A new 24-patch series in Concept that introduces basic support for unlocking LUKS1 encrypted partitions directly within U-Boot. This is a foundational step toward a more integrated and user-friendly full-disk encryption (FDE) experience. 🤔 The Problem with “Late” Unlocking Traditionally, FDE on Linux systems is handled late in the boot process. U-Boot loads a kernel…
The build-qemu script provides lots of useful features and is an easy way to run U-Boot under QEMU with an OS, with or without video, etc. Now in Concept it is possible to pass a boot command! The -b/–bootcmd option creates a special ‘file’ within QEMU that contains the requested command. Then U-Boot uses an…
U-Boot Concept now has preliminary support for the ACPI Firmware Performance Data Table (FPDT). It is included in the ‘bootstage and script enhancement’ series. The OS can look at this table to figure out how long the firmware took to boot. Only the ‘basic boot’ record is supported. It contains the following fields: All timestamps…
For a long time, editing commands in the U-Boot video console has been an exercise in memory. Without a visible cursor, it was often difficult to know your exact position in a long command line. A new 41-patch series in Concept changes that by introducing comprehensive cursor support for U-Boot’s video consoles. This update brings…
We’re excited to announce a new patch series that brings mouse support to U-Boot! This long-awaited feature resurrects some old code that was originally developed for Nuklear integration and provides a comprehensive mouse input framework. What’s New The 17-patch series (1,374 lines added across 44 files) introduces a simple mouse subsystem including: Key Features Universal…
Have you ever run the help or env print command and watched a torrent of text scroll past, faster than you could read it? We’ve all been there. Important information disappears off the top of the screen before we have a chance to digest it. Well, those days are over! Thanks to a new patch…
Managing patch series can be one of the most time-consuming aspects of contributing to large open-source projects like U-Boot and Linux. While patman has long been a powerful tool for creating, checking, and sending patches, the relatively new patman series feature takes workflow management to the next level by providing lifecycle management for series, with…
The EFI app on x86 has supported booting for a while. With a recent 19-part series, the EFI app can now also boot an OS on ARM. This uses standard boot and the standard extlinux boot flow. The Core Fixes To successfully hand off control from the EFI environment to a new operating system, a…
For a while now, U-Boot’s EFI application (efi_app) has been a handy tool, but with one noticeable difference between architectures: x86 could show things on the screen, while ARM was stuck in the dark. If you wanted a splash screen or a graphical boot menu in your ARM EFI app, you were out of luck….
The Flattened Image Tree (FIT) is at the heart of modern U-Boot booting, providing a flexible and verifiable way to package kernels, ramdisks, and devicetrees. A new series introduces a significant enhancement to how U-Boot processes FITs, enabling a powerful two-stage boot process. This allows a “load-only” FIT to configure the system (like setting up…
