rewrite preinit as very small C program

By using the kernel "nolibc" header to avoid requiring a C library, we
can bring the initramfs size to around 4k

This does involve a tiny bit of inline mips assembly which I'm not
sure about. gcc seems unwilling to generate the code to load $gp at
function entry of main(), so we do it by hand - but I'd rather find
out why gcc doesn't.

modules/initramfs.nix

@@ -16,85 +16,25 @@ in
     };
   };
   config = mkIf config.boot.initramfs.enable {
-    kernel.config.BLK_DEV_INITRD = "y";
+    kernel.config = {
-    kernel.config.INITRAMFS_SOURCE = builtins.toJSON "${config.outputs.initramfs}";
+      BLK_DEV_INITRD = "y";
+      INITRAMFS_SOURCE = builtins.toJSON "${config.outputs.initramfs}";
+#      INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_LZO = "y";
+    };
 
     outputs = {
       initramfs =
-        let
+        let inherit (pkgs.pkgsBuildBuild) gen_init_cpio;
-          bb1 = pkgs.busybox.override {
-            enableStatic = true;
-            enableMinimal = true;
-            enableAppletSymlinks  = false;
-
-            extraConfig  = ''
-              CONFIG_DESKTOP n
-              CONFIG_ASH n
-              CONFIG_HUSH y
-              CONFIG_HUSH_TICK y
-              CONFIG_HUSH_LOOPS y
-              CONFIG_HUSH_CASE y
-              CONFIG_HUSH_ECHO y
-              CONFIG_HUSH_SET y
-              CONFIG_LN y
-              CONFIG_CAT y
-              CONFIG_MOUNT y
-              CONFIG_PRINTF y
-              CONFIG_FEATURE_MOUNT_FLAGS y
-              CONFIG_FEATURE_MOUNT_VERBOSE y
-              CONFIG_ECHO y
-              CONFIG_CHROOT y
-              CONFIG_CHMOD y
-              CONFIG_MKDIR y
-              CONFIG_MKNOD y
-              CONFIG_BASH_IS_NONE y
-              CONFIG_SH_IS_NONE y
-              CONFIG_SH_IS_ASH n
-              CONFIG_FEATURE_SH_STANDALONE y
-              CONFIG_FEATURE_PREFER_APPLETS y
-              CONFIG_BUSYBOX_EXEC_PATH "/bin/busybox"
-            '';
-          };
-          bb = bb1.overrideAttrs(o: {
-            makeFlags = [];
-          });
-          slashinit = pkgs.writeScript "init" ''
-            #!/bin/hush
-            exec >/dev/console
-            echo Running in initramfs
-            mount -t proc none /proc
-            set -- `cat /proc/cmdline`
-            for i in "$@" ; do
-              case "''${i}" in
-                root=*)
-                  rootdevice="''${i#root=}"
-                  ;;
-              esac
-            done
-            echo mount -t jffs2 ''${rootdevice} /target/persist
-            mount -t jffs2 ''${rootdevice} /target/persist
-            mount -o bind /target/persist/nix /target/nix
-            hush /target/persist/activate /target
-            cd /target
-            mount -o bind /target /
-            exec chroot . /bin/init "$@"
-          '';
-          refs = pkgs.writeReferencesToFile bb;
-          gen_init_cpio = pkgs.pkgsBuildBuild.gen_init_cpio;
         in runCommand "initramfs.cpio" {} ''
           cat << SPECIALS | ${gen_init_cpio}/bin/gen_init_cpio /dev/stdin > $out
           dir /proc 0755 0 0
           dir /dev 0755 0 0
+          nod /dev/console 0600 0 0 c 5 1
           nod /dev/mtdblock0 0600 0 0 b 31 0
           dir /target 0755 0 0
           dir /target/persist 0755 0 0
           dir /target/nix 0755 0 0
-          nod /dev/console 0600 0 0 c 5 1
+          file /init ${pkgs.preinit}/bin/preinit 0755 0 0
-          dir /bin 0755 0 0
-          file /bin/busybox ${bb}/bin/busybox 0755 0 0
-          slink /bin/hush /bin/busybox 0755 0 0
-          slink /bin/chroot /bin/busybox 0755 0 0
-          file /init ${slashinit} 0755 0 0
           SPECIALS
         '';
     };

