
module_exit(hello_exit);
Exampleavailableonhttp://freeelectrons.com/doc/c/hello_param.c
162
Passingmoduleparameters
Throughinsmod:
sudoinsmod./hello_param.kohowmany=2whom=universe
Throughmodprobe:
Setparametersin/etc/modprobe.conforinanyfilein
/etc/modprobe.d/:
optionshello_paramhowmany=2whom=universe
Throughthekernelcommandline,
whenthemoduleisbuiltstaticallyintothekernel:
optionshello_param.howmany=2hello_param.whom=universe
modulename
moduleparametername
moduleparametervalue
163
Declaringamoduleparameter
module_param(
name,
/*nameofanalreadydefinedvariable*/
type,
/*eitherbyte,short,ushort,int,uint,long,
ulong,charp,orbool.
(checkedatcompiletime!)*/
perm
/*for/sys/module/<module_name>/parameters/<param>
0:nosuchmoduleparametervaluefile*/
);
Example
intirq=5;
module_param(irq,int,S_IRUGO);
164
Declaringamoduleparameterarray
module_param_array(
name,
/*nameofanalreadydefinedarray*/
type,
/*sameasinmodule_param*/
num,
/*numberofelementsinthearray,orNULL(nocheck?)*/
perm
/*sameasinmodule_param*/
);
Example
staticintbase[MAX_DEVICES]={0x820,0x840};
module_param_array(base,int,NULL,0);
165
Driverdevelopment
Addingsourcestothekerneltree
166
Newdriverinkernelsources(1)
Toaddanewdrivertothekernelsources:
Addyournewsourcefiletotheappropriatesourcedirectory.
Example:drivers/usb/serial/navman.c
Describetheconfigurationinterfaceforyournewdriver
byaddingthefollowinglinestotheKconfigfileinthisdirectory:
configUSB_SERIAL_NAVMAN
tristate"USBNavmanGPSdevice"
dependsonUSB_SERIAL
help
Tocompilethisdriverasamodule,chooseMhere:the
modulewillbecallednavman.
167
Newdriverinkernelsources(2)
AddalineintheMakefilefilebasedontheKconfigsetting:
obj$(CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_NAVMAN)+=navman.o
Runmakexconfigandseeyournewoptions!
Runmakeandyournewfilesarecompiled!
SeeDocumentation/kbuild/fordetails
168
HowtocreateLinuxpatches
Downloadthelatestkernelsources
Makeacopyofthesesources:
rsyncalinux2.6.9rc2/linux2.6.9rc2patch/
Applyyourchangestothecopiedsources,andtestthem.
Runmakedistcleantokeeponlysourcefiles.
Createapatchfile:
diffNurplinux2.6.9rc2/\
linux2.6.9rc2patch/>patchfile
Alwayscomparethewholesourcestructures
(suitableforpatchp1)
Patchfilename:shouldrecallwhatthepatchisabout.
ThankstoNicolasRougier(Copyright2003,
http://webloria.loria.fr/~rougier/)fortheTuximage
169
PracticallabWritingmodules
TimetostartLab4!
Writeakernelmodulewith
parameters
Setuptheenvironmenttocompileit
Accesskernelinternals
Adda/procinterface
Addthemodulesourcestothe
kernelsourcetree
Createakernelsourcepatch
170
Driverdevelopment
Memorymanagement
171
Physicalandvirtualmemory
Physicaladdressspace
Virtualaddressspaces
0xFFFFFFFF
0xFFFFFFFFF
I/Omemory3
I/Omemory2
I/Omemory1
Flash
0xFFFFFFFF
0xC0000000
Memory
Management
Unit
MMU
Process1
0x00000000
0x00000000
CPU
0xFFFFFFFF
RAM1
RAM0
Kernel
Kernel
0xC0000000
Alltheprocesseshavetheir
ownvirtualaddressspace,and
runasiftheyhadaccesstothe
wholeaddressspace.
Process2
0x00000000
0x00000000
172
kmallocandkfree
Basicallocators,kernelequivalentsofglibc'smallocand
free.
#include<linux/slab.h>
staticinlinevoid*kmalloc(size_tsize,intflags);
size:numberofbytestoallocate
flags:priority(explainedinafewpages)
voidkfree(constvoid*objp);
Example:(drivers/infiniband/core/cache.c)
structib_update_work*work;
work=kmalloc(sizeof*work,GFP_ATOMIC);
...
kfree(work);
173
kmallocfeatures
Quick(unlessit'sblockedwaitingformemorytobefreed).
Doesn'tinitializetheallocatedarea.
TheallocatedareaiscontiguousinphysicalRAM.
Allocatesby2nsizes,andusesafewmanagementbytes.
So,don'taskfor1024whenyouneed1000!You'dget2048!
Caution:driversshouldn'ttrytokmalloc
morethan128KB(upperlimitinsomearchitectures).
Minimumallocation:32or64bytes(pagesizedependent).
174
Mainkmallocflags(1)
Definedininclude/linux/gfp.h(GFP:__get_free_pages)
GFP_KERNEL
Standardkernelmemoryallocation.Mayblock.Fineformost
needs.
GFP_ATOMIC
RAMallocatedfromcodewhichisnotallowedtoblock(interrupt
handlers)orwhichdoesn'twanttoblock(criticalsections).Never
blocks.
GFP_USER
Allocatesmemoryforuserprocesses.Mayblock.Lowestpriority.
175
Mainkmallocflags(2)
Extraflags(canbeaddedwith|)
__GFP_DMAorGFP_DMA
AllocateinDMAzone
__GFP_ZERO
Returnsazeroedpage.
__GFP_NOFAIL
Mustnotfail.Nevergives
up.Caution:useonlywhen
mandatory!
__GFP_NORETRY
Ifallocationfails,doesn'ttry
togetfreepages.
Example:
GFP_KERNEL|__GFP_DMA
Note:almostonly
__GFP_DMAorGFP_DMA
usedindevicedrivers.
176
Relatedallocationfunctions
Again,namessimilartothoseofClibraryfunctions
staticinlinevoid*kzalloc(
size_tsize,gfp_tflags);
Zeroestheallocatedbuffer.
staticinlinevoid*kcalloc(
size_tn,size_tsize,gfp_tflags);
Allocatesmemoryforanarrayofnelementsofsizesize,
andzeroesitscontents.
void*__must_checkkrealloc(
constvoid*,size_t,gfp_t);
Changesthesizeofthegivenbuffer.
177
Availableallocators
Memoryisallocatedusingslabs(groupsofoneormorecontinuouspages
fromwhichobjectsareallocated).Severalcompatibleslaballocatorsare
available:
SLAB:original,wellprovenallocatorinLinux2.6.
SLOB:muchsimpler.Morespaceefficientbutdoesn'tscalewell.Saves
afewhundredsofKBinsmallsystems(dependson
CONFIG_EMBEDDED)
SLUB:thenewdefaultallocatorsince2.6.23,simplerthanSLAB,
scalingmuchbetter(inparticularforhugesystems)andcreatingless
fragmentation.
178
Slabcaches:makeitpossibletoallocatemultiple
objectsofthesamesize,withoutwastingRAM.
Sofar,mainlyusedincoresubsystems,
butnotmuchindevicedrivers
(exceptUSBandSCSIdrivers)
Memorypools:poolsofpreallocatedobjects,
toincreasethechancesofallocationstosucceed.
Oftenusedwithfilecaches.
SeeourSlabcachesandmemorypoolsannexfordetails.
179
Allocatingbypages
MoreappropriatewhenyouneedbigslicesofRAM:
Apageisusually4K,butcanbemadegreaterinsomearchitectures
(sh,mips:4,8,16or64K,butnotconfigurableini386orarm).
unsignedlongget_zeroed_page(intflags);
Returnsapointertoafreepageandfillsitupwithzeros
unsignedlong__get_free_page(intflags);
Same,butdoesn'tinitializethecontents
unsignedlong__get_free_pages(intflags,
unsignedintorder);
ReturnsapointeronanareaofseveralcontiguouspagesinphysicalRAM.
order:log2(<number_of_pages>)
Ifvariable,canbecomputedfromthesizewiththeget_orderfunction.
Maximum:8192KB(MAX_ORDER=11ininclude/linux/mmzone.h),
exceptinafewarchitectureswhenoverwrittenwithCONFIG_FORCE_MAX_ZONEORDER.
180
Freeingpages
voidfree_page(unsignedlongaddr);
voidfree_pages(unsignedlongaddr,
unsignedintorder);
Needtousethesameorderasinallocation.
181
vmalloc
vmalloccanbeusedtoobtaincontiguousmemoryzones
invirtualaddressspace(evenifpagesmaynotbe
contiguousinphysicalmemory).
void*vmalloc(unsignedlongsize);
voidvfree(void*addr);
182
Memoryutilities
void*memset(void*s,intc,size_tcount);
Fillsaregionofmemorywiththegivenvalue.
void*memcpy(void*dest,
constvoid*src,
size_tcount);
Copiesoneareaofmemorytoanother.
Usememmovewithoverlappingareas.
LotsoffunctionsequivalenttostandardClibraryonesdefined
ininclude/linux/string.h
andininclude/linux/kernel.h(sprintf,etc.)
183
MemorymanagementSummary
Smallallocations
kmalloc,kzalloc
(andkfree!)
Slabcachesandmemory
pools
Biggerallocations
__get_free_page[s],
get_zeroed_page,
free_page[s]
vmalloc,vfree
Libclikememoryutilities
memset,memcopy,memmove
...
184
Driverdevelopment
I/Omemoryandports
185
RequestingI/Oports
/proc/ioportsexample(x86)
0000001f:dma1
00200021:pic1
00400043:timer0
00500053:timer1
0060006f:keyboard
00700077:rtc
0080008f:dmapagereg
00a000a1:pic2
00c000df:dma2
00f000ff:fpu
0100013f:pcmcia_socket0
01700177:ide1
01f001f7:ide0
03760376:ide1
0378037a:parport0
03c003df:vga+
03f603f6:ide0
03f803ff:serial
0800087f:0000:00:1f.0
08000803:PM1a_EVT_BLK
08040805:PM1a_CNT_BLK
0808080b:PM_TMR
08200820:PM2_CNT_BLK
0828082f:GPE0_BLK
...
structresource*request_region(
unsignedlongstart,
unsignedlonglen,
char*name);
Triestoreservethegivenregionandreturns
NULLifunsuccessful.Example:
request_region(0x0170,8,"ide1");
voidrelease_region(
unsignedlongstart,
unsignedlonglen);
Seeinclude/linux/ioport.hand
kernel/resource.c
186
Reading/writingonI/Oports
Theimplementationofthebelowfunctions
andtheexactunsignedtypecanvaryfromplatformtoplatform!
bytes
unsignedinb(unsignedport);
voidoutb(unsignedcharbyte,unsignedport);
words
unsignedinw(unsignedport);
voidoutw(unsignedcharbyte,unsignedport);
"long"integers
unsignedinl(unsignedport);
voidoutl(unsignedcharbyte,unsignedport);
187
Reading/writingstringsonI/Oports
OftenmoreefficientthanthecorrespondingCloop,
iftheprocessorsupportssuchoperations!
bytestrings
voidinsb(unsignedport,void*addr,unsignedlongcount);
voidoutsb(unsignedport,void*addr,unsignedlongcount);
wordstrings
voidinsw(unsignedport,void*addr,unsignedlongcount);
voidoutsw(unsignedport,void*addr,unsignedlongcount);
longstrings
voidinsl(unsignedport,void*addr,unsignedlongcount);
voidoutsl(unsignedport,void*addr,unsignedlongcount);
188
RequestingI/Omemory
/proc/iomemexample
Equivalentfunctionswiththesame
000000000009efff:SystemRAM
0009f0000009ffff:reserved
000a0000000bffff:VideoRAMarea
000c0000000cffff:VideoROM
000f0000000fffff:SystemROM
001000003ffadfff:SystemRAM
001000000030afff:Kernelcode
0030b000003b4bff:Kerneldata
3ffae0003fffffff:reserved
40000000400003ff:0000:00:1f.1
4000100040001fff:0000:02:01.0
4000100040001fff:yenta_socket
4000200040002fff:0000:02:01.1
4000200040002fff:yenta_socket
40400000407fffff:PCICardBus#03
4080000040bfffff:PCICardBus#03
40c0000040ffffff:PCICardBus#07
41000000413fffff:PCICardBus#07
a0000000a0000fff:pcmcia_socket0
a0001000a0001fff:pcmcia_socket1
e0000000e7ffffff:0000:00:00.0
e8000000efffffff:PCIBus#01
e8000000efffffff:0000:01:00.0
...
interface
structresource*request_mem_region(
unsignedlongstart,
unsignedlonglen,
char*name);
voidrelease_mem_region(
unsignedlongstart,
unsignedlonglen);
189
MappingI/Omemoryinvirtualmemory
ToaccessI/Omemory,driversneedtohaveavirtual
addressthattheprocessorcanhandle.
