Robert Allan JamesandClaude Sonnet 5
61755fde78
Step 3: one-time artemis_sig_t genesis stamp, written once
kernel_main.c's virtio-blk path confirms Artemis's own disk, so the disk
image is later recognizable generically (repl.c's idle-loop USB-MSC scan,
built in the prior commit) regardless of which bus found it.
Correction made before this ever touched the real disk: the signature's
first design (committed in 29b6789) placed it at a fixed bottom-of-device
forth-block (4, devblock 1) -- copying homeblocks_sig_t's own convention,
which is safe for a raw identity thumbdrive but not for Artemis's own
disk. Artemis's disk is block_subsystem.c's own STFR/v2-formatted volume:
devblock 0 holds that format's header and devblock 1 is the FIRST
DEVBLOCK OF THE LIVE BAM (blk_compute_fresh_geometry(): bam_start = 1).
The original design would have overwritten Artemis's live allocation map
on the very first real boot. Caught via direct cross-reference against
block_subsystem.c before the genesis-stamp call site was ever run against
the real image -- no corruption occurred.
Fixed by moving the header to a fixed offset from the END of the device
instead (ARTEMIS_SIG_DEVBLOCK_FROM_TOP=64), the same top-of-device region
block_subsystem.c's own meta_fence_blocks reservation (128 devblocks)
already carves out for system metadata, and where Zuse's genesis marker/
eligibility list already live -- but computed independently via
blkio_info() rather than through blk_meta_zone_*(), since that accessor
needs an already-attached, format-detected slot, which is exactly the
state pre-attach generic discovery doesn't have yet. Picked well clear of
Zuse's two tenants (devblock_from_top 0 and 1+, open-ended) so the two
subsystems' independent math can never collide.
Also reordered kernel_main.c: rng_init() now runs before the Artemis
virtio-blk block (was after) -- the genesis stamp needs rng_get_bytes()
for disk_uuid, and the original order would have failed the stamp on
every boot.
Verified live: booted amd64 against the real disk/artemis.img twice --
first boot logs "Artemis: genesis signature stamped" (confirmed blank at
the target offset beforehand via a host-side read), second boot on the
now-stamped image logs no re-stamp (idempotent, CRC/read-back verified)
-- both boots and aarch64/riscv64 (against the same now-stamped image)
all still report "Artemis: 22998 data blocks" / "PASS: persist-read"
unchanged, confirming the BAM and data pool were never touched.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01EXieurDfDSsDFdnSyusuWo
LithosAnanke v2.0.1
UEFI-bootable FORTH microkernel. Boots from firmware, initialises memory and interrupts, then runs the StarForth VM as its sole userspace runtime. No libc. No OS. Just stone and necessity.
Lithos (foundation) + Ananke (necessity) — the kernel under StarshipOS.
Status — M7.1 (Capsule System · Multi-VM Fleet)
| Milestone | Status | |
|---|---|---|
| M0–M6 | UEFI boot · PMM · VMM · IDT · APIC · heap · framebuffer VT100 console (v1.5.1-FINAL) | ✅ Complete |
| M7 | StarForth VM integration + parity validation | ✅ Complete |
| M7.1 | Capsule birth protocol · Mama FORTH vocabulary · Tripod multi-VM fleet (Hermes/Artemis) · Word-level ACL (Phases 1–7) | 🔄 In Progress |
| M8 | REPL — keyboard input, interactive Forth | Planned |
| M9 | Block storage — AHCI driver | Planned |
POST at boot: parity hash verified across amd64/aarch64/riscv64 · Mama capsule dictionary: 453 words
What's live in M7.1
- Tripod — a named multi-VM fleet (Hera the Mama VM, Artemis, two Hermes instances) births, runs, and re-births independently, verified booting live pre-REPL on all three architectures.
- Hermes — a 17-block inter-VM messaging/channel layer between fleet members, with async delivery and channel negotiation.
- Artemis — a Block Allocation Map (BAM) storage subsystem with Q48.16
block-heat tracking and cooldown/reclamation (
ART-COOL/ART-REAP). - Word-level ACL — every dictionary entry carries a TTL/allow/mode/pin
access-control record. Strict, TTL, and pinned modes; two console layers
(emergency
ok>and superuserzuse)ok>). Phases 1–7 complete (C infrastructure, FORTH policy layer,zusebootstrap superuser, Isabelle proof stubs, kernel parity); Phase 8 (Ed25519 PKI / thumbdrive challenge-response) is the only item remaining. Measured overhead once active on every check: +0.0054%–+0.0088%, CV = 0.000%, across a 3×3 Latin-square DoE campaign (architecture × seed × 30 replicates) — three orders of magnitude below the measurement floor. - VM Fleet Attractor physics — the L8 Jacquard mode selector now has a real per-VM heat channel into fleet-wide tuning, replacing hardcoded compudynamics constants with a dynamically-inferred rate.
- Kconfig build configuration — every physics/heartbeat/pipelining/ kernel-only tuning knob (~40 total) is now a discoverable, optional Kconfig symbol shared with the hosted VM build. See Quick Start below.
Quick Start
# Build kernel (requires cross-compilation toolchain, or native gcc)
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=amd64
# Run in QEMU with OVMF
make -f Makefile.starkernel qemu
# Other architectures
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=aarch64 qemu
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=riscv64 qemu
Artifacts: build/amd64/kernel/starkernel_loader.efi · build/amd64/kernel/starkernel_kernel.elf
For the hosted VM by itself (Linux, no cross-compiler needed, no bare-metal tooling): see
the separate StarForth repository — LithosAnanke used to be a branch inside that repo,
now it's its own project with its own master.
Build configuration (optional)
Every kernel-only knob (STARFORTH_ENABLE_VM, PARITY_MODE, the shared
physics/heartbeat family, etc.) is an optional Kconfig symbol — a plain
make -f Makefile.starkernel uses the same defaults it always has unless
you opt in:
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=amd64 menuconfig
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=amd64 kernel_amd64_defconfig
Documentation
| System Architecture | Full kernel + VM design |
| HAL Reference | Hardware abstraction layer interfaces |
| Capsule System — M7.1 | Capsule birth protocol design |
| VM Fleet Attractor design log | Tripod/Hermes/Artemis physics + build-system history |
| Getting Started / Kconfig reference | Full symbol reference for both build targets |
| Changelog | Milestone-level history |
| Roadmap | Milestone plan through self-hosting |
License
Starship License 1.0 (SL-1.0) — free for personal, research, and educational use. Commercial use requires a separate agreement. Attribution to R.A. James (Captain Bob) must be preserved in all distributions.
Patent pending. USPTO provisional filed December 2025 — physics-grounded self-adaptive runtime system. This license does not grant patent rights. Licensing inquiries: rajames440@gmail.com
Robert A. James (Captain Bob) · Systems Engineer · Hacking since 1973