Chapter 16. Porting Linux

In this chapter

• Linux Source Organization page 422

• Custom Linux for Your Board page 424

• Platform Initialization page 431

• Putting It All Together page 439

• Chapter Summary page 442

It is not difficult to port Linux to a new hardware platform. The Linux source tree contains ports for numerous boards spanning more than 20 architectures and many more individual processors. Knowing where to start is often the hardest part.

This chapter covers the basics of porting Linux to a custom board providing support for basic Ethernet and serial console operation. We examine the organization of the Linux source code from an architectural and platform perspective. We then delve into the early kernel initialization code to understand the mechanisms provided for platform initialization. Finally, we look at a typical porting effort to a custom PowerPC hardware platform.