Theioremapfunctionssatisfythisneed:
#include<asm/io.h>;
void*ioremap(unsignedlongphys_addr,
unsignedlongsize);
voidiounmap(void*address);
Caution:checkthatioremapdoesn'treturnaNULL
address!
Notethatanioremap_nocachefunctionexists.
ThisdisablestheCPUcacheatthegivenaddressrange.
190
Differenceswithstandardmemory
Readsandwritesonmemorycanbecached
Thecompilermaychoosetowritethevalueinacpu
register,andmayneverwriteitinmainmemory.
Thecompilermaydecidetooptimizeorreorderreadand
writeinstructions.
191
AvoidingI/Oaccessissues
CachingonI/Oportsormemoryalreadydisabled,eitherbythe
hardwareorbyLinuxinitcode.
UsethevolatilestatementinyourCcodetopreventthe
compilerfromusingregistersinsteadofwritingtomemory.
Memorybarriersaresuppliedtoavoidreordering
Hardwareindependent
#include<asm/kernel.h>
voidbarrier(void);
Hardwaredependent
#include<asm/system.h>
voidrmb(void);
Onlyimpactsthebehaviorofthe
voidwmb(void);
compiler.Doesn'tpreventreordering voidmb(void);
intheprocessor!
Safeonallarchitectures!
192
AccessingI/Omemory
Directlyreadingfromorwritingtoaddressesreturnedbyioremap
(pointerdereferencing)maynotworkonsomearchitectures.
Usethebelowfunctionsinstead.Theyarealwaysportableand
safe:
unsignedintioread8(void*addr);(samefor16and32)
voidiowrite8(u8value,void*addr);(samefor16and32)
Toreadorwriteaseriesofvalues:
voidioread8_rep(void*addr,void*buf,unsignedlongcount);
voidiowrite8_rep(void*addr,constvoid*buf,unsignedlongcount);
Otherusefulfunctions:
voidmemset_io(void*addr,u8value,unsignedintcount);
voidmemcpy_fromio(void*dest,void*source,unsignedintcount);
voidmemcpy_toio(void*dest,void*source,unsignedintcount);
Note:manydriversstilluseoldfunctionsinstead:
readb,readl,readw,writeb,writel,writew
193
/dev/mem
Usedtoprovideuserspaceapplications
withdirectaccesstophysicaladdresses.
Usage:open/dev/memandreadorwriteatgivenoffset.
Whatyoureadorwriteisthevalue
atthecorrespondingphysicaladdress.
UsedbyapplicationssuchastheXserver
towritedirectlytodevicememory.
Since2.6.26(x86onlysofar):onlynonRAMcanbe
accessed,unlessexplicitlyconfiguredotherwise(forsecurity
reasons).
194
Driverdevelopment
Characterdrivers
195
Usefulnessofcharacterdrivers
Exceptforstoragedevicedrivers,mostdriversfordeviceswith
inputandoutputflowsareimplementedascharacterdrivers.
So,mostdriversyouwillfacewillbecharacterdrivers
Youwillregretifyousleepduringthispart!
196
Creatingacharacterdriver
Userspace
Userspaceneeds
Thenameofadevicefilein/devto
interactwiththedevicedriverthrough
regularfileoperations(open,read,write,
close...)
Read
buffer
read
write
Thekernelneeds
Copytouser
major/minor
Read
handler
Write
handler
Copyfromuser
/dev/foo
Toknowwhichdriverisinchargeofdevice
fileswithagivenmajor/minornumberpair
Foragivendriver,tohavehandlers(file
operations)toexecutewhenuserspace
opens,reads,writesorclosesthedevice
file.
Write
string
Devicedriver
Kernelspace
197
Declaringacharacterdriver
Devicenumberregistration
Needtoregisteroneormoredevicenumbers(major/minor
pairs),dependingonthenumberofdevicesmanagedbythe
driver.
Needtofindfreeones!
Fileoperationsregistration
Needtoregisterhandlerfunctionscalledwhenuserspace
programsaccessthedevicefiles:open,read,write,
ioctl,close...
198
Informationonregistereddevices
Registereddevicesarevisiblein/proc/devices:
Characterdevices:
1mem
4/dev/vc/0
4tty
4ttyS
5/dev/tty
5/dev/console
5/dev/ptmx
6lp
10misc
13input
14sound
...
Blockdevices:
1ramdisk
3ide0
8sd
9md
22ide1
65sd
66sd
67sd
68sd
Major
number
Canbeusedto
findfreemajor
numbers
Registered
name
199
dev_tdatatype
Kerneldatatypetorepresentamajor/minornumberpair
Alsocalledadevicenumber.
Definedin<linux/kdev_t.h>
Linux2.6:32bitsize(major:12bits,minor:20bits)
Macrotocreatethedevicenumber:
MKDEV(intmajor,intminor);
Macrotoextracttheminorandmajornumbers:
MAJOR(dev_tdev);
MINOR(dev_tdev);
200
Allocatingfixeddevicenumbers
#include<linux/fs.h>
intregister_chrdev_region(
dev_tfrom,
/*Startingdevicenumber*/
unsignedcount,
/*Numberofdevicenumbers*/
constchar*name); /*Registeredname*/
Returns0iftheallocationwassuccessful.
Example
if(register_chrdev_region(MKDEV(202,128),
acme_count,acme)){
printk(KERN_ERRFailedtoallocatedevicenumber\n);
...
201
Dynamicallocationofdevicenumbers
Safer:havethekernelallocatefreenumbersforyou!
intalloc_chrdev_region(
dev_t*dev,
/*Output:startingdevicenumber*/
unsignedbaseminor, /*Startingminornumber,usually0*/
unsignedcount,
/*Numberofdevicenumbers*/
constchar*name); /*Registeredname*/
Returns0iftheallocationwassuccessful.
Example
if(alloc_chrdev_region(&acme_dev,0,acme_count,acme)){
printk(KERN_ERRFailedtoallocatedevicenumber\n);
...
202
Creatingdevicefiles
Issue:youcannolongercreate/deventriesinadvance!
Youhavetocreatethemontheflyafterloadingthedriver
accordingtotheallocatedmajornumber.
Trick:thescriptloadingthemodulecanthenuse
/proc/devices:
module=foo;name=foo;device=foo
rmf/dev/$device
insmod$module.ko
major=`awk"\\$2==\"$name\"{print\\$1}"/proc/devices`
mknod/dev/$devicec$major0
Better:useudevtocreatethedevicefileautomatically.
Seeourpresentationonudev.
203
Fileoperations(1)
Beforeregisteringcharacterdevices,youhavetodefine
file_operations(calledfops)forthedevicefiles.
Herearethemainones:
int(*open)(
structinode*,/*Correspondstothedevicefile*/
structfile*);/*Correspondstotheopenfiledescriptor*/
Calledwhenuserspaceopensthedevicefile.
int(*release)(
structinode*,
structfile*);
Calledwhenuserspaceclosesthefile.
204
Thefilestructure
Iscreatedbythekernelduringtheopencall.
Representsopenfiles.
mode_tf_mode;
Thefileopeningmode(FMODE_READand/orFMODE_WRITE)
loff_tf_pos;
Currentoffsetinthefile.
structfile_operations*f_op;
Allowstochangefileoperationsfordifferentopenfiles!
structdentry*f_dentry
Usefultogetaccesstotheinode:f_dentry>d_inode.
205
Fileoperations(2)
ssize_t(*read)(
structfile*,
/*Openfiledescriptor*/
__userchar*,
/*Userspacebuffertofillup*/
size_t,
/*Sizeoftheuserspacebuffer*/
loff_t*);
/*Offsetintheopenfile*/
Calledwhenuserspacereadsfromthedevicefile.
ssize_t(*write)(
structfile*,
__userconstchar*,
/*Userspacebuffertowrite
tothedevice*/
size_t,
/*Sizeoftheuserspacebuffer*/
loff_t*);
/*Offsetintheopenfile*/
Calledwhenuserspacewritestothedevicefile.
206
Exchangingdatawithuserspace(1)
Indrivercode,youcan'tjustmemcpybetween
anaddresssuppliedbyuserspaceand
theaddressofabufferinkernelspace!
Correspondtocompletelydifferent
addressspaces(thankstovirtualmemory)
Theuserspaceaddressmaybeswappedouttodisk
Theuserspaceaddressmaybeinvalid
(userspaceprocesstryingtoaccessunauthorizeddata)
207
Exchangingdatawithuserspace(2)
Youmustusededicatedfunctionssuchasthefollowingones
inyourreadandwritefileoperationscode:
include<asm/uaccess.h>
unsignedlongcopy_to_user(void__user*to,
constvoid*from,
unsignedlongn);
unsignedlongcopy_from_user(void*to,
constvoid__user*from,
unsignedlongn);
Makesurethatthesefunctionsreturn0!
Anotherreturnvaluewouldmeanthattheyfailed.
208
Fileoperations(3)
int(*ioctl)(structinode*,structfile*,
unsignedint,unsignedlong);
Canbeusedtosendspecificcommandstothedevice,whichare
neitherreadingnorwriting(e.g.changingthespeedofaserial
port,settingvideooutputformat,queryingadeviceserial
number...).
209
Fileoperationsspecifictoeachopenfile!
Usingthepossibilitytoredefinefileoperationsforeachopenfile.
Process1
getPAL
video
Process2
ioctl:change
readfop
read
Openfile1
open
getNTSC
video!
read
Openfile2
open
/dev/video
2differentprocesses
canreaddifferentdata
fromthesamedevicefile!
210
Fileoperations(4)
int(*mmap)(structfile*,
structvm_area_struct*);
Askingfordevicememorytobemapped
intotheaddressspaceofauserprocess.
Moreinourmmapsection.
Thesewerejustthemainones:
about25fileoperationscanbeset,correspondingtoall
thesystemcallsthatcanbeperformedonopenfiles.
211
readoperationexample
staticssize_t
acme_read(structfile*file,char__user*buf,size_tcount,loff_t*ppos)
{
/*Theacme_bufaddresscorrespondstoadeviceI/Omemoryarea*/
/*ofsizeacme_bufsize,obtainedwithioremap()*/
intremaining_size,transfer_size;
remaining_size=acme_bufsize(int)(*ppos);//byteslefttotransfer
if(remaining_size==0){/*Allread,returning0(EndOfFile)*/
return0;
}
/*Sizeofthistransfer*/
transfer_size=min(remaining_size,(int)count);
if(copy_to_user(buf/*to*/,acme_buf+*ppos/*from*/,transfer_size)){
returnEFAULT;
}else{/*Increasethepositionintheopenfile*/
*ppos+=transfer_size;
returntransfer_size;
}
}
Readmethod
Pieceofcodeavailablein
http://freeelectrons.com/doc/c/acme.c
212
writeoperationexample
staticssize_t
acme_write(structfile*file,constchar__user*buf,size_tcount,loff_t*ppos)
{
intremaining_bytes;
/*Numberofbytesnotwrittenyetinthedevice*/
remaining_bytes=acme_bufsize(*ppos);
if(count>remaining_bytes){
/*Can'twritebeyondtheendofthedevice*/
returnEIO;
}
if(copy_from_user(acme_buf+*ppos/*to*/,buf/*from*/,count)){
returnEFAULT;
}else{
/*Increasethepositionintheopenfile*/
*ppos+=count;
returncount;
}
}
Writemethod
Pieceofcodeavailablein
http://freeelectrons.com/doc/c/acme.c
213
fileoperationsdefinitionexample(3)
Definingafile_operationsstructure:
staticstructfile_operationsacme_fops=
{
.owner=THIS_MODULE,
.read=acme_read,
.write=acme_write,
};
Youjustneedtosupplythefunctionsyouimplemented!Defaultsfor
otherfunctions(suchasopen,release...)arefineifyoudonot
implementanythingspecial.
