149 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
149 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
# Limine
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<p align="center">
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<img src="https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine/blob/trunk/logo.png?raw=true" alt="Limine's logo"/>
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</p>
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### What is Limine?
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Limine (pronounced as demonstrated [here](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/in%20limine))
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is a modern, advanced, portable, multiprotocol bootloader and boot manager, also used
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as the reference implementation for the [Limine boot protocol](PROTOCOL.md).
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### Donate
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If you want to support the work I ([@mintsuki](https://github.com/mintsuki)) do on Limine, feel free to donate to me on Liberapay:
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<a href="https://liberapay.com/mintsuki/donate"><img alt="Donate using Liberapay" src="https://liberapay.com/assets/widgets/donate.svg"></a>
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Donations welcome, but absolutely not mandatory!
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### Limine's boot menu
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[Photo by Mo Eid](https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-pavilion-n-the-middle-of-a-sea-8832898/)
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### Supported architectures
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* IA-32 (32-bit x86)
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* x86-64
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* aarch64 (arm64)
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* riscv64
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### Supported boot protocols
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* Linux
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* [Limine](PROTOCOL.md)
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* Multiboot 1
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* Multiboot 2
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* Chainloading
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### Supported partitioning schemes
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* MBR
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* GPT
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* Unpartitioned media
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### Supported filesystems
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* FAT12/16/32
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* ISO9660 (CDs/DVDs)
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* ext2/3/4 (NOTE: This is experimental and not supported. Maintainers wanted!)
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If your filesystem isn't listed here, please read [the philosophy](PHILOSOPHY.md) first, especially before
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opening issues or pull requests related to this.
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### Minimum system requirements
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For 32-bit x86 systems, support is only ensured starting with those with
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Pentium Pro (i686) class CPUs.
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All x86-64, aarch64, and riscv64 (UEFI) systems are supported.
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## Packaging status
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All Limine releases since 7.x use [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html) for their naming.
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[](https://repology.org/project/limine/versions)
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## Binary releases
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For convenience, for point releases, binaries are distributed. These binaries
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are shipped in the `-binary` branches and tags of this repository
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(see [branches](https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine/branches/all) and
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[tags](https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine/tags)).
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For example, to clone the latest binary release of the `7.x` branch, one can do:
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```bash
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git clone https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine.git --branch=v7.x-binary --depth=1
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```
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or, to clone a specific binary point release (for example `7.13.3`):
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```bash
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git clone https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine.git --branch=v7.13.3-binary --depth=1
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```
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In order to rebuild host utilities like `limine`, simply run `make` in the binary
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release directory.
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Host utility binaries are provided for Windows.
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## Building the bootloader
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*The following steps are not necessary if cloning a binary release. If so, skip to*
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*"Installing Limine binaries".*
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### Prerequisites
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In order to build Limine, the following programs have to be installed:
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common UNIX tools (also known as `coreutils`),
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`GNU make`, `grep`, `sed`, `find`, `awk`, `gzip`, `nasm`, `mtools`
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(optional, necessary to build `limine-uefi-cd.bin`).
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Furthermore, `gcc` or `llvm/clang` must also be installed, alongside
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the respective binutils.
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### Configure
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If using a release tarball (recommended, see https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine/releases),
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run `./configure` directly.
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If checking out from the repository, run `./bootstrap` first in order to download the
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necessary dependencies and generate the configure script (`GNU autoconf` required).
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`./configure` takes arguments and environment variables; for more information on
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these, run `./configure --help`.
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**`./configure` by default does not build any Limine port. Make sure to read the**
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**output of `./configure --help` and enable any or all ports!**
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Limine supports both in-tree and out-of-tree builds. Simply run the `configure`
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script from the directory you wish to execute the build in. The following `make`
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commands are supposed to be run inside the build directory.
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### Building Limine
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To build Limine, run:
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```bash
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make # (or gmake where applicable)
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```
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## Installing Limine
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This step will install Limine files to `share`, `include`, and
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`bin` directories in the specified prefix (default is `/usr/local`, see
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`./configure --help`, or the `PREFIX` variable if installing from a binary release).
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To install Limine, run:
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```bash
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make install # (or gmake where applicable)
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```
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## Usage
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See [USAGE.md](USAGE.md).
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## Acknowledgments
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Limine uses a stripped-down version of [tinf](https://github.com/jibsen/tinf) for early GZIP decompression.
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Limine relies on [stb_image](https://github.com/nothings/stb/blob/master/stb_image.h) for runtime GZIP decompression and image loading.
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Limine uses a patched version of libfdt (can be found in Linux's source tree) for manipulating FDTs.
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## Discord server
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We have a [Discord server](https://discord.gg/QEeZMz4) if you need support,
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info, or you just want to hang out with us.
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