diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d7941b2..b072078 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
-DanOS
-====
+# DanOS
+Codename: Shodan
+Version: 1
 
-Operating System written for me
\ No newline at end of file
+Operating System written for me
+
+## Logo
+
+San Serif Text "Dan OS" with a black karate belt around it.
diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index 1076ea6..4659110 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -11,6 +11,13 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
         .root_source_file = b.path("src/root.zig"),
     });
 
+    // Architecture-specific kernel code (CPU ops, entry, later GDT/IDT/paging).
+    // The generic kernel imports this as "arch" and never names x86_64, so a new
+    // architecture is a matter of pointing this module at a different directory.
+    const arch_mod = b.addModule("arch", .{
+        .root_source_file = b.path("src/arch/x86_64/cpu.zig"),
+    });
+
     // --- Kernel: freestanding x86_64 ELF, jumped to by the bootloader ---
     // SSE2 is part of the x86_64 baseline and UEFI leaves it enabled at handoff,
     // so we keep it: disabling it forces soft-float and makes the compiler unable
@@ -35,10 +42,11 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
             .stack_protector = false,
             .imports = &.{
                 .{ .name = "danos", .module = mod },
+                .{ .name = "arch", .module = arch_mod },
             },
         }),
     });
-    exe.setLinkerScript(b.path("src/linker.ld"));
+    exe.setLinkerScript(b.path("src/arch/x86_64/linker.ld"));
     exe.entry = .{ .symbol_name = "_start" };
     // Physical address the bootloader loads the kernel to (identity-mapped under
     // UEFI). Overrides Zig's default image base so the linker script's layout is
diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
index 484ea3a..16ef352 100644
--- a/docs/README.md
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -13,22 +13,34 @@ rather than restate it. Roughly in the order things happen at runtime:
 3. **[framebuffer.md](framebuffer.md) — the framebuffer.** What the linear
    framebuffer the loader hands over actually is, and what **pitch** (stride)
    means versus width — the detail you have to get right to avoid a skewed image.
-4. **[halting.md](halting.md) — halting.** Why a kernel can't just "exit", and
+4. **[memory-map.md](memory-map.md) — the memory map.** How the loader learns what
+   physical RAM exists and hands it to the kernel in danos's own neutral format,
+   rather than leaking UEFI's memory descriptors across the boundary.
+5. **[halting.md](halting.md) — halting.** Why a kernel can't just "exit", and
    how `while (true) hlt` parks the CPU safely once there's nothing left to do.
 
+Cutting across all of these:
+
+- **[arch.md](arch.md) — the architecture split.** How CPU-specific code is kept
+  behind a build-time `arch` module so the generic kernel never names x86_64,
+  leaving room for other systems (e.g. an AArch64 Raspberry Pi) later.
+
 ## How the pieces relate
 
 The boot flow ties them together: UEFI runs the loader ([efi.md](efi.md)), which
-queries the **GOP** to pick a graphics mode ([gop.md](gop.md)) and hands the
-kernel a **framebuffer** to draw into ([framebuffer.md](framebuffer.md)); when the
-kernel has finished — or panics — it **halts** ([halting.md](halting.md)).
+queries the **GOP** to pick a graphics mode ([gop.md](gop.md)), hands the kernel a
+**framebuffer** to draw into ([framebuffer.md](framebuffer.md)) and a **memory
+map** of physical RAM ([memory-map.md](memory-map.md)); the kernel runs — its
+CPU-specific bits behind the [arch](arch.md) boundary — and when it has finished,
+or panics, it **halts** ([halting.md](halting.md)).
 