214
Characterdeviceregistration(1)
Thekernelrepresentscharacterdriverswithacdevstructure
Declarethisstructureglobally(withinyourmodule):
#include<linux/cdev.h>
staticstructcdevacme_cdev;
Intheinitfunction,initializethestructure:
cdev_init(&acme_cdev,&acme_fops);
215
Characterdeviceregistration(2)
Then,nowthatyourstructureisready,addittothesystem:
intcdev_add(
structcdev*p,
/*Characterdevicestructure*/
dev_tdev,
/*Startingdevicemajor/minornumber
*/
unsignedcount); /*Numberofdevices*/
Example(continued):
if(cdev_add(&acme_cdev,acme_dev,acme_count)){
printk(KERN_ERRChardriverregistrationfailed\n);
...
216
Characterdeviceunregistration
Firstdeleteyourcharacterdevice:
voidcdev_del(structcdev*p);
Then,andonlythen,freethedevicenumber:
voidunregister_chrdev_region(dev_tfrom,
unsignedcount);
Example(continued):
cdev_del(&acme_cdev);
unregister_chrdev_region(acme_dev,acme_count);
217
Linuxerrorcodes
Trytoreporterrorswitherrornumbersasaccurateas
possible!Fortunately,macronamesareexplicitandyou
canrememberthemquickly.
Genericerrorcodes:
include/asmgeneric/errnobase.h
Platformspecificerrorcodes:
include/asm/errno.h
218
Chardriverexamplesummary(1)
staticvoid*acme_buf;
staticintacme_bufsize=8192;
staticintacme_count=1;
staticdev_tacme_dev;
staticstructcdevacme_cdev;
staticssize_tacme_write(...){...}
staticssize_tacme_read(...){...}
staticstructfile_operationsacme_fops=
{
.owner=THIS_MODULE,
.read=acme_read,
.write=acme_write
};
219
Chardriverexamplesummary(2)
Showshowtohandleerrorsanddeallocateresourcesintherightorder!
staticint__initacme_init(void)
{
interr;
acme_buf=ioremap(ACME_PHYS,
acme_bufsize);
if(!acme_buf){
err=ENOMEM;
gotoerr_exit;
}
if(alloc_chrdev_region(&acme_dev,0,
acme_count,acme)){
err=ENODEV;
gotoerr_free_buf;
}
cdev_init(&acme_cdev,&acme_fops);
if(cdev_add(&acme_cdev,acme_dev,
acme_count)){
err=ENODEV;
gotoerr_dev_unregister;
}
return0;
err_dev_unregister:
unregister_chrdev_region(
acme_dev,acme_count);
err_free_buf:
iounmap(acme_buf);
err_exit:
returnerr;
}
staticvoid__exitacme_exit(void)
{
cdev_del(&acme_cdev);
unregister_chrdev_region(acme_dev,
acme_count);
iounmap(acme_buf);
}
Completeexamplecodeavailableonhttp://freeelectrons.com/doc/c/acme.c
220
Systemadministration
Loadthecharacterdrivermodule
In/proc/devices,findthemajornumberituses.
Createthedevicefilewiththismajornumber
Thedevicefileisreadytouse!
Systemuser
Openthedevicefile,read,write,orsendioctl'stoit.
Kernel
Userspace
Definethefileoperationscallbacksforthedevicefile:read,write,ioctl...
Inthemoduleinitfunction,getmajorandminornumberswithalloc_chrdev_region(),
initacdevstructurewithyourfileoperationsandaddittothesystemwithcdev_add().
Inthemoduleexitfunction,callcdev_del()andunregister_chrdev_region()
Kernel
Characterdriverwriter
Kernel
Characterdriversummary
Executesthecorrespondingfileoperations
221
PracticallabCharacterdrivers
TimetostartLab5!
Writesimplefile_operations,for
acharacterdevice,includingioctl
controls
Registerthecharacterdevice
Usethekmallocandkfreeutilities
Exchangedatawithuserspace
222
Driverdevelopment
Debugging
223
Debuggingwithprintk
Universaldebuggingtechniqueusedsincethebeginningof
programming(firstfoundincavemendrawings)
Printedornotintheconsoleor/var/log/messages
accordingtothepriority.Thisiscontrolledbytheloglevel
kernelparameter,orthrough/proc/sys/kernel/printk
(seeDocumentation/sysctl/kernel.txt)
Availablepriorities(include/linux/kernel.h):
#defineKERN_EMERG"<0>"/*systemisunusable*/
#defineKERN_ALERT"<1>"/*actionmustbetakenimmediately*/
#defineKERN_CRIT"<2>"/*criticalconditions*/
#defineKERN_ERR"<3>"/*errorconditions*/
#defineKERN_WARNING"<4>"/*warningconditions*/
#defineKERN_NOTICE"<5>"/*normalbutsignificantcondition*/
#defineKERN_INFO"<6>"/*informational*/
#defineKERN_DEBUG"<7>"/*debuglevelmessages*/
224
Debuggingwith/procor/sys(1)
Insteadofdumpingmessagesinthekernellog,youcanhaveyour
driversmakeinformationavailabletouserspace
Throughafilein/procor/sys,whichcontentsarehandledby
callbacksdefinedandregisteredbyyourdriver.
Canbeusedtoshowanypieceofinformation
aboutyourdeviceordriver.
Canalsobeusedtosenddatatothedriverortocontrolit.
Caution:anybodycanusethesefiles.
Youshouldremoveyourdebugginginterfaceinproduction!
Sincethearrivalofdebugfs,nolongerthepreferreddebugging
mechanism
225
Debuggingwith/procor/sys(2)
Examples
cat/proc/acme/stats(dummyexample)
Displaysstatisticsaboutyouracmedriver.
cat/proc/acme/globals(dummyexample)
Displaysvaluesofglobalvariablesusedbyyourdriver.
echo600000>/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_setspeed
AdjuststhespeedoftheCPU(controlledbythecpufreqdriver).
226
Debugfs
Avirtualfilesystemtoexportdebugginginformationtouserspace.
Kernelconfiguration:DEBUG_FS
Kernelhacking>DebugFilesystem
Muchsimplertocodethananinterfacein/procor/sys.
ThedebugginginterfacedisappearswhenDebugfsisconfigured
out.
Youcanmountitasfollows:
sudomounttdebugfsnone/mnt/debugfs
Firstdescribedonhttp://lwn.net/Articles/115405/
APIdocumentedintheLinuxKernelFilesystemAPI:
http://freeelectrons.com/kerneldoc/latest/DocBook/filesystems/index.htm
227
Simpledebugfsexample
#include<linux/debugfs.h>
staticchar*acme_buf;
staticunsignedlongacme_bufsize;
staticstructdebugfs_blob_wrapperacme_blob;
staticstructdentry*acme_buf_dentry;
//modulebuffer
staticu32acme_state;
staticstructdentry*acme_state_dentry;
//modulevariable
/*Moduleinit*/
acme_blob.data=acme_buf;
acme_blob.size=acme_bufsize;
acme_buf_dentry=debugfs_create_blob("acme_buf",S_IRUGO,
NULL,&acme_blob);
acme_state_dentry=debugfs_create_bool("acme_state",S_IRUGO,
NULL,&acme_state);
/*Moduleexit*/
debugfs_remove(acme_buf_dentry);
debugfs_remove(acme_state_dentry);
//Create
//newfiles
//indebugfs
//removingthefilesfromdebugfs
228
Debuggingwithioctl
Canusetheioctl()systemcalltoqueryinformation
aboutyourdriver(ordevice)orsendcommandstoit.
Thiscallstheioctlfileoperationthatyoucanregisterin
yourdriver.
Advantage:yourdebugginginterfaceisnotpublic.
Youcouldevenleaveitwhenyoursystem(oritsdriver)isin
thehandsofitsusers.
229
Debuggingwithgdb
Ifyouexecutethekernelfromadebuggeronthesame
machine,thiswillinterferewiththekernelbehavior.
However,youcanaccessthecurrentkernelstatewithgdb:
gdb/usr/src/linux/vmlinux/proc/kcore
uncompressedkernelkerneladdressspace
Youcanaccesskernelstructures,followpointers...
(readonly!)
Requiresthekerneltobecompiledwith
CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO(Kernelhackingsection)
230
kgdbAkerneldebugger
Theexecutionofthepatchedkernelisfullycontrolledby
gdbfromanothermachine,connectedthroughaserialline.
Candoalmosteverything,includinginsertingbreakpointsin
interrupthandlers.
IncludedinstandardLinuxsince2.6.26(x86andsparc).
arm,mipsandppcsupportmergedin2.6.27.
231
Usingkgdb
Detailsavailableinthekerneldocumentation:
http://freeelectrons.com/kerneldoc/latest/DocBook/kgdb/
RecommendedtoturnonCONFIG_FRAME_POINTERtoaid
inproducingmorereliablestackbacktracesingdb.
YoumustincludeakgdbI/Odriver.Oneofthemiskgdb
overserialconsole(kgdboc:kgdboverconsole,enabled
byCONFIG_KGDB_SERIAL_CONSOLE)
Configurekgdbocatboottimebypassingtothekernel:
kgdboc=<ttydevice>,[baud].Forexample:
kgdboc=ttyS0,115200
232
Usingkgdb(2)
Thenalsopasskgdbwaittothekernel:
itmakeskgdbwaitforadebuggerconnection.
Bootyourkernel,andwhentheconsoleisinitialized,
interruptthekernelwith[Alt][SyrRq][g].
Onyourworkstation,startgdbasfollows:
%gdb./vmlinux
(gdb)setremotebaud115200
(gdb)targetremote/dev/ttyS0
Onceconnected,youcandebugakernelthewayyouwould
debuganapplicationprogram.
233
Kernelcrashanalysiswithkexec/kdump
kexecsystemcall:makesitpossibleto
callanewkernel,withoutrebootingand
goingthroughtheBIOS/firmware.
Idea:afterakernelpanic,makethe
kernelautomaticallyexecuteanew,
cleankernelfromareservedlocationin
RAM,toperformpostmortemanalysis
ofthememoryofthecrashedkernel.
1.Copydebug
kernelto
reserved
RAM
3.Analyze
crashed
kernelRAM
Standardkernel
2.kernel
panic,kexec
debugkernel
Debugkernel
SeeDocumentation/kdump/kdump.txt
inthekernelsourcesfordetails.
RegularRAM
234
DebuggingwithSystemTap
http://sourceware.org/systemtap/
Infrastructuretoaddinstrumentationtoarunningkernel:
tracefunctions,readandwritevariables,followpointers,gatherstatistics...
Eliminatestheneedtomodifythekernelsourcestoaddone'sown
instrumentationtoinvestigatedafunctionalorperformanceproblem.
Usesasimplescriptinglanguage.
Severalexamplescriptsandprobepointsareavailable.
BasedontheKprobesinstrumentationinfrastructure.
SeeDocumentation/kprobes.txtinkernelsources.
Linux2.6.26:supportedonmostpopularCPUs(armincludedin2.6.25).
However,lackofrecentsupportformips(2.6.16only!).
235
SystemTapscriptexample(1)
#!/usr/bin/envstap
#Usingstatisticsandmapstoexaminekernelmemoryallocations
globalkmalloc
probekernel.function("__kmalloc"){
kmalloc[execname()]<<<$size
}
#Exitafter10seconds
probetimer.ms(10000){exit()}
probeend{
foreach([name]inkmalloc){
printf("Allocationsfor%s\n",name)
printf("Count:%dallocations\n",@count(kmalloc[name]))
printf("Sum:%dKbytes\n",@sum(kmalloc[name])/1000)
printf("Average:%dbytes\n",@avg(kmalloc[name]))
printf("Min:%dbytes\n",@min(kmalloc[name]))
printf("Max:%dbytes\n",@max(kmalloc[name]))
print("\nAllocationsbysizeinbytes\n")
print(@hist_log(kmalloc[name]))
printf("\n\n");
}
}
236
SystemTapscriptexample(2)
#!/usr/bin/envstap
#Logseachfilereadperformedbyeachprocess
probekernel.function("vfs_read")
{
dev_nr=$file>f_dentry>d_inode>i_sb>s_dev
inode_nr=$file>f_dentry>d_inode>i_ino
printf("%s(%d)%s0x%x/%d\n",
execname(),pid(),probefunc(),dev_nr,inode_nr)
}
Nicetutorialonhttp://sources.redhat.com/systemtap/tutorial.pdf
237
UsingMagicSysRq
Linuxalsohas3fingerkeystosaveyourwork;)
Allowstorunmultipledebug/rescuecommandsevenwhenthe
kernelseemstobeindeeptrouble.Examplecommands:
[ALT][SysRq][d]:killsallprocesses,exceptinit.
