Re: How to boot FreeBSD for arm 32 bit as DomU with u-boot on my ARM Chromebook

From: titus <titus_at_edc.ro>
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2023 07:25:15 UTC
for the panic @ dhcp see 
https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=271288 <https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=271288>
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/kernel-panic-on-armv7-with-qemu.89016/ <https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/kernel-panic-on-armv7-with-qemu.89016/>

its a problem with virtio net driver (was fixed by forum user _martin but never went in the main tree)
if you emulate another nic type will work


> On Dec 20, 2023, at 6:52 AM, Warner Losh <imp@bsdimp.com> wrote:
> 
> I'd think you'd need the right virtualization loader. I'm not entirely sure the u-boot.bin you've been creating is for a dom-u.. 
> If I misunderstood, then the below isn't good advice. Chain booting the u-boot, the first u-boot initializes things so you want
> to start with stage after the SPL But the different error messages suggest that it's trying to reboot with kexec, which
> isn't supported on armv7 at the moment.
> 
> If you could boot in kvm, I think that the following would work....  Though I'm not entirely sure how to
> specify the two .fd files in your setup. The use of qemu is to have an easy env to debug things... I don't
> have a chromebook to try...
> 
> My first instinct would be to try qemu on x86 (this is the first step of many to get to your destination).
> 
> If you could boot the GENERIC_SD image that we produce using qemu + edk2-arm-code.fd that would
> be a huge first step. This will give you the boot loader, I believe, to boot in the VM that you need better
> than going via the u-boot route. Since you are booting in a virtualized environment, I think it wouldn't
> matter which one :).
> 
> So, I did the following to boot the virtualized armv7 FreeBSD environment, following a post on the forums I found and knew to have the right recipe:
> https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/run-boot-freebsd-arm-32bit-image-in-qemu.80765/ <https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/run-boot-freebsd-arm-32bit-image-in-qemu.80765/>
> 
> 1. pkg install qemu
> 2. mkdir qemu-armv7-env
> 3. cd qemu-armv7-env
> 4. fetch https://download.freebsd.org/releases/arm/armv7/ISO-IMAGES/14.0/FreeBSD-14.0-RELEASE-arm-armv7-GENERICSD.img.xz <https://download.freebsd.org/releases/arm/armv7/ISO-IMAGES/14.0/FreeBSD-14.0-RELEASE-arm-armv7-GENERICSD.img.xz>
> 5. xz -d -T 0 FreeBSD-14.0-RELEASE-arm-armv7-GENERICSD.img.xz
> 6. dd if=/dev/zero of=pflash0.img bs=1m count=64
> 7. dd if=/dev/zero of=pflash1.img bs=1m count=64
> 8. dd if=/usr/local/share/qemu/edk2-arm-code.fd of=pflash0.img conv=notrunc
> 9. dd if=/usr/local/share/qemu/edk2-arm-vars.fd of=pflash1.img conv=notrunc
> 10. cat > start-freebsd-arm.sh
> #!/bin/sh
> qemu-system-arm \
>   -M virt \
>   -m 1024 \
>   -drive file=pflash0.img,format=raw,if=pflash,readonly=on \
>   -drive file=pflash1.img,format=raw,if=pflash \
>   -drive file=$1.img,if=virtio,cache=writethrough \
>   -nographic \
>   -serial mon:stdio
> ^D
> 11. chmod +x start-freebsd-arm.sh
> 12. ./start-freebsd-arm.sh FreeBSD-14.0-RELEASE-arm-armv7-GENERICSD
> 
> But I hit a snag with this on qemu 8.1.2 and 8.1.3 with both 13.2 and 14.0:
> 
> Starting devd.
> Starting dhclient.
