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# (C) Copyright 2000 - 2013
# Wolfgang Denk, DENX Software Engineering, wd@denx.de.
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
This directory contains the source code for U-Boot, a boot loader for
Embedded boards based on PowerPC, ARM, MIPS and several other
processors, which can be installed in a boot ROM and used to
initialize and test the hardware or to download and run application
code.
The development of U-Boot is closely related to Linux: some parts of
the source code originate in the Linux source tree, we have some
header files in common, and special provision has been made to
support booting of Linux images.
Some attention has been paid to make this software easily
configurable and extendable. For instance, all monitor commands are
implemented with the same call interface, so that it's very easy to
add new commands. Also, instead of permanently adding rarely used
code (for instance hardware test utilities) to the monitor, you can
load and run it dynamically.
Status:
=======
In general, all boards for which a configuration option exists in the
Makefile have been tested to some extent and can be considered
"working". In fact, many of them are used in production systems.
In case of problems see the CHANGELOG file to find out who contributed
the specific port. In addition, there are various MAINTAINERS files
scattered throughout the U-Boot source identifying the people or
companies responsible for various boards and subsystems.
Note: As of August, 2010, there is no longer a CHANGELOG file in the
actual U-Boot source tree; however, it can be created dynamically
from the Git log using:
make CHANGELOG
In case you have questions about, problems with or contributions for
U-Boot, you should send a message to the U-Boot mailing list at
<u-boot@lists.denx.de>. There is also an archive of previous traffic
on the mailing list - please search the archive before asking FAQ's.
Please see http://lists.denx.de/pipermail/u-boot and
http://dir.gmane.org/gmane.comp.boot-loaders.u-boot
Where to get source code:
=========================
The U-Boot source code is maintained in the Git repository at
git://www.denx.de/git/u-boot.git ; you can browse it online at
http://www.denx.de/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi?p=u-boot.git;a=summary
The "snapshot" links on this page allow you to download tarballs of
any version you might be interested in. Official releases are also
available for FTP download from the ftp://ftp.denx.de/pub/u-boot/
directory.
Pre-built (and tested) images are available from
ftp://ftp.denx.de/pub/u-boot/images/
Where we come from:
===================
- start from 8xxrom sources
- create PPCBoot project (http://sourceforge.net/projects/ppcboot)
- clean up code
- make it easier to add custom boards
- make it possible to add other [PowerPC] CPUs
- extend functions, especially:
* Provide extended interface to Linux boot loader
* S-Record download
* network boot
* PCMCIA / CompactFlash / ATA disk / SCSI ... boot
- create ARMBoot project (http://sourceforge.net/projects/armboot)
- create U-Boot project (http://sourceforge.net/projects/u-boot)
- current project page: see http://www.denx.de/wiki/U-Boot
Names and Spelling:
===================
The "official" name of this project is "Das U-Boot". The spelling
"U-Boot" shall be used in all written text (documentation, comments
in source files etc.). Example:
This is the README file for the U-Boot project.
File names etc. shall be based on the string "u-boot". Examples:
include/asm-ppc/u-boot.h
#include <asm/u-boot.h>
Variable names, preprocessor constants etc. shall be either based on
the string "u_boot" or on "U_BOOT". Example:
U_BOOT_VERSION u_boot_logo
IH_OS_U_BOOT u_boot_hush_start
Starting with the release in October 2008, the names of the releases
were changed from numerical release numbers without deeper meaning
into a time stamp based numbering. Regular releases are identified by
names consisting of the calendar year and month of the release date.
Additional fields (if present) indicate release candidates or bug fix
releases in "stable" maintenance trees.
Examples:
U-Boot v2009.11.1 - Release 1 in version November 2009 stable tree
U-Boot v2010.09-rc1 - Release candidate 1 for September 2010 release
/arch Architecture specific files
/arc Files generic to ARC architecture
/arm Files generic to ARM architecture
/avr32 Files generic to AVR32 architecture
/blackfin Files generic to Analog Devices Blackfin architecture
/m68k Files generic to m68k architecture
/microblaze Files generic to microblaze architecture
/mips Files generic to MIPS architecture
/nds32 Files generic to NDS32 architecture
/nios2 Files generic to Altera NIOS2 architecture
/openrisc Files generic to OpenRISC architecture
/powerpc Files generic to PowerPC architecture
/sandbox Files generic to HW-independent "sandbox"
/sh Files generic to SH architecture
/sparc Files generic to SPARC architecture
/x86 Files generic to x86 architecture
/api Machine/arch independent API for external apps
/board Board dependent files
/common Misc architecture independent functions
/configs Board default configuration files
/disk Code for disk drive partition handling
/doc Documentation (don't expect too much)
/drivers Commonly used device drivers
/dts Contains Makefile for building internal U-Boot fdt.
/examples Example code for standalone applications, etc.
/fs Filesystem code (cramfs, ext2, jffs2, etc.)
/include Header Files
/lib Library routines generic to all architectures
/Licenses Various license files
/net Networking code
/post Power On Self Test
/scripts Various build scripts and Makefiles
/test Various unit test files
/tools Tools to build S-Record or U-Boot images, etc.
Software Configuration:
=======================
Configuration is usually done using C preprocessor defines; the
rationale behind that is to avoid dead code whenever possible.
There are two classes of configuration variables:
* Configuration _OPTIONS_:
These are selectable by the user and have names beginning with
"CONFIG_".
* Configuration _SETTINGS_:
These depend on the hardware etc. and should not be meddled with if
you don't know what you're doing; they have names beginning with
Previously, all configuration was done by hand, which involved creating
symbolic links and editing configuration files manually. More recently,
U-Boot has added the Kbuild infrastructure used by the Linux kernel,
allowing you to use the "make menuconfig" command to configure your
build.
Selection of Processor Architecture and Board Type:
---------------------------------------------------
For all supported boards there are ready-to-use default
configurations available; just type "make <board_name>_defconfig".
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