[ALT][SysRq][n]:makesRTprocessesniceable.
[ALT][SysRq][s]:attemptstosyncallmountedfilesystems.
[ALT][SysRq][b]:immediatelyrebootwithoutsyncingand
unmounting.
Typicalcombination:[ALT][SysRq][s]
andthen[ALT][SysRq][b]
DetailedinDocumentation/sysrq.txt
238
DebuggingwithaJTAGinterface
FortheFOSScommunity,bestdonewithOpenOCD
(OpenOnChipDebugger):http://openocd.berlios.de/web/
OpenOCDsupportsmultipleJTAGhardwaredongles.
OpenOCDcaneitherbeinterfacedbyaserialconsole,adebugger,orbyan
Eclipsebasedinterface.
Ofcourse,itsupportsallthecapabilitiesofferedbyaJTAGinterface.
Seetheverycompletedocumentation:http://openocd.berlios.de/doc/
Foreachboard,you'llneedanOpenOCDconfigurationfile(askyoursupplier)
SeeveryusefuldetailsonusingEclipse/gcc/gdb/OpenOCDonWindows:
http://www2.amontec.com/sdk4arm/ext/jlynchtutorial20061124.pdfand
http://www.yagarto.de/howto/yagarto2/
239
Kernelmarkers
Capabilitytoaddstaticmarkerstokernelcode,
mergedinLinux2.6.24byMatthieuDesnoyers.
Almostnoimpactonperformance,untilthemarkeris
dynamicallyenabled,byinsertingaprobekernelmodule.
Usefultoinserttracepointsthatwon'tbeimpactedby
changesintheLinuxkernelsources.
Seemarkerandprobeexample
insamples/markersinthekernelsources.
Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_marker
240
LTTng
http://ltt.polymtl.ca/
ThesuccessoroftheLinuxTraceToolkit(LTT)
Toolkitallowingtocollectandanalyzetracinginformation
fromthekernel,basedonkernelmarkersandkernel
tracepoints.
Sofar,basedonkernelpatches,butdoingitsbesttousein
treesolutions,andtobemergedinthefuture.
Veryprecisetimestamps,verylittleoverhead.
Usefulguidelinesin
http://ltt.polymtl.ca/svn/trunk/lttv/QUICKSTART
241
LTTV
ViewerforLTTngtraces
Supportforhugetraces(testedwith15GBones)
Cancombinemultipletracefilesinasingleview.
Graphicalortextinterface
Seehttp://ltt.polymtl.ca/lttvdoc/user_guide/
242
Morekerneldebuggingtips
EnableCONFIG_KALLSYMS_ALL
(GeneralSetup>Configurestandardkernelfeatures)
togetoopsmessageswithsymbolnamesinsteadofrawaddresses
(thisobsoletestheksymoopstool).
Ifyourkerneldoesn'tbootyetorhangswithoutanymessage,youcan
activateLowLeveldebugging(KernelHackingsection,onlyavailableon
arm):
CONFIG_DEBUG_LL=y
TechniquestolocatetheCinstructionwhichcausedanoops:
http://kerneltrap.org/node/3648
Moreaboutkerneldebugginginthefree
LinuxDeviceDriversbook(Referencessection)!
243
PracticallabKerneldebugging
TimetostartLab6!
Loadabrokendriverandseeitcrash
Analyzetheerrorinformation
dumpedbythekernel.
Disassemblethecodeandlocate
theexactCinstructionwhichcaused
thefailure.
244
EmbeddedLinuxDriverDevelopment
Driverdevelopment
Processesandscheduling
245
Processes
Aprocessisaninstanceofarunningprogram
Multipleinstancesofthesameprogramcanberunning.
Programcode(textsection)memoryisshared.
Eachprocesshasitsowndatasection,addressspace,processor
state,openfilesandpendingsignals.
Thekernelhasaseparatedatastructureforeachprocess.
246
Threads
InLinux,threadsarejustimplementedasprocesses!
Newthreadsareimplementedasregularprocesses,
withtheparticularitythattheyarecreatedwiththesameaddress
space,filesystemresources,filedescriptorsandsignalhandlers
astheirparentprocess.
247
Aprocesslife
EXIT_ZOMBIE
Parentprocess
Callsfork()
andcreates
anewprocess
Theprocessiselected
bythescheduler
TASK_RUNNING
Readybut
notrunning
Theeventoccurs
ortheprocessreceives
asignal.Processbecomes
runnableagain
Theprocessispreempted
bytoschedulertorun
ahigherprioritytask
TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE
TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE
orTASK_KILLABLE
Taskterminatedbutits
resourcesarenotfreedyet.
Waitingforitsparent
toacknowledgeitsdeath.
TASK_RUNNING
Actuallyrunning
Decidestosleep
onawaitqueue
foraspecificevent
Waiting
248
Processcontext
Userspaceprogramsandsystemcallsarescheduledtogether
Processcontinuinginuserspace...
(orreplacedbyahigherpriorityprocess)
(canbepreempted)
Processexecutinginuserspace...
(canbepreempted)
Systemcall
orexception
Kernelcodeexecuted
onbehalfofuserspace
(canbepreemptedtoo!)
Stillhasaccesstoprocess
data(openfiles...)
249
Kernelthreads
Thekerneldoesnotonlyreactfromuserspace(systemcalls,
exceptions)orhardwareevents(interrupts).Italsorunsitsown
processes.
Kernelthreadsarestandardprocessesscheduledandpreemptedin
thesameway(youcanviewthemwithtoporps!)Theyjusthave
nospecialaddressspaceandusuallyrunforever.
Kernelthreadexamples:
pdflush:regularlyflushesdirtymemorypagestodisk
(filechangesnotcommittedtodiskyet).
migration/<n>:PerCPUthreadstomigrateprocesses
betweenprocessors,tobalanceCPUloadbetweenprocessors.
250
Processpriorities
Regularprocesses
Prioritiesfrom20(maximum)to19(minimum)
Onlyrootcansetnegativepriorities
(rootcangiveanegativeprioritytoaregularuserprocess)
Usethenicecommandtorunajobwithagivenpriority:
nicen<priority><command>
Usetherenicecommandtochangeaprocesspriority:
renice<priority>p<pid>
251
Realtimepriorities
Processeswithrealtimeprioritycanbestartedbyrootusingthe
POSIXAPI
Availablethrough<sched.h>(seemansched.hfordetails)
100realtimeprioritiesavailable
SCHED_FIFOschedulingclass:
TheprocessrunsuntilcompletionunlessitisblockedbyanI/O,
voluntarilyrelinquishestheCPU,orispreemptedbyahigherpriority
process.
SCHED_RRschedulingclass:
Difference:theprocessesarescheduledinaRoundRobinway.
Eachprocessisrununtilitexhaustsamaxtimequantum.Thenother
processeswiththesamepriorityarerun,andsoandso...
252
Timeslices
Theschedulerprioritizeshighpriorityprocesses
bygivingthemabiggertimeslice.
Initialprocesstimeslice:parent'stimeslicesplitin2
(otherwiseprocesswouldcheatbyforking).
Minimumpriority:5msor1jiffy(whicheverislarger)
Defaultpriorityinjiffies:100ms
Maximumpriority:800ms
Note:actuallydependsonHZ.
Seekernel/sched.cfordetails.
253
Whenisschedulingrun?
Eachprocesshasaneed_reschedflagwhichisset:
Afteraprocessexhausteditstimeslice.
Afteraprocesswithahigherpriorityisawakened.
Thisflagischecked(possiblycausingtheexecutionofthe
scheduler)
Whenreturningtouserspacefromasystemcall
Whenreturningfrominterrupts(includingthecputimer),
whenkernelpreemptionisenabled.
Schedulingalsohappenswhenkernelcodeexplicitlyruns
schedule()orexecutesanactionthatsleeps.
254
Driverdevelopment
Sleeping
255
Sleeping
Sleepingisneededwhenaprocess(userspaceorkernelspace)
iswaitingfordata.
Userspaceprocess...
...Userspace
Other
processes
are
scheduled
readdevicefile
return
Systemcall...
askfor
data
sleep
...Systemcall
wakeup
Interrupt
handler
datareadynotification
256
Howtosleep(1)
Mustdeclareawaitqueue
Staticqueuedeclaration
DECLARE_WAIT_QUEUE_HEAD(module_queue);
Ordynamicqueuedeclaration
wait_queue_head_tqueue;
init_waitqueue_head(&queue);
257
Howtosleep(2)
Severalwaystomakeakernelprocesssleep
wait_event(queue,condition);
SleepsuntilthegivenCexpressionistrue.
Caution:can'tbeinterrupted(can'tkilltheuserspaceprocess!)
wait_event_killable(queue,condition);(SinceLinux2.6.25)
SleepsuntilthegivenCexpressionistrue.
Canonlybeinterruptedbyafatalsignal(SIGKILL)
wait_event_interruptible(queue,condition);
Canbeinterruptedbyanysignal
wait_event_timeout(queue,condition,timeout);
Sleepsandautomaticallywakesupafterthegiventimeout.
wait_event_interruptible_timeout(queue,condition,timeout);
Sameasabove,interruptible.
258
HowtosleepExample
Fromdrivers/ieee1394/video1394.c
wait_event_interruptible(
d>waitq,
(d>buffer_status[v.buffer]
==VIDEO1394_BUFFER_READY)
);
if(signal_pending(current))
returnEINTR;
Currentlyrunningprocess
259
Wakingup!
Typicallydonebyinterrupthandlerswhendatasleeping
processesarewaitingforareavailable.
wake_up(queue);
Wakesupallthewaitingprocessesonthegivenqueue
wake_up_interruptible(queue);
Wakesuponlytheprocesseswaitinginaninterruptible
sleeponthegivenqueue
260
Sleepingandwakingupimplementation
Theschedulerdoesn'tkeepevaluatingthesleepingcondition!
wait_event_interruptible(queue,condition);
TheprocessisputintheTASK_INTERRUPTIBLEstate.
wake_up_interruptible(queue);
Forallprocesseswaitinginqueue,conditionisevaluated.
Whenitevaluatestotrue,theprocessisputback
totheTASK_RUNNINGstate,andtheneed_reschedflagforthe
currentprocessisset.
Thisway,severalprocessescanbewokenupatthesametime.
261
Driverdevelopment
Interruptmanagement
262
Interrupthandlerconstraints
Notrunfromausercontext:
Can'ttransferdatatoandfromuserspace
(needtobedonebysystemcallhandlers)
InterrupthandlerexecutionismanagedbytheCPU,not
bythescheduler.Handlerscan'trunactionsthatmay
sleep,becausethereisnothingtoresumetheir
execution.Inparticular,needtoallocatememorywith
GFP_ATOMIC.
Havetocompletetheirjobquicklyenough:
theyshouldn'tblocktheirinterruptlinefortoolong.
263
Registeringaninterrupthandler(1)
Definedininclude/linux/interrupt.h
intrequest_irq(
Returns0ifsuccessful
unsignedintirq,
Requestedirqchannel
irqreturn_thandler,
Interrupthandler
unsignedlongirq_flags,
Optionmask(seenextpage)
constchar*devname,
Registeredname
void*dev_id);
Pointertosomehandlerdata
CannotbeNULLandmustbeuniqueforsharedirqs!
voidfree_irq(unsignedintirq,void*dev_id);
dev_idcannotbeNULLandmustbeuniqueforsharedirqs.
Otherwise,onasharedinterruptline,
free_irqwouldn'tknowwhichhandlertofree.