 ## Source map
 
 | Area | Code |
 |------|------|
 | Bootloader (UEFI app) | `src/efi.zig` → `BOOTX64.efi` |
-| Kernel entry, panic, halt | `src/main.zig` |
-| Shared loader↔kernel contract (`BootInfo`, `Framebuffer`, ABI) | `src/root.zig` |
+| Kernel entry, panic, memory-map read-out | `src/main.zig` |
+| Shared loader↔kernel contract (`BootInfo`, `Framebuffer`, `MemoryMap`, ABI) | `src/root.zig` |
 | Framebuffer text console | `src/console.zig` |
+| Arch-specific kernel code (`halt`, linker script) | `src/arch/x86_64/` |
 | Build + `run-efi` (QEMU/OVMF) | `build.zig` |
diff --git a/docs/arch.md b/docs/arch.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..385ef33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/arch.md
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+# Architecture split
+
+danos targets x86_64 today, but is meant to grow onto other systems later — a
+Raspberry Pi, say, which is AArch64 and has no UEFI. To keep that possible without
+a rewrite, CPU-specific kernel code lives behind a boundary: the generic kernel
+never names an architecture, and each architecture plugs in behind it.
+
+## The seam is a build-time module named `arch`
+
+The mechanism is deliberately boring — no vtables, no function-pointer tables, no
+runtime dispatch. `build.zig` exposes one architecture's code as a module called
+`arch`:
+
+```zig
+const arch_mod = b.addModule("arch", .{
+    .root_source_file = b.path("src/arch/x86_64/cpu.zig"),
+});
+```
+
+and the generic kernel imports it by that name:
+
+```zig
+const arch = @import("arch");
+// ...
+arch.halt();          // never says "x86_64"
+```
+
+Adding a second architecture is then a build-time choice: create
+`src/arch/aarch64/`, and point the `arch` module at it when the target CPU is
+AArch64. `main.zig` and `console.zig` don't change. **That compiler-checked module
+boundary _is_ the architecture interface** — when a new arch is missing a function
+the generic kernel calls, the build fails and names exactly what's missing.
+
+## What's arch-specific vs generic
+
+The split follows a simple test: does it name a CPU instruction, a hardware
+register, or a memory-management structure? If so, it's arch-specific.
+
+| Arch-specific — `src/arch/x86_64/` | Generic — kernel core |
+|---|---|
+| `cpu.zig`: `halt()` (`hlt`), later GDT/IDT/paging | `console.zig` — pure pixel math, works anywhere |
+| `linker.ld` — link layout, load address | `main.zig` — `kmain` orchestration, panic handler |
+| (future) interrupt controller, MMU setup | `root.zig` — the neutral handoff contract |
+
+Notice the framebuffer console is *generic*: it just writes pixels into whatever
+framebuffer it's handed, so it needs no per-arch version. Most of the kernel
+should end up on the generic side; the arch module stays small.
+
+## Two axes, kept separate
+
+There are really two independent questions, and it's worth not conflating them:
+
+- **CPU architecture** (x86_64 vs AArch64): instructions, MMU, interrupts →
+  `src/arch/<cpu>/`.
+- **Boot protocol** (UEFI vs Raspberry Pi firmware + device tree): handled
+  *separately*, because loaders are their own binaries. `src/efi.zig` builds
+  `BOOTX64.efi`, a distinct executable from the kernel ELF. On a Pi there is no
+  separate loader at all — the firmware jumps straight into the kernel with a
+  device-tree pointer, so that entry work would live in the AArch64 arch code.
+  Either path converges on the same neutral [`BootInfo`](memory-map.md).
+
+## Current x86_64 contents
+
+- **`src/arch/x86_64/cpu.zig`** — the `arch` module root. Exposes `halt()` (see
+  [halting.md](halting.md)); GDT, IDT and paging will join it here as the kernel
+  grows.
+- **`src/arch/x86_64/linker.ld`** — the kernel link layout (fixed low load
+  address, one PT_LOAD per permission set).
+
+The kernel entry point `_start` currently still lives in the generic `main.zig` as
+a thin trampoline into `kmain`. It's arch-adjacent (its calling convention is
+x86_64 SysV, via the shared `danos.kernel_abi`), but it's three lines and mostly
+generic, so it stays put for now. When AArch64 arrives — where entry means setting
+up a stack and reading a device-tree pointer from a register — the entry work will
+be substantial and per-arch, and *that* is when we extract an entry interface into
+the arch modules.
+
+## The discipline
+
+The thing that makes this help rather than hurt: **only extract what's provably
+architecture-specific, and let the interface emerge with the second
+implementation.** With a single architecture you're guessing at the seam, and a
+wrong guess encoded as elaborate abstraction is expensive to undo. So:
+
+- Move code into `arch/` only when it genuinely names CPU-specific machinery.
+- Grow the `arch` surface one function at a time, as steps need it.
+- Don't pre-design the interrupt or paging interfaces before writing them.
+
+Directory hygiene is cheap and reversible; premature abstraction is neither. When
+arch #2 lands and something doesn't fit, reshaping a few hundred lines is nothing —
+unwinding an abstraction empire is not.
diff --git a/docs/halting.md b/docs/halting.md
index 1b29caa..05e8b39 100644
--- a/docs/halting.md
+++ b/docs/halting.md
@@ -15,12 +15,14 @@ safely, until the machine is reset or powered off.
 
