Robert Allan James
bd266942ce
New `make -f Makefile.starkernel thumbdrive` goal builds a generic UEFI-bootable GPT disk image (disk image -> GPT + one FAT32 "STARKERNEL" EFI System partition with EFI/BOOT/BOOT<ARCH>.EFI + startup.nsh) that can be written directly to a USB thumbdrive with dd and boots on any real amd64 UEFI firmware (Beelink SER5 path) as well as under QEMU. The monolithic loader embeds the whole kernel, so the ESP needs only the UEFI fallback boot path. Verified under QEMU by attaching the image as a USB mass-storage device (not cdrom): OVMF BDS auto-selected "UEFI QEMU QEMU USB HARDDRIVE" (Boot0002), then kernel booted normally -- LithosAnanke v2.0.0, POST 1012/0/0 + ok>, rng: backend = virtio-rng + entropy: ready, Artemis ready, and the USB BOT/ xHCI storage path enumerated (READ CAPACITY10 -> MSC device ready -> READ10 CSW PASS). This mirrors the real-hardware SER5 flow: firmware boots the USB thumbdrive's ESP, and the OS's own storage rides the same USB BOT/xHCI path. Works for all three arches via the arch-mapped EFI boot name.
capsules/
FORTH personality files loaded by the VM at boot. A capsule is an immutable, content-addressed payload; its XXHash64 hash is its identity. Any mutation changes the hash and the birth protocol rejects the image.
Key files
| File | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
init.4th |
(m) MAMA_INIT |
Default Mama VM personality — loaded at LBN 2048 |
ACL.4th |
user | Word-level ACL system; self-activating at boot |
zuse.4th |
user | Bootstrap superuser; loaded by ACL.4th |
doe.4th |
user | DoE workload words (EXEC-DOE) — opt-in |
init-0.4th … init-9.4th |
(p) |
Numbered personality variants |
init-l8-*.4th |
(p) |
L8 Jacquard mode variants (stable/volatile/diverse/temporal/transition/omni) |
hermes/init.4th |
(p) |
Hermes baby VM personality |
artemis/init.4th |
(p) |
Artemis baby VM personality |
Block namespace
Block ranges are shared across all loaded capsules — collisions cause silent word-definition overwrites.
| Range | Owner |
|---|---|
| 2048–2099 | init.4th |
| 2100–2199 | doe.4th |
| 3000–3999 | workload capsules |
| 4000+ | user-defined (ACL.4th, zuse.4th, …) |
Each block is limited to 1024 bytes. Verify with wc -c before committing.
See also
experiments/bare_metal/README.md— DoE protocols and block namespace rulesdocs/03-architecture/word-acl/DESIGN.md— ACL system designtools/mkcapsule.c— assembles capsules intocapsule_generated.c- Project root