264
Registeringaninterrupthandler(2)
irq_flagsbitvalues(canbecombined,noneisfinetoo)
IRQF_DISABLED
"Quick"interrupthandler.Runwithallinterruptsdisabledonthecurrentcpu
(insteadofjustthecurrentline).Forlatencyreasons,shouldonlybeused
whenneeded!
IRQF_SHARED
Runwithinterruptsdisabledonlyonthecurrentirqlineandonthelocalcpu.
Theinterruptchannelcanbesharedbyseveraldevices.Requiresa
hardwarestatusregistertellingwhetheranIRQwasraisedornot.
IRQF_SAMPLE_RANDOM
Interruptscanbeusedtocontributetothesystementropypoolusedby
/dev/randomand/dev/urandom.Usefultogenerategoodrandom
numbers.Don'tusethisiftheinterruptbehaviorofyourdeviceis
predictable!
265
Whentoregisterthehandler
Eitheratdriverinitializationtime:
consumeslotsofIRQchannels!
Oratdeviceopentime(firstcalltotheopenfileoperation):
betterforsavingfreeIRQchannels.
Needtocountthenumberoftimesthedeviceisopened,to
beabletofreetheIRQchannelwhenthedeviceisno
longerinuse.
266
Informationoninstalledhandlers
/proc/interrupts
CPU0
0:5616905XTPICtimer#Registeredname
1:9828XTPICi8042
2:0XTPICcascade
3:1014243XTPICorinoco_cs
7:184XTPICIntel82801DBICH4
8:1XTPICrtc
9:2XTPICacpi
11:566583XTPICehci_hcd,uhci_hcd,
uhci_hcd,uhci_hcd,yenta,yenta,radeon@PCI:1:0:0
12:5466XTPICi8042
14:121043XTPICide0
15:200888XTPICide1
NMI:0
NonMaskableInterrupts
ERR:0
Spuriousinterruptcount
267
Totalnumberofinterrupts
cat/proc/stat|grepintr
intr819076760929671037701102775520196...
Totalnumber
ofinterrupts
IRQ1
total
IRQ2 IRQ3
total
...
268
Theinterrupthandler'sjob
Acknowledgetheinterrupttothedevice
(otherwisenomoreinterruptswillbegenerated)
Read/writedatafrom/tothedevice
Wakeupanywaitingprocesswaitingforthecompletion
ofthisread/writeoperation:
wake_up_interruptible(&module_queue);
269
Interrupthandlerprototype
irqreturn_t(*handler)(
int, //irqnumberofthecurrentinterrupt
void*dev_id, //Pointerusedtokeeptrack
//ofthecorrespondingdevice.
//Usefulwhenseveraldevices
//aremanagedbythesamemodule
);
Returnvalue:
IRQ_HANDLED:recognizedandhandledinterrupt
IRQ_NONE:notonadevicemanagedbythemodule.Usefulto
shareinterruptchannelsand/orreportspuriousinterruptsto
thekernel.
270
Tophalfandbottomhalfprocessing(1)
Splittingtheexecutionofinterrupthandlersin2parts
Tophalf:theinterrupthandlermustcompleteasquickly
aspossible.Onceitacknowledgedtheinterrupt,itjust
schedulesthelengthyrestofthejobtakingcareofthe
data,foralaterexecution.
Bottomhalf:completingtherestoftheinterrupthandler
job.Handlesdata,andthenwakesupanywaitinguser
process.
Bestimplementedbytasklets(alsocalledsoftirqs).
271
tophalfandbottomhalfprocessing(2)
Declarethetaskletinthemodulesourcefile:
DECLARE_TASKLET(module_tasklet,/*name*/
module_do_tasklet,/*function*/
data/*params*/
);
Schedulethetaskletinthetophalfpart(interrupthandler):
tasklet_schedule(&module_tasklet);
Notethatatasklet_hi_schedulefunctionisavailableto
definehighprioritytaskletstorunbeforeordinaryones.
Bydefault,taskletsareexecutedrightafteralltophalves(hard
irqs)
272
Disablinginterrupts
Maybeusefulinregulardrivercode...
Canbeusefultoensurethataninterrupthandlerwillnotpreemptyourcode
(includingkernelpreemption)
DisablinginterruptsonthelocalCPU:
unsignedlongflags;
local_irq_save(flags);
//Interruptsdisabled
...
local_irq_restore(flags);//Interruptsrestoredtotheirpreviousstate.
Note:mustberunfromwithinthesamefunction!
273
Maskingoutaninterruptline
Usefultodisableinterruptsonaparticularline
voiddisable_irq(unsignedintirq);
Disablestheirqlineforallprocessorsinthesystem.
Waitsforallcurrentlyexecutinghandlerstocomplete.
voiddisable_irq_nosync(unsignedintirq);
Same,exceptitdoesn'twaitforhandlerstocomplete.
voidenable_irq(unsignedintirq);
Restoresinterruptsontheirqline.
voidsynchronize_irq(unsignedintirq);
Waitsforirqhandlerstocomplete(ifany).
274
Checkinginterruptstatus
Canbeusefulforcodewhichcanberunfrombothprocessor
interruptcontext,toknowwhetheritisallowedornottocallcode
thatmaysleep.
irqs_disabled()
Testswhetherlocalinterruptdeliveryisdisabled.
in_interrupt()
Testswhethercodeisrunningininterruptcontext
in_irq()
Testswhethercodeisrunninginaninterrupthandler.
275
Interruptmanagementfun
Inatraininglab,somebodyforgottounregisterahandleron
asharedinterruptlineinthemoduleexitfunction.
Whydidhiskernelcrashwithasegmentationfault
atmoduleunload?
Answer...
Inatraininglab,somebodyfreedthetimerinterrupthandler
bymistake(usingthewrongirqnumber).Thesystemfroze.
Rememberthekernelisnotprotectedagainstitself!
276
Interruptmanagementsummary
Devicedriver
Whenthedevicefileisfirst
open,registeraninterrupt
handlerforthedevice's
interruptchannel.
Interrupthandler
Calledwhenaninterruptis
raised.
Acknowledgetheinterrupt
Tasklet
Processthedata
Wakeupprocesseswaiting
forthedata
Devicedriver
Whenthedeviceisnolonger
openedbyanyprocess,
unregistertheinterrupt
handler.
Ifneeded,scheduleatasklet
takingcareofhandlingdata.
Otherwise,wakeupprocesses
waitingforthedata.
277
PracticallabInterrupts
TimetostartLab7!
Implementasimpleinterrupthandler
Registerthishandleronashared
interruptlineonyourGNU/Linuxhost.
SeehowLinuxhandles
sharedinterruptlines.
278
Driverdevelopment
Concurrentaccesstoresources
279
Sourcesofconcurrencyissues
Thesameresourcescanbeaccessedbyseveralkernel
processesinparallel,causingpotentialconcurrencyissues
Severaluserspaceprogramsaccessingthesamedevicedata
orhardware.Severalkernelprocessescouldexecutethesame
codeonbehalfofuserprocessesrunninginparallel.
Multiprocessing:thesamedrivercodecanberunningon
anotherprocessor.ThiscanalsohappenwithsingleCPUswith
hyperthreading.
Kernelpreemption,interrupts:kernelcodecanbeinterruptedat
anytime(justafewexceptions),andthesamedatamaybe
accessbyanotherprocessbeforetheexecutioncontinues.
280
Avoidingconcurrencyissues
Avoidusingglobalvariablesandshareddatawhenever
possible
(cannotbedonewithhardwareresources).
Usetechniquestomanageconcurrentaccessto
resources.
SeeRustyRussell'sUnreliableGuideToLocking
Documentation/DocBook/kernellocking/
inthekernelsources.
281
Concurrencyprotectionwithlocks
Process1
Process2
Failed
Acquirelock
Success
Criticalcodesection
Tryagain
Waitlockrelease
Success
Sharedresource
Releaselock
282
Linuxmutexes
ThemainlockingprimitivesinceLinux2.6.16.
Betterthancountingsemaphoreswhenbinaryonesare
enough.
Mutexdefinition:
#include<linux/mutex.h>
Initializingamutexstatically:
DEFINE_MUTEX(name);
Orinitializingamutexdynamically:
voidmutex_init(structmutex*lock);
283
lockingandunlockingmutexes
voidmutex_lock(structmutex*lock);
Triestolockthemutex,sleepsotherwise.
Caution:can'tbeinterrupted,resultinginprocessesyoucannotkill!
intmutex_lock_killable(structmutex*lock);
Same,butcanbeinterruptedbyafatal(SIGKILL)signal.Ifinterrupted,returns
anonzerovalueanddoesn'tholdthelock.Testthereturnvalue!!!
intmutex_lock_interruptible(structmutex*lock);
Same,butcanbeinterruptedbyanysignal.
intmutex_trylock(structmutex*lock);
Neverwaits.Returnsanonzerovalueifthemutexisnotavailable.
intmutex_is_locked(structmutex*lock);
Justtellswhetherthemutexislockedornot.
voidmutex_unlock(structmutex*lock);
Releasesthelock.Doitassoonasyouleavethecriticalsection.
284
Reader/writersemaphores
Allowsharedaccessbyunlimitedreaders,orbyonly1writer.Writersget
priority.
voidinit_rwsem(structrw_semaphore*sem);
voiddown_read(structrw_semaphore*sem);
intdown_read_trylock(structrw_semaphore*sem);
intup_read(structrw_semaphore*sem);
voiddown_write(structrw_semaphore*sem);
intdown_write_trylock(structrw_semaphore*sem);
intup_write(structrw_semaphore*sem);
Wellsuitedforrarewrites,holdingthesemaphorebriefly.Otherwise,
readersgetstarved,waitingtoolongforthesemaphoretobereleased.
285
Spinlocks
Lockstobeusedforcodethatisnotallowedtosleep
(interrupthandlers),orthatdoesn'twanttosleep(critical
sections).Beverycarefulnottocallfunctionswhichcan
sleep!
Originallyintendedformultiprocessorsystems
Spinlocksneversleepandkeepspinning
inaloopuntilthelockisavailable.
Stilllocked?
Spinlock
Spinlockscausekernelpreemptiontobedisabled
ontheCPUexecutingthem.
286
Initializingspinlocks
Static
spinlock_tmy_lock=SPIN_LOCK_UNLOCKED;
Dynamic
voidspin_lock_init(spinlock_t*lock);
287
Usingspinlocks(1)
Severalvariants,dependingonwherethespinlockiscalled:
voidspin_[un]lock(spinlock_t*lock);
Doesn'tdisableinterrupts.Usedforlockinginprocesscontext
(criticalsectionsinwhichyoudonotwanttosleep).
voidspin_lock_irqsave/spin_unlock_irqrestore
(spinlock_t*lock,unsignedlongflags);
Disables/restoresIRQsonthelocalCPU.
Typicallyusedwhenthelockcanbeaccessedinbothprocess
andinterruptcontext,topreventpreemptionbyinterrupts.
288
Usingspinlocks(2)
voidspin_[un]lock_bh(spinlock_t*lock);
Disablessoftwareinterrupts,butnothardwareones.
Usefultoprotectshareddataaccessedinprocesscontext
andinasoftinterrupt(bottomhalf).Noneedtodisable
hardwareinterruptsinthiscase.
Notethatreader/writerspinlocksalsoexist.
289
Deadlocksituations
Theycanlockupyoursystem.Makesuretheyneverhappen!
Don'tcallafunctionthatcan
trytogetaccesstothesame
lock
Holdingmultiplelocksisrisky!
Getlock1
Getlock1
Getlock2
call
Getlock2
Waitforlock1
Dead
Lock!
Getlock1
Dead
Lock!
290
Kernellockvalidator
FromIngoMolnarandArjanvandeVen
Addsinstrumentationtokernellockingcode
Detectviolationsoflockingrulesduringsystemlife,suchas:
Locksacquiredindifferentorder
(keepstrackoflockingsequencesandcomparesthem).
Spinlocksacquiredininterrupthandlersandalsoinprocess
contextwheninterruptsareenabled.
Notsuitableforproductionsystemsbutacceptableoverheadin
development.
SeeDocumentation/lockdepdesign.txtfordetails
291
Alternativestolocking
Aswehavejustseen,lockingcanhaveastrongnegative
impactonsystemperformance.Insomesituations,youcould
dowithoutit.