> DHCPDISCOVER on vtnet0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 7
> Fatal kernel mode data abort: 'Alignment Fault' on read
> trapframe: 0xc4b36a60
> FSR=00000001, FAR=dd96701a, spsr=20000013
> r0 =00000000, r1 =00000001, r2 =00000001, r3 =c4b36b4c
> r4 =00000014, r5 =d6618800, r6 =dd96702e, r7 =0000022c
> r8 =00000000, r9 =0000022c, r10=dd96701a, r11=c4b36b90
> r12=4300ffff, ssp=c4b36af0, slr=c04a9728, pc =c04a9750
> 
> panic: Fatal abort
> cpuid = 0
> time = 1680843057
> KDB: stack backtrace:
> #0 0xc035786c at kdb_backtrace+0x48
> #1 0xc02fdd20 at vpanic+0x140
> #2 0xc02fdbe0 at vpanic+0
> #3 0xc06304ac at abort_align+0
> #4 0xc063052c at abort_align+0x80
> #5 0xc063017c at abort_handler+0x480
> #6 0xc060f480 at exception_exit+0
> #7 0xc04a9750 at udp_input+0x288
> #8 0xc0473f54 at ip_input+0x1e0
> #9 0xc04447c0 at netisr_dispatch_src+0xf8
> #10 0xc043bf2c at ether_demux+0x1a4
> #11 0xc043d5e4 at ether_nh_input+0x480
> #12 0xc04447c0 at netisr_dispatch_src+0xf8
> #13 0xc043c404 at ether_input+0x50
> #14 0xc01c0838 at vtnet_rx_vq_process+0x880
> #15 0xc01b70d0 at vtpci_intx_intr+0xac
> #16 0xc02b87f0 at ithread_loop+0x2ec
> #17 0xc02b465c at fork_exit+0xc0
> Uptime: 19s
> 
> I don't know if this is a problem with qemu or FreeBSD's kernel...
> 
> Warner
> 
> On Tue, Dec 19, 2023 at 3:25 PM Mario Marietto <marietto2008@gmail.com <mailto:marietto2008@gmail.com>> wrote:
> I've asked some help on the channel #arm on Reddit and someone replied :
> 
> https://www.reddit.com/r/arm/comments/18mcir8/i_cant_boot_freebsd_for_arm32_bit_as_domu_with/ <https://www.reddit.com/r/arm/comments/18mcir8/i_cant_boot_freebsd_for_arm32_bit_as_domu_with/>
> 
> Maybe his answer can be useful to understand why it does not work. 
> 
> On Tue, Dec 19, 2023 at 8:33 PM Stefano Stabellini <sstabellini@kernel.org <mailto:sstabellini@kernel.org>> wrote:
> +Michal
> 
> Hi Mario,
> 
> I am not sure about booting FreeBSD, but I am certain that u-boot works
> fine as DomU kernel on ARMv8 (not sure about ARMv7). With this config
> file:
> 
> name="test"
> kernel="u-boot.bin"
> extra = "console=hvc0"
> memory=256
> vcpus=1
> disk = [ 'FreeBSD-13.2-RELEASE-armv7.img,raw,xvda' ]
> 
> I don't know for sure if you can boot FreeBSD but you should definitely
> be able to see the u-boot command line prompt. The fact that you are
> getting this message:
> 
> xc: error: panic: xg_dom_core.c:689: xc_dom_find_loader: no loader found: Invalid kernel
> 
> Means that something is not right in the u-boot configuration or u-boot
> build. Michal and Artem (CCed) might know more. From what I recall,
> there was nothing special required to get u-boot.bin to boot as domU
> kernel, so now I wonder if it is an ARMv7 vs. ARMv8 issue.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Stefano
> 
> 
> On Tue, 19 Dec 2023, Mario Marietto wrote:
> > ....I see that some other interesting files have been produced by u-boot when I have compiled it :
> > 
> > u-boot
> > u-boot.lds
> > u-boot.bin
> > u-boot.map
> > u-boot-nodtb.bin
> > u-boot.dtb
> > u-boot.srec
> > u-boot-dtb.bin
> > u-boot.sym
> > 
> > So,maybe I should use a different u-boot* file for booting FreeBSD ?
> > 
> > 
> > On Tue, Dec 19, 2023 at 4:28 PM Mario Marietto <marietto2008@gmail.com <mailto:marietto2008@gmail.com>> wrote:
> >       Hello to everyone.
> > 
> > I have compiled the needed u-boot.bin from scratch using this procedure :
> > 
> > # git clone https://github.com/u-boot/u-boot.git <https://github.com/u-boot/u-boot.git>
> > # cd u-boot
> > # ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf- make snow_defconfig : this line generates the file .config
> > # nano .config and I've added these parameters :
> > 
> > CONFIG_ARMV7_NONSEC=n
> > CONFIG_EFI_GRUB_ARM32_WORKAROUND=y
> > 
> > the uboot-bin file is generated with this command :
> > 
> > # ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf- make
> > 
> > At this point,I took a look inside the .config file and I saw that the parameter "CONFIG_ARMV7_NONSEC=n" has been removed. So,for
> > some reason,it is not accepted and this could be a problem....
