Thursday, June 11, 2009

Welcome script

This is simple welcome script, asking for User selection.

dialog --title "Welcome to Messung System " --menu "\nChose the user" 11 30 2 1 "messung" 2 "root" 2>.welcome Q_MUSIC=$(cat .welcome)
This dialog box gives you two option, one is enter as Messung user or switch to Root user.



if [ "$Q_MUSIC" = "1" ]; then
dialog --msgbox "Hit Enter to continue" 5 25
clear
else #dialog --passwordbox "Enter the Password :" 12 25 dialog --infobox "Enter the Password " 3 25 su -l
fi


If you go for first option, then you login as a Messung user. Then welcome dialog box will appear, given below.



If you go for second option, then it will ask for password.

The welcome window for Root user is given below.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

NAND Types

There are various types of NAND Flash available. Bare NAND chips, SmartMediaCards, DiskOnChip.

SmartMediaCards are bare NAND chips covered by thin plastic. They are very common in digital cameras and MP3 players. The card itself contains nothing smart at all. It gets smart by software.

DiskOnChip is NAND Flash with additional glue logic as a drop in replacement for NOR Flash chips. The glue logic provides direct memory access to a small address window, which contains a boot loader stub, which loads the real boot code from the NAND device. The logic contains also control registers for the static NAND chip control lines and a hardware ECC generator.


Ref: http://www.linux-mtd.infradead.org/doc/nand.html

Monday, May 18, 2009

Tips & Tricks

Console-based calculator
To build a terminal-based calculator, add the following function to your ~/.bashrc file:
function calc
{
echo “${1}”|bc -l;
}
Reload Bash profile using the following command:
$source .bashrc
Now run calc from terminal as:
$ calc 4+7*9-10/5
You will get the following output:
65.00000000000000000000
Easy enough?
-----------------------------------------------------------

When did I execute a command?
Here is a tip that will help you understand when you did what. history will give the list of commands which your have executed earlier. If you want information on when you executed these commands, you need to do the following.
Open the /etc/bashrc file in a text editor and add
the following:
export HISTTIMEFORMAT=”%h/%d - %H:%M:%S “
After adding this line, re-login and execute the history command again. Now you will see the commands along with their time of execution.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Encrypt your file with Vim
Did you know Vim can help you encrypt your file so that no one can open it without knowing the encryption key? Well, all you need to do is to create a file
with the -x flag:
vim -x filename

The above command will prompt you for an encryption key. Provide the key and remember it, as you will need it to open the file from now on.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Using Vi’s .exrc file
As you know the ~/.exrc file is used for making permanent settings to your Vi editor. If you place the following commands in this file, these commands will
be available to all your subsequent Vi sessions:

1) :abb is for abbreviation
For example:
:abb etl Elitecore Technologies Limited, Ahmedabad

So whenever you type etl in your Vi editor and press ENTER, SPACE or TAB, etl will be replaced by
“Elitecore Technologies Limited, Ahmedabad”
I use it to create templates for C and C++ programs, like:
:abb CPP #include^M using namespace std;^M int
main()^M {^M return0;^M }

Here ^M is for a new line. Note that to make sure you do not type ^M, for a new line you have to:
a) ctrl+v
b) press ENTER
It will display ^M as above but it means a new line.
So, now every time I need a C++ template, I just type CPP and press ENTER, SPACE or TAB.

2) :map is for mapping some command to some
shortcut.
For example, the vi command :set number is used to display line numbers in a file for every new line. Let’s say we want to set a shortcut for it, say, F2. To map this command to shortcut key, the Vi setting will be:
:map #2 :set number^M

Same for :set nonumber; let’s set it to F3:
:map #3 :set nonumber^M

3) set tabstop=2 is for setting TAB. I want TAB to be equal to 2 spaces, so I set it to 2.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Read a CD volume label
To read the volume label of a CD-ROM from the terminal:
$ dd if=/dev/cdwriter bs=1 skip=32808 count=32
LFYCD_MARCH08 32+0 records in
32+0 records out
32 bytes (32 B) copied, 4.02731 seconds, 0.0 kB/s
Note: The value, /dev/cdwriter depends on your device file.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Disabling ‘shutdown’ with Ctrl+Alt+Del

If you get annoyed, when you accidentally reboot the system by pressing the three magic keys, comment out the following line in your /etc/inittab file:

ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now

You may alternatively allow specific users with this capability by changing the line as below and adding the specific login ids in ‘/etc/shutdown.allow’,

ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -a -t3 -r now
-----------------------------------------------------------

More passwd flags
You can change user account details using the passwd command—yes, it can do more than changing just the password. Open the new terminal and enter the
following commands:

passwd -d [user_name]

where -d deletes the user’s password.
Some other useful flags are:
  • -l locks the user account
  • -u unlocks the user’s account
  • -? is to get help
Ref: Linux For You May 2009
-----------------------------------------------------------

Extract the contents of an RPM
Sometimes we are required to extract the files inside an RPM file instead of installing the RPM. A good example is when we take binaries from one distribution and to use on another distribution, where RPM is not the default
package manager. The rpm2cpio command comes in handy under these circumstances. For example:
$rpm2cpio coreutils-6.9-2.fc7.i386.rpm |cpio -idv
./bin/basename
./bin/cat
./bin/chgrp
./bin/chmod
[...]
This command can be used for source RPMs also.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Checking memory and I/O
The vmstat utility provides interesting information about processes, memory, I/O and CPU activity. When you run this utility without any arguments, the output looks similar to the following:
procs memory swap io system cpu
rbw swpd free buff cache si so bi bo in cs us sy id
000 8 8412 45956 52820 0 0 0 0 104 11 66 0 33
Here, the ‘procs’ fields show the number of
processes:
  • Waiting for run time (r)
  • Blocked (b)
  • Swapped out (w)


The 'memory' fields show the KBs of:
  • Swap memory
  • Free memory
  • Buffered memory
  • Cached memory
The 'swap' fields show the KBps of memory:
  • Swapped in from disk (si)
  • Swapped out to disk (so)
The 'io' fields show the number of blocks per second:
  • Sent to block devices (bi)
  • Received from block devices (bo)
The 'system' field shows the number of:
  • Interrupts per second (in)
  • Context switches per second (cs)
The 'cpu' field shows the percentage of total CPU
time as:
  • User time (us)
  • System time (sy)
  • Idle (id) time
If you want vmstat to update informationautomatically, you can run it as vmstat nsec, where nsec is the number of seconds you want it to wait before
another update.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Displays information about ELF files.

