The M10 TLS work leaked x86 naming into the generic kernel: Task.fs_base,
PerCpu.loaded_fs_base, and architecture.setFsBase. The *mechanism* was already
abstracted (the generic scheduler calls through the architecture layer; the
wrmsr IA32_FS_BASE lives in architecture/x86_64/cpu.zig), but the *names* would
force an aarch64 port to implement a 'setFsBase' that writes TPIDR_EL0.
Rename to the neutral concept: Task.thread_pointer, PerCpu.loaded_thread_pointer,
architecture.setThreadPointer (x86_64 impl writes IA32_FS_BASE; aarch64 -> TPIDR_EL0).
Also neutralise the user_arg comment (first argument register, rdi on x86_64).
No behaviour change; thread-tls/thread-mutex/smp/process-kill + host tests pass.
Each thread gets its own x86_64 thread pointer (FS base) for user-space TLS.
Task.fs_base is restored on every context switch only when it changes (same
conditional-load discipline as CR3; architecture.setFsBase -> wrmsr
IA32_FS_BASE). New set_thread_pointer=44 syscall sets the caller's fs_base and
loads it now. The kernel never touches FS, so no swapgs complication.
The runtime lays a small per-thread TLS block at the top of each thread's stack
(self-pointer at %fs:0 + scratch) and the thread trampoline calls
set_thread_pointer before any user code — so every spawned thread has a private,
switch-stable thread pointer, reclaimed with the stack.
thread-test tls mode: two threads write unique markers to their own %fs:8 and,
after both wrote, read back — a shared fs.base would clobber one (cross-talk).
Deferred: the Zig threadlocal *compiler* layer (ELF variant-II PT_TLS + linker
sections + template copy) — high-uncertainty, no consumer today; this lands the
load-bearing per-thread fs.base it builds on. See docs/threading-plan.md M10.
Gate thread-tls PASS (3x); full guardrail 25/25; build + host tests clean.
A thread is a task sharing the caller's address space. New private syscalls
thread_spawn(entry, stack_top, arg)=37 and thread_exit=38: thread_spawn goes
through scheduler.spawnThread (retains the shared aspace), thread_exit ends the
task like a process exit(0) (terminateCurrent -> releaseAspace, so the space
survives while siblings hold it). The closure pointer reaches the new thread in
rdi via a new jump_to_user_arg asm path and a per-task user_arg (0 for a normal
process, whose _start ignores it) - so the runtime trampoline is a plain C-ABI
Zig function, no naked asm.
runtime.Thread (library/runtime/thread.zig) mirrors std.Thread.spawn: mmap a
stack, heap-allocate the args closure, hand the kernel the trampoline + closure.
addThreadedUserBinary opts a binary into single_threaded=false; thread-test is
the first, and proves a worker runs in the shared address space via a shared
global the main thread polls.
Gate thread-spawn PASS; 16 guardrail cases green (incl. args/init/process on the
new jump_to_user_arg path) + aspace-refcount; build + host tests clean.
Generalize capability passing from endpoints to memory objects. The per-task
handle table now holds kind-tagged entries (scheduler.HandleObject{kind, ptr});
closeHandles and shareCapability dispatch by kind, so a shared-memory object
rides an ipc_call send_cap exactly like an endpoint and is refcount-freed only
when its last capability drops.
- shm_create(len) -> vaddr, handle: contiguous, zeroed, cacheable frames wrapped
in a refcounted ShmObject, mapped into the caller's shm arena (PML4[230]).
- shm_map(cap) -> vaddr: map the same physical pages into a receiver that got the
capability. mapUserSharedInto maps WB-cacheable + device_grant, so a sharer's
teardown never frees the shared frames — the object owns them.
- runtime.shm: create(len) -> Region{ptr, handle, len}, map(handle) -> ptr.
Gate: qemu_test.py shm — shm-client creates a region, writes a pattern, passes
its capability to shm-server, which maps it and reads the same bytes back
(shm: shared 4096 bytes ok). ipc/ipc-call/ipc-cap/supervision/dma/usermem/
display-service and host tests all still pass — the handle change broke no IPC.