 ## The core of it: `hlt`
 
-Everything comes down to one x86 instruction. In `src/main.zig`:
+Everything comes down to one x86 instruction. It's CPU-specific, so it lives in
+the arch module, `src/arch/x86_64/cpu.zig` (see [arch.md](arch.md)), and the
+generic kernel calls it as `arch.halt()`:
 
 ```zig
-/// Stop the CPU. `hlt` in a loop parks the core at near-zero power until the
-/// next interrupt; we loop because `hlt` returns when one arrives.
-fn hang() noreturn {
+/// Park the core forever. `hlt` drops it into a low-power idle until the next
+/// interrupt; the loop re-halts on every wake so the stop is permanent.
+pub fn halt() noreturn {
     while (true) asm volatile ("hlt");
 }
 ```
@@ -71,7 +73,7 @@ makes us robust to all of them.)
 
 ## `noreturn`: telling the compiler it's the end
 
-`hang()` is typed `noreturn` — a real Zig type meaning "this function never gives
+`halt()` is typed `noreturn` — a real Zig type meaning "this function never gives
 control back to its caller." That isn't decoration; it changes how the compiler
 treats the call:
 
@@ -82,26 +84,27 @@ treats the call:
   jumps back out.
 
 You can see the chain in `src/main.zig`: `_start` is `noreturn`, it calls
-`kmain` which is `noreturn`, which ends by calling `hang()` which is `noreturn`.
-The "never returns" property is threaded all the way down.
+`kmain` which is `noreturn`, which ends by calling `arch.halt()` which is
+`noreturn`. The "never returns" property is threaded all the way down.
 
 ## Where danos halts
 
 There are three halt sites, and they're all the same idea:
 
-1. **Normal end of kernel work** — `kmain` prints its status, then calls `hang()`:
+1. **Normal end of kernel work** — `kmain` prints its status, then calls
+   `arch.halt()`:
 
    ```zig
    con.write("\nkernel initialised; nothing left to do, halting.\n");
-   hang();
+   arch.halt();
    ```
 
    There's genuinely nothing more to do yet, so the kernel parks itself.
 
 2. **Kernel panic** — the freestanding panic handler has no OS to report to, so
    it prints the message in red (if the console is up) and halts via the same
-   `hang()`. A panic is unrecoverable here, so stopping the machine — rather than
-   limping on with corrupted state — is the safe response.
+   `arch.halt()`. A panic is unrecoverable here, so stopping the machine — rather
+   than limping on with corrupted state — is the safe response.
 
 3. **Bootloader failure** — in `src/efi.zig`, if `boot()` fails *before* handing
    off to the kernel, `main` logs the error and parks the machine with the same
@@ -116,8 +119,8 @@ There are three halt sites, and they're all the same idea:
    };
    ```
 
-   (Here it's an inline loop rather than `hang()` because `hang` lives in the
-   kernel, which the loader is a separate binary from.)
+   (Here it's an inline loop rather than `arch.halt()` because that lives in the
+   kernel's arch module, and the loader is a separate binary from the kernel.)
 
