Re: Kernel section info.

[OKUJI Yoshinori]

From: Kurt Skauen <address@hidden>
Subject: Kernel section info.
Date: 31 Oct 2000 19:50:57 +0100

> How do I get information about the kernel image after the kernel is
> booted? I tried to read the symbol information in the boot info
> structure passed to the kernel, but the MB_INFO_ELF_SHDR flag is never
> set, and as far as I can see the section info is never initialized in
> GRUB. How am I supposed to find information about the kernel image?

  There is no way to pass the information to a kernel at the moment,
as that is not implemented yet.

> The minimum info I need is the size of the kernel, and preferrably the
> symbol table. How is this solved by other ELF kernels?

  Normally, ELF kernels use the symbols `_start' and `_end', to find
out its own size. AFAIK, few ELF kernels really use symbol tables.

> I also have some questions regarding the boot-module addresses. I
> noticed that the first boot-module are located directly after the
> kernel, and that each module is packed together. This is all nice, but
> I can't find this specified in the MultiBoot specification. Can I
> depend on this layout? Or can I risk getting another layout by later
> versions of GRUB or by other MultiBoot compliant boot-loaders? Like
> finding boot modules below 1M?

  No, yes and yes. You are responsible for relocating your modules
appropriately, as long as you stick to the Multiboot Specification
0.6. It says that a Multiboot boot loader doesn't interpret the format
of a module and it doesn't specify how to load modules. This might
change in a future version of the Multiboot Specification.

Okuji