[PATCH 02/11] x86: Add device tree support

[Grant Likely]

On Thu, Dec 30, 2010 at 1:45 AM, Rob Landley <rob at landley.net> wrote:
> On Thu, Dec 30, 2010 at 2:26 AM, Grant Likely <grant.likely at secretlab.ca> wrote:
>> What is the boot sequence for the embedded x86 platforms?  Is there
>> still a bootloader?
>
> There's no one embedded setup on any platform, but one of the few
> constants of embedded development is trying to eliminate unnecessary
> requirements.
>
> Just on standard-ish PC hardware I've seen people try to stick Linux in the
> BIOS flash (generally not enough room), I've seen people try to stick
> it as the first stage PXE payload, there's the fun and games with
> kexec of emergency kernels for crash dumps...
>
> If the capability to skip an unnecessary bootloader was available, people
> would use it.

Right, but in all of those cases a boot wrapper provides the same
functionality with better flexability, such as being able to provided
the dtb image(s) at install time instead of compile time.

g.