[[!template id=project

title="Add FFS support to U-Boot"

contact="""
[port-arm](mailto:port-arm@NetBSD.org)
"""

mentors="""
[Jared McNeill](mailto:port-arm@NetBSD.org)
"""

category="kernel"
difficulty="easy"
duration="3 months"

description="""

Add support for reading files from a BSD Fast File System from within U-Boot. Typically, on ARM boards where we boot NetBSD with U-Boot we require the kernel to live on an MSDOS or Linux Ext2/3/4 file-system. It would be nice if we could load a kernel directly from FFSv1 or FFSv2 instead.

This project requires access to an ARM board that is supported by mainline U-Boot and NetBSD.

**Milestones:**

* Add an ffs driver to U-Boot (read-only)
* Add this new driver to existing U-Boot packages (sysutils/u-boot*) in pkgsrc
* Update armv7.img to support booting directly from FFS.
* Modify sysinst to allow for installation without an MSDOS partition.
  * Some of this will be SoC-specific. Need to detect the SoC type and select the correct kernel/dtb and adjust partition layout to not interfere with U-Boot / SoC specific bootloaders.

**Extended goals:**

* Add write support to the U-Boot ffs driver
* Submit U-Boot FFS driver for inclusion with mainline U-Boot

"""
]]

[[!tag gsoc]]