$readelf --segments /bin/ls
$readelf --segments /lib/libc.so.6
-----------------------------------------------------------

Execute a program periodically

$watch -n1 "cat /proc/interrupts"
-----------------------------------------------------------

Find the memory used by a program / process using pmap command

You can find the memory used by a program / process by looking into /proc/[process pid]/maps.
You can use pamp command for same.

$pmap pid

-----------------------------------------------------------

Run your script at boot time

To run your script at boot time you need to first copy your script to the /etc/init.d directory

$ cp /etc/init.d

Now make it executable as follows.

$chmod +x

Create a link to script for all run levels that you want your script to run.

$ ln -s /etc/init.d/ /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/S85
$ ln -s /etc/init.d/ /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/K85

The name of each symbolic link begins with either a K or S. K links are process that are killed on that runlevel, while those beginning with S are started. The S85 tells the system to start the script after starting all scripts with a lower no. & so is the case while killing at shutdown.

Ref: Q & A section, Linux For You, July 2009.
-----------------------------------------------------------

In Shell Scripting, How to find the length of variable.

$ test="Hello World"
$ echo ${#test}
11................................................. o/p

Ref: Linux Journal, May 2009.

-----------------------------------------------------------

How To Enable Root User ( Super User ) in Ubuntu

How To Login Without Entering Username and Password
-----------------------------------------------------------


wet tips

-----------------------------------------------------------

Internet

Find the internet connection speed.

How to identify Public IP address of your internet connection and ISP details.

-----------------------------------------------------------


VIM

8 Essential Vim Editor Navigation Fundamentals


-----------------------------------------------------------


How to find and delete empty directories and files

Find empty directories in the current directory using find -empty
$ find . -type d -empty

Remove all empty directories under the current directory
$ find . -type d -empty -exec rmdir {} \;
 
Find empty files in the current directory using find -empty 

$ find . -type f -empty
 
How many empty files are located under the current directory
$ find . -type f -empty | wc -l
 
How many non-empty files are located under the current directory
$ find . -type f -not -empty | wc -l 
 
Find dead symbolic links
$ find . -type l | perl -lne 'print if ! -e'
-----------------------------------------------------------
 

HowTo: Linux / UNIX Create a Manpage


----------------------------------------------------------- 
 
View information about the motherboard and CPU 
$ dmidecode | more
demdecode's purpose is to report "information 
about your system's hardware as described in your 
system BIOS"
 
-----------------------------------------------------------

How to count how many processes each user is running in Linux

$ ps hax -o user | sort | uniq -c
ps will list the processes, h will remove the header,
-o user prints only the user column,
sort sorts in alphabetical order, so uniq can count each
occurrence and show the number of occurrences instead of all
the occurrences themselves.
-----------------------------------------------------------
 
How to find which process is eating RAM
 
$ ps aux | awk '{print $2, $4, $11}' | sort -k2rn | head -n 20
----------------------------------------------------------- 
 
 Sed tutorials
 
http://unstableme.blogspot.com/search/label/Sed 
 


-----------------------------------------------------------
 
cross compiling

http://www.gnu.org/s/hello/manual/libc/Configuring-and-compiling.html 
 
 
-----------------------------------------------------------
 
Using Vim as a hex editor

Open a file in vim as usual, hit escape and type:
: %!xxd to switch into hex mode
 
exit from hex mode
:%!xxd -r
 
 
 
-----------------------------------------------------------
 

How to see what is in an RPM without installing it?

 1. Create a temp directory

 

# mkdir x

 

 2. Change directory

 

# cd x

 3. Now extract the RPM

 

# rpm2cpio /path/of/ur/RPM/file.rpm | cpio -dmi
 
 
 Ref:  http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog/hi2arun-520846/
how-to-see-what-is-in-an-rpm-without-installing-it-4062/
-----------------------------------------------------------
 
 
How to change the  sudo timeout length in Ubuntu
 
 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudoTimeout
 
-----------------------------------------------------------
 
 

Disable/Enable Auto-Mount in Ubuntu 10.04/10.10

 http://www.liberiangeek.net/2010/09/disableenable-auto-mount-ubuntu-10-0410-10-maverick-meerkat/

 
 

Monday, April 6, 2009

Maximum On-Disk Sizes of the Filesystems

Filesystem File Size Limit Filesystem Size Limit
ext2 with 1 KiB blocksize 16448 MiB 2048 GiB (= 2 TiB)
(~ 16 GiB)

ext2 with 2 KiB blocksize 256 GiB 8192 GiB (= 8 TiB)

ext2 with 4 KiB blocksize 2048 GiB (= 2 TiB) 16384 GiB (= 16 TiB)

ext2 with 8 KiB blocksize (1) 65568 GiB (~ 64 TiB) 32768 GiB (= 32 TiB)

ReiserFS 3.5 (Linux 2.2) 4 GiB 16384 GiB (= 16 TiB)

ReiserFS 3.6 (Linux 2.4) 1 EiB 16384 GiB (= 16 TiB)

XFS 8 EiB 8 EiB

JFS with 512 Bytes blocksize 8 EiB 512 TiB

JFS with 4KiB blocksize 8 EiB 4 PiB

NFSv2 (Client side) 2 GiB 8 EiB

NFSv3 (Client side) 8 EiB 8 EiB


Reference
http://linuxreviews.org/sysadmin/filesystems/

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Kbuild

Linux Kernel Makefiles

This document describes the Linux kernel Makefiles.

