18 Apr 2009 00:48
Pandora questions
Chuck Robey <chuckr <at> telenix.org>
2009-04-17 22:48:16 GMT
2009-04-17 22:48:16 GMT
I bought me a nice new Pandora, and in the next 6 weeks before it arrives, I want to get a bunch of questions answered dealing with me trying to do a ARMv7A OpenBSD port. My pandora hasn't been delivered yet, but I'm coming up with questions, some I'd like to bounce of folks here. I don't begin coding until my pandora gets delivered, but I can do the research right now). The first ones that hit me regard some differences I've noted with the Cortex-A8, versus maybe an Arm6 (?) The Cortex-A8 has that 2 level security thing (they call it TrustZone), one processor being secure, the other one being insecure (I think that's how you refer to it). This hasn't anything whatever to do with the ordinary split between user-level and system-level, and beyond that, the split apparently continues all the way out to peripherals. Things like only code in the secure processors can access secure peripherals. Well, the question is, is there any place in OpenBSD for TrustZone features? That question not only asks whether it's been used yet, it also asks if there is even any contemplated way that such a feature *could* be used in OpenBSD. I need to consider this, if I'm going to seriously try to port the OpenBSD code to use the ARMv7A (same as Cortex-A8). I figure most of the differences I'm going to hit against are going to be more obvious to me, just look how it's been done before (maybe for the Xscale in the Sharp Zaurus) and see what possible changes might be available for me to use. The trouble with TrustZone is, I know its not been done for any other palmtop I ever heard of, so I don't have much idea how TrustZone might get used for OpenBSD for ARMv7A. I know another thing, that the BeagleBoard is based on precisely the same chip (including all of the available modules that are in it, like the DSP stuff in the Neon) as the Pandora. I get the odea that the BeagleBoard might be the perfect, cheap ($150 versus Pandora's $330) development platform. I think, from(Continue reading)
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