modules/jffs2.nix

@@ -13,11 +13,18 @@ in
     ./initramfs.nix
   ];
   config = mkIf (config.rootfsType == "jffs2") {
-    kernel.config.JFFS2_FS = "y";
+    kernel.config = {
+      JFFS2_FS = "y";
+      JFFS2_LZO = "y";
+      JFFS2_RTIME = "y";
+      JFFS2_COMPRESSION_OPTIONS = "y";
+      JFFS2_ZLIB = "y";
+      JFFS2_CMODE_SIZE = "y";
+    };
     boot.initramfs.enable = true;
     outputs = rec {
       systemConfiguration =
-        pkgs.pkgsBuildBuild.systemconfig config.filesystem.contents;
+        pkgs.systemconfig config.filesystem.contents;
       rootfs =
         let
           inherit (pkgs.pkgsBuildBuild) runCommand mtdutils;
@@ -27,13 +34,14 @@ in
           depsBuildBuild = [ mtdutils ];
         } ''
           mkdir -p $TMPDIR/empty/nix/store/
-          cp ${systemConfiguration}/activate  $TMPDIR/empty/activate
+          cp ${systemConfiguration}/bin/activate $TMPDIR/empty/activate
+          ln -s ${pkgs.s6-init-bin}/bin/init $TMPDIR/empty/init
           pkgClosure=${closureInfo {
              rootPaths = [ systemConfiguration ];
            }}
           cp $pkgClosure/registration nix-path-registration
           grafts=$(sed < $pkgClosure/store-paths 's/^\(.*\)$/--graft \1:\1/g')
-          mkfs.jffs2 ${endian} -e ${config.hardware.flash.eraseBlockSize} --pad --root $TMPDIR/empty --output $out  $grafts
+          mkfs.jffs2 --compression-mode=size ${endian} -e ${config.hardware.flash.eraseBlockSize} --enable-compressor=lzo --pad --root $TMPDIR/empty --output $out  $grafts --squash --faketime
         '';
       jffs2boot =
         let o = config.outputs; in

pkgs/default.nix

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
   # https://sourceforge.net/p/squashfs/mailman/message/26599379/
   lzma = callPackage ./lzma {};
 
+  preinit = callPackage ./preinit {};
   swconfig = callPackage ./swconfig {};
 
   openwrt = callPackage ./openwrt {};

pkgs/mips-vm/mips-vm.sh

@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ fi
 test -n "$2" || usage
 
 rootfs=$(mktemp mips-vm-fs-XXXXXX)
-dd if=$2 of=$rootfs bs=65536 conv=sync
+dd if=/dev/zero of=$rootfs bs=1M count=16 conv=sync
+dd if=$2 of=$rootfs bs=65536 conv=sync,nocreat,notrunc
 
 if test -n "$3"; then
     initramfs="-initrd $3"
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@ qemu-system-mips \
     -M malta -m 256 \
     -echr 16 \
     -append "liminix default console=ttyS0,38400n8 panic=10 oops=panic init=$INIT loglevel=8 root=/dev/mtdblock0 block2mtd.block2mtd=/dev/vda,65536" \
-    -drive file=$rootfs,format=raw,readonly=on,if=virtio \
+    -drive file=$rootfs,format=raw,readonly=off,if=virtio,index=0 \
     ${initramfs} \
     -netdev socket,id=access,mcast=230.0.0.1:1234,localaddr=127.0.0.1 \
     -device virtio-net-pci,disable-legacy=on,disable-modern=off,netdev=access,mac=ba:ad:1d:ea:21:02 \