=== Table of Contents

=== 1 Overview
=== 2 Who does what
=== 3 The kbuild files
--- 3.1 Goal definitions
--- 3.2 Built-in object goals - obj-y
--- 3.3 Loadable module goals - obj-m
--- 3.4 Objects which export symbols
--- 3.5 Library file goals - lib-y
--- 3.6 Descending down in directories
--- 3.7 Compilation flags
--- 3.8 Command line dependency
--- 3.9 Dependency tracking
--- 3.10 Special Rules
--- 3.11 $(CC) support functions

=== 4 Host Program support
--- 4.1 Simple Host Program
--- 4.2 Composite Host Programs
--- 4.3 Defining shared libraries
--- 4.4 Using C++ for host programs
--- 4.5 Controlling compiler options for host programs
--- 4.6 When host programs are actually built
--- 4.7 Using hostprogs-$(CONFIG_FOO)

=== 5 Kbuild clean infrastructure

=== 6 Architecture Makefiles
--- 6.1 Set variables to tweak the build to the architecture
--- 6.2 Add prerequisites to archprepare:
--- 6.3 List directories to visit when descending
--- 6.4 Architecture specific boot images
--- 6.5 Building non-kbuild targets
--- 6.6 Commands useful for building a boot image
--- 6.7 Custom kbuild commands
--- 6.8 Preprocessing linker scripts

=== 7 Kbuild Variables
=== 8 Makefile language
=== 9 Credits
=== 10 TODO

=== 1 Overview

The Makefiles have five parts:

Makefile the top Makefile.
.config the kernel configuration file.
arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile the arch Makefile.
scripts/Makefile.* common rules etc. for all kbuild Makefiles.
kbuild Makefiles there are about 500 of these.

The top Makefile reads the .config file, which comes from the kernel
configuration process.

The top Makefile is responsible for building two major products: vmlinux
(the resident kernel image) and modules (any module files).
It builds these goals by recursively descending into the subdirectories of
the kernel source tree.
The list of subdirectories which are visited depends upon the kernel
configuration. The top Makefile textually includes an arch Makefile
with the name arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile. The arch Makefile supplies
architecture-specific information to the top Makefile.

Each subdirectory has a kbuild Makefile which carries out the commands
passed down from above. The kbuild Makefile uses information from the
.config file to construct various file lists used by kbuild to build
any built-in or modular targets.

scripts/Makefile.* contains all the definitions/rules etc. that
are used to build the kernel based on the kbuild makefiles.


=== 2 Who does what

People have four different relationships with the kernel Makefiles.

*Users* are people who build kernels. These people type commands such as
"make menuconfig" or "make". They usually do not read or edit
any kernel Makefiles (or any other source files).

*Normal developers* are people who work on features such as device
drivers, file systems, and network protocols. These people need to
maintain the kbuild Makefiles for the subsystem they are
working on. In order to do this effectively, they need some overall
knowledge about the kernel Makefiles, plus detailed knowledge about the
public interface for kbuild.

*Arch developers* are people who work on an entire architecture, such
as sparc or ia64. Arch developers need to know about the arch Makefile
as well as kbuild Makefiles.

*Kbuild developers* are people who work on the kernel build system itself.
These people need to know about all aspects of the kernel Makefiles.

This document is aimed towards normal developers and arch developers.


=== 3 The kbuild files

Most Makefiles within the kernel are kbuild Makefiles that use the
kbuild infrastructure. This chapter introduces the syntax used in the
kbuild makefiles.
The preferred name for the kbuild files are 'Makefile' but 'Kbuild' can
be used and if both a 'Makefile' and a 'Kbuild' file exists, then the 'Kbuild'
file will be used.

Section 3.1 "Goal definitions" is a quick intro, further chapters provide
more details, with real examples.

--- 3.1 Goal definitions

Goal definitions are the main part (heart) of the kbuild Makefile.
These lines define the files to be built, any special compilation
options, and any subdirectories to be entered recursively.

The most simple kbuild makefile contains one line:

Example:
obj-y += foo.o

This tell kbuild that there is one object in that directory, named
foo.o. foo.o will be built from foo.c or foo.S.

If foo.o shall be built as a module, the variable obj-m is used.
Therefore the following pattern is often used:

Example:
obj-$(CONFIG_FOO) += foo.o

$(CONFIG_FOO) evaluates to either y (for built-in) or m (for module).
If CONFIG_FOO is neither y nor m, then the file will not be compiled
nor linked.

--- 3.2 Built-in object goals - obj-y

The kbuild Makefile specifies object files for vmlinux
in the $(obj-y) lists. These lists depend on the kernel
configuration.

Kbuild compiles all the $(obj-y) files. It then calls
"$(LD) -r" to merge these files into one built-in.o file.
built-in.o is later linked into vmlinux by the parent Makefile.

The order of files in $(obj-y) is significant. Duplicates in
the lists are allowed: the first instance will be linked into
built-in.o and succeeding instances will be ignored.

Link order is significant, because certain functions
(module_init() / __initcall) will be called during boot in the
order they appear. So keep in mind that changing the link
order may e.g. change the order in which your SCSI
controllers are detected, and thus your disks are renumbered.

Example:
#drivers/isdn/i4l/Makefile
# Makefile for the kernel ISDN subsystem and device drivers.
# Each configuration option enables a list of files.
obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN) += isdn.o
obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN_PPP_BSDCOMP) += isdn_bsdcomp.o

--- 3.3 Loadable module goals - obj-m

$(obj-m) specify object files which are built as loadable
kernel modules.

A module may be built from one source file or several source
files. In the case of one source file, the kbuild makefile
simply adds the file to $(obj-m).

Example:
#drivers/isdn/i4l/Makefile
obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN_PPP_BSDCOMP) += isdn_bsdcomp.o

Note: In this example $(CONFIG_ISDN_PPP_BSDCOMP) evaluates to 'm'

If a kernel module is built from several source files, you specify
that you want to build a module in the same way as above.

Kbuild needs to know which the parts that you want to build your
module from, so you have to tell it by setting an
$(-objs) variable.

Example:
#drivers/isdn/i4l/Makefile
obj-$(CONFIG_ISDN) += isdn.o
isdn-objs := isdn_net_lib.o isdn_v110.o isdn_common.o

In this example, the module name will be isdn.o. Kbuild will
compile the objects listed in $(isdn-objs) and then run
"$(LD) -r" on the list of these files to generate isdn.o.

Kbuild recognises objects used for composite objects by the suffix
-objs, and the suffix -y. This allows the Makefiles to use
the value of a CONFIG_ symbol to determine if an object is part
of a composite object.

Example:
#fs/ext2/Makefile
obj-$(CONFIG_EXT2_FS) += ext2.o
ext2-y := balloc.o bitmap.o
ext2-$(CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XATTR) += xattr.o

In this example, xattr.o is only part of the composite object
ext2.o if $(CONFIG_EXT2_FS_XATTR) evaluates to 'y'.