 ## Summary
 
diff --git a/docs/memory-map.md b/docs/memory-map.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8036d81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/memory-map.md
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+# The memory map
+
+Before a kernel can manage memory, it has to *know what memory exists*: which
+physical address ranges are real RAM it may use, and which are firmware, hardware
+registers, or already occupied. That inventory is the **memory map**, and the
+firmware is the only thing that knows it. This page covers how danos gets that map
+from the firmware and hands it to the kernel — deliberately without dragging UEFI
+into the kernel.
+
+## Why not just pass UEFI's map through?
+
+UEFI hands the loader a perfectly good memory map. The tempting shortcut is to
+forward it to the kernel as-is. We don't, for two reasons:
+
+1. **It would tie the kernel to UEFI.** The kernel would compare against UEFI's
+   memory-type numbers and walk the array using UEFI's variable descriptor stride.
+   That's UEFI vocabulary bleeding across the handoff — and danos wants to boot on
+   systems that have no UEFI at all (a Raspberry Pi describes its memory with a
+   *device tree* instead). See [arch.md](arch.md) for the same "keep the kernel
+   platform-agnostic" principle applied to CPU code.
+2. **We already established the better pattern.** The loader doesn't hand the
+   kernel a raw UEFI GOP either — [`queryFramebuffer`](gop.md) converts it to
+   danos's own `Framebuffer`. The memory map follows the same discipline.
+
+So the boundary is: **each boot path translates its native memory description into
+danos's own neutral format, and the kernel only ever sees that.**
+
+## The neutral format
+
+Defined in `src/root.zig`, the shared loader↔kernel contract:
+
+```zig
+pub const MemoryKind = enum(u32) {
+    usable,       // free RAM the kernel may allocate
+    reserved,     // firmware / MMIO / kernel image — never hand out
+    reclaimable,  // usable once boot-time structures are done with
+    acpi_tables,  // parse, then reclaim
+    acpi_nvs,     // preserve across sleep
+};
+
+pub const MemoryRegion = extern struct {
+    base: u64,    // physical start
+    pages: u64,   // length in page_size (4 KiB) units
+    kind: MemoryKind,
+    _pad: u32 = 0,
+};
+
+pub const MemoryMap = extern struct {
+    regions: usize, // pointer to a [len]MemoryRegion
+    len: usize,
+};
+```
+
+`MemoryKind` is danos's *own* vocabulary — not UEFI's ~15 types, just the
+distinctions the kernel actually acts on. And because danos defines `MemoryRegion`
+itself, `@sizeOf` is authoritative: the kernel walks a plain `[]MemoryRegion` with
+no variable-stride subtlety (that stride problem is a UEFI-ism, and it stays in the
+loader).
+
+`BootInfo` carries it alongside the framebuffer:
+
+```zig
+pub const BootInfo = extern struct {
+    framebuffer: Framebuffer,
+    memory_map: MemoryMap,
+};
+```
+
+## The loader side (UEFI)
+
+Two functions in `src/efi.zig`, called from `exitBootServices`:
+
+- **`classify`** maps each UEFI memory type to a `MemoryKind`:
+  `conventional_memory → usable`; `boot_services_code`/`boot_services_data →
+  reclaimable` (free once we've exited); `acpi_reclaim_memory → acpi_tables`;
+  `acpi_memory_nvs → acpi_nvs`; **everything else → reserved** (the safe default).
+  Our own `loader_data` — the kernel image and these buffers — falls into
+  `reserved`, so it won't be handed out until the kernel deliberately reclaims it.
+- **`convertMemoryMap`** walks the UEFI descriptors (striding by
+  `descriptor_size`, *not* `@sizeOf`), classifies each, and writes danos
+  `MemoryRegion`s into an output buffer, coalescing adjacent same-kind regions.
+
+### The ordering that makes it correct
+
+This is the fiddly part, dictated by two UEFI rules: you can only allocate memory
+*before* `ExitBootServices`, and the memory map is only final *at* the moment you
