mirror of
https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine
synced 2024-11-29 11:53:23 +03:00
110 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
110 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
# Limine
|
|
|
|
Limine is an advanced x86/x86_64 BIOS Bootloader which supports *modern* PC features
|
|
such as AMD64, 5-level paging, and SMP (multicore), to name a few.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
### Supported boot protocols
|
|
* Linux
|
|
* stivale and stivale2 (Limine's native boot protocols, see STIVALE{,2}.md for details)
|
|
|
|
### Supported filesystems
|
|
* ext2
|
|
* echfs
|
|
* FAT32
|
|
|
|
### Supported partitioning schemes
|
|
* MBR
|
|
* GPT
|
|
|
|
## Building
|
|
|
|
### Building the bootloader
|
|
Building the bootloader is not necessary as a prebuilt copy is shipped in this
|
|
repository (`limine.bin`).
|
|
|
|
Should one want to build the bootloader to make sure the shipped copy is authentic,
|
|
to develop, to debug, or any other reason, it is necessary to first build the
|
|
set of tools that the bootloader needs in order to be built.
|
|
|
|
This can be accomplished by running:
|
|
```bash
|
|
make toolchain
|
|
```
|
|
*The above step may take a while*
|
|
|
|
After that is done, the bootloader itself can be built with:
|
|
```bash
|
|
make
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
A newly generated `limine.bin` image should now be present in the root of the repo.
|
|
|
|
This newly built image should match 1:1 (aka, same checksum) with the one shipped
|
|
with the respective commit.
|
|
|
|
### Compiling `limine-install`
|
|
To build the `limine-install` program, simply run `make limine-install` in the root
|
|
of the repo.
|
|
|
|
## How to use
|
|
### MBR
|
|
In order to install Limine on a MBR device (which can just be a raw image file),
|
|
run the `limine-install` as such:
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
limine-install <bootloader image> <path to device/image>
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Where `<bootloader image>` is the path to a `limine.bin` file.
|
|
|
|
### GPT
|
|
If using a GPT formatted device, it will be necessary to create an extra partition
|
|
(of at least 32K in size) to store stage 2 code. Then it will be necessary to tell
|
|
`limine-install` where this partition is located by specifying the start sector
|
|
number (in decimal).
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
fdisk <device> # Create bootloader partition using your favourite method
|
|
limine-install <bootloader image> <path to device/image> <start sector of boot partition>
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Configuration
|
|
Then make sure the device/image contains at least 1 partition formatted in
|
|
a supported filesystem containing a `/limine.cfg` or `/boot/limine.cfg` file
|
|
and the kernel/modules one wants to load.
|
|
|
|
An example `limine.cfg` file can be found in `test/limine.cfg`.
|
|
|
|
More info on the format of `limine.cfg` can be found in `CONFIG.md`.
|
|
|
|
### Example
|
|
For example, to create an empty image file of 64MiB in size, 1 echfs partition
|
|
on the image spanning the whole device, format it, copy the relevant files over,
|
|
and install Limine, one can do:
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
dd if=/dev/zero bs=1M count=0 seek=64 of=test.img
|
|
parted -s test.img mklabel msdos
|
|
parted -s test.img mkpart primary 1 100%
|
|
parted -s test.img set 1 boot on # Workaround for buggy BIOSes
|
|
|
|
echfs-utils -m -p0 test.img quick-format 32768
|
|
echfs-utils -m -p0 test.img import path/to/limine.cfg limine.cfg
|
|
echfs-utils -m -p0 test.img import path/to/kernel.elf kernel.elf
|
|
echfs-utils -m -p0 test.img import <path to file> <path in image>
|
|
...
|
|
limine-install test.img
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
One can get `echfs-utils` by installing https://github.com/qword-os/echfs.
|
|
|
|
## Acknowledgments
|
|
Limine uses a stripped-down version of https://github.com/jibsen/tinf
|
|
|
|
## Discord server
|
|
We have a Discord server if you need support, info, or you just want to
|
|
hang out: https://discord.gg/QEeZMz4
|