Re: [PATCH 1/2] ARM: decompressor: support memory start validation for appended DTB

[Linus Walleij]

On Fri, Jan 19, 2024 at 9:14 PM Christian Marangi <ansuelsmth@gmailcom> wrote:

> There is currently a problem with a very specific sets of kernel config
> and AUTO_ZRELADDR.
>
> For the most common case AUTO_ZRELADDR check the PC register and
> calculate the start of the physical memory. Then fdt_check_mem_start is
> called to make sure the detected value makes sense by comparing it with
> what is present in DTB in the memory nodes and if additional fixup are
> required with the use of linux,usable-memory-range in the chosen node to
> hardcode usable memory range in case some reserved space needs to be
> addressed. With the help of this function the right address is
> calculated and the kernel correctly decompress and loads.
>
> Things starts to become problematic when in the mix,
> CONFIG_ARM_APPENDED_DTB is used. This is a particular kernel config is
> used when legacy systems doesn't support passing a DTB directly and a
> DTB is appended at the end of the image.
>
> In such case, fdt_check_mem_start is skipped in AUTO_ZRELADDR iteration
> as the appended DTB can be augumented later with ATAGS passed from the
> bootloader (if CONFIG_ARM_ATAG_DTB_COMPAT is enabled).
>
> The main problem and what this patch address is the fact that
> fdt_check_mem_start is never called later when the appended DTB is
> augumented, hence any fixup and validation is not done making AUTO_ZRELADDR
> detection inconsistent and most of the time wrong.
>
> Add support in head.S for this by checking if AUTO_ZRELADDR is enabled
> and calling fdt_check_mem_start with the appended DTB and the augumented
> values permitting legacy device to provide info in DTB instead of
> disabling AUTO_ZRELADDR and hardcoding the physical address offsets.
>
> Signed-off-by: Christian Marangi <ansuelsmth@xxxxxxxxx>

Looks like the right solution to a very long-standing problem!
Thanks for your tireless hacking at this.
Reviewed-by: Linus Walleij <linus.walleij@xxxxxxxxxx>

Yours,
Linus Walleij