+exit (its "key" proves you've seen the latest state). So `exitBootServices` does,
+per attempt:
+
+1. `getMemoryMapInfo` to size things, then `allocatePool` **two** LoaderData
+   buffers — one for the raw UEFI map, one for the converted regions. Allocating
+   now, before exit, is mandatory.
+2. `getMemoryMap` then `exitBootServices(key)`. If either fails (allocating can
+   perturb the map and invalidate the key), free both buffers and retry.
+3. **After** the exit succeeds, convert. Conversion is pure computation on memory
+   we already hold — no boot-services calls — so it's safe once services are gone.
+
+Both buffers are `LoaderData`, which survives `ExitBootServices`, so the converted
+array the kernel is pointed at stays valid. (The raw UEFI buffer is just scratch
+for the conversion.)
+
+## The kernel side
+
+The kernel receives a plain array and reads it with zero UEFI knowledge:
+
+```zig
+const mm = boot_info.memory_map;
+const regions = @as([*]const danos.MemoryRegion, @ptrFromInt(mm.regions))[0..mm.len];
+for (regions) |r| {
+    if (r.kind == .usable) usable_pages += r.pages;
+}
+```
+
+Today `kmain` just prints the region count and total usable RAM — enough to prove
+the handoff works. Booted in QEMU with 128 MiB, it reports something like:
+
+```
+mem regions: 35
+usable RAM : 77 MiB
+```
+
+with the balance being `reclaimable` boot-services memory (~44 MiB) and a large
+`reserved` span that is mostly MMIO address space, not RAM. Those figures summing
+back to ~128 MiB is the sanity check that nothing was dropped.
+
+## How Raspberry Pi will fit
+
+No UEFI there, but the boundary is unchanged. The Pi's firmware jumps into the
+kernel with a **device-tree blob**; the AArch64 entry code will parse its
+`/memory` and `/reserved-memory` nodes and produce the *same* `MemoryRegion`
+array. The kernel's memory code — the frame allocator and everything above it —
+never knows the difference.
+
+## What's next (not done here)
+
+This is plumbing plus classification only. Still to come:
+
+- A **physical frame allocator** that consumes `usable` regions and hands out
+  4 KiB frames — the foundation everything else stands on.
+- Reclaiming `reclaimable` regions, and carefully freeing `reserved` `loader_data`
+  (kernel image, these buffers) once the kernel is done reading them.
+- Paging / the kernel's own page tables, then a heap.
+
+See the roadmap in [efi.md](efi.md) for where this sits in the boot flow.
diff --git a/src/arch/x86_64/cpu.zig b/src/arch/x86_64/cpu.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..375f656
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/arch/x86_64/cpu.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+//! x86_64 CPU operations. This is the "arch" module: the generic kernel imports
+//! it as `@import("arch")` and never names x86_64 directly, so a second
+//! architecture is added by pointing that module at a different directory in
+//! build.zig — no change to the generic code. Keep everything CPU-specific here
+//! (halt now; GDT, IDT and paging will join it), and nothing generic.
+
+/// Park the core forever. `hlt` drops it into a low-power idle until the next
+/// interrupt; the loop re-halts on every wake so the stop is permanent. See
+/// docs/halting.md for the full reasoning.
+pub fn halt() noreturn {
+    while (true) asm volatile ("hlt");
+}
diff --git a/src/linker.ld b/src/arch/x86_64/linker.ld
similarity index 100%
rename from src/linker.ld
rename to src/arch/x86_64/linker.ld
diff --git a/src/efi.zig b/src/efi.zig
index 8473572..b16308e 100644
--- a/src/efi.zig
+++ b/src/efi.zig
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ const danos = @import("danos");
 const BootInfo = danos.BootInfo;
 const GraphicsOutput = uefi.protocol.GraphicsOutput;
 const EdidActive = uefi.protocol.edid.Active;
+const MemoryMapSlice = uefi.tables.MemoryMapSlice;
 
