Partitioning kernel modules - linux-kernel

I am working on a project which consists of multiple kernel modules. There is some shared functionality between the different modules, but I don't want to include the same code in each module. Does the Linux kernel have a "shared object library" or does the common code go into a separate module?

Typically, you would put the functionality common to the modules in a separate module itself. A good example of this is the drivers/scsi/libsas module used by other SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) device drivers. If you go this route, see the kernel documentation in section 6.3 of Documentation/kbuild/modules.txt for suggestions on referencing symbols from other external modules.

If you're looking for a way to share functions between modules you should take a look at EXPORT_SYMBOL macro. A simple example:
file super.c
void call_me(){
printk("Hello from super.\n");
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL(call_me);
file super.h
extern void call_me();
file base.c
#include "super.h"
void call_super(){
call_me();
}
Here super.c and base.c are different modules.
If this is what you're looking for let me know. I can send you a more complex example with makefiles and stuff. Hope it helps.
Note: I've used this in many distros... however each time I did it I needed to copy the file Modules.symvers to each other module directory.
Supose you have a module A and a module B, which uses functions from A. Upon compiling A, a file named Modules.symvers is created. I've needed to copy that file to B's folder before compiling it. Just don't issue make clean in B's folder after copying Modules.symvers, or it will get deleted.

Related

Force Kernel Dependencies Not Inlcude Certain Module

I have a kernel module modA.ko that depends upon exported symbols.
exported_func1(void)
exported_func2(void)
And I have two other modules modB.ko and modC.ko that has the definitions for exported functions separately. Function signature is the same but functionality is different. Only one of the modB.ko or modC.ko is supposed to be loaded at the same time. Every time the kbuild determines that modA.ko is dependent on modB.ko. I don't want that. I want to dynamically load the appropriate modules before using modA.ko according to the need.
Is there a way to force the kernel build system to not add dependencies just for this particular module.
I am using Buildroot to build the Linux image but no dependencies are defined in buildroot-config for these modules. In the Buildroot output/, both modB.ko and modC.ko have exported functions listed in the .symvers files.

how to make kernel module binary blob

I want to distribute proprietary Linux module for various distros without pre-building the module for all of them. For example I have the following files:
wrapp.c
mod.c
fops.c
All wrapp.c is wrapper for all kernel functions I'm using:
unsigned int wrap_ioread8(void *addr)
{
return ioread8(addr);
}
What I want to do is to give the customer mod.o and fops.o + the wrapp.c.
So I build the mod/fops.o on kernel 3.2 then tried to use them on kernel 2.6.32. The module builds without a problem but when I try ioctl() to the module I'm getting "invalid parameter". The ioctl interface is not changed between 3.2 and 2.6.32! so I'm stuck understanding what is wrong. If I build the module from source it works without a problem.
I was reading about binary blobs, o_shipped, etc. but so far I can't make it work. What am I missing?
Tried renaming the mod/fops.o to mod/fops.o_shipped but as long as I understand this it's only related to "make clean"...

