In message 40FBFF16.50003@cyclades.com you wrote:
(please answer with copy to me, because I am not subscribed to the mailing list)
This is a one-time exception. You ask here, so we reply here.
(1) - Did anyone use the U-boot with the IBM-440GP? If so, could you give me an idea of the boot time, both with the default configuration and with an optimized configuration?
I did such measurements lately, but on a slower system (405EP at 133 MHz); in this application it was critical how long it takes until a certain Linux device driver starts running to empty some FIFOs. Without any modifications to the code the driver started running not more than 600 milliseconds after Power-on; the Linux kernel starts loading about 175 ms after power-on. Approx. 110ms of this time is spent for the PCI initialization; if you omit this, you can probably start the Linux kernel 65 ms after power-on.
(2) - The binary file (u-boot.bin) generated was too big for me (almost half Mbytes). Could it be smaller, how? Is it already compressed?
The image is mostly empty. The size is determined by the link address in flash and the faxt that the reset vector is the last word in flash - there is a huge gap. The actual code is MUCH scmaller:
-> MAKEALL EBONY Configuring for EBONY board... text data bss dec hex filename 163772 24316 23948 212036 33c44 u-boot
As you can see, the real size is 212036 bytes = 207 kB.
(3) - My board uses the LXT972 as the Ethernet transceiver (PHY). Does the boot loader support it?
Sure.
(4) - I will use the Montavista Linux as operating system. Have anyone done that already? How hard is it to integrate the U-boot with it?
Zero effort.
(5) - Will I have to publish the changes which are specific to my board, if I use the u-boot?
If you distribute the board with your modified U-Boot, yes. U-Boot is covered by the GPL.
Best regards,
Wolfgang Denk