Note: Of course, when you are building objects into the kernel,
the syntax above will also work. So, if you have CONFIG_EXT2_FS=y,
kbuild will build an ext2.o file for you out of the individual
parts and then link this into built-in.o, as you would expect.

--- 3.4 Objects which export symbols

No special notation is required in the makefiles for
modules exporting symbols.

--- 3.5 Library file goals - lib-y

Objects listed with obj-* are used for modules, or
combined in a built-in.o for that specific directory.
There is also the possibility to list objects that will
be included in a library, lib.a.
All objects listed with lib-y are combined in a single
library for that directory.
Objects that are listed in obj-y and additionally listed in
lib-y will not be included in the library, since they will
be accessible anyway.
For consistency, objects listed in lib-m will be included in lib.a.

Note that the same kbuild makefile may list files to be built-in
and to be part of a library. Therefore the same directory
may contain both a built-in.o and a lib.a file.

Example:
#arch/i386/lib/Makefile
lib-y := checksum.o delay.o

This will create a library lib.a based on checksum.o and delay.o.
For kbuild to actually recognize that there is a lib.a being built,
the directory shall be listed in libs-y.
See also "6.3 List directories to visit when descending".

Use of lib-y is normally restricted to lib/ and arch/*/lib.

--- 3.6 Descending down in directories

A Makefile is only responsible for building objects in its own
directory. Files in subdirectories should be taken care of by
Makefiles in these subdirs. The build system will automatically
invoke make recursively in subdirectories, provided you let it know of
them.

To do so, obj-y and obj-m are used.
ext2 lives in a separate directory, and the Makefile present in fs/
tells kbuild to descend down using the following assignment.

Example:
#fs/Makefile
obj-$(CONFIG_EXT2_FS) += ext2/

If CONFIG_EXT2_FS is set to either 'y' (built-in) or 'm' (modular)
the corresponding obj- variable will be set, and kbuild will descend
down in the ext2 directory.
Kbuild only uses this information to decide that it needs to visit
the directory, it is the Makefile in the subdirectory that
specifies what is modules and what is built-in.

It is good practice to use a CONFIG_ variable when assigning directory
names. This allows kbuild to totally skip the directory if the
corresponding CONFIG_ option is neither 'y' nor 'm'.

--- 3.7 Compilation flags

EXTRA_CFLAGS, EXTRA_AFLAGS, EXTRA_LDFLAGS, EXTRA_ARFLAGS

All the EXTRA_ variables apply only to the kbuild makefile
where they are assigned. The EXTRA_ variables apply to all
commands executed in the kbuild makefile.

$(EXTRA_CFLAGS) specifies options for compiling C files with
$(CC).

Example:
# drivers/sound/emu10k1/Makefile
EXTRA_CFLAGS += -I$(obj)
ifdef DEBUG
EXTRA_CFLAGS += -DEMU10K1_DEBUG
endif


This variable is necessary because the top Makefile owns the
variable $(CFLAGS) and uses it for compilation flags for the
entire tree.

$(EXTRA_AFLAGS) is a similar string for per-directory options
when compiling assembly language source.

Example:
#arch/x86_64/kernel/Makefile
EXTRA_AFLAGS := -traditional


$(EXTRA_LDFLAGS) and $(EXTRA_ARFLAGS) are similar strings for
per-directory options to $(LD) and $(AR).

Example:
#arch/m68k/fpsp040/Makefile
EXTRA_LDFLAGS := -x

CFLAGS_$@, AFLAGS_$@

CFLAGS_$@ and AFLAGS_$@ only apply to commands in current
kbuild makefile.

$(CFLAGS_$@) specifies per-file options for $(CC). The $@
part has a literal value which specifies the file that it is for.

Example:
# drivers/scsi/Makefile
CFLAGS_aha152x.o = -DAHA152X_STAT -DAUTOCONF
CFLAGS_gdth.o = # -DDEBUG_GDTH=2 -D__SERIAL__ -D__COM2__ \
-DGDTH_STATISTICS
CFLAGS_seagate.o = -DARBITRATE -DPARITY -DSEAGATE_USE_ASM

These three lines specify compilation flags for aha152x.o,
gdth.o, and seagate.o

$(AFLAGS_$@) is a similar feature for source files in assembly
languages.




Example:
# arch/arm/kernel/Makefile
AFLAGS_head-armv.o := -DTEXTADDR=$(TEXTADDR) -traditional
AFLAGS_head-armo.o := -DTEXTADDR=$(TEXTADDR) -traditional

--- 3.9 Dependency tracking

Kbuild tracks dependencies on the following:
1) All prerequisite files (both *.c and *.h)
2) CONFIG_ options used in all prerequisite files
3) Command-line used to compile target

Thus, if you change an option to $(CC) all affected files will
be re-compiled.

--- 3.10 Special Rules

Special rules are used when the kbuild infrastructure does
not provide the required support. A typical example is
header files generated during the build process.
Another example are the architecture specific Makefiles which
need special rules to prepare boot images etc.

Special rules are written as normal Make rules.
Kbuild is not executing in the directory where the Makefile is
located, so all special rules shall provide a relative
path to prerequisite files and target files.

Two variables are used when defining special rules:

$(src)
$(src) is a relative path which points to the directory
where the Makefile is located. Always use $(src) when
referring to files located in the src tree.

$(obj)
$(obj) is a relative path which points to the directory
where the target is saved. Always use $(obj) when
referring to generated files.

Example:
#drivers/scsi/Makefile
$(obj)/53c8xx_d.h: $(src)/53c7,8xx.scr $(src)/script_asm.pl
$(CPP) -DCHIP=810 - < $< | ... $(src)/script_asm.pl

This is a special rule, following the normal syntax
required by make.
The target file depends on two prerequisite files. References
to the target file are prefixed with $(obj), references
to prerequisites are referenced with $(src) (because they are not
generated files).

--- 3.11 $(CC) support functions

The kernel may be built with several different versions of
$(CC), each supporting a unique set of features and options.
kbuild provide basic support to check for valid options for $(CC).
$(CC) is usually the gcc compiler, but other alternatives are
available.

as-option
as-option is used to check if $(CC) -- when used to compile
assembler (*.S) files -- supports the given option. An optional
second option may be specified if the first option is not supported.

