> While I think you're on the right track, it is probably possible to do
> the same thing using initrd, romfs and user-space utilities.
I'd like to find a way of providing modules at boot time, for the kernel to
initialise before it tries to find a root filesystem.
The 'Multiboot Standard' at http://www.uruk.org/grub/boot-proposal.html
provides a way for modules to be passed to the kernel at boot time.
> Boot modules
> Many modern operating system kernels, such as those of VSTa and Mach,
> do not by themselves contain enough mechanism to get the system fully
> operational: they require the presence of additional software modules
> at boot time in order to access devices, mount file systems, etc.
> While these additional modules could be embedded in the main OS image
> along with the kernel itself, and the resulting image be split apart
> manually by the OS when it receives control, it is often more
> flexible, more space-efficient, and more convenient to the OS and user
> if the boot loader can load these additional modules independently in
> the first place.
There's already a patch for the Linux kernel to make it confirm to the
Multiboot standard, and I'd like to extend this to allow initialisation of
modules passed at boot time - the loader puts them in memory, and the kernel
can relocate and initialise them when it's ready for them.
---- ---- ----
David Woodhouse David.Woodhouse@mvhi.com Office: (+44) 1223 810302
Project Leader, Process Information Systems Mobile: (+44) 976 658355
Axiom (Cambridge) Ltd., Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambridge, CB5 0NA, UK.
finger dwmw2@ferret.lmh.ox.ac.uk for PGP key.
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