[Feature] Support non-EFI ARM and RISC-V booting via U-Boot (extlinux.conf / boot.scr)

Metadata

Project: imagecraft
Number: #379
Type: issue
State: open
Author: lengau
Labels: —
Created: 2026-07-21 03:45 PM UTC
Updated: 2026-07-21 03:45 PM UTC
Closed: —

Current evaluation

Feature request to add U-Boot support (extlinux.conf, boot.scr, raw SPL) for non-EFI ARM and RISC-V boards. Currently untriaged with no maintainer interaction.

Suggested action: needs triage

Reason: The issue is a new feature request with no labels, assignee, or maintainer comments. It proposes a significant architectural addition (U-Boot boot configuration) to the existing GRUB-based system, requiring triage and planning before implementation.

Impact: 70 Quick Win: 14.0 Staleness: 40 Complexity: 80 Confidence: 80 Support Request: 0

Issue body

### Feature Description Add support for generating non-EFI boot configurations for embedded ARM (`armhf`, `arm64`) and RISC-V (`riscv64`) boards that do not have UEFI firmware. ### Implementation Details When building images for non-EFI boards: 1. **Bypass GRUB**: Skip `grub-install` / `grub-mkimage`. 2. **U-Boot Distro Boot (`extlinux.conf`)**: - Write `/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf` specifying kernel (`vmlinuz`), initrd (`initrd.img`), Device Tree (`FDT /boot/dtbs/...`), and command-line parameters (`APPEND root=UUID=...`). - Integrate with Ubuntu's `u-boot-menu` package. 3. **U-Boot Script (`boot.scr`)**: - Support compiling `/boot/boot.cmd` to `/boot/boot.scr` using `mkimage -T script`. 4. **Raw SPL / U-Boot Flashing**: - Support writing vendor SPL and U-Boot binaries to unpartitioned disk sector offsets via `dd` (e.g., Rockchip `idbloader.img` at 32KB, Allwinner `sunxi-spl.bin` at 8KB).

Evaluation history

Date	Model	Scores	Action	Summary
2026-09-05 10:21 PM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Impact: 70 Quick Win: 14.0 Staleness: 40 Complexity: 80 Confidence: 80 Support Request: 0	needs triage	Feature request to add U-Boot support (extlinux.conf, boot.scr, raw SPL) for non-EFI ARM and RISC-V boards. Currently untriaged with no maintainer interaction.
2026-07-21 03:54 PM UTC	qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6	Staleness: 5 Complexity: 65 Confidence: 90 Support Request: 10	needs triage	Feature request to implement U-Boot based non-EFI boot configuration for embedded ARM and RISC-V boards, covering extlinux.conf, boot.scr, and raw SPL flashing. Currently untriaged with no maintainer engagement.

Update history

Date	Change
2026-07-21 03:45 PM UTC	created

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