> > 
> > These are the xen config files that I've used :
> > 
> > nano freebsd.cfg
> > 
> > name="test"
> > kernel="u-boot.bin"
> > extra = "console=hvc0"
> > memory=256
> > vcpus=1
> > disk = [ 'FreeBSD-13.2-RELEASE-armv7.img,raw,xvda' ]
> > 
> > nano start-freebsd
> > 
> > xl create freebsd.cfg
> > xl console freebsd
> > 
> > This is what happens when I launch the vm :
> > 
> > # ./start-freebsd
> >  
> > Parsing config from freebsd.cfg
> > xc: error: panic: xg_dom_core.c:689: xc_dom_find_loader: no loader found: Invalid kernel
> > libxl: error: libxl_dom.c:571:libxl__build_dom: xc_dom_parse_image failed
> > libxl: error: libxl_create.c:1640:domcreate_rebuild_done: Domain 1:cannot (re-)build domain: -3
> > libxl: error: libxl_domain.c:1183:libxl__destroy_domid: Domain 1:Non-existent domain
> > libxl: error: libxl_domain.c:1137:domain_destroy_callback: Domain 1:Unable to destroy guest
> > libxl: error: libxl_domain.c:1064:domain_destroy_cb: Domain 1:Destruction of domain failed
> > freebsd is an invalid domain identifier (rc=-6)
> > 
> > 
> > On Mon, Dec 18, 2023 at 12:39 PM Mario Marietto <marietto2008@gmail.com <mailto:marietto2008@gmail.com>> wrote:
> >       So,ok,I should have said "the second u-boot" ; since the first u-boot binary is the "u-boot binary located in the RO
> >       memory" of the Chromebook". Sorry for the confusion.
> > 
> > On Mon, Dec 18, 2023 at 12:35 PM Mario Marietto <marietto2008@gmail.com <mailto:marietto2008@gmail.com>> wrote:
> >       ---> There are no specific options in u-boot devoted to FreeBSD
> > 
> > This is an important factor. So,what about if,instead of compiling a new version of u-boot on the partition 2,I will
> > recompile the u-boot customized version created by the virtual open system in 2014,that should be installed on the first
> > partition ? It could work if there are no differences between the u-boot that should boot Linux and the u-boot that
> > should boot FreeBSD.
> > 
> > Can you give a look at the u-boot source code created by virtual open systems ? You can find it on my google drive :
> > 
> > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eAaZMfd6CU0xiqQfH7sq5wGVzzO09BRm/view?usp=sharing <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eAaZMfd6CU0xiqQfH7sq5wGVzzO09BRm/view?usp=sharing>
> > 
> > I need to understand if I can recompile it without problem so that it can satisfy my needs (the ability of the file
> > u-boot.bin to boot FreeBSD as domU under Xen,as explained by Stefano Stabellini,the xen developer that suggested to me
> > what I could do to have FreeBSD virtualized under Xen on my Arm Chromebook) ; otherwise the risk is to find later
> > problems that will make me troubles and that I will not able to fix.
> > 
> > I gave a look at the virtual open system u-boot and I didn't see any arndale_defconfig inside. So,If I have understood
> > correctly,I should put that file inside the root of the u-boot source code,let's say here :
> > 
> > marietto:/home/marietto/Desktop/Files/u-boot_FreeBSD/u-boot-vos # ls
> >  
> > .checkpatch.conf        README                  doc                     net
> > .git                    api                     drivers                 onenand_ipl
> > .gitignore              arch                    dts                     post
> > COPYING                 board                   examples                rules.mk <http://rules.mk/>
> > CREDITS                 boards.cfg              fs                      scripts
> > MAINTAINERS             common                  include                 snapshot.commit
> > MAKEALL                 config.mk <http://config.mk/>               lib                     spl
> > Makefile                cros                    mkconfig                test
> > PRESUBMIT.cfg           disk                    nand_spl                tools
> > 
> > and I should do : make and make install ? and the file I need,u-boot.bin will be generated ? 
