Subject: xcoff files
To: None <port-macppc@netbsd.org, tech-toolchain@netbsd.org>
From: Bill Studenmund <wrstuden@nas.nasa.gov>
List: tech-toolchain
Date: 06/25/1999 14:17:05
Older macppc firmware can only reliably boot xcoff files. I'd like to be
able to let people download files, throw them on a MacOS floppy, and then
boot them. Thus for the older machines, they'd need to be xcoff files
(well one of them).

So how can I make them? objcopy can turn an elf file into an xcoff one,
but those files don't work - I get "bad o_magic" errors. Todd suggests
that the problem's that objcopy can't merge sections. 

Suggestions? What's the difference between ecoff & xcoff? Could elf2ecoff
be pressed into service?

For ref: 

The linuxppc installer.coff file has the following sections:

.text, .data, .bss, initrd, image

ofwboot.xcf (an objcopy --target==xcoff-powermac file) has:

.text, .rodata, .sdata2, .data, .got, .sdata, .sbss, .bss

Thoughts?

Take care,

Bill