ByusinglockfreealgorithmslikeReadCopyUpdate(RCU).
RCUAPIavailableinthekernel
(Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCU).
Whenavailable,useatomicoperations.
292
Atomicvariables
Usefulwhenthesharedresourceisan
integervalue
Evenaninstructionliken++isnot
guaranteedtobeatomiconall
processors!
Header
#include<asm/atomic.h>
Type
atomic_t
containsasignedinteger(atleast24
bits)
Operationswithoutreturnvalue:
voidatomic_inc(atomic_t*v);
voidatomic_dec(atomic_t*v);
voidatomic_add(inti,atomic_t*v);
voidatomic_sub(inti,atomic_t*v);
Simularfunctionstestingtheresult:
intatomic_inc_and_test(...);
intatomic_dec_and_test(...);
intatomic_sub_and_test(...);
Functionsreturningthenewvalue:
intatomic_inc_and_return(...);
intatomic_dec_and_return(...);
intatomic_add_and_return(...);
intatomic_sub_and_return(...);
Atomicoperations(mainones)
Setorreadthecounter:
atomic_set(atomic_t*v,inti);
intatomic_read(atomic_t*v);
293
Atomicbitoperations
Supplyveryfast,atomicoperations
Onmostplatforms,applytoanunsignedlongtype.
Applytoavoidtypeonafewothers.
Set,clear,toggleagivenbit:
voidset_bit(intnr,unsignedlong*addr);
voidclear_bit(intnr,unsignedlong*addr);
voidchange_bit(intnr,unsignedlong*addr);
Testbitvalue:
inttest_bit(intnr,unsignedlong*addr);
Testandmodify(returnthepreviousvalue):
inttest_and_set_bit(...);
inttest_and_clear_bit(...);
inttest_and_change_bit(...);
294
Driverdevelopment
mmap
295
mmap(1)
Possibilitytohavepartsofthevirtualaddressspaceofaprogram
mappedtothecontentsofafile!
>cat/proc/1/maps(initprocess)
startend
permoffsetmajor:minorinodemappedfilename
007710000077f000rxp0000000003:051165839/lib/libselinux.so.1
0077f00000781000rwp0000d00003:051165839/lib/libselinux.so.1
0097d00000992000rxp0000000003:051158767/lib/ld2.3.3.so
0099200000993000rp0001400003:051158767/lib/ld2.3.3.so
0099300000994000rwp0001500003:051158767/lib/ld2.3.3.so
0099600000aac000rxp0000000003:051158770/lib/tls/libc2.3.3.so
00aac00000aad000rp0011600003:051158770/lib/tls/libc2.3.3.so
00aad00000ab0000rwp0011700003:051158770/lib/tls/libc2.3.3.so
00ab000000ab2000rwp00ab000000:000
0804800008050000rxp0000000003:05571452/sbin/init(text)
0805000008051000rwp0000800003:05571452/sbin/init(data,stack)
08b4300008b64000rwp08b4300000:000
f6fdf000f6fe0000rwpf6fdf00000:000
fefd4000ff000000rwpfefd400000:000
ffffe000fffff000p0000000000:000
296
mmap(2)
Particularlyusefulwhenthefileisadevicefile!
AllowstoaccessdeviceI/Omemoryandportswithouthavingto
gothrough(expensive)read,writeorioctlcalls!
Xserverexample(mapsexcerpt)
startend
permoffsetmajor:minorinodemappedfilename
08047000081be000rxp0000000003:05310295/usr/X11R6/bin/Xorg
081be000081f0000rwp0017600003:05310295/usr/X11R6/bin/Xorg
...
f4e08000f4f09000rwse000000003:05655295/dev/dri/card0
f4f09000f4f0b000rws4281a00003:05655295/dev/dri/card0
f4f0b000f6f0b000rwse800000003:05652822/dev/mem
f6f0b000f6f8b000rwsfcff000003:05652822/dev/mem
Amoreuserfriendlywaytogetsuchinformation:pmap<pid>
297
mmapoverview
Process
mmap
system
call(once)
access
virtual
address
Processvirtualaddressspace
MMU
Devicedriver
mmapfopcalled
initializesthemapping
access
physical
address
Physicaladdressspace
298
HowtoimplementmmapUserspace
Openthedevicefile
Callthemmapsystemcall(seemanmmapfordetails):
void*mmap(
void*start,
/*Often0,preferredstartingaddress*/
size_tlength, /*Lengthofthemappedarea*/
intprot,
/*Permissions:read,write,execute*/
intflags,
/*Options:sharedmapping,privatecopy...
*/
intfd,
off_toffset
/*Offsetinthefile*/
);
Yougetavirtualaddressyoucanwritetoorreadfrom.
299
HowtoimplementmmapKernelspace
Characterdriver:implementammapfileoperation
andaddittothedriverfileoperations:
int(*mmap)(
structfile*,
/*Openfilestructure*/
structvm_area_struct* /*KernelVMAstructure*/
);
Initializethemapping.
Canbedoneinmostcaseswiththeremap_pfn_range()
function,whichtakescareofmostofthejob.
300
remap_pfn_range()
pfn:pageframenumber
Themostsignificantbitsofthepageaddress
(withoutthebitscorrespondingtothepagesize).
#include<linux/mm.h>
intremap_pfn_range(
structvm_area_struct*,
/*VMAstruct*/
unsignedlongvirt_addr, /*Startinguservirtualaddress*/
unsignedlongpfn, /*pfnofthestartingphysicaladdress*/
unsignedlongsize,
/*Mappingsize*/
pgprot_t
/*Pagepermissions*/
);
301
Simplemmapimplementation
staticintacme_mmap(
structfile*file,structvm_area_struct*vma)
{
size=vma>vm_startvma>vm_end;
if(size>ACME_SIZE)
returnEINVAL;
if(remap_pfn_range(vma,
vma>vm_start,
ACME_PHYS>>PAGE_SHIFT,
size,
vma>vm_page_prot))
returnEAGAIN;
return0;
}
302
devmem2
http://freeelectrons.com/pub/mirror/devmem2.c,byJanDerkBakker
Veryusefultooltodirectlypeek(read)orpoke(write)I/Oaddresses
mappedinphysicaladdressspacefromashellcommandline!
Veryusefulforearlyinteractionexperimentswithadevice,without
havingtocodeandcompileadriver.
Usesmmapto/dev/mem.
Examples(b:byte,h:half,w:word)
devmem20x000c0004h(reading)
devmem20x000c0008w0xffffffff(writing)
303
mmapsummary
Thedevicedriverisloaded.
Itdefinesanmmapfileoperation.
Auserspaceprocesscallsthemmapsystemcall.
Themmapfileoperationiscalled.
Itinitializesthemappingusingthedevicephysicaladdress.
Theprocessgetsastartingaddresstoreadfromandwriteto
(dependingonpermissions).
TheMMUautomaticallytakescareofconvertingtheprocess
virtualaddressesintophysicalones.
Directaccesstothehardware!
Noexpensivereadorwritesystemcalls!
304
Driverdevelopment
DeviceModel
305
Unifieddevicemodel
The2.6kernelincludedasignificantnewfeature:
aunifieddevicemodel
Insteadofhavingdifferentadhocmechanismsinthe
varioussubsystems,thedevicemodelunifiesthe
descriptionofthedevicesandtheirtopology
Minimizationofcodeduplication
Commonfacilities(referencecounting,eventnotification,
powermanagement,etc.)
Enumeratethedevices,viewtheirinterconnections,linkthe
devicestotheirbusesanddrivers,categorizethembyclasses
306
Busdrivers
Thefirstcomponentofthedevicemodelisthebusdriver
Onebusdriverforeachtypeofbus:USB,PCI,SPI,MMC,
ISA,etc.
Itisresponsiblefor
Registeringthebustype
Allowingregistrationofadapterdrivers(USBcontrollers,I2C
adapters,etc.),ableofdetectingtheconnecteddevices
Allowingregistrationofdevicedrivers(USBdevices,I2C
devices,PCIdevices,etc.),managingthedevices
Matchingthedevicedriversagainstthedevicesdetectedby
theadapterdrivers
307
Listofdeviceidentifiers
Dependingonthebustype,themethodforbindingadevice
toadriverisdifferent.Formanybuses,itisbasedonunique
identifiers
Thedevicedriverdefinesatablewiththelistofdevice
identifiersitisabletomanage:
staticconststructpci_device_idrhine_pci_tbl[]={
{0x1106,0x3043,PCI_ANY_ID,PCI_ANY_ID,},/*VT86C100A*/
{0x1106,0x3053,PCI_ANY_ID,PCI_ANY_ID,},/*VT6105M*/
{}/*terminatelist*/
};
MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE(pci,rhine_pci_tbl);
Codeonthisslideandthenextslidesaretaken
fromtheviarhinedriverindrivers/net/viarhine.c
308
Definingthedriver
Thedevicedriverdefinesadriverstructure,usually
specializedbythebusinfrastructure(pci_driver,
usb_driver,etc.)
Thestructurepointsto:thedevicetable,aprobefunction,
calledwhenadeviceisdetectedandvariousothercallbacks
staticstructpci_driverrhine_driver={
.name=DRV_NAME,
.id_table=rhine_pci_tbl,
.probe=rhine_init_one,
.remove=__devexit_p(rhine_remove_one),
#ifdefCONFIG_PM
.suspend=rhine_suspend,
.resume=rhine_resume,
#endif/*CONFIG_PM*/
.shutdown=rhine_shutdown,
};
309
Registeringthedriver
Inthemoduleinitializationfunction,thedriverisregistered
tothebusinfrastructure,inordertoletthebusknowthatthe
driverisavailabletohandledevices.
staticint__initrhine_init(void)
{
[...]
returnpci_register_driver(&rhine_driver);
}
staticvoid__exitrhine_cleanup(void)
{
pci_unregister_driver(&rhine_driver);
}
IfanewPCIdevicematchesoneoftheidentifiersofthe
table,theprobe()methodofthePCIdriverwillgetcalled.
310
Probemethod
Theprobe()methodreceivesasargumentastructure
describingthedevice,usuallyspecializedbythebus
infrastructure(pci_dev,usb_device,etc.)
Thisfunctionisresponsiblefor
Initializingthedevice,mappingtheI/Omemory,registeringthe
interrupthandlers.Thebusinfrastructureprovidesmethodsto
gettheaddresses,interruptsnumbersandotherdevice
specificinformation.
Registeringthedevicetotheproperkernelframework,for
examplethenetworkinfrastructure.
311
Devicedriver(5)
staticint__devinitrhine_init_one(structpci_dev*pdev,
conststructpci_device_id*ent)
{
structnet_device*dev;
[...]
rc=pci_enable_device(pdev);
[...]
pioaddr=pci_resource_start(pdev,0);
memaddr=pci_resource_start(pdev,1);
[...]
dev=alloc_etherdev(sizeof(structrhine_private));
[...]
SET_NETDEV_DEV(dev,&pdev>dev);
[...]
rc=pci_request_regions(pdev,DRV_NAME);
[...]
ioaddr=pci_iomap(pdev,bar,io_size);
[...]
rc=register_netdev(dev);
[...]
}
312
Globalarchitecture
PCIbusdriver
Thedevice
driver
registers
itselfandthe
device
identifiersto
thebus
driver
Thebusdriver
detectsa
matchingdevice,
andcallsthe
probe()method
ofthedevice
driver.
viarhine
devicedriver
Network
device
framework
3
Theprobe()
methodofthe
devicedriver
initializesthe
deviceand
registersanew
networkinterface
313
sysfs
Thebus,device,drivers,etc.structuresareinternaltothe
kernel
Thesysfsvirtualfilesystemprovidesamechanismtoexport
suchinformationtouserspace
Usedforexamplebyudevtoprovideautomaticmodule
loading,firmwareloading,devicefilecreation,etc.
sysfsisusuallymountedin/sys
/sys/bus/containsthelistofbuses
/sys/devices/containsthelistofdevices
/sys/classenumeratesdevicesbyclass(net,input,
block...),whateverthebustheyareconnectedto.Veryuseful!
Takeyourtimetoexplore/sysonyourworkstation.