> > 
> > I didn't find any pre made configuration file inside :
> > 
> > u-boot-vos # find . -type f -name "exynos*" 
> > 
> > ./include/exynos-fb.h
> > ./include/configs/exynos5-common.h
> > ./doc/device-tree-bindings/spi/exynos-spi.txt
> > ./doc/device-tree-bindings/usb/exynos-usb.txt
> > ./drivers/power/exynos-tmu.c
> > ./drivers/power/exynos-cpufreq.c
> > ./drivers/video/exynos-fb.c
> > ./drivers/spi/exynos_spi.c
> > ./board/samsung/dts/exynos5250-spring.dts
> > ./board/samsung/dts/exynos5250-smdk5250.dts
> > ./board/samsung/dts/exynos5250-snow.dts
> > ./board/samsung/dts/exynos5250-daisy.dts
> > ./arch/arm/include/asm/arch-exynos5/exynos-cpufreq.h
> > ./arch/arm/include/asm/arch-exynos5/exynos-tmu.h
> > ./arch/arm/dts/exynos5250.dtsi
> > ./arch/arm/dts/exynos-periph-id.dtsi
> > ./arch/arm/cpu/armv7/exynos5/exynos_cache.c 
> > 
> > u-boot-vos # find . -type f -name "arndale*"
> > 
> > For sure I can't use a newer version of u-boot because otherwise the patches needed to bypass the bootloader protections
> > of the Arm Chromebook (such as a lot of different patches needed to boot correctly Linux) will be broken ; anyway,since
> > it works,I don't need to use an updated version of u-boot.
> > 
> > ----> As per my experience, you have to respect these two options, compiling u-boot for
> > FreeBSD: https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-ports/blob/main/sysutils/u-boot-master/files/FreeBSD_Fragment <https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-ports/blob/main/sysutils/u-boot-master/files/FreeBSD_Fragment>
> > 
> > It says that I should use these parameters :
> > 
> > CONFIG_ARMV7_NONSEC=n
> > CONFIG_EFI_GRUB_ARM32_WORKAROUND=y
> > 
> > These are the parameters used to configure a Linux kernel. I don't understand what's the relation between the compilation
> > of a linux kernel and u-boot. In the past I tried to recompile u-boot,but I didn't have the need to set up those
> > parameters,so I don't know how to do it (but I know how to recompile a Linux kernel).
> > 
> > ---> I'm not sure that I'm getting you right, as I don't understand what you mean under "the first u-boot".
> > 
> > 
> > I'm talking about first u-boot because the whole procedure to boot Linux on the ARM Chromebook,that's explained here :
> > 
> > http://www.virtualopensystems.com/en/solutions/guides/kvm-on-chromebook/ <http://www.virtualopensystems.com/en/solutions/guides/kvm-on-chromebook/>
> > 
> > 
> > at some point they say :
> > 
> > 
> > To be able to run KVM on ARM platforms, the kernel has to be booted in hypervisor mode. Because of this relatively recent
> > requirement (due to the introduction of the virtualization extensions), up until now all booting methods would boot the
> > kernel in the standard Supervisor mode.
> > 
> > For the ARM Chromebook the default boot procedure doesn't allow us to boot in hypervisor mode. Although the laptop's boot
> > mechanism is based on the frequently used u-boot, the binary is located in RO memory. Fortunately, a chained u-boot
> > mechanism can be used (i.e. starting another u-boot after the original). We can then enter hypervisor mode from our
> > custom iteration of u-boot and subsequently load our kernel and userspace.
> > 
> > So,the first u-boot is the u-boot provided by virtual open systems,that's able to chainload the "u-boot binary located in
> > RO memory" , that does not boot Chrome OS in hypervisor mode. We don't need it if we want to boot Linux with kvm or xen
> > enabled.
> > 
> > 
> > On Sun, Dec 17, 2023 at 1:28 AM Stanislav Silnicki <stanislav.silnicki@mailgate.us <mailto:stanislav.silnicki@mailgate.us>> wrote:
> >       I'm not an expert in the topic, I only know, that ARM has divided hardware into two worlds - Secure and
> >       Not-So, strictly limiting any software, running in non-secure world with access to functions and
> >       resources. https://developer.arm.com/documentation/den0013/d/Security/TrustZone-hardware-architecture?lang=en <https://developerarm.com/documentation/den0013/d/Security/TrustZone-hardware-architecture?lang=en>
> > 
> > I'm not sure, that I'm getting you right, as I don't understand what you mean under "the first u-boot".