 /// Name of the kernel ELF on the boot volume (installed to the ESP root by
 /// build.zig). UEFI wants a UTF-16, null-terminated path.
@@ -34,12 +35,13 @@ fn boot() !noreturn {
     // services, since afterwards none of these calls are usable.
     var boot_info: BootInfo = .{
         .framebuffer = try queryFramebuffer(bs),
+        .memory_map = undefined, // filled by exitBootServices, just below
     };
 
     const entry = try loadKernel(bs);
 
     log("danos: kernel loaded, exiting boot services\r\n");
-    try exitBootServices(bs);
+    boot_info.memory_map = try exitBootServices(bs);
 
     // Hand control to the kernel. `danos.kernel_abi` is SysV, so the pointer is
     // passed in RDI as the kernel expects — not RCX, which this UEFI binary's
@@ -217,27 +219,85 @@ fn loadElf(bs: *uefi.tables.BootServices, image: []u8) !usize {
     return @intCast(ehdr.e_entry);
 }
 
-/// Fetch the memory map and exit boot services. Allocating the map buffer can
-/// itself change the map (invalidating the key), so retry until it takes.
-fn exitBootServices(bs: *uefi.tables.BootServices) !void {
+/// Fetch the memory map, exit boot services, and hand back the map in danos's
+/// neutral form. Allocating the buffers can itself change the map (invalidating
+/// the key), so retry until it takes. Both buffers are LoaderData, which survives
+/// the exit, so the returned map stays valid for the kernel.
+fn exitBootServices(bs: *uefi.tables.BootServices) !danos.MemoryMap {
     var attempts: usize = 0;
     while (attempts < 8) : (attempts += 1) {
         const info = try bs.getMemoryMapInfo();
-        // Spare descriptors to absorb the growth from the allocatePool below.
-        const buf = try bs.allocatePool(.loader_data, (info.len + 8) * info.descriptor_size);
-        const map = bs.getMemoryMap(buf) catch {
-            _ = bs.freePool(buf.ptr) catch {};
+        // Spare descriptors to absorb the growth from the allocations below.
+        const cap = info.len + 8;
+        const map_buf = try bs.allocatePool(.loader_data, cap * info.descriptor_size);
+        const regions_buf = try bs.allocatePool(.loader_data, cap * @sizeOf(danos.MemoryRegion));
+        const map = bs.getMemoryMap(map_buf) catch {
+            _ = bs.freePool(map_buf.ptr) catch {};
+            _ = bs.freePool(regions_buf.ptr) catch {};
             continue;
         };
         bs.exitBootServices(uefi.handle, map.info.key) catch {
-            _ = bs.freePool(buf.ptr) catch {};
+            _ = bs.freePool(map_buf.ptr) catch {};
+            _ = bs.freePool(regions_buf.ptr) catch {};
             continue;
         };
-        return; // Boot services are gone; do not touch `bs` again.
+        // Boot services are gone; do not touch `bs` again. Converting the map is
+        // pure computation on memory we already hold, so it's safe here.
+        return convertMemoryMap(map, regions_buf);
     }
     return error.ExitBootServicesFailed;
 }
 
+/// Translate UEFI's memory map into danos's neutral `MemoryRegion` array, written
+/// into `out` (sized for at least `map.info.len` regions). Adjacent regions of
+/// the same kind are coalesced. This is the loader's job precisely so the kernel
+/// never sees UEFI's vocabulary — the same seam the framebuffer already uses.
+fn convertMemoryMap(map: MemoryMapSlice, out: []u8) danos.MemoryMap {
+    const regions: [*]danos.MemoryRegion = @ptrCast(@alignCast(out.ptr));
+    var count: usize = 0;
+    var i: usize = 0;
+    while (i < map.info.len) : (i += 1) {
+        // Stride by descriptor_size, NOT @sizeOf — firmware descriptors may be
+        // larger than the struct.
+        const d: *const uefi.tables.MemoryDescriptor =
+            @ptrCast(@alignCast(map.ptr + i * map.info.descriptor_size));
+        if (d.number_of_pages == 0) continue;
+        const kind = classify(d.@"type");
+
+        // Coalesce with the previous region if it's the same kind and contiguous.
+        if (count > 0) {
+            const prev = &regions[count - 1];
+            if (prev.kind == kind and
+                prev.base + prev.pages * danos.page_size == d.physical_start)
+            {
+                prev.pages += d.number_of_pages;
+                continue;
+            }
+        }
+        regions[count] = .{
+            .base = d.physical_start,
+            .pages = d.number_of_pages,
+            .kind = kind,
+        };
+        count += 1;
+    }
+    return .{ .regions = @intFromPtr(regions), .len = count };
+}
+
+/// Map a UEFI memory type to danos's neutral kind. Anything we don't explicitly
+/// recognise is treated as `reserved` — the safe default. Our own loader data
+/// (the kernel image, these buffers) is LoaderData, which falls here too and so
+/// stays reserved until the kernel decides to reclaim it.
+fn classify(t: uefi.tables.MemoryType) danos.MemoryKind {
+    return switch (t) {
+        .conventional_memory => .usable,
+        .boot_services_code, .boot_services_data => .reclaimable,
+        .acpi_reclaim_memory => .acpi_tables,
+        .acpi_memory_nvs => .acpi_nvs,
+        else => .reserved,
+    };
+}
+
 /// Write a compile-time string to the console (best effort).
 fn log(comptime msg: []const u8) void {
     const out = uefi.system_table.con_out orelse return;
diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
index 1e9c75e..c906a59 100644
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 const danos = @import("danos");
+const arch = @import("arch");
 const console = @import("console.zig");
 const BootInfo = danos.BootInfo;
 
