[PATCH 1/3] ARM: zImage: ensure it is always a multiple of 64 bits in size

[Nicolas Pitre]

On Mon, 13 Jun 2011, Russell King - ARM Linux wrote:

> On Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 02:06:38AM -0400, Nicolas Pitre wrote:
> > diff --git a/arch/arm/boot/compressed/vmlinux.lds.in b/arch/arm/boot/compressed/vmlinux.lds.in
> > index ea80abe..6c02db1 100644
> > --- a/arch/arm/boot/compressed/vmlinux.lds.in
> > +++ b/arch/arm/boot/compressed/vmlinux.lds.in
> > @@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ SECTIONS
> >    .got			: { *(.got) }
> >    _got_end = .;
> >    .got.plt		: { *(.got.plt) }
> > +
> > +  /* ensure the zImage file size is always a multiple of 64 bits */
> > +  .pad			: { BYTE(0); . = ALIGN(8); }
> 
> Why add a byte before aligning?  Isn't merely aligning to 64-bit sufficient?

No.  If a section is empty, despite the align statement, ld would simply 
omit it entirely and the output file size won't be aligned.


Nicolas