Example:
#arch/sh/Makefile
cflags-y += $(call as-option,-Wa$(comma)-isa=$(isa-y),)

In the above example, cflags-y will be assigned the option
-Wa$(comma)-isa=$(isa-y) if it is supported by $(CC).
The second argument is optional, and if supplied will be used
if first argument is not supported.

ld-option
ld-option is used to check if $(CC) when used to link object files
supports the given option. An optional second option may be
specified if first option are not supported.

Example:
#arch/i386/kernel/Makefile
vsyscall-flags += $(call ld-option, -Wl$(comma)--hash-style=sysv)

In the above example vsyscall-flags will be assigned the option
-Wl$(comma)--hash-style=sysv if it is supported by $(CC).
The second argument is optional, and if supplied will be used
if first argument is not supported.

as-instr
as-instr checks if the assembler reports a specific instruction
and then outputs either option1 or option2
C escapes are supported in the test instruction

cc-option
cc-option is used to check if $(CC) supports a given option, and not
supported to use an optional second option.

Example:
#arch/i386/Makefile
cflags-y += $(call cc-option,-march=pentium-mmx,-march=i586)

In the above example cflags-y will be assigned the option
-march=pentium-mmx if supported by $(CC), otherwise -march=i586.
The second argument to cc-option is optional, and if omitted,
cflags-y will be assigned no value if first option is not supported.

cc-option-yn
cc-option-yn is used to check if gcc supports a given option
and return 'y' if supported, otherwise 'n'.

Example:
#arch/ppc/Makefile
biarch := $(call cc-option-yn, -m32)
aflags-$(biarch) += -a32
cflags-$(biarch) += -m32

In the above example, $(biarch) is set to y if $(CC) supports the -m32
option. When $(biarch) equals 'y', the expanded variables $(aflags-y)
and $(cflags-y) will be assigned the values -a32 and -m32,
respectively.

cc-option-align
gcc versions >= 3.0 changed the type of options used to specify
alignment of functions, loops etc. $(cc-option-align), when used
as prefix to the align options, will select the right prefix:
gcc < 3.00
cc-option-align = -malign
gcc >= 3.00
cc-option-align = -falign

Example:
CFLAGS += $(cc-option-align)-functions=4

In the above example, the option -falign-functions=4 is used for
gcc >= 3.00. For gcc < 3.00, -malign-functions=4 is used.

cc-version
cc-version returns a numerical version of the $(CC) compiler version.
The format is where both are two digits. So for example
gcc 3.41 would return 0341.
cc-version is useful when a specific $(CC) version is faulty in one
area, for example -mregparm=3 was broken in some gcc versions
even though the option was accepted by gcc.

Example:
#arch/i386/Makefile
cflags-y += $(shell \
if [ $(call cc-version) -ge 0300 ] ; then \
echo "-mregparm=3"; fi ;)

In the above example, -mregparm=3 is only used for gcc version greater
than or equal to gcc 3.0.

cc-ifversion
cc-ifversion tests the version of $(CC) and equals last argument if
version expression is true.

Example:
#fs/reiserfs/Makefile
EXTRA_CFLAGS := $(call cc-ifversion, -lt, 0402, -O1)

In this example, EXTRA_CFLAGS will be assigned the value -O1 if the
$(CC) version is less than 4.2.
cc-ifversion takes all the shell operators:
-eq, -ne, -lt, -le, -gt, and -ge
The third parameter may be a text as in this example, but it may also
be an expanded variable or a macro.


=== 4 Host Program support

Kbuild supports building executables on the host for use during the
compilation stage.
Two steps are required in order to use a host executable.

The first step is to tell kbuild that a host program exists. This is
done utilising the variable hostprogs-y.

The second step is to add an explicit dependency to the executable.
This can be done in two ways. Either add the dependency in a rule,
or utilise the variable $(always).
Both possibilities are described in the following.

--- 4.1 Simple Host Program

In some cases there is a need to compile and run a program on the
computer where the build is running.
The following line tells kbuild that the program bin2hex shall be
built on the build host.

Example:
hostprogs-y := bin2hex

Kbuild assumes in the above example that bin2hex is made from a single
c-source file named bin2hex.c located in the same directory as
the Makefile.

--- 4.2 Composite Host Programs

Host programs can be made up based on composite objects.
The syntax used to define composite objects for host programs is
similar to the syntax used for kernel objects.
$(-objs) lists all objects used to link the final
executable.

Example:
#scripts/lxdialog/Makefile
hostprogs-y := lxdialog
lxdialog-objs := checklist.o lxdialog.o

Objects with extension .o are compiled from the corresponding .c
files. In the above example, checklist.c is compiled to checklist.o
and lxdialog.c is compiled to lxdialog.o.
Finally, the two .o files are linked to the executable, lxdialog.
Note: The syntax -y is not permitted for host-programs.

--- 4.3 Defining shared libraries

Objects with extension .so are considered shared libraries, and
will be compiled as position independent objects.
Kbuild provides support for shared libraries, but the usage
shall be restricted.
In the following example the libkconfig.so shared library is used
to link the executable conf.

Example:
#scripts/kconfig/Makefile
hostprogs-y := conf
conf-objs := conf.o libkconfig.so
libkconfig-objs := expr.o type.o

Shared libraries always require a corresponding -objs line, and
in the example above the shared library libkconfig is composed by
the two objects expr.o and type.o.
expr.o and type.o will be built as position independent code and
linked as a shared library libkconfig.so. C++ is not supported for
shared libraries.

--- 4.4 Using C++ for host programs

kbuild offers support for host programs written in C++. This was
introduced solely to support kconfig, and is not recommended
for general use.

Example:
#scripts/kconfig/Makefile
hostprogs-y := qconf
qconf-cxxobjs := qconf.o

In the example above the executable is composed of the C++ file
qconf.cc - identified by $(qconf-cxxobjs).

If qconf is composed by a mixture of .c and .cc files, then an
additional line can be used to identify this.

