Add the concept of a "user pointer" (similar to the void __user * in
the kernel), which encapsulates the information needed to refer to an
external buffer. Under normal operation, this can just be a void *
equivalent, but under -DKEEP_IT_REAL it would be a segoff_t equivalent.
Use this concept to avoid the need for bounce buffers in int13.c,
which reduces memory usage and opens up the possibility of using
multi-sector reads.
Extend the block-device API and the SCSI block device implementation
to support multi-sector reads.
Update iscsi.c to use user buffers.
Move the obsolete portions of realmode.h to old_realmode.h.
MS-DOS now boots an order of magnitude faster over iSCSI (~10 seconds
from power-up to C:> prompt in bochs).
Strip down i386 PCI configuration space I/O to the bare minimum. A
typical build will now include 880 bytes of PCI support code, compared to
2327 bytes in Etherboot 5.4.
(There is a slight cost of around 5 extra bytes per access to a
non-constant config space address; this should be an overall win.
Driver-specific accesses will usually be to constant addresses, for
which there is no additional cost.)
Restructured PCI subsystem to fit the new device model.
Generic PCI code now handles 64-bit BARs correctly when setting
"membase"; drivers should need to call pci_bar_start() only if they want
to use BARs other than the first memory or I/O BAR.
Split rarely-used PCI functions out into pciextra.c.
Core PCI code is now 662 bytes (down from 1308 bytes in Etherboot 5.4).
284 bytes of this saving comes from the pci/pciextra split.
Cosmetic changes to lots of drivers (e.g. vendor_id->vendor in order to
match the names used in Linux).
I want to get to the point where any header in include/ reflects a
standard user-level header (e.g. a POSIX header), while everything that's
specific to gPXE lives in include/gpxe/. Headers that reflect a Linux
header (e.g. if_ether.h) should also be in include/gpxe/, with the same
name as the Linux header and, preferably, the same names used for the
definitions.
Network API now allows for multiple network devices (although the
implementation allows for only one, and does so without compromising on
the efficiency of static allocation).
Link-layer protocols are cleanly separated from the device drivers.
Network-layer protocols are cleanly separated from individual network
devices.
Link-layer and network-layer protocols are cleanly separated from each
other.