Kick off the display service track (docs/display.md, docs/display-plan.md): a
user-space compositor that owns the framebuffer. GOP and the PCI display device
are two views of one controller; GOP dies at ExitBootServices, so the portable
base is the boot-handoff linear framebuffer.
D1 makes that framebuffer reachable from user space over the existing device
claim/mmio_map path rather than a bespoke syscall:
- device-abi: a `display` DeviceClass, a DisplayInfo{w,h,pitch,format} on the
descriptor, and a flags field on resources with a write-combining bit.
- devices-broker: seedDisplay() publishes the loader's framebuffer as a
root-level `display` node (one WC-flagged memory resource); kmain seeds it
after discovery. displayDevice()/displayClaimed() track the claim.
- paging/mmio_map: mapUserDeviceInto gains a write_combining bool — a WC-flagged
resource maps through PAT entry 4 instead of strong-uncacheable (an
uncacheable framebuffer blit is glacial).
- console: falls silent while a display service holds the framebuffer, and is
forced back on by the panic/exception paths.
Gate: the `display` kernel test asserts the seeded node's shape and that the
claim + mmio_map leaf is genuinely write-combining (PAT bit set, PCD/PWT clear).
Regression-checked discovery/ioport/claim-release/supervision/device-list/
device-manager with the +1 device in the table.
On a legacy-free board COM1 is decoded but has no live UART: its LSR reads 0x00, so the transmit-holding-empty bit never sets and writeByte spun its full 100k-iteration guard on every logged byte (~15ms/byte x ~3.7k bytes to 'initialised' ~= 57s). QEMU always has a working UART, so this only bit real hardware; the boot log survived via log.ramSink.
- probe() loopback-tests the UART in init(); write() is a no-op when absent, so a dead port costs nothing per byte
- guard cut 100k -> 5k (backstop for a live-but-stalled UART only)
- serialPresent() + a boot line making the absent-UART case visible
Adds real (calendar) time, the foundation for filesystem timestamps. Monotonic
time (`clock`) says how long since boot; this says what time it actually is.
- cpu.zig (x86_64): readRtcUnixSeconds() reads the CMOS real-time clock (ports
0x70/0x71) — waits out an update-in-progress, reads twice until stable, handles
BCD-vs-binary and 12-vs-24-hour per status register B — and converts to Unix
epoch seconds (UTC).
- kernel/wall-clock.zig: reads the RTC once at boot and anchors it to the monotonic
clock, so a query is a cheap arithmetic offset — no per-call CMOS poll, no lock,
no SMP hazard on the shared ports. kmain calls init() once the monotonic clock is
final and logs the epoch.
- wall_clock() syscall (33) -> Unix epoch seconds, wrapped by runtime.system
.wallClock(). Wall-clock *seconds* are mechanism the kernel owns like the
monotonic clock; calendars/timezones are user-space policy (the stale comment on
systemClock that called wall-clock a "user-space service" is updated in spirit by
the new handler's doc).
- A `wall-clock` kernel test asserts the boot RTC read is a plausible current epoch.
Verified against the host: the guest read epoch 1783971244 while `date -u +%s` gave
1783971245 (one second of boot lag) — the CMOS read + epoch conversion are correct to
the second. zig build, zig build test, and smoke/clock/init are green.
Time is a kernel concern in danos: the kernel owns the scheduling timer and
already exposes monotonic time via the clock/sleep/timer_bind syscalls, so a
userspace time service would be a redundant, slower path. This adds the generic
runtime.time module over those syscalls, retires the two demonstration drivers,
reorganizes the milestone docs, and makes the monotonic clock correct on Intel,
AMD, and inside any VM.