> > 
> > As I understand, virtualization (HYP) is running in non-secure world(https://developer.arm.com/documentation/ddi0406/c/System-Level-Architecture/The-System-Level-Programmers--Model/The-Virtualization-Extens <https://developer.arm.com/documentation/ddi0406/c/System-Level-Architecture/The-System-Level-Programmers--Model/The-Virtualization-Extens>
> > ions), so my guess (only guess!!!), virtualization software has to prepare (configure) HW platform in the way,
> > that FreeBSD kernel will not lack any resources, required to configure MPU, VA, etc.
> > So, if you lucky to boot virtualizer, which is aware of target OS, that maybe you can boot the kernel. Although, I
> > doubt, that you need to boot 'second' u-boot to boot the kernel - there is simply ubldr, which you can hook somehow
> > from virtualizer....
> > 
> > Stan
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Mario Marietto wrote:
> > 
> > 
> >       ---> As I understand, it makes sure that u-boot keeps in secure mode during boot and passes control to
> >       ubldr, which boots FreeBSD kernel, in that mode.
> > 
> > Can you elaborate your sentence more ? I know that the bootloader secure mode is bypassed by the virtual open
> > systems u-boot. Are you saying that when the control passes to the second u-boot,it will happen in secure
> > mode,so that the bypass that happened loading the first u-boot,is annulled ? If this is true,maybe can I boot
> > FreeBSD using the virtual-open-system custom u-boot ? Is this compatible with FreeBSD ? Where can I find the
> > u-boot.bin that the xen developer talked about ? thanks bro'.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On Sun, Dec 17, 2023 at 12:35 AM Stanislav Silnicki <stanislav.silnicki@mailgate.us <mailto:stanislav.silnicki@mailgate.us>> wrote:
> >       Hi Mario,
> > 
> > U-Boot  beast is hiding in this den: https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot.git <https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot.git>
> > I took a brief look at your post and it seems to me, that option CONFIG_CMO_BY_VA_ONLY is irrelevant to
> > your target armv7 32 bit
> > platform: https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot/-/blob/master/arch/arm/cpu/armv8/Kconfig?ref_type=heads#L3 <https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot/-/blob/master/arch/arm/cpu/armv8/Kconfig?ref_type=heads#L3>
> > 
> > As for compiling the u-boot, it is a doable task, given that you understand what you are doing. There
> > are no specific options in u-boot devoted to FreeBSD. It is a boot loader, whose mission to make basic
> > hardware initialization, read you kernel file from some media into RAM and then pass it control.
> > 
> > Basically, you can grab some defconfig, prepared for any other Exynos5250 based board  (say, this one:
> > https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot/-/blob/master/configs/arndale_defconfig?ref_type=heads <https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot/-/blob/master/configs/arndale_defconfig?ref_type=heads>) and adopt
> > it somehow.
> > 
> > As per my experience, you have to respect these two options, compiling u-boot for
> > FreeBSD: https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-ports/blob/main/sysutils/u-boot-master/files/FreeBSD_Fragment <https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-ports/blob/main/sysutils/u-boot-master/files/FreeBSD_Fragment>
> > 
> > As I understand, it makes sure, that u-boot keeps in secure mode during boot and passes control to
> > ubldr, which boots FreBSD kernel, in that mode. Otherwise, there a lot of surprises you may realize.
> > 
> > Hope, this will help to progress you tasks
> > Stan
> > 
> > Mario Marietto wrote:
> > 
> > 
> >       Hello.
> > 
> >       I'm trying to boot FreeBSD for arm32 bit as DomU on my ARM Chromebook. Basically there are
> >       two ways to accomplish this task :
> > 
> >       1) to write a patch that allows the FreeBSD kernel to boot as a zImage file. This could be
> >       accomplished applying this patch to a specific file that's on the source code of FreeBSD :
> > 
> > 
> >       https://xenbits.xen.org/gitweb/?p=p...8;hb=0782e25d98cc1391472717035f986c979edef0c9 <https://xenbits.xen.org/gitweb/?p=p...8;hb=0782e25d98cc1391472717035f986c979edef0c9>
> > 
> > 
> >       This patch was written by Julien Grall a lot of time ago and now it does not work anymore.
> >       This is the reason :
> > 
> > 
> >             It appears FreeBSD-CURRENT removed the last step converting the kernel file to
> >             kernel.bin. The patch can be readily rebased, but without kernel.bin that
> >             doesn't do too much
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > So,without a rebase of that patch the first option is not applicable. And I'm not able to fix it.