pkgs/preinit/default.nix

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+{
+  stdenv
+, fetchzip
+, gdb
+ }:
+let kernel = fetchzip {
+      name = "linux";
+      url = "https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/linux-5.15.71.tar.gz";
+      hash = "sha256-pq6QNa0PJVeheaZkuvAPD0rLuEeKrViKk65dz+y4kqo=";
+    };
+in
+stdenv.mkDerivation {
+  name = "preinit";
+  src = ./.;
+
+  #  NIX_DEBUG=2;
+  hardeningDisable = [ "all" ];
+  CFLAGS = "-Os  -nostartfiles -nostdlib  -fno-stack-protector -fpic -fPIC  -I ./ -I ${kernel}/tools/include/nolibc";
+
+  postBuild = ''
+    $STRIP  --remove-section=.note --remove-section=.comment preinit
+  '';
+
+  makeFlags = ["preinit"];
+  stripAllList = ["bin"];
+  installPhase = ''
+    mkdir -p $out/bin
+    cp preinit $out/bin
+  '';
+}

pkgs/preinit/preinit.c

@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+#ifdef USE_LIBC
+#include <string.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <sys/mount.h>
+#include <sys/wait.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#else
+#include <nolibc.h>
+#endif
+#include <asm/setup.h>
+
+#define ERR(x) write(2, x, strlen(x))
+#define AVER(c) do { if(c < 0) ERR("failed: "  #c); } while(0)
+
+static int begins_with(char * str, char * prefix)
+{
+	while(*prefix) {
+		if(*str == '\0') return 0;
+		if(*str != *prefix) return 0;
+		str++;
+		prefix++;
+	}
+	return 1;
+}
+
+static void fork_exec(char * command, char *args[])
+{
+	int fork_pid = fork();
+	AVER(fork_pid);
+	if(fork_pid > 0)
+		wait(NULL);
+	else
+		AVER(execve(command, args, NULL));
+}
+
+char banner[]  = "Running pre-init...\n";
+char buf[COMMAND_LINE_SIZE];
+
+int main(int argc, char *argv[], char *envp[])
+{
+        asm("la $gp, _gp\nsw $gp,16($sp)");
+	char *rootdevice = 0;
+	char *p = buf;
+	write(1, banner, strlen(banner));
+
+	mount("none", "/proc", "proc", 0, NULL);
+
+	int cmdline = open("/proc/cmdline", O_RDONLY, 0);
+
+	if(cmdline>=0) {
+		int len = read(cmdline, buf, sizeof buf - 1);
+		buf[len]='\0';
+		write(1, "cmdline ", 8);
+		write(1, buf, len);
+	};
+
+	while(*p) {
+		if(begins_with(p, "root=")) {
+			rootdevice = p + 5;
+			while(*p && (*p != ' ')) p++;
+			*p= '\0';
+		}
+		while(*p && (*p != ' ')) p++;
+		p++;
+	}
+
+	if(rootdevice) {
+		write(1, "rootdevice ", 11);
+		write(1, rootdevice, strlen(rootdevice));
+		write(1, "\n", 1);
+
+		AVER(mount(rootdevice, "/target/persist", "jffs2", 0, NULL));
+		AVER(mount("/target/persist/nix", "/target/nix",
+			   "bind", MS_BIND, NULL));
+
+		char *exec_args[] = { "activate",  "/target" };
+		fork_exec("/target/persist/activate", exec_args);
+		AVER(chdir("/target"));
+
+		AVER(mount("/target", "/", "bind", MS_BIND | MS_REC, NULL));
+		AVER(chroot(".")); 
+		argv[0] = "init";
+		argv[1] = NULL;
+
+		AVER(execve("/persist/init", argv, envp));
+	}
+}

pkgs/systemconfig/default.nix

@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 # The ideal is that a Liminix system can boot with only the files in
-# /nix/store.  This package generates a script that is run at early
+# /nix/store.  This package generates a small program that is run at early
 # boot (from the initramfs) to populate directories such as /etc,
 # /bin, /home according to whatever the configuration says
 # they should contain
 
