Convert test executables to bootloader images?

[Sebastian Huber]

----- Am 22. Jan 2024 um 0:22 schrieb Chris Johns chrisj at rtems.org:

> On 17/1/2024 11:39 pm, Sebastian Huber wrote:
>> Hello,
>> 
>> attached is a proof of concept. Using a ./waf bootimages command didn't work
>> since you don't have a build context in this case. I added a new option:
>> 
>> # If this option is enabled, then boot images for the test programs
>> # are built.
>> BUILD_BOOT_IMAGES = False
>> 
>> If this option is enabled, then a BSP-specific method is used to build a boot
>> image. This method is optional. BSPs can provide it through a new build item
>> with type "mkimage", see the powerpc/qoriq example of the attached patches.
> 
> Thanks for looking into this. I have not reviewed the patches because they are
> attached which means downloading, opening etc and they are stripped from the
> list archives so not visible there. I am happy to review changes once I
> understand the requirements.

The old build system had a bsp-post-link hook, so this is not really something new.

> 
> Is there a ticket with requirements for this proposed change?
> 
> An existing ticket exists (https://devel.rtems.org/ticket/4272) for a GSoC
> project that defines a different approach where the conversion is held in the
> eco-system depending on data installed with the BSP.

The approach is not that much different. The BSP installs an optional Python script. This script could be added to the pkg-config information.

> 
> The `rtems-test` command can integrate an eco-system command (#4272) easily so I
> would need to understand why creating these binary images in the a build
> benefits the projects? I can see it benefiting niche custom testers users may
> have but not much more?

The BSP knows best how to provide a proper boot image which could depend on its BSP options (for example, memory locations). The most common task is probably the creation of U-Boot images.

> 
> The reason an external command was created was to avoid build systems hacks
> being used to convert images forcing the project and any future additions to
> consider and develop an interface for exporting the needed information. Running
> the tests is one user of bootloader images but others exist such as EPICS which
> also needs to convert ELF to a bootloader compatible format.

My driving factor for this stuff is that I would like to have U-Boot images for test runs.

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