314
Platformdevices
Onembeddedsystems,devicesareoftennotconnected
throughabusallowingenumeration,hotplugging,and
providinguniqueidentifiersfordevices
However,westillwantthedevicestobepartofthedevice
model
Thesolutiontothisistheplatformdriver/platformdevice
infrastructure
Theplatformdevicesarethedevicesthataredirectly
connectedtotheCPU,withoutanykindofbus
315
Implementationoftheplatformdriver
Thedriverimplementsaplatform_driverstructure
(exampletakenfromdrivers/serial/imx.c)
staticstructplatform_driverserial_imx_driver={
.probe=serial_imx_probe,
.remove=serial_imx_remove,
.driver={
.name="imxuart",
.owner=THIS_MODULE,
},
};
Andregistersitsdrivertotheplatformdriverinfrastructure
staticint__initimx_serial_init(void)
{
[...]
ret=platform_driver_register(&serial_imx_driver);
[...]
}
316
Instantiationoftheplatformdevice
Intheboardspecificcode,theplatformdevicesare
instantiated(arch/arm/machimx/mx1ads.c):
staticstructplatform_deviceimx_uart1_device={
.name="imxuart",
.id=0,
.num_resources=ARRAY_SIZE(imx_uart1_resources),
.resource=imx_uart1_resources,
.dev={
.platform_data=&uart_pdata,
}
};
Thematchbetweenthedeviceandthedriverismadeusing
thename.Itmustbeuniqueamongstdrivers!
317
Instantiationoftheplatformdevice(2)
Thedeviceispartofalist
staticstructplatform_device*devices[]__initdata={
&cs89x0_device,
&imx_uart1_device,
&imx_uart2_device,
};
Andthelistofdevicesisaddedtothesystem
duringboardinitialization
staticvoid__initmx1ads_init(void)
{
[...]
platform_add_devices(devices,ARRAY_SIZE(devices));
}
318
I/Oresources
EachplatformdeviceisassociatedwithasetofI/Oresources,
referencedintheplatform_devicestructure
staticstructresourceimx_uart1_resources[]={
[0]={
.start=0x00206000,
.end=0x002060FF,
.flags=IORESOURCE_MEM,
},
[1]={
.start=(UART1_MINT_RX),
.end=(UART1_MINT_RX),
.flags=IORESOURCE_IRQ,
},
};
ItallowsthedrivertobeindependentfortheI/Oaddresses,IRQ
numbers!Seeimx_uart2_deviceforanotherdeviceusingthe
sameplatformdriver.
319
Insidetheplatformdriver
Whenaplatform_deviceisaddedtothesystemusing
platform_add_device(),theprobe()methodofthe
platformdrivergetscalled
Thismethodisresponsibleforinitializingthehardware,
registeringthedevicetotheproperframework(inourcase,
theserialdriverframework)
TheplatformdriverhasaccesstotheI/Oresources:
res=platform_get_resource(pdev,IORESOURCE_MEM,0);
base=ioremap(res>start,PAGE_SIZE);
sport>rxirq=platform_get_irq(pdev,0);
320
sysfstools
http://linuxdiag.sourceforge.net/Sysfsutils.html
libsysfsThelibrary'spurposeistoprovideaconsistent
andstableinterfaceforqueryingsystemdeviceinformation
exposedthroughsysfs.
systoolAutilitybuiltuponlibsysfsthatlistsdevices
bybus,class,andtopology.
321
References
Kerneldocumentation
Documentation/drivermodel/
Documentation/filesystems/sysfs.txt
Linux2.6DeviceModel
http://www.bravegnu.org/devicemodel/devicemodel.html
LinuxDeviceDrivers,chapter14TheLinuxDeviceModel
http://lwn.net/images/pdf/LDD3/ch14.pdf
Thekernelsourcecode
Fullofexamplesofotherdrivers!
322
Adviceandresources
Gettinghelpandcontributions
323
Solvingissues
Ifyoufaceanissue,anditdoesn'tlookspecifictoyourwork
butrathertothetoolsyouareusing,itisverylikelythat
someoneelsealreadyfacedit.
SearchtheInternetforsimilarerrorreports.
Youhavegreatchancesoffindingasolutionorworkaround,
oratleastanexplanationforyourissue.
Otherwise,reportingtheissueisuptoyou!
324
Gettinghelp
Ifyouhaveasupportcontract,askyourvendor.
Otherwise,don'thesitatetoshareyourquestionsandissues
EithercontacttheLinuxmailinglistforyourarchitecture(likelinux
armkernelorlinuxshdev...).
Orcontactthemailinglistforthesubsystemyou'redealingwith
(linuxusbdevel,linuxmtd...).Don'taskthemaintainerdirectly!
MostmailinglistscomewithaFAQpage.Makesureyoureadit
beforecontactingthemailinglist.
UsefulIRCresourcesareavailabletoo
(forexampleonhttp://kernelnewbies.org).
RefrainfromcontactingtheLinuxKernelmailinglist,unlessyou're
anexperienceddeveloperandneedadvice.
325
Gettingcontributions
Appliesifyourprojectcaninterestotherpeople:
developingadriverorfilesystem,portingLinuxonanew
processor,boardordeviceavailableonthemarket...
Externalcontributorscanhelpyoualotby
Testing
Writingdocumentation
Makingsuggestions
Evenwritingcode
326
Encouragingcontributions
Openyourdevelopmentprocess:mailinglist,Wiki,public
CVSreadaccess
Leteveryonecontributeaccordingtotheirskillsand
interests.
Releaseearly,releaseoften
Takefeedbackandsuggestionsintoaccount
Recognizecontributions
Makesurestatusanddocumentationareuptodate
Publicizeyourworkandprogresstobroaderaudiences
327
Adviceandresources
Bugreportandpatchsubmission
328
ReportingLinuxbugs
Firstmakesureyou'reusingthelatestversion
Makesureyouinvestigatetheissueasmuchasyoucan:
seeDocumentation/BUGHUNTING
Makesurethebughasnotbeenreportedyet.Abugtracking
system
(http://bugzilla.kernel.org/)existsbutveryfewkerneldevelopers
useit.Besttousewebsearchengines(accessingpublicmailing
listarchives)
Ifthesubsystemyoureportabugonhasamailinglist,useit.
Otherwise,contacttheofficialmaintainer(seetheMAINTAINERS
file).Alwaysgiveasmanyusefuldetailsaspossible.
329
Howtosubmitpatchesordrivers
Don'tmergepatchesaddressingdifferentissues
Youshouldidentifyandcontacttheofficialmaintainer
forthefilestopatch.
SeeDocumentation/SubmittingPatchesfordetails.Fortrivial
patches,youcancopytheTrivialPatchMonkey.
Seealsohttp://kernelnewbies.org/UpstreamMergeforveryhelpful
advicetohaveyourcodemergedupstream(byRikvanRiel).
Patchesrelatedtoembeddedsystemscanbesubmittedonthelinux
embeddedmailinglist:
http://vger.kernel.org/vgerlists.html#linuxembedded
ARMplatform:it'sbesttosubmityourARMpatchestoRussellKing's
patchsystem:http://www.arm.linux.org.uk/developer/patches/
330
Howtobecomeakerneldeveloper?
GregKroahHartmanwroteusefulguidelinesinthekernel
documentation:
Documentation/HOWTO
HowtoParticipateintheLinuxCommunity(byJonathanCorbet)
AGuideToTheKernelDevelopmentProcess
http://ldn.linuxfoundation.org/documentation/howparticipatelinuxcommunity
Readthislastdocumentfirst.
Itisprobablysufficient!
331
Adviceandresources
References
332
Specifictrainingmaterials
Moretrainingmaterialsavailableonhttp://freeelectrons.com/docs:
Newfeaturesin2.6
Kernelinitialization
PortingLinuxtonewhardware
Powermanagement
USBdevicedrivers
Blockdrivers
Morewillbeavailableinthenextmonths.
Don'thesitatetoaskustocreatetheonesyouneedforatraining
session!
333
Informationsites(1)
LinuxWeeklyNews
http://lwn.net/
TheweeklydigestoffallLinuxandfreesoftwareinformation
sources
Indepthtechnicaldiscussionsaboutthekernel
Subscribetofinancetheeditors($5/month)
Articlesavailablefornonsubscribers
after1week.
334
Informationsites(2)
KernelTrap
http://kerneltrap.org/
Forumwebsiteforkerneldevelopers
News,articles,whitepapers,discussions,polls,interviews
Perfectifadigestisnotenough!
335
Usefulreading(1)
LinuxDeviceDrivers,3rdedition,Feb2005
ByJonathanCorbet,AlessandroRubini,
GregKroahHartman,O'Reilly
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxdrive3/
Freelyavailableonline!
Greatcompaniontotheprintedbook
foreasyelectronicsearches!
http://lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3/(1PDFfileperchapter)
http://freeelectrons.com/community/kernel/ldd3/(singlePDFfile)
AmusthavebookforLinuxdevicedriverwriters!
336
Usefulreading(2)
EssentialLinuxDeviceDrivers,April2008
http://freeelectrons.com/redirect/elddbook.html
BySreekrishnanVenkateswaran,anembeddedIBM
engineerwithmorethan10yearsofexperience
CoversawiderangeoftopicsnotcoveredbyLDD:
serialdrivers,inputdrivers,I2C,PCMCIAand
CompactFlash,PCI,USB,videodrivers,audio
drivers,blockdrivers,networkdrivers,Bluetooth,
IrDA,MTD,driversinuserspace,kerneldebugging,
etc.
Probablythemostwiderangingandcomplete
LinuxdevicedriverbookI'vereadAlanCox
337
Usefulreading(3)
LinuxKernelinaNutshell,Dec2006
ByGregKroahHartman,O'Reilly
http://www.kroah.com/lkn/
Agoodreferencebookandguideonconfiguring,
compilingandmanagingtheLinuxkernelsources.
Freelyavailableonline!
Greatcompaniontotheprintedbook
foreasyelectronicsearches!
AvailableassinglePDFfileon
http://freeelectrons.com/community/kernel/lkn/
338
Usefulreading(4)
LinuxKernelDevelopment,2ndEdition,Jan2005
RobertLove,NovellPress
http://freeelectrons.com/redirect/lkd2book.html
Averysyntheticandpleasantwaytolearnaboutkernel
subsystems(beyondtheneedsofdevicedriverwriters)
UnderstandingtheLinuxKernel,3rdedition,Nov2005
DanielP.Bovet,MarcoCesati,O'Reilly
http://oreilly.com/catalog/understandlk/
AnextensivereviewofLinuxkernelinternals,
coveringLinux2.6atlast.
Unfortunately,onlycoversthePCarchitecture.
339
Usefulonlineresources
LinuxkernelmailinglistFAQ
http://www.tux.org/lkml/
CompleteLinuxkernelFAQ
Readthisbeforeaskingaquestiontothemailinglist
KernelNewbies
http://kernelnewbies.org/
Glossary,articles,presentations,HOWTOs,
recommendedreading,usefultoolsforpeople
gettingfamiliarwithLinuxkernelordriverdevelopment.
Kernelglossary:
http://kernelnewbies.org/KernelGlossary
340
EmbeddedLinuxWiki
TheembeddedLinuxWikicontainsloadsofusefulresources
forembeddedsystemsdevelopers:
ManyHOWTOdocumentsofallkinds,coveringtopicslike
systemsize,boottime,multimedia,powermanagement,
toolchains...
Kernelpatchesnotavailableinmainstreamyet(e.g.LinuxTiny)
Communityresource:hackerinterviews,bookreviews,
eventcoverage...
Isopentoeveryone.Contributionsarewelcome!
http://elinux.org
341
ARMresources
ARMLinuxproject:http://www.arm.linux.org.uk/
Developerdocumentation:
http://www.arm.linux.org.uk/developer/
armlinuxkernelmailinglist:
http://lists.arm.linux.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/linuxarmkernel
FAQ:http://www.arm.linux.org.uk/armlinux/mlfaq.php
Howtopostkernelfixes:
http://www.arm.uk.linux.org/developer/patches/
ARMLinux@Simtec:http://armlinux.simtec.co.uk/
Afewusefulresources:FAQ,documentationandWho'swho!
ARMLimited:http://www.linuxarm.com/
Wikiwithlinkstousefuldeveloperresources
342
Internationalconferences(1)
UsefulconferencesfeaturingLinuxkernelpresentations
OttawaLinuxSymposium(July):http://linuxsymposium.org/
Lotsofkerneltopicsbymajorkernelhackers.