> > 
> > 2) booting FreeBSD using U-Boot,as explained to me by a xen developer :
> > 
> > 
> >       I was trying to explain why and how Julien's patch works so that you could be the one
> >       to re-do something similar or fix the patch on the FreeBSD kernel that you are
> >       working with. I am happy to help review and write patches but I don't work with the
> >       FreeBSD kernel so I wouldn't be able to help you quickly. However, I might have a
> >       suggestion. Do you know if FreeBSD can be booted by U-Boot ? Because U-Boot
> >       definitely boots as Xen on ARM guest firmware/bootloader. You should be able to build
> >       U-Boot and use the U-Boot binary as Xen guest kernel, then U-Boot could load FreeBSD
> >       from disk or network and start it. For instance as domU config file:
> > 
> >       kernel="/home/petalinux/u-boot.bin"
> >       disk = [ '/home/petalinux/test.img,raw,xvda' ]
> > 
> >       I know it is important to build u-boot with the following config to make it work on
> >       Xen.
> > 
> >       CONFIG_CMO_BY_VA_ONLY=y
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > This option seems more doable to me according to my knowledge. But I need to understand how to do
> > it.
> > 
> > Well,let's say that on the ARM Chromebook I'm forced to use and install a customized version of
> > u-boot,created by virtual open systems,because it is the only one that allows bypassing its
> > bootloader protection. You can find more information here :
> > 
> > http://www.virtualopensystems.com/en/solutions/guides/kvm-on-chromebook/?vos=tech <http://www.virtualopensystems.com/en/solutions/guides/kvm-on-chromebook/?vos=tech>
> > 
> > This is the relevant section to read :
> > 
> > 
> >       Bootloader :
> > 
> >       If you wish to skip this chapter you can download a pre-compiled binary of the
> >       bootloader:
> > 
> > 
> >       $ wget
> >       http://www.virtualopensystems.com/downloads/guides/kvm_on_chromebook/nv_u-boot-snow.kpart <http://www.virtualopensystems.com/downloads/guides/kvm_on_chromebook/nv_u-boot-snow.kpart>
> > 
> > 
> >       To be able to run KVM on ARM platforms, the kernel has to be booted in hypervisor
> >       mode. Because of this relatively recent requirement (due to the introduction of the
> >       virtualization extensions), up until now all booting methods would boot the kernel in
> >       the standard Supervisor mode. For the ARM Chromebook the default boot procedure
> >       doesn't allow us to boot in hypervisor mode. Although the laptop's boot mechanism is
> >       based on the frequently used u-boot, the binary is located in RO memory. Fortunately,
> >       a chained u-boot mechanism can be used (i.e. starting another u-boot after the
> >       original). We can then enter hypervisor mode from our custom iteration of u-boot and
> >       subsequently load our kernel and userspace.
> > 
> >       Checkout the needed u-boot code :
> > 
> > 
> >       $ git clone git://github.com/virtualopensystems/u-boot.git$ <http://github.com/virtualopensystems/u-boot.git$> cd u-boot$
> >       ./scripts/build.sh
> > 
> > 
> >       If successful, a message about how to copy the bootloader on the USB flash disk or SD
> >       card will appear. We will use it later when preparing the boot medium to start our
> >       system. If you have followed the Setting up the boot medium chapter and you have a
> >       prepared boot device, then you can update u-boot by running :
> > 
> > 
> >       $ sudo dd if=nv_uboot-snow.kpart of=/dev/sdX1
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > so,the needed u-boot that we must use should be installed on the first partition of the sd card.
> > 
> > There is another relevant section to read :
> > 
> > 
> >       Setting up the boot medium
> > 
> >       Now it is time to copy all the relevant files that we created in the previous
> >       chapters,and use them to boot Chromebook with a different kernel and OS. In all these
> >       examples the device /dev/sdX is used. Take extra care to change the examples to the
> >       device that you have attached. Insert the boot medium on your workstation and
> >       carefully execute the following step. First we need to properly format the boot
> >       medium.