@@ -33,15 +34,20 @@ fn kmain(boot_info: *const BootInfo) noreturn {
     con.print("  pitch      : {d} bytes\n", .{fb.pitch});
     con.print("  format     : {s}\n", .{@tagName(fb.format)});
     con.print("  framebuffer: 0x{x:0>16}\n", .{fb.base});
+
+    // Summarise the physical memory the loader handed us. The array is danos's
+    // own MemoryRegion, so this is a plain slice — no firmware layout in sight.
+    const regions = @as([*]const danos.MemoryRegion, @ptrFromInt(boot_info.memory_map.regions))[0..boot_info.memory_map.len];
+    var usable_pages: u64 = 0;
+    for (regions) |r| {
+        if (r.kind == .usable) usable_pages += r.pages;
+    }
+    con.print("  mem regions: {d}\n", .{regions.len});
+    con.print("  usable RAM : {d} MiB\n", .{usable_pages * danos.page_size / (1024 * 1024)});
+
     con.write("\nkernel initialised; nothing left to do, halting.\n");
 
-    hang();
-}
-
-/// Stop the CPU. `hlt` in a loop parks the core at near-zero power until the
-/// next interrupt; we loop because `hlt` returns when one arrives.
-fn hang() noreturn {
-    while (true) asm volatile ("hlt");
+    arch.halt();
 }
 
 /// Freestanding has no OS to receive a panic. Print it to the console (if it is
@@ -55,6 +61,6 @@ pub const panic = std.debug.FullPanic(struct {
             con.write(msg);
             con.write("\n");
         }
-        hang();
+        arch.halt();
     }
 }.panic);
diff --git a/src/root.zig b/src/root.zig
index 4fa4eec..e438c99 100644
--- a/src/root.zig
+++ b/src/root.zig
@@ -32,8 +32,49 @@ pub const Framebuffer = extern struct {
     format: PixelFormat,
 };
 
+/// Page size the memory map is measured in. 4 KiB on every architecture danos
+/// targets so far.
+pub const page_size = 4096;
+
+/// danos's own classification of a span of physical memory — deliberately not
+/// UEFI's vocabulary. Each boot path (UEFI now, device tree later) translates its
+/// native memory description into these kinds, so the kernel never learns what
+/// booted it. [[arch]] keeps the same discipline for CPU code.
+pub const MemoryKind = enum(u32) {
+    /// Free RAM the kernel may allocate.
+    usable,
+    /// Firmware, MMIO, the kernel image, our own boot buffers — never hand out.
+    reserved,
+    /// Usable once the kernel is done with boot-time structures (e.g. UEFI boot
+    /// services memory, which is free after ExitBootServices).
+    reclaimable,
+    /// ACPI tables: parse, then reclaim.
+    acpi_tables,
+    /// ACPI non-volatile storage: preserve across sleep, do not allocate.
+    acpi_nvs,
+};
+
+/// One contiguous span of physical memory. Because danos defines this layout
+/// itself (unlike the UEFI descriptor it's built from), `@sizeOf` is
+/// authoritative — the kernel walks a plain `[]MemoryRegion`, with none of the
+/// firmware's variable descriptor-stride to worry about.
+pub const MemoryRegion = extern struct {
+    base: u64, // physical start address
+    pages: u64, // length in `page_size` units
+    kind: MemoryKind,
+    _pad: u32 = 0,
+};
+
+/// The physical memory layout handed to the kernel: a pointer to an array of
+/// `len` `MemoryRegion`s, in a buffer that outlives the loader.
+pub const MemoryMap = extern struct {
+    regions: usize, // address of a `[len]MemoryRegion`
+    len: usize,
+};
+
 /// Handoff structure the bootloader fills in and passes to the kernel's
 /// `_start` in RDI (the first argument under the SysV AMD64 C ABI).
 pub const BootInfo = extern struct {
     framebuffer: Framebuffer,
+    memory_map: MemoryMap,
 };