g-wan: building library outside of /csp, and g++ compilation problems

I am giving Gwan a whirl.
Having made it through example code, I started a small project with more than one source file. I now have two problems:
I got a linking error at server startup:
Linking main.cpp: undefined symbol: _ZN7GwanUrl9concatAllEv
(the main file #includes the two other files; all the files are in the csp directory)
As an alternative to having all the files in the /csp directory, I would like to make a library outside of the /csp directory while still using some of the gwan functions. sadly, a tonne of errors follow -- WHEN I GCC from commandline not via G-WAN Startup.
In file included from /home/ec2-user/gwan/include/gwan.h:22,
from Xbufstream.h:10,
from Xbufstream.cpp:10:
/usr/include/time.h:199: error: ‘size_t’ does not name a type
.....
Anyone knows what the gwan g++ argument string looks like?
(odd the 1. and 1. its 1. and 2. in the editor)
First, this is not a linker issue: you have "undefined symbol" rather than "unresolved symbol" as an error.
This is simply an #include issue.
define the main() function in your script.cpp file.
there's a G-WAN folder dedicated to user-defined include files called /gwan/include but you can as well use /csp/my_include.hpp... if you are using the right syntax:
For example, having #include "toto.hpp" in /csp/hello.cpp lets me reach C++ functions defined and implemented in the gwan/include/toto.hpp file (or defined in toto.hpp and implemented in a pre-compiled library linked to your script with #pragma link).
If you rather use #include <toto.hpp> then the SYSTEM INCLUDE PATH will be searched instead (and this will work providing that your library was correctly installed).
If you want to use #include "toto.hpp" for a custom folder that was not setup in the system, you can use G-WAN's #pragma include "../my_folder" directive to specify its PATH or you can explicitely specify it in each include: #include "../my_folder/toto.hpp".
Nothing fancy there, only C/C++ dependancy rules apply (and G-WAN really helps by providing alternate ways that do not involve system settings).
For libraries (see the G-WAN examples for SQLite, Cairo, mySQL, cURL, etc.) you can either use pre-installed libraries that exported their location in SYSTEM variables... or put your library in the /gwan/libraries folder and their include file in the /gwan/include folder.
When writing your own libraries, remember that they need to be pre-compiled. This means that you obviously cannot use G-WAN symbols since your compiler may #include "gwan.h" (to have the definitions) but your linker will not know from where G-WAN symbols can be found. The way around is to always use the G-WAN API from the G-WAN scripts. Your custom libraries must either be general-purpose or buffer any payload intended to be used by G-WAN. No-double copy is needed since G-WAN provides the set_reply() call to let G-WAN use persistent replies built without the reply xbuffer provided by G-WAN servlets.
Now, a last word about linking (which was not the cause of your trouble but could participate to the confusion). If you mix C and C++, use extern C {} to wrap your C++ prototypes called from C (otherwise you will really have "unresolved symbols").
With all this information, you should be ready to face every possible situation.
the issue of referencing gwan.h symbols inside #include files can also be solved by moving all code into the header file, whether its .h or .hpp
its ungraceful but a fix nevertheless. and good enough for the simple extension i wanted.
looking into the /libraries/sqlite3/sqlite.h helped.
#gil, thanks for your time.

How to organize C source file previously compiled by GCC Make and build them into an Xcode bundle? I have a Duplicate Symbol _main Error

