[coreboot] global variables in romstage

[Stefan Reinauer]

 On 8/12/10 9:27 PM, Patrick Georgi wrote:
> 1.  _bogus = ASSERT((SIZEOF(.bss) + SIZEOF(.data)) == 0, "Do not use
> global variables in romstage");
>
> This one looks for the size of .bss and .data (initialized and
> uninitialized globals) and breaks the build if it finds any. It doesn't
> tell, which global variables are involved.
>
>
> 2. Add .bss and .data to /DISCARD/.
>
> That way, the linker complains about "missing" symbols (as they were
> discarded), but only if they were used by any surviving code. This
> means, it's no problem that the global is defined. If you use it
> later-on, it "mysteriously" breaks. The error message is rather cryptic,
> too:
> `variable' referenced in section `.rom.text' of
> coreboot-builds/kontron_986lcd-m/mainboard/kontron/986lcd-m/crt0.initobj.o:
> defined in discarded section
> `.data' of
> coreboot-builds/kontron_986lcd-m/mainboard/kontron/986lcd-m/crt0.initobj.o
> collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
>
>
> I tend to prefer the first option, but it doesn't give _any_ clues which
> variable is responsible (except for "look for globals"), but at least it
> does tell the user what the real problem is.

I prefer option one, too, as
- it catches all global variables, not just the used ones. We want to be
sure that no such code sneaks in even if it's not used.
- it provides a clear error message on what is wrong, inszead of the
more cryptic one saying that a variable is defined in a discarded section.


> There might also be a good opportunity for some naming cleanup:
> Rename and move ldscript_fallback_cbfs.lb to
> src/arch/i386/coreboot_rom.ld. Or better call it "romstage.ld" (and
> adapt coreboot_ram.ld in arch/i386 in the same way)?
I like the latter.

Fixes to both  issues are:

Acked-by: Stefan Reinauer <stepan at coresystems.de>


Stefan