101 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
101 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
# Limine
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x86/x86_64 BIOS Bootloader
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### Supported boot protocols
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* Linux
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* stivale and stivale2 (Limine's native boot protocols, see STIVALE{,2}.md for details)
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### Supported filesystems
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* ext2
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* echfs
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* FAT32
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### Supported partitioning schemes
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* MBR
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* GPT
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## Building
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### Building the bootloader
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Building the bootloader is not necessary as a prebuilt copy is shipped in this
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repository (`limine.bin`).
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Should one want to build the bootloader to make sure the shipped copy is authentic,
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to develop, to debug, or any other reason, it is necessary to first build the
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set of tools that the bootloader needs in order to be built.
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This can be accomplished by running:
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```bash
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make toolchain
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```
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After that is done, the bootloader itself can be built with:
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```bash
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make limine
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```
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A newly generated `limine.bin` image should now be present in the root dir of the repo.
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This newly built image should match 1:1 (aka, same checksum) as the one shipped with the
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respective commit.
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### Compiling `limine-install`
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A simple `make` and `make install` will suffice. Use the PREFIX variable with
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`make install` to specify where to install `limine-install`. It defaults to
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`/usr/local`.
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## How to use
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In order to install Limine on a MBR device (which can just be a raw image file),
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run the `limine-install` as such:
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```bash
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limine-install <path to device/image>
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```
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If using a GPT formatted device, it will be necessary to create an extra partition
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(of at least 32K in size) to store stage 2 code. Then it will be necessary to tell
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`limine-install` where this partition is located by specifying the start sector.
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```bash
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fdisk <device> # Create bootloader partition using your favourite method
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limine-install <path to device/image> <start sector of boot partition>
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```
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Then make sure the device/image contains at least 1 partition formatted in
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a supported filesystem containing a `/limine.cfg` or `/boot/limine.cfg` file
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and the kernel/modules one wants to load.
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An example `limine.cfg` file can be found in `test/limine.cfg`.
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More info on the format of `limine.cfg` can be found in `CONFIG.md`.
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For example, to create an empty image file of 64MiB in size, 1 echfs partition
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on the image spanning the whole device, format it, copy the relevant files over,
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and install Limine, one can do:
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```bash
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dd if=/dev/zero bs=1M count=0 seek=64 of=test.img
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parted -s test.img mklabel msdos
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parted -s test.img mkpart primary 1 100%
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parted -s test.img set 1 boot on # Workaround for buggy BIOSes
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echfs-utils -m -p0 test.img quick-format 32768
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echfs-utils -m -p0 test.img import path/to/limine.cfg limine.cfg
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echfs-utils -m -p0 test.img import path/to/kernel.elf kernel.elf
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echfs-utils -m -p0 test.img import <path to file> <path in image>
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...
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limine-install test.img
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```
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One can get `echfs-utils` by installing https://github.com/qword-os/echfs.
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## Acknowledgments
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Limine uses a stripped-down version of https://github.com/jibsen/tinf
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## Discord server
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We have a Discord server if you need support, info, or you just want to
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hang out: https://discord.gg/QEeZMz4
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