Improve wording and code

This commit is contained in:
Philipp Oppermann
2015-07-31 19:20:46 +02:00
parent ee38c185ce
commit 5b0a8cf468

View File

@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ If you don't know x86 assembly, here is some quick guide:
- `dd` stands for `define double` (32bit) and `dw` stands for `define word` (16bit)
- the additional `0x100000000` in the checksum calculation is a small hack[^fn-checksum_hack] to avoid a compiler warning
We can already _assemble_ this file (which I called `multiboot_header.asm`) using `nasm`. As it produces a flat binary by default, the resulting file just contains our 24 bytes (in little endian if you work on a x86 machine):
We can already _assemble_ this file (which I called `multiboot_header.asm`) using `nasm`. It produces a flat binary by default, so the resulting file just contains our 24 bytes (in little endian if you work on a x86 machine):
```
> nasm multiboot_header.asm
@@ -57,20 +57,20 @@ We can already _assemble_ this file (which I called `multiboot_header.asm`) usin
To boot our kernel, we must add some code that the bootloader can call. Let's create a file named `boot.asm`:
```nasm
global _start
global start
BITS 32
section .text
_start:
mov dword [0xb8000], 0x2f4b2f4f
hlt
start:
mov dword [0xb8000], 0x2f4b2f4f
hlt
```
There are some new assembly lines:
- `global` exports a label (makes it public). As `_start` will be the entry point of our kernel, it needs to be public.
- `global` exports a label (makes it public). As `start` will be the entry point of our kernel, it needs to be public.
- `BITS 32` specifies that the following lines are 32-bit instructions. We don't need it in our multiboot header file, as it doesn't contain any runnable code.
- the `.text` section is the default section for executable code
- the `mov dword` instruction moves the 32bit constant `0x2f4f2f4b` to the memory at address `b8000` (it should write `ok` to the screen)
- the `mov dword` instruction moves the 32bit constant `0x2f4f2f4b` to the memory at address `b8000` (it writes `OK` to the screen, an explanation follows in the [next post])
- `hlt` is the halt instruction and causes the CPU to stop
Through assembling, viewing and disassembling it we can see the CPU [Opcodes] in action:
@@ -87,47 +87,48 @@ Through assembling, viewing and disassembling it we can see the CPU [Opcodes] in
```
## Building the Executable
Now we create an [ELF] executable from these two files. We therefore need the object files of the two assembly files and a custom linker script (`linker.ld`):
Now we create an [ELF] executable from these two files. We therefore need the object files of the two assembly files and a custom [linker script], that we call `linker.ld`:
```
ENTRY(_start)
ENTRY(start)
SECTIONS {
. = 2M + SIZEOF_HEADERS;
. = 1M;
.boot :
{
/* ensure that the multiboot header is at the beginning */
*(.multiboot_header)
}
.boot :
{
/* ensure that the multiboot header is at the beginning */
*(.multiboot_header)
}
.text :
{
*(.text)
}
.text :
{
*(.text)
}
}
```
The important things are:
- `_start` is the entry point, the bootloader will jump to it after loading the kernel
- `start` is the entry point, the bootloader will jump to it after loading the kernel
- `. = 1M;` sets the load address of the first section to 1 MiB, which is a conventional place to load a kernel
- the executable will have two sections: `.boot` at the beginning and `.text` afterwards
- the `.text` output section contains all input sections named `.text`
- sections named `.multiboot_header` are added to the first output section (`.boot`) to ensure they are at the beginning of the executable
So let's create the ELF object files and link them using our new linker script. We can use `objdump` to print the sections of the generated executable.
So let's create the ELF object files and link them using our new linker script. It's important to pass the `-n` flag because otherwise the linker may page align the sections in the executable. If that happens, GRUB isn't able to find the Multiboot header because the `.boot` section isn't at the beginning anymore. We can use `objdump` to print the sections of the generated executable and verify that the `.boot` section has a low file offset.
```
> nasm -f elf64 multiboot_header.asm
> nasm -f elf64 boot.asm
> ld -o kernel.bin -T linker.ld multiboot_header.o boot.o
> ld -n -o kernel.bin -T linker.ld multiboot_header.o boot.o
> objdump -h kernel.bin
kernel.bin: file format elf64-x86-64
Sections:
Idx Name Size VMA LMA File off Algn
0 .boot 00000018 0000000000200078 0000000000200078 00000078 2**0
0 .boot 00000018 0000000000100000 0000000000100000 00000080 2**0
CONTENTS, ALLOC, LOAD, READONLY, DATA
1 .text 0000000b 0000000000200090 0000000000200090 00000090 2**4
1 .text 0000000b 0000000000100020 0000000000100020 000000a0 2**4
CONTENTS, ALLOC, LOAD, READONLY, CODE
```
@@ -142,15 +143,15 @@ isofiles
└── kernel.bin
```
The `grub.cfg` specifies the file name of our kernel and that it's Multiboot 2 compliant. It looks like this:
The `grub.cfg` specifies the file name of our kernel and it's Multiboot 2 compliance. It looks like this:
```
set timeout=0
set default=0
menuentry "my os" {
multiboot2 /boot/kernel.bin
boot
multiboot2 /boot/kernel.bin
boot
}
```
Now we can create a bootable image using the command:
@@ -172,3 +173,7 @@ qemu-system-x86_64 -hda os.iso
[multiboot 2]: http://nongnu.askapache.com/grub/phcoder/multiboot.pdf
[Opcodes]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opcode
[ELF]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executable_and_Linkable_Format
[linker script]: https://sourceware.org/binutils/docs/ld/Scripts.html
[QEMU]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QEMU
[next post]: #TODO