[PATCH] ARM: Sort exception table at compile time

[Russell King - ARM Linux]

On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 02:30:03PM -0700, Stephen Boyd wrote:
> Add the ARM machine identifier to sortextable and select the
> config option so that we can sort the exception table at compile
> time. sortextable relies on a section named __ex_table existing
> in the vmlinux, but ARM's linker script places the exception
> table in the data section. Give the exception table its own
> section so that sortextable can find it.
> 
> This allows us to skip the runtime sorting step during boot.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Stephen Boyd <sboyd at codeaurora.org>
> Cc: David Daney <david.daney at cavium.com>
> ---
> 
> I can't find any information on why the exception table lives in the data
> section. If there's a good reason for that, I'll look into changing
> sortextable to look for the __start___ex_table symbol.

Be careful about the placement of this, especially with XIP.