How to build a .bundle from source code?
This might sound like a simple problem but it has been hurdling me for a week...
Here is my problem:
I have a bunch of .c and .h files that are organized in a folder and its sub folders. The source code was written and compiled with gcc make and tested by many other make tools. The source code has some utilities and command line tools and it has more code that serve as library for those utilities and tools. It is the files that serve as libraries that I want to reuse. (By library I don't mean static library or something, I just mean that some .c and .h files in certain subfolders provide functions that can be called by some other .c files. I want to be able to call those functions, too)
Yet my problem is more complex than that: I need to build those .c and .h into a bundle to reuse it. I am not writing my application in C; I am developing in Unity and Unity can only take in .bundle files on Mac OS.
Here is my goal:
Organize the source code folder in a proper way so that I can build them into a bundle in Xcode 4.
Here is where I got stuck:
When building the project I got the following error:
Duplicate symbol _main in
/Users/zeningqu/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/ccn-cfygrtkrshubpofnfxalwimtyniq/Build/Intermediates/ccn.build/Debug/ccn.build/Objects-normal/i386/ccndsmoketest.o
and
/Users/zeningqu/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/ccn-cfygrtkrshubpofnfxalwimtyniq/Build/Intermediates/ccn.build/Debug/ccn.build/Objects-normal/i386/ccnd_main.o
for architecture i386
I can relate to this error because I can find lots of main entries in the source code. Most of them are test utilities.
Here is what I tried:
I tried removing all those utility .c files but with no luck. The error is still there. I delete and delete until some files cannot find the definition of the function they are calling. So I had to stop there.
Though I wasn't able to build a bundle I was able to build a C/C++ static library (with an .a extension). After I got the .a file I tried to put it into another Xcode project and tried to build it into a bundle. I could build a bundle in that way, but then I had problem accessing the content of the bundle. How do I call functions defined in a .a static library if that library is hidden in a bundle? I read about Apple's documentation which says:
Note: Some Xcode targets (such as shell tools and static libraries) do
not result in the creation of a bundle or package. This is normal and
there is no need to create bundles specifically for these target
types. The resulting binaries generated for those targets are intended
to be used as is.
(quoted from: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/CoreFoundation/Conceptual/CFBundles/AboutBundles/AboutBundles.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/10000123i-CH100-SW1)
Here is what I thought about:
I thought about replacing all main with something like main_sth. But the source code was not written by me so I didn't want to modify it. (It just doesn't feel like a proper way of doing things to me...)
I learnt that Xcode has gcc compiler built in. So I guess if gcc can make it, so can Xcode? It's just a wild guess - I am not familiar with Xcode and gcc.
Here is a summary of my questions:
Is there a way to properly organize a pile of code previously compiled and made by gcc make so that they can be built into an Xcode bundle?
Is it meaningful to put a .a library in an Xcode project and build it into a bundle? If it is meaningful, how do I call functions defined in .a after it is built into a bundle?
Is it proper to just replace all main() entries with something else?
Alright I think I have figured out at least one solution to the problem.
The duplicate main error was caused by a bunch of main entries in my source code. When the code was compiled by gcc make, I guess the author defined a sort of compilation order so that duplicate mains won't be an issue. (If you know how to do this, please let me know. I barely know make tools.) But when I just add the entire source code folder into my Xcode project, of course Xcode would complain during linking...
As I was unwilling to modify the source code (because the source code library is not developed by me), I decided to use another strategy to walk around this problem.
If your duplicate main error was reported from your own code, you can stop reading here. But if you are like me, with a bunch of gcc compiled source code and badly need a bundle yet don't know what to do, I may be able to help.
Okay here is what I did:
I set up an empty workspace.
I built a C/C++ static library project.
Import my entire source code folder into the static library project.
Set some header search path for the static library project.
Build the static library project. (Now I have a .a library which I could link against)
I set up another project, with a bundle target.
At the bundle project -> Build Phases -> Link Binary with Libraries, add the .a library that I just built.
At the bundle project -> edit scheme -> Build, add the static library project to the scheme and move it up the list so that it is built prior to my bundle project.
Then add .h files of my library project to my bundle project as references.
After that, add a .c file in my bundle project that basically functions as a wrapper. I picked a function that I want to call in Unity, wrote a wrapper function in the new .c file, and was able to build the bundle.
After several trial and error, I was able to import the bundle into Unity and was able to call the test function from Unity.
I was really excited about this! Though it's not completed yet I think this gives me hope and I am confident I can use the source code now! And the best thing about this solution is that I don't have to modify the library code developed by others. Whenever they update their code, I just update my .a library and that's it!
Though I have listed 11 steps I still feel that there are lots of details that I missed. So here are my references:
I followed this tutorial to build my source code into a static library: http://www.ccnx.org/?post_type=incsub_wiki&p=1315
I followed this blog to link static library against my bundle code and twist build phases and search headers: http://blog.carbonfive.com/2011/04/04/using-open-source-static-libraries-in-xcode-4/
I followed this doc to import my bundle to Unity3D Pro as a plugin: http://unity3d.com/support/documentation/Manual/Plugins.html
I strongly recommend the second reference because that's what solved my problem!
Though the problem is almost solved there are still a few things that I haven't figured out:
I don't know if a wrapper function is at all necessary. I will try this out tomorrow and come back to update.
-- I am coming back to update: the wrapper function is NOT necessary. Just make sure you have all the headers in your bundle project and you will be able to use all the data structures and call functions defined in your headers.
I haven't used NSBundle class though I read a few docs about it. Previously I was thinking about using that class to access my .a library encapsulated in my bundle, but as I found the solution I wrote above, I didn't try the class out.
Lastly, if you have better solution, please don't hesitate to let me know!
I tried to follow the steps in the accepted answer, but had no luck. In the end, I realised step 10 needed to be modified slightly:
Create a dummy.c under (.bundle) project and the dummy.c can just be totally empty.
Remove the setting for the library you want to link inside Link Binary With Libraries
Instead use -Wl,-force_load,$(CONFIGURATION_BUILD_DIR)/libYourLib.a or -all_load to Other Linker Flags
PS: And also can use sub-project instead of workspace. and use Target Dependencies instead of Edit Scheme to achieve the same effect.

library examples build in eclipse

I have C project of a library (using CDT). Configurations for both static and dynamic linking for several platforms. Several examples of the library usage is also included in the project. What is the best way to build these examples with the library? If I would like to build both the library and examples (linking the library just built) in one configuration?
I suppose I have to use custom makefile. Do I have to create makefile for the whole project (several of them, one for each platform), or is there any way how to include examples makefile to the automatic one?
Each example has only one source file, so the only things I need to do in my makefile are to determine which compiler is used, add some flags and link with the library which was built (I would include the make examples command as the post-build step).
As I didn't find any solution for this, I use custom makefile for the whole build. I also found a nice advice somewhere: if you want advanced build functions, use advanced build system.

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