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Loading normal world on ARMv7 Cortex A8 processor

Note: This was originally posted on 12th March 2012 at http://forums.arm.com

Hi,

I would like to load android OS as normal world on ARMv7 Cortex A8 processor. I already have the ubuntu 11.10 as secure world on the same processor. I would be grateful if anyone can help me in this regard.

Thanks.
  • Note: This was originally posted on 14th March 2012 at http://forums.arm.com

    Seems nobody is interested to let us know how to do that !!!
  • Note: This was originally posted on 14th March 2012 at http://forums.arm.com


    Seems nobody is interested to let us know how to do that !!!


    More likely, nobody knows.

    The TrustZone Secure/Normal worlds aren't designed to do virtualization in that way.  In a properly implemented system, they allow secure access to hardware without needing to trust the whole OS.  Only the code running in the Secure world can access the secure hardware.

    Cortex-A15 and -A7 have virtualization extensions (including a new Hypervisor mode and registers) but they still require hypervisior code which is a significant piece of work.
  • Note: This was originally posted on 14th March 2012 at http://forums.arm.com

    [color=#222222][size=2]
    [/size][/color][color=#222222][size=2]I would like to load android OS as normal world on ARMv7 Cortex A8 processor.
    [/size][/color]
    [color=#222222][size=2]
    [/size][/color]
    [color=#222222][size=2]Assuming you have enough hardware to give both operating systems what they expect without conflicts (interrupt controller, timer, RAM, etc), then booting the normal world is exactly the same as booting the secure world, you can just see less of the system.[/size][/color]
    [color=#222222][size=2]
    [/size][/color]
    [color=#222222][size=2]Boot your Secure OS, switch to non-secure through the monitor mode, jump to normal world bootloader, boot you normal world OS.[/size][/color]
    [color=#222222][size=2]
    [/size][/color]
    [color=#222222][size=2]Most platforms are designed to have a minimal RTOS in the secure world, with a fully fledged normal world, so you may well find you don't have enough peripheral hardware to run both at the same time.[/size][/color]
    [color=#222222][size=2]
    [/size][/color]
    [color=#222222][size=2]
    [/size][/color][color=#222222][size=2]Seems nobody is interested to let us know how to do that !!![/size][/color][color=#222222][size=2]
    [/size][/color]
    [size=2]
    [/size]
    [size=2]If you want to write your own virtualizer or operating system it's generally assumed you know what you are doing ;) It's a pretty "hard core" project - so the number of people who have tried it is likely to be very small ...[/size]
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    [/size]
    [size=2]Iso[/size]