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The Linux Boot Process: From Power Button to Kernel

https://www.0xkato.xyz/linux-boot/
69•0xkato•2h ago

Comments

pixelbeat__•2h ago
GRUB is mentioned but not detailed.

Here are some details: https://www.pixelbeat.org/docs/disk/

metabagel•2h ago
Hard to read on my phone due to faded text.
Brybry•1h ago
The styling is bad on a desktop browser too. If you use Firefox or Firefox Mobile then reader mode is good for cases like this.
DonHopkins•1h ago
The self deprecatingly downvoted look.
superkuh•1h ago
Video device initialization is intimately intertwined and a dependency for all this early boot stuff. I was hoping to learn more but it's not even mentioned. Still, neat.
megous•1h ago
It's not a dependency for Linux boot at all. You can do well with serial port alone, as anyone who brought up eg. an ARM SoC in Linux will attest to.

Also it's not very interesting either. At simplest, Linux just needs to take a pointer to a beginning of a framebuffer and some metadata, and will write to the framebuffer whenever there's something to update.

superkuh•1h ago
Maybe not linux specifically, but POST requires a video device software (BIOS Option ROM or UEFI GOP Drivers) of some sort does it not? That's been my experience with all PCs for 30 years. But maybe there are cases where it doesn't?

edit: Apparently it's a desktop motherboard firmware thing. Ubiquitous but not technically a requirement for POSTing a computer.

GreenVulpine•46m ago
I've found AM4/AM5 boards will still boot Linux without a discrete or integrated GPU, running a GPUless CPU, not an APU.
edoceo•5m ago
Soekris (rip) had an x86 network device. Four 10/100s and the disk was a CF. Could only serial console that thing - or SSH once it's running. Best router I ever had.

Also, in 2000 when Windows crashed you could get a serial debugger. Wonder if they still do that?

pwpwp•1h ago
Light gray text on white??
nightshift1•1h ago
The topic is interesting but it seems to be targeted for my grandmother.
zahlman•1h ago
> When power stabilizes, the CPU resets itself to a tiny, old‑fashioned mode called real mode. Real mode dates back to the original 8086 chip. The rules are simple on purpose. Memory addresses are built from two values the CPU keeps in special fast storage called registers. You combine a segment and an offset like this:

  physical_address = (segment << 4) + offset
Your grandmother sounds unusually proficient with this sort of thing.
nightshift1•59m ago
I dont know, i just don't like the tone. This is a complex subject where the target audience should probably already know what is an hexadecimal number or an interrupt and the explanation of a cpu register ought to be better than: "A register is a tiny slot inside the CPU. It holds a number the CPU is using right now." If the subject interest you, you deserve better.
typpilol•35m ago
Agreed. A lot of these articles leave me with more questions than answers.

These blog posts really annoy me because I feel like with 20% more effort you could have something worth reading.

Neywiny•46m ago
One of the things we were taught in uni was audience analysis. I think about it a lot. What's expected to already be known? What acronyms or phrases need defining? Etc. This is an art I'm far from perfect at and it seems a lot of tech writers are too
zahlman•1h ago
In the page source:

  <body>
      <!-- Femboy Mode Button - Hidden on Mobile -->
      <button class="rave-button" id="raveButton" onclick="toggleRaveMode()" title="Femboy Mode" style="display: none;">
          <span class="button-text">uwu</span>
      </button>
OwO what's this?
0xkato•1h ago
Its a working progress.
hamasho•1h ago
Funny how those three posts are in hacker news top 5 now. I guess today is the low level appreciation day.

  * The Linux Boot Process: From Power Button to Kernel
  * The Journey Before main()
  * How programs get run: ELF binaries (2015) (lwn.net)
edit: format
kuekacang•1h ago
Oh hey, a fellow noticing person!
nightshift1•56m ago
yes, and the bar is not at all at the same level.
adtac•33m ago
weekend hackernews best hackernews
nickelpro•1h ago
UEFI is an interface implemented by firmware (literally, Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), it's not the firmware itself. Saying "it starts the machine" is a bit of a nomenclature faux pas. The firmware starts the machine, you talk to the firmware via UEFI.

This post skips all the interesting things in the modern firmware dance. Not the least of which is when you call ExitBootServices() you're already in long mode. There's no need for the journey through real and protected.

panny•1h ago
I'm probably going to read this, but who thought putting light grey text on a white background was a good idea?
zzzeek•49m ago
I'm going to save this guys blog in one step

https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/

(this is the site: https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/?fcolor=D0D0D0&...)

neoattikos•32m ago
Nice to see the good old hacker energy & independent blogs explaining things showing up on top of hacker news. Welcome change from insufferable agent this and vibe that
jiveturkey•7m ago
fascinating how it's all over the place wrt level of detail. and absolutely unreadable. luckily the layout is simple and reader mode works.

> Hex is base 16

i would argue that someone that understand bases (in the first place), understands what the << operator does (context where base 16 is explained), but doesn't understand what base 16 is, doesn't exist. this is the kind of hectic approach of this article i'm talking about. even the author's name, 0xkato, is an example of this.

as to the content, i wish it had touched on TPM, PCRs, UEFI secure boot, and ME pre-boot.

i'm forgiving all the actual errors since it is a pretty broad overview.

i'm guessing first-year uni student.

rather amazed a post like this can make it to the #1 spot.

gmueckl•5m ago
This is old school BIOS boot. EFI bootloaders work very differently.

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