 {
   writeText
-, runCommand
 , lib
+, stdenv
 }:
 let
   inherit (lib.attrsets) mapAttrsToList;
@@ -32,33 +32,46 @@ let
           assert gid == 0;
           let
             pathname = "${prefix}/${filename}";
-            chmod =
+            qpathname = builtins.toJSON pathname;
-              let m = if mode != null then mode else
+            mode' = if mode != null
-                    (if type == "d" then "0755" else "0644");
+                    then mode
-              in (if type == "s"
+                    else
-                  then ""
+                      (if type == "d" then "0755" else "0644");
-                  else "\nchmod ${m} ${pathname}");
             cmds = {
-              "f" = "printf \"${escaped file}\" > ${pathname}";
+              "f" = "PRINTFILE(${qpathname}, ${mode'}, ${builtins.toJSON (escaped file)});";
-              "d" = "mkdir ${pathname}\n"  +
+              "d" = "MKDIR(${qpathname}, ${mode'});\n"  +
                     (builtins.concatStringsSep "\n"
                       (visit pathname contents));
-              "c" = "mknod ${pathname} c ${major} ${minor}";
+              "c" = "MKNOD_C(${qpathname}, ${mode'}, ${major}, ${minor});";
-              "b" = "mknod ${pathname} b ${major} ${minor}";
+              "b" = "MKNOD_B(${qpathname}, ${mode'}, ${major}, ${minor});";
-              "s" = "ln -s ${target} ${pathname}";
+              "s" = "LN_S(${builtins.toJSON target}, ${qpathname});";
-              "l" = "ln ${target} ${pathname}";
+              "l" = "LN(${builtins.toJSON target}, ${qpathname})";
-              "i" = "mknod ${pathname} p";
+              "i" = "MKNOD_P(${qpathname}, ${mode'});";
             };
             cmd = cmds.${type};
-          in "${cmd}${chmod}";
+          in "${cmd}";
     in mapAttrsToList (makeFile prefix) attrset;
-  activateScript = attrset: writeText "systemConfig" ''
+  activateScript = attrset: writeText "makedevs.c" ''
-    #!/bin/sh
+    #include "defs.h"
-    t=$1
+    int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
-    ${(builtins.concatStringsSep "\n" (visit "$t" attrset))}
+      chdir(argv[1]);
+      ${(builtins.concatStringsSep "\n" (visit "." attrset))}
+    }
   '';
 in attrset:
-  runCommand "make-stuff" {} ''
+  stdenv.mkDerivation {
-    mkdir -p $out
+    name="make-stuff";
-    ln -s ${activateScript attrset} $out/activate
+    src = ./.;
-  ''
+
+    CFLAGS = "-Os";
+    LDFLAGS  = "-static";
+
+    postConfigure = ''
+      cp ${activateScript attrset} makedevs.c
+    '';
+    makeFlags = ["makedevs"];
+    installPhase = ''
+      mkdir -p $out/bin
+      $STRIP --remove-section=.note --remove-section=.comment --strip-all makedevs -o $out/bin/activate
+    '';
+  }

pkgs/systemconfig/defs.h

@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <sys/sysmacros.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+void print_file(char * path, mode_t mode, char * text) {
+  int fd = open(path, O_CREAT | O_WRONLY, mode);
+  char *p, *nxt;
+  char b[1];
+  if(fd >=0) {
+    p = text;
+    while(nxt = strchr(p, '\\')) {
+      char upper = nxt[2];
+      char lower = nxt[3];
+      upper = (upper>'9') ? ((upper | 32) - 'a' + 10) : (upper - '0');
+      lower = (lower>'9') ? ((lower | 32) - 'a' + 10) : (lower - '0');
+      b[0] = (upper << 4) + lower;
+      write(fd, p, nxt-p);
+      write(fd, b, 1);
+      p=nxt+4;
+    }
+    write(fd, p, strlen(p));
+    close(fd);
+  }
+}
+
+
+
+#define PRINTFILE(path, mode, text) print_file(path, (mode_t) mode, text)
+#define MKDIR(path, mode) mkdir(path, mode)
+#define MKNOD_C(path, mode, major,minor) mknod(path, mode | S_IFCHR, makedev(major, minor))
+#define MKNOD_B(path, mode, major,minor) mknod(path, mode | S_IFBLK, makedev(major, minor))
+#define LN_S(target, path) (void)symlink(target, path)
+#define LN(target, path) link(target, path)
+#define MKNOD_P(path, mode) mkfifo(path, mode)