PowerPC: Add NT_PPC_DMR core file support
Adds support for the new NT_PPC_DMR note type in BFD and readelf for PowerPC core files.
This commit introduces support for the NT_PPC_DMR note type in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library and the readelf utility. This new note type is intended to carry the contents of the Dense Math Registers (DMR), which will be available on a future PowerPC processor. This lays the groundwork for handling core dumps from systems using this new register set.
In Details
This change adds BFD and readelf support for the NT_PPC_DMR note type, defined in include/elf/common.h. New functions elfcore_grok_ppc_dmr and elfcore_write_ppc_dmr are added to bfd/elf.c to handle reading and writing these notes. The readelf.c utility is updated to recognize and display this new note type. GDB support is planned as a follow-up.
- PowerPC
- A family of RISC instruction set architectures developed by Apple, IBM, and Motorola. Used in various devices, including older Apple Macintosh computers and servers.
- NT_PPC_DMR
- A specific note type within the ELF (Executable and Linkable Format) standard, used in core dump files. This particular type, NT_PPC_DMR, is designated for storing the Dense Math Registers (DMR) of a PowerPC processor.
- core file
- A file produced by a Unix-like operating system when a program crashes. It contains a snapshot of the program's memory state at the time of the crash, used for debugging.
- BFD
- Binary File Descriptor library. A GNU library that provides a common interface for reading and writing various executable file formats.
- readelf
- A command-line utility that displays information about ELF (Executable and Linkable Format) files, including sections, symbols, and notes.
- Dense Math Registers (DMR)
- A set of eight 1024-bit registers introduced by the Dense Math facility in a future Power ISA revision, designed for high-performance mathematical operations.
- ELF
- Executable and Linkable Format. A standard file format for executable, object code, shared libraries, and core dumps on Unix-like systems.