Minimal Linux Bootloader

a year ago

Minimal Linux Bootloader is a free software under GNU General Public License.
The bootloader loads the first 512 bytes of the kernel to 0x10000 using BIOS interrupt 0x13.
It checks the kernel setup size at 0x1f1 and loads the setup after the first 512 bytes.
The bootloader sets up kernel header fields including loader type, heap usage, and command line pointer.
It moves the command line to memory and reads the protected-mode kernel size from the kernel setup.
The bootloader uses BIOS interrupts to load kernel chunks to temporary memory and then copies them to extended memory above 1MB.
Memory layout includes bootloader code at 0x07c00, real mode kernel at 0x10000, stack and heap at 0x18000, and command line at 0x1e000.
The bootloader includes error handling and prints the kernel version string during boot.
It uses a Global Descriptor Table (GDT) for memory operations and a Disk Address Packet (DAP) for disk reads.
The bootloader ends with a jump to the kernel setup code at 0x10200.

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