elf2flash and bootloader questions

Firstly, thanks for the resonse.

>> I can find no detailed documentation on either elf2flash or

>> the mysterious external bootloader which appears to be

>> available only as an srec file.

>

>You need to read the "Nios II Software Developer’s

>Handbook."

I have. The copy I have is document number NII5V2-6.0.

>> * What exactly does "elf2flash" do?

>

>See the handbook for details ...

What details? There's exactly one mention of elf2flash in the

handbook with a single phrase saying that it"converts an

.elf executable file to a .flash file for programming into

flash memory".

>but basically what it says: it converts the elf to a flash

>file. Very simply: it creates a record for each loadable

>section, throws in the bootloader if necessary, and outputs the

>srec for the flash programmer.

Thanks, I had deduced that, but I was looking for exact

descriptions of what each parameter does, where the bootloader

is "thrown in", etc.

>> * Why can't "objcopy" be used like all other normal eCos targets?

>

>It can -- just run it from the command line.

Then why was elf2flash written? Just for obsfucation value?

>> * What is the external bootloader .srec file for?

>

>Read chapter 4 in the handbook ... the section "Memory Usage."

I did. And I just searched it again: the string "bootloader"

doesn't appear even once in the handbook. Chapter 4 is

about using the HIOS2 HAL system library. I'm not using the

HAL libarary, I'm using eCos.

Am I reading the wrong handbook?

>> * Why would a ROM-resident bootloader like RedBoot require

>> a second bootloader?

>

>It doesn't -- you can use objcopy and bin2flash (if you want to

>use the flash programmer).

If it's not required, why is program_flash adding it to the

srec file?