> > 
> >       In the uboot source directory :
> > 
> > 
> >       $ sudo ./scripts/sdcard.sh /dev/sdX
> > 
> > 
> >       This will erase all data and create 4 partitions in the medium, along with copying
> >       the u-boot binary to the first partition:
> > 
> > 
> >       Partition 1 = ChromeOS signed binary (V.O.S chained u-boot)
> >       Partition 2 = not used
> >       Partition 3 = EXT2 partition for u-boot files (uImage and exynos5250-snow.dtb)
> >       Partition 4 = EXT4 partition for userspace files
> > 
> > 
> >       With u-boot being copied, next is the kernel image and DTB file. From the kernel
> >       source execute :
> > 
> > 
> >       $ mkdir ../mnt/
> >       $ sudo mount /dev/sdX3 ../mnt/
> >       $ sudo cp arch/arm/boot/uImage ../mnt/
> >       $ sudo cp arch/arm/boot/dts/exynos5250-snow.dtb ../mnt/
> >       $ sudo umount /dev/sdX3
> > 
> > 
> >       Finally, we have to copy the Ubuntu userspace filesystem that we created earlier:
> > 
> > 
> >       $ sudo mount /dev/sdX4 mnt/$ sudo cp -a ./precise/* mnt/$ sudo umount /dev/sdX4
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Now,my idea is to chainload the already chain loaded u-boot created by V.O.S to the new u-boot
> > that we need for booting FreeBSD and that can be installed in the partition n.2,as shown in this
> > scheme,because it is not used :
> > 
> > 
> > Partition 1 = ChromeOS signed binary (V.O.S chained u-boot)
> > Partition 2 = not used (maybe we can install the u-boot for arm 32 bit,compatible with FreeBSD on
> > this partition)
> > Partition 3 = EXT2 partition for u-boot files (uImage and exynos5250-snow.dtb)
> > Partition 4 = EXT4 partition for userspace files
> > 
> > 
> > Take in consideration that default boot string is hardcoded here,in the snow.h file of the custom
> > u-boot created by VOS :
> > 
> > 
> > https://github.com/virtualopensyste...18a39b6c177dff58a/include/configs/snow.h#L101 <https://github.com/virtualopensyste...18a39b6c177dff58a/include/configs/snow.h#L101>
> > 
> > 
> > and it needs to be recompiled because it should point to the partition n.2,where I will install
> > the u-boot files as explained here :
> > 
> > 
> > https://wiki.freebsd.org/arm/Chromebook <https://wiki.freebsd.org/arm/Chromebook>
> > 
> > 
> > I have some questions to ask before I start working on this.
> > 
> > 1) The xen developer said :
> > 
> > 
> >       You should be able to build U-Boot and use the U-Boot binary as Xen guest kernel...
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > where is the u-boot binary,according to this document ?
> > 
> > https://wiki.freebsd.org/arm/Chromebook <https://wiki.freebsd.org/arm/Chromebook>
> > 
> > I don't see it.
> > 
> > 
> > 2) where is the source code of the file that I can get here :
> > 
> > http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/chromeos-localmirror/distfiles/nv_uboot-snow-simplefb.kpart.bz2 <http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/chromeos-localmirror/distfiles/nv_uboot-snow-simplefb.kpart.bz2>
> > 
> > I need the source code if I want to recompile u-boot so that it can point to the partition 4.
> > 
> > Maybe it can be found on this link :
> > 
> > http://linux-exynos.org/dist/chromebook/nv_uboot/ <http://linux-exynos.org/dist/chromebook/nv_uboot/>
> > 
> > but it can't be opened....
> > 
> > 
> > 3) in this specific scenario the source code of u-boot should run on arm 32 bit,not on arm
> > 64,because I have the Samsung Chromebook "SNOW" model XE303C12,that's powered by a Samsung Exynos
> > 5250 (ARMv7 32 bit Cortex A15) Soc.
> > 
> > 
> > 4) I'm not sure if I can chainload the customized u-boot created by V.O.S that should be
> > installed on the first partition with the u-boot tailored for booting FreeBSD that should be
> > installed on the partition 2....
> > 
> > 
> > 5) the xen developer said that u-boot should be compiled enabling this option :
> > 
> > 
> > Code:
> > 
> > CONFIG_CMO_BY_VA_ONLY=y
> > 
> > 
> > Well,can you provide some good source that can help me to understand how I can recompile u-boot
> > for FreeBSD ? thanks.
> > 
> > --
> > Mario.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > --
> > Mario.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > --
> > Mario.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > --
> > Mario.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > --
> > Mario.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > --
> > Mario.
> > 
> >
> 
> 
> -- 
> Mario.