Example:
#scripts/kconfig/Makefile
hostprogs-y := qconf
qconf-cxxobjs := qconf.o
qconf-objs := check.o

--- 4.5 Controlling compiler options for host programs

When compiling host programs, it is possible to set specific flags.
The programs will always be compiled utilising $(HOSTCC) passed
the options specified in $(HOSTCFLAGS).
To set flags that will take effect for all host programs created
in that Makefile, use the variable HOST_EXTRACFLAGS.

Example:
#scripts/lxdialog/Makefile
HOST_EXTRACFLAGS += -I/usr/include/ncurses

To set specific flags for a single file the following construction
is used:

Example:
#arch/ppc64/boot/Makefile
HOSTCFLAGS_piggyback.o := -DKERNELBASE=$(KERNELBASE)

It is also possible to specify additional options to the linker.

Example:
#scripts/kconfig/Makefile
HOSTLOADLIBES_qconf := -L$(QTDIR)/lib

When linking qconf, it will be passed the extra option
"-L$(QTDIR)/lib".

--- 4.6 When host programs are actually built

Kbuild will only build host-programs when they are referenced
as a prerequisite.
This is possible in two ways:

(1) List the prerequisite explicitly in a special rule.

Example:
#drivers/pci/Makefile
hostprogs-y := gen-devlist
$(obj)/devlist.h: $(src)/pci.ids $(obj)/gen-devlist
( cd $(obj); ./gen-devlist ) < $<

The target $(obj)/devlist.h will not be built before
$(obj)/gen-devlist is updated. Note that references to
the host programs in special rules must be prefixed with $(obj).

(2) Use $(always)
When there is no suitable special rule, and the host program
shall be built when a makefile is entered, the $(always)
variable shall be used.

Example:
#scripts/lxdialog/Makefile
hostprogs-y := lxdialog
always := $(hostprogs-y)

This will tell kbuild to build lxdialog even if not referenced in
any rule.

--- 4.7 Using hostprogs-$(CONFIG_FOO)

A typical pattern in a Kbuild file looks like this:

Example:
#scripts/Makefile
hostprogs-$(CONFIG_KALLSYMS) += kallsyms

Kbuild knows about both 'y' for built-in and 'm' for module.
So if a config symbol evaluate to 'm', kbuild will still build
the binary. In other words, Kbuild handles hostprogs-m exactly
like hostprogs-y. But only hostprogs-y is recommended to be used
when no CONFIG symbols are involved.

=== 5 Kbuild clean infrastructure

"make clean" deletes most generated files in the obj tree where the kernel
is compiled. This includes generated files such as host programs.
Kbuild knows targets listed in $(hostprogs-y), $(hostprogs-m), $(always),
$(extra-y) and $(targets). They are all deleted during "make clean".
Files matching the patterns "*.[oas]", "*.ko", plus some additional files
generated by kbuild are deleted all over the kernel src tree when
"make clean" is executed.

Additional files can be specified in kbuild makefiles by use of $(clean-files).

Example:
#drivers/pci/Makefile
clean-files := devlist.h classlist.h

When executing "make clean", the two files "devlist.h classlist.h" will
be deleted. Kbuild will assume files to be in same relative directory as the
Makefile except if an absolute path is specified (path starting with '/').

To delete a directory hierarchy use:

Example:
#scripts/package/Makefile
clean-dirs := $(objtree)/debian/

This will delete the directory debian, including all subdirectories.
Kbuild will assume the directories to be in the same relative path as the
Makefile if no absolute path is specified (path does not start with '/').

Usually kbuild descends down in subdirectories due to "obj-* := dir/",
but in the architecture makefiles where the kbuild infrastructure
is not sufficient this sometimes needs to be explicit.

Example:
#arch/i386/boot/Makefile
subdir- := compressed/

The above assignment instructs kbuild to descend down in the
directory compressed/ when "make clean" is executed.

To support the clean infrastructure in the Makefiles that builds the
final bootimage there is an optional target named archclean:

Example:
#arch/i386/Makefile
archclean:
$(Q)$(MAKE) $(clean)=arch/i386/boot

When "make clean" is executed, make will descend down in arch/i386/boot,
and clean as usual. The Makefile located in arch/i386/boot/ may use
the subdir- trick to descend further down.

Note 1: arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile cannot use "subdir-", because that file is
included in the top level makefile, and the kbuild infrastructure
is not operational at that point.

Note 2: All directories listed in core-y, libs-y, drivers-y and net-y will
be visited during "make clean".

=== 6 Architecture Makefiles

The top level Makefile sets up the environment and does the preparation,
before starting to descend down in the individual directories.
The top level makefile contains the generic part, whereas
arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile contains what is required to set up kbuild
for said architecture.
To do so, arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile sets up a number of variables and defines
a few targets.

When kbuild executes, the following steps are followed (roughly):
1) Configuration of the kernel => produce .config
2) Store kernel version in include/linux/version.h
3) Symlink include/asm to include/asm-$(ARCH)
4) Updating all other prerequisites to the target prepare:
- Additional prerequisites are specified in arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile
5) Recursively descend down in all directories listed in
init-* core* drivers-* net-* libs-* and build all targets.
- The values of the above variables are expanded in arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile.
6) All object files are then linked and the resulting file vmlinux is
located at the root of the obj tree.
The very first objects linked are listed in head-y, assigned by
arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile.
7) Finally, the architecture specific part does any required post processing
and builds the final bootimage.
- This includes building boot records
- Preparing initrd images and thelike


--- 6.1 Set variables to tweak the build to the architecture

LDFLAGS Generic $(LD) options

Flags used for all invocations of the linker.
Often specifying the emulation is sufficient.

Example:
#arch/s390/Makefile
LDFLAGS := -m elf_s390
Note: EXTRA_LDFLAGS and LDFLAGS_$@ can be used to further customise
the flags used. See chapter 7.

LDFLAGS_MODULE Options for $(LD) when linking modules

LDFLAGS_MODULE is used to set specific flags for $(LD) when
linking the .ko files used for modules.
Default is "-r", for relocatable output.

LDFLAGS_vmlinux Options for $(LD) when linking vmlinux

LDFLAGS_vmlinux is used to specify additional flags to pass to
the linker when linking the final vmlinux image.
LDFLAGS_vmlinux uses the LDFLAGS_$@ support.

