Re: Native Endianess

[Dan Weaver]

Context:
The new Multiboot specification uses the term Native Endianess to imply 
that big endian processors can load big endian objects and little endian 
processors can load little endian objects.

Ambiguity:
The Power PC is considered a Big Endian machine but can be booted in little 
endian mode.  The term Native is vague.

Objective:
Define a tern or definition that clearly states the ability of the boot loader.

Discussion:
Not all processors do Little Endian the same way.  Some processors scramble 
32-bit fetches and some scramble the 8-bit fetches.  On RISC machines it is 
common to scramble the 8-bit fetches which would allow a machine to flip 
endianness without messing up the instruction set.  Neat trick.

According to the definition of the GRUB header I was reading all the values 
are 32-bit.  (Magic number, text size, bss size, start etc.)  If GRUB is 
used in a 64-bit machine it will be restricted to the first 4 gig.

If you really need a definition for correct value send me a private email 
and I will give you one.  Mail to: address@hidden moc after doing byte swap.


Alternate Definition:
The Endianess of the object must match the current endianess mode of the 
processor.  Byte swapped objects are not supported.