Freelyavailableproceedings.
Fosdem:http://fosdem.org(Brussels,February)
Fordevelopers.Kernelpresentationsfromwellknownkernel
hackers.
EmbeddedLinuxConference:
http://embeddedlinuxconference.com/
OrganizedbytheCELinuxForum:California
(SanJose,April),inEurope(November).Frequenttechnical
sessionsinJapan.Veryinterestingkerneltopicsforembedded
systemsdevelopers.Presentationslidesfreelyavailable.
343
Internationalconferences(2)
linux.conf.au:http://linux.org.au/conf/(Australia/NewZealand)
Featuresafewpresentationsbykeykernelhackers.
Don'tmissourfreeconferencevideoson
http://freeelectrons.com/community/videos/conferences/!
344
Adviceandresources
Lastadvice
345
UsetheSource,Luke!
ManyresourcesandtricksontheInternetfindyouwill,butsolutions
toalltechnicalissuesonlyintheSourcelie.
ThankstoLucasArts
346
Annexes
Quizanswers
347
Quizanswers
Interrupthandling
Q:Whydidthekernelsegfaultatmoduleunload(forgettingto
unregisterahandlerinasharedinterruptline)?
A:Kernelmemoryisallocatedatmoduleloadtime,tohostmodule
code.Thismemoryisfreedatmoduleunloadtime.Ifyouforgetto
unregisterahandlerandaninterruptcomes,thecpuwilltrytojump
totheaddressofthehandler,whichisinafreedmemoryarea.
Crash!
348
Annexes
Kernelsources
349
Checkingtheintegrityofsources
KernelsourceintegritycanbecheckedthroughOpenPGPdigitalsignatures.
Fulldetailsonhttp://www.kernel.org/signature.html
DetailsaboutGnuPG:http://www.gnupg.org/gph/en/manual.html
ImportthepublicGnuPGkeyofkerneldevelopers:
gpgkeyserverpgp.mit.edurecvkeys0x517D0F0E
Ifblockedbyyourfirewall,lookfor0x517D0F0Eonhttp://pgp.mit.edu/,
copyandpastethekeytoalinuxkey.txtfile:
gpgimportlinuxkey.txt
Downloadthesignaturefilecorrespondingtoyourkernelversion
(atthesamelocation),andrunthesignaturecheck:
gpgverifylinux2.6.11.12.tar.bz2.sign
350
Annexes
351
Slabcaches
Alsocalledlookasidecaches
Slabcaches:Objectsthatcanholdanynumber
ofmemoryareasofthesamesize.
OptimumuseofavailableRAM
andreducedfragmentation.
MainlyusedinLinuxcoresubsystems:filesystems(openfiles,
inodeandfilecaches...),networking...Livestatson
/proc/slabinfo.
Maybeusefulindevicedriverstoo,thoughnotusedsooften.
Linux2.6:usedbyUSBandSCSIdrivers.
352
SlabcacheAPI(1)
#include<linux/slab.h>
Creatingacache:
cache=kmem_cache_create(
name,
/*Namefor/proc/slabinfo*/
size,
/*Cacheobjectsize*/
align,
/*Cachealignment*/
flags,
/*Options:DMA,debugging,tracing...*/
constructor); /*Optional,calledaftereachallocation*/
Example:drivers/usb/host/uhcihcd.c
uhci_up_cachep=kmem_cache_create(
"uhci_urb_priv",sizeof(structurb_priv),
0,0,NULL);
353
SlabcacheAPI(2)
SinceLinux2.6.22,amacrocansimplifycachecreationinmostcases:
#defineKMEM_CACHE(__struct,__flags)\
kmem_cache_create(#__struct,\
sizeof(struct__struct),\
__alignof__(struct__struct),\
(__flags),NULL)
Example:kernel/pid.c
pid_cachep=KMEM_CACHE(pid,SLAB_PANIC);
354
SlabcacheAPI(3)
Allocatingfromthecache:
object=kmem_cache_alloc(cache,flags);
orobject=kmem_cache_zalloc(cache,flags);
Freeinganobject:
kmem_cache_free(cache,object);
Destroyingthewholecache:
kmem_cache_destroy(cache);
MoredetailsandanexampleintheLinuxDeviceDriversbook:
http://lwn.net/images/pdf/LDD3/ch08.pdf
355
Memorypools
Usefulformemoryallocationsthatcannotfail
Kindoflookasidecachetryingtokeepaminimumnumberofpre
allocatedobjectsaheadoftime.
Usewithcare:otherwisecanresultinalotofunusedmemory
thatcannotbereclaimed!Useothersolutionswheneverpossible.
356
MemorypoolAPI(1)
#include<linux/mempool.h>
Mempoolcreation:
mempool=mempool_create(
min_nr,
alloc_function,
free_function,
pool_data);
357
MemorypoolAPI(2)
Allocatingobjects:
object=mempool_alloc(pool,flags);
Freeingobjects:
mempool_free(object,pool);
Resizingthepool:
status=mempool_resize(
pool,new_min_nr,flags);
Destroyingthepool(caution:freeallobjectsfirst!):
mempool_destroy(pool);
358
Memorypoolimplementation
mempool_create
Callalloc
functionmin_nr
times
Callalloc
function
mempool_alloc
No
Success?
Takean
objectfrom
thepool
Yes
mempool_free
poolcount
<min_nr?
Yes
Addfreed
objecttopool
Newobject
No
Callfree
function
onobject
359
Memorypoolsusingslabcaches
Idea:useslabcachefunctionstoallocateandfreeobjects.
Themempool_alloc_slabandmempool_free_slabfunctions
supplyalinkwithslabcacheroutines.
So,youwillfindmanycodeexampleslookinglike:
cache=kmem_cache_create(...);
pool=mempool_create(
min_nr,
mempool_alloc_slab,
mempool_free_slab,
cache);
There'sashorthandpoolcreationfunctionforthiscase:
pool=mempool_create_slab_pool(min_nr,cache);
360
Annexes
Initrunlevels
361
SystemVinitrunlevels(1)
IntroducedbySystemVUnix
Muchmoreflexiblethanin
BSD
Makeitpossibletostartor
stopdifferentservicesforeach
runlevel
Correspondtotheargument
givento/sbin/init.
Runlevelsdefinedin
/etc/inittab.
/etc/initabexcerpt:
id:5:initdefault:
#Systeminitialization.
si::sysinit:/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit
l0:0:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc0
362
SystemVinitrunlevels(2)
Standardlevels
init0
Haltthesystem
init1
Singleusermodeformaintenance
init6
Rebootthesystem
Customizablelevels:2,3,4,5
init3
Oftenmultiusermode,with
onlycommandlinelogin
init5
Oftenmultiusermode,with
graphicallogin
initS
Singleusermodefor
maintenance.
Mountingonly/.
Oftenidenticalto1
363
initscripts
Accordingto/etc/inittabsettings,init<n>runs:
First/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinitforallrunlevels
Thenscriptsin/etc/rc<n>.d/
Startingservices(1,3,5,S):
runsS*scriptswiththestartoption
Killingservices(0,6):
runsK*scriptswiththestopoption
Scriptsareruninfilenamelexicalorder
Justuselsltofindouttheorder!
364
/etc/init.d
Repositoryforallavailableinitscripts
/etc/rc<n>.d/onlycontainslinkstothe/etc/init.d/
scriptsneededforrunleveln
/etc/rc1.d/example(fromFedoraCore3)
K01yum>../init.d/yum
K02cupsconfigdaemon>../init.d/cups
configdaemon
K02haldaemon>../init.d/haldaemon
K02NetworkManager>
../init.d/NetworkManager
K03messagebus>../init.d/messagebus
K03rhnsd>../init.d/rhnsd
K05anacron>../init.d/anacron
K05atd>../init.d/atd
S00single>../init.d/single
S01sysstat>../init.d/sysstat
S06cpuspeed>../init.d/cpuspeed
365
Handlinginitscriptsbyhand
Simplycallthe/etc/init.dscripts!
sudo/etc/init.d/sshdstart
Startingsshd:[OK]
sudo/etc/init.d/nfsstop
ShuttingdownNFSmountd:[FAILED]
ShuttingdownNFSdaemon:
[FAILED]ShuttingdownNFSquotas:
[FAILED]
ShuttingdownNFSservices:[OK]
sudo/etc/init.d/pcmciastatus
cardmgr(pid3721)isrunning...
sudo/etc/init.d/httpdrestart
Stoppinghttpd:[OK]
Startinghttpd:[OK]
366
InitrunlevelsUsefullinks
Backtotheslideabouttheinitprogram.
367
Traininglabs
Traininglabsarealsoavailablefromthesamelocation:
http://freeelectrons.com/training/drivers
Theyareausefulcomplementtoconsolidatewhatyou
learnedfromthistraining.Theydon'ttellhowtodothe
exercises.However,theyonlyrelyonnotionsandtools
introducedbythelectures.
Ifyouhappentobestuckwithanexercise,thisprovesthat
youmissedsomethinginthelecturesandhavetogobackto
theslidestofindwhatyou'relookingfor.
368
Relateddocuments
AllthetechnicalpresentationsandtrainingmaterialscreatedandusedbyFree
Electrons,availableunderafreedocumentationlicense(morethan1500pages!).
http://freeelectrons.com/training
LinuxUSBdrivers
RealtimeinembeddedLinuxsystems
IntroductiontoUnixandGNU/Linux
EmbeddedLinuxkernelanddriverdevelopment IntroductiontouClinux
FreeSoftwaretoolsforembeddedLinuxsystems LinuxonTIOMAPprocessors
FreeSoftwaredevelopmenttools
AudioinembeddedLinuxsystems
JavainembeddedLinuxsystems
MultimediainembeddedLinuxsystems
IntroductiontoGNU/LinuxandFreeSoftwar
http://freeelectrons.com/articles
Linuxandecology
What'snewinLinux2.6?
AdvantagesofFreeSoftwareinembeddedsystems
HowtoportLinuxonanewPDA
EmbeddedLinuxoptimizations
EmbeddedLinuxfromScratch...in40min!
369
Howtohelp
Ifyousupportthiswork,youcanhelp...
Bysendingcorrections,suggestions,contributionsand
translations
Byaskingyourorganizationtoordertrainingsessions
performedbytheauthorofthesedocuments(see
http://freeelectrons.com/training)
Byspeakingaboutittoyourfriends,colleagues
andlocalFreeSoftwarecommunity.
Byaddinglinkstoouronlinematerialsonyourwebsite,
toincreasetheirvisibilityinsearchengineresults.
370
Thanks
TotheOpenOffice.orgproject,fortheirpresentation
andwordprocessortoolswhichsatisfiedallmyneeds
Tohttp://openclipart.orgprojectcontributorsfortheir
nicepublicdomainclipart
TothemembersofthewholeFreeSoftwareandOpen
Sourcecommunity,forsharingthebestofthemselves:
theirwork,theirknowledge,theirfriendship.
ToBillGates,forleavinguswithsomuchroomfor
innovation!
Topeoplewho
helped,sent
correctionsor
suggestions:
FlorentPeyraud
MarcZyngier
VanessaConchodon,
StphaneRubino,
SamuliJarvinen,Phil
Blundell,JefferyHuang,
MohitMehta,Matti
Aaltonen,RobertP.J.
Day
371
EmbeddedLinuxTraining
UnixandGNU/Linuxbasics
Linuxkernelanddriversdevelopment
RealtimeLinux
uClinux
Developmentandprofilingtools
Lightweighttoolsforembeddedsystems
Rootfilesystemcreation
Audioandmultimedia
Systemoptimization
Consulting
Helpindecisionmaking
Systemarchitecture
Identificationofsuitabletechnologies
Managinglicensingrequirements
Systemdesignandperformancereview
http://freeelectrons.com
FreeElectronsservices
CustomDevelopment
Systemintegration
EmbeddedLinuxdemosandprototypes
Systemoptimization
Linuxkerneldrivers
Applicationandinterfacedevelopment
TechnicalSupport
Developmenttoolandapplicationsupport
Issueinvestigationandsolutionfollowupwith
mainstreamdevelopers
Helpgettingstarted

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