Example:
#arch/i386/Makefile
LDFLAGS_vmlinux := -e stext

OBJCOPYFLAGS objcopy flags

When $(call if_changed,objcopy) is used to translate a .o file,
the flags specified in OBJCOPYFLAGS will be used.
$(call if_changed,objcopy) is often used to generate raw binaries on
vmlinux.

Example:
#arch/s390/Makefile
OBJCOPYFLAGS := -O binary

#arch/s390/boot/Makefile
$(obj)/image: vmlinux FORCE
$(call if_changed,objcopy)

In this example, the binary $(obj)/image is a binary version of
vmlinux. The usage of $(call if_changed,xxx) will be described later.

AFLAGS $(AS) assembler flags

Default value - see top level Makefile
Append or modify as required per architecture.

Example:
#arch/sparc64/Makefile
AFLAGS += -m64 -mcpu=ultrasparc

CFLAGS $(CC) compiler flags

Default value - see top level Makefile
Append or modify as required per architecture.

Often, the CFLAGS variable depends on the configuration.

Example:
#arch/i386/Makefile
cflags-$(CONFIG_M386) += -march=i386
CFLAGS += $(cflags-y)

Many arch Makefiles dynamically run the target C compiler to
probe supported options:

#arch/i386/Makefile

...
cflags-$(CONFIG_MPENTIUMII) += $(call cc-option,\
-march=pentium2,-march=i686)
...
# Disable unit-at-a-time mode ...
CFLAGS += $(call cc-option,-fno-unit-at-a-time)
...


The first example utilises the trick that a config option expands
to 'y' when selected.

CFLAGS_KERNEL $(CC) options specific for built-in

$(CFLAGS_KERNEL) contains extra C compiler flags used to compile
resident kernel code.

CFLAGS_MODULE $(CC) options specific for modules

$(CFLAGS_MODULE) contains extra C compiler flags used to compile code
for loadable kernel modules.


--- 6.2 Add prerequisites to archprepare:

The archprepare: rule is used to list prerequisites that need to be
built before starting to descend down in the subdirectories.
This is usually used for header files containing assembler constants.

Example:
#arch/arm/Makefile
archprepare: maketools

In this example, the file target maketools will be processed
before descending down in the subdirectories.
See also chapter XXX-TODO that describe how kbuild supports
generating offset header files.


--- 6.3 List directories to visit when descending

An arch Makefile cooperates with the top Makefile to define variables
which specify how to build the vmlinux file. Note that there is no
corresponding arch-specific section for modules; the module-building
machinery is all architecture-independent.


head-y, init-y, core-y, libs-y, drivers-y, net-y

$(head-y) lists objects to be linked first in vmlinux.
$(libs-y) lists directories where a lib.a archive can be located.
The rest lists directories where a built-in.o object file can be
located.

$(init-y) objects will be located after $(head-y).
Then the rest follows in this order:
$(core-y), $(libs-y), $(drivers-y) and $(net-y).

The top level Makefile defines values for all generic directories,
and arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile only adds architecture specific directories.

Example:
#arch/sparc64/Makefile
core-y += arch/sparc64/kernel/
libs-y += arch/sparc64/prom/ arch/sparc64/lib/
drivers-$(CONFIG_OPROFILE) += arch/sparc64/oprofile/


--- 6.4 Architecture specific boot images

An arch Makefile specifies goals that take the vmlinux file, compress
it, wrap it in bootstrapping code, and copy the resulting files
somewhere. This includes various kinds of installation commands.
The actual goals are not standardized across architectures.

It is common to locate any additional processing in a boot/
directory below arch/$(ARCH)/.

Kbuild does not provide any smart way to support building a
target specified in boot/. Therefore arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile shall
call make manually to build a target in boot/.

The recommended approach is to include shortcuts in
arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile, and use the full path when calling down
into the arch/$(ARCH)/boot/Makefile.

Example:
#arch/i386/Makefile
boot := arch/i386/boot
bzImage: vmlinux
$(Q)$(MAKE) $(build)=$(boot) $(boot)/$@

"$(Q)$(MAKE) $(build)=" is the recommended way to invoke
make in a subdirectory.

There are no rules for naming architecture specific targets,
but executing "make help" will list all relevant targets.
To support this, $(archhelp) must be defined.

Example:
#arch/i386/Makefile
define archhelp
echo '* bzImage - Image (arch/$(ARCH)/boot/bzImage)'
endif

When make is executed without arguments, the first goal encountered
will be built. In the top level Makefile the first goal present
is all:.
An architecture shall always, per default, build a bootable image.
In "make help", the default goal is highlighted with a '*'.
Add a new prerequisite to all: to select a default goal different
from vmlinux.

Example:
#arch/i386/Makefile
all: bzImage

When "make" is executed without arguments, bzImage will be built.

--- 6.5 Building non-kbuild targets

extra-y

extra-y specify additional targets created in the current
directory, in addition to any targets specified by obj-*.

Listing all targets in extra-y is required for two purposes:
1) Enable kbuild to check changes in command lines
- When $(call if_changed,xxx) is used
2) kbuild knows what files to delete during "make clean"

Example:
#arch/i386/kernel/Makefile
extra-y := head.o init_task.o

In this example, extra-y is used to list object files that
shall be built, but shall not be linked as part of built-in.o.


--- 6.6 Commands useful for building a boot image

Kbuild provides a few macros that are useful when building a
boot image.

if_changed

if_changed is the infrastructure used for the following commands.

Usage:
target: source(s) FORCE
$(call if_changed,ld/objcopy/gzip)

When the rule is evaluated, it is checked to see if any files
needs an update, or the command line has changed since the last
invocation. The latter will force a rebuild if any options
to the executable have changed.
Any target that utilises if_changed must be listed in $(targets),
otherwise the command line check will fail, and the target will
always be built.
Assignments to $(targets) are without $(obj)/ prefix.
if_changed may be used in conjunction with custom commands as
defined in 6.7 "Custom kbuild commands".

Note: It is a typical mistake to forget the FORCE prerequisite.
Another common pitfall is that whitespace is sometimes
significant; for instance, the below will fail (note the extra space
after the comma):
target: source(s) FORCE
#WRONG!# $(call if_changed, ld/objcopy/gzip)

ld
Link target. Often, LDFLAGS_$@ is used to set specific options to ld.

objcopy
Copy binary. Uses OBJCOPYFLAGS usually specified in
arch/$(ARCH)/Makefile.
OBJCOPYFLAGS_$@ may be used to set additional options.

gzip
Compress target. Use maximum compression to compress target.

