Accessing external code or data from the 'console' kernel module: Can it be done?

[Luc Van Rompaey]

Legacy GRUB had a 'setkey' command to remap the keyboard keys.
GRUB2 no longer has this command. Instead, it provides an 'at_keyboard' input terminal module, which can load a GRUB keymap.
However, at least on the i386-pc platform, 'at_keyboard' is problematic, in that it easily causes hangups.

Therefore, primarily as a learning exercise, I am trying to implement something akin to the old 'setkey' command, which I hope to make usable with the default 'console' input terminal.

By now, I have implemented my own keymap data structure, and I also have a 'setkey' command that can update the data structure.
I am now trying to bridge the gap between my module and the console, so that the 'grub_console_getkey' function (in the 'console' module) can call my key mapping function, which will use my keymap data structure to decide whether (and how) an input key must be remapped.

However, I cannot seem to find a way to share my keymap data structure between my 'setkey' module and the 'console' input terminal.

WHAT I HAVE ALREADY TRIED:

While I was developing my 'setkey' module, I added an entry for it to the 'grub-core/Makefile.core.def' file, like so:

   module = {
     name = setkey;
     i386 = commands/i386/pc/setkey.c;
     enable = i386;
   };

Then, after I ran the 'autogen.sh' script, my 'setkey' module got created, and I could test the operation of its 'setkey' command, to ensure that it correctly handles the keymap data structure.

Once I was pretty confident that the code worked, I wanted to call my key mapping function from the 'grub_console_getkey' function--e.g., something like:

   return grub_setkey_xlat (((regs.eax >> 8) & 0xff) | GRUB_TERM_EXTENDED);

or

   return grub_setkey_xlat (return regs.eax & 0xff);

However, the linker complained that it could not find my 'setkey' module when it attempted to create the 'console' module.

I then realised that the 'console' module is a part of the GRUB kernel, so I assumed that I would have to add my 'setkey' module to the kernel as well.
I therefore removed my module entry from the 'grub-core/Makefile.core.def' file, and added the following line to the 'kernel' entry instead:

   i386_pc = commands/i386/pc/setkey.c;

That didn't work either.
First, the compiler complained about missing prototypes for the 'init' and 'fini' functions of my module.
When I added the missing prototypes, the build seemed to work OK, but the 'setkey' command was no longer available. It looked like the 'init' and 'fini' functions weren't invoked, and that, consequently, the 'setkey' module was no longer recognised as such.

I can find a way to link a 'grub_setkey_xlat' function with a hard-coded keymap data structure to the 'console', but I do not, then, have any way to dynamically modify the keymap at run-time. Conversely, when I create a working 'setkey' command, I cannot find a way to have the 'console' see the keymap data structure (which, then, just sits in memory, being pretty useless).

I'm out of inspiration now...
Is what I am trying to here even possible? And if it is, then how should I tackle it?

Thanks in advance for any advice,
Luc Van Rompaey.