... and of course, I forgot to add a note at '(*)' re the malloc arena size alignment...
On Tue, 17 Nov 2015 13:59:32 +0100, Albert ARIBAUD albert.u.boot@aribaud.net wrote:
Hello Simon, Indeed, no attempt is made to check that it is aligned (and no attempt is made in the original code either) -- all the more since there is no strict definition of what it should be aligned to. There is, actually, no indication that it should be aligned, although it will probably only be used up until the last full 4-byte-word (or 8-byte word for 64-bit architectures). In fact, the alignment of CONFIG_SYS_MALLOC_F_LEN does not matter much, see (*) below.
(*)
And, in fact, there is not real need for CONFIG_SYS_MALLOC_F_LEN to be aligned, whether is is reserved above or below GD.
If the malloc arena is reserved above GD (my preferred scenario, as explained elsewhere), then what counts is aligning its *base*, not *size*, in the probable case that it should support word accesses and some architecture may require word alignment.
If the malloc arena is reserved below GD, then what counts is aligning *GD's base*, not the malloc arena's size.
(that's a general principle, BTW: each 'chunk' allocation should decrease the current top address by the chunk size requested then round it further down by the alignment constraint applicable to that chunk. The chunk size does not matter much.)
Amicalement,