Example:
#arch/i386/boot/Makefile
LDFLAGS_bootsect := -Ttext 0x0 -s --oformat binary
LDFLAGS_setup := -Ttext 0x0 -s --oformat binary -e begtext

targets += setup setup.o bootsect bootsect.o
$(obj)/setup $(obj)/bootsect: %: %.o FORCE
$(call if_changed,ld)

In this example, there are two possible targets, requiring different
options to the linker. The linker options are specified using the
LDFLAGS_$@ syntax - one for each potential target.
$(targets) are assigned all potential targets, by which kbuild knows
the targets and will:
1) check for commandline changes
2) delete target during make clean

The ": %: %.o" part of the prerequisite is a shorthand that
free us from listing the setup.o and bootsect.o files.
Note: It is a common mistake to forget the "target :=" assignment,
resulting in the target file being recompiled for no
obvious reason.


--- 6.7 Custom kbuild commands

When kbuild is executing with KBUILD_VERBOSE=0, then only a shorthand
of a command is normally displayed.
To enable this behaviour for custom commands kbuild requires
two variables to be set:
quiet_cmd_ - what shall be echoed
cmd_ - the command to execute

Example:
#
quiet_cmd_image = BUILD $@
cmd_image = $(obj)/tools/build $(BUILDFLAGS) \
$(obj)/vmlinux.bin > $@

targets += bzImage
$(obj)/bzImage: $(obj)/vmlinux.bin $(obj)/tools/build FORCE
$(call if_changed,image)
@echo 'Kernel: $@ is ready'

When updating the $(obj)/bzImage target, the line

BUILD arch/i386/boot/bzImage

will be displayed with "make KBUILD_VERBOSE=0".


--- 6.8 Preprocessing linker scripts

When the vmlinux image is built, the linker script
arch/$(ARCH)/kernel/vmlinux.lds is used.
The script is a preprocessed variant of the file vmlinux.lds.S
located in the same directory.
kbuild knows .lds files and includes a rule *lds.S -> *lds.

Example:
#arch/i386/kernel/Makefile
always := vmlinux.lds

#Makefile
export CPPFLAGS_vmlinux.lds += -P -C -U$(ARCH)

The assignment to $(always) is used to tell kbuild to build the
target vmlinux.lds.
The assignment to $(CPPFLAGS_vmlinux.lds) tells kbuild to use the
specified options when building the target vmlinux.lds.

When building the *.lds target, kbuild uses the variables:
CPPFLAGS : Set in top-level Makefile
EXTRA_CPPFLAGS : May be set in the kbuild makefile
CPPFLAGS_$(@F) : Target specific flags.
Note that the full filename is used in this
assignment.

The kbuild infrastructure for *lds file are used in several
architecture specific files.


=== 7 Kbuild Variables

The top Makefile exports the following variables:

VERSION, PATCHLEVEL, SUBLEVEL, EXTRAVERSION

These variables define the current kernel version. A few arch
Makefiles actually use these values directly; they should use
$(KERNELRELEASE) instead.

$(VERSION), $(PATCHLEVEL), and $(SUBLEVEL) define the basic
three-part version number, such as "2", "4", and "0". These three
values are always numeric.

$(EXTRAVERSION) defines an even tinier sublevel for pre-patches
or additional patches. It is usually some non-numeric string
such as "-pre4", and is often blank.

KERNELRELEASE

$(KERNELRELEASE) is a single string such as "2.4.0-pre4", suitable
for constructing installation directory names or showing in
version strings. Some arch Makefiles use it for this purpose.

ARCH

This variable defines the target architecture, such as "i386",
"arm", or "sparc". Some kbuild Makefiles test $(ARCH) to
determine which files to compile.

By default, the top Makefile sets $(ARCH) to be the same as the
host system architecture. For a cross build, a user may
override the value of $(ARCH) on the command line:

make ARCH=m68k ...


INSTALL_PATH

This variable defines a place for the arch Makefiles to install
the resident kernel image and System.map file.
Use this for architecture specific install targets.

INSTALL_MOD_PATH, MODLIB

$(INSTALL_MOD_PATH) specifies a prefix to $(MODLIB) for module
installation. This variable is not defined in the Makefile but
may be passed in by the user if desired.

$(MODLIB) specifies the directory for module installation.
The top Makefile defines $(MODLIB) to
$(INSTALL_MOD_PATH)/lib/modules/$(KERNELRELEASE). The user may
override this value on the command line if desired.

INSTALL_MOD_STRIP

If this variable is specified, will cause modules to be stripped
after they are installed. If INSTALL_MOD_STRIP is '1', then the
default option --strip-debug will be used. Otherwise,
INSTALL_MOD_STRIP will used as the option(s) to the strip command.


=== 8 Makefile language

The kernel Makefiles are designed to be run with GNU Make. The Makefiles
use only the documented features of GNU Make, but they do use many
GNU extensions.

GNU Make supports elementary list-processing functions. The kernel
Makefiles use a novel style of list building and manipulation with few
"if" statements.

GNU Make has two assignment operators, ":=" and "=". ":=" performs
immediate evaluation of the right-hand side and stores an actual string
into the left-hand side. "=" is like a formula definition; it stores the
right-hand side in an unevaluated form and then evaluates this form each
time the left-hand side is used.

There are some cases where "=" is appropriate. Usually, though, ":="
is the right choice.

=== 9 Credits

Original version made by Michael Elizabeth Chastain,
Updates by Kai Germaschewski
Updates by Sam Ravnborg
Language QA by Jan Engelhardt

=== 10 TODO

- Describe how kbuild supports shipped files with _shipped.
- Generating offset header files.
- Add more variables to section 7?





Ref: kernel Documentation/kbuild/makefiles.txt

Monday, February 9, 2009

What is the difference between tty & ttyS

/dev/tty ar the loginshells on your computer (/dev/tty1-6 representing alt+F1-6)
/dev/ttyS0-n on the other hand are the seriel ports on you computer (Typically known as com 1-4 on a windows machine)

Ref:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-hardware-18/difference-between-tty-and-ttys-605986/