runtime.time (library/runtime/time.zig)
- Instant/Duration interface: now, sleep, spin, after, monotonicNanos, available
- a thin layer over system.clock/sleep/timerOnce; unit-tested arithmetic
Remove the demo drivers hpet and bus (a teaching example belongs in the docs,
not shipped in the tree)
- system/drivers/ now holds only real drivers: pci-bus, ps2-bus, usb-xhci-bus
- device-manager end-to-end test repointed to pci-bus (asserts on kernel state:
the process table and the device tree, not a racy serial marker)
- device_register containment moved to a new in-kernel `containment` test
- the driver-model worked example moved inline into docs/drivers.md
Reorganize milestone docs into topic docs
- m17-m18 / m19-m20 / m21 plans dissolved into process-lifecycle, device-manager,
discovery, and acpi docs; new docs/power.md and docs/timers.md; ~20 citations
repointed; plan docs deleted
TSC reliability (apic.zig, smp.zig, cpu.zig, kernel.zig)
- check the invariant-TSC bit (CPUID 0x80000007 EDX[8]) on Intel and AMD
- cross-core "warp" check at SMP bring-up, pairwise BSP<->AP as each core comes up
- fall back to the HPET clocksource when the TSC is not invariant (a bare VM) or
not synchronized (a warp), switched continuously so time never jumps
- boot log reports the outcome; new tsc-sync test exercises the TSC + warp path
Verified: zig build; zig build test; 60/60 QEMU cases (incl. new containment and
tsc-sync).
Two parts, both blockers for real PCI drivers.
ECAM config space per function: enumeratePci now gives every pci_device its own 4 KiB
configuration window as resource 0. A claimed PCI driver mmio_maps that to reach its
command register, BARs, and — the point — its capability list (MSI/MSI-X, PCIe extended
caps), with no new syscall. Verified in the discovery test (QEMU q35's functions each
carry it).
MSI: msi_bind(device_id, endpoint) -> address (rax), data (rdx) allocates a per-device
edge-triggered vector, binds it to the endpoint, and returns the (address, data) the
driver programs into its own MSI capability. Unlike irq_bind there's no GSI, no I/O APIC
entry, no sharing, and no ack cycle — dispatch recognises an MSI vector (vector_gsi ==
none, msi_bound set), EOIs, and notifies. Owner-keyed release drops the binding on exit.
Legacy INTx (_PRT parsing + shared lines) is deliberately skipped; MSI is the real
answer.
QEMU's HPET has no MSI, so the new `msi` test proves the vector-routing path with a
self-IPI (new apic.selfIpi) standing in for the device's MSI write: bind a vector,
fire it, the bound endpoint is notified. The msi_bind syscall wraps irq.msiBind with
the claim check and lands its first real use with the first PCI driver. Suite 39/39
plus host tests.
An HCD programs a bus-master engine: it needs a descriptor ring that is physically
contiguous, at a physical address it knows, uncacheable, and pinned. mmap gives none
of those. Add dma_alloc(len, flags) -> vaddr (rax), paddr (rdx) and dma_free(vaddr,
len): grant contiguous, zeroed, pinned, strong-uncacheable memory in a per-process DMA
arena (PML4[228]) and hand back both addresses.
Pieces: pmm.allocContiguous(count, max_phys) finds a run of contiguous free frames
below a cap (dma_below_4g for 32-bit engines); mapUserDmaInto maps them uncacheable
(PCD|PWT) but WITHOUT device_grant, so unlike an MMIO grant these frames are real RAM
and freeSubtree returns them on teardown — a driver that dies leaks nothing. dma_free
is bounded to the DMA arena so it can never unmap the caller's stack/heap/MMIO.
dma_write_combining is accepted but falls back to coherent (WC needs PAT programming).
Runtime: runtime.dma.alloc/free (a two-return-value stub, like replyWait). New `dma`
kernel test drives the mechanism directly — contiguity, the below-4G cap, coherent
mapping, and reclaim-on-teardown (no leak). The thin syscall wrappers follow the tested
mmap/mmio_map shape and land their first real use with the first DMA driver. Suite
38/38 plus host tests.
ipc_call and ipc_reply_wait grow a `send_cap` argument (r9) and a `received_cap`
return (r8): an endpoint travels alongside a message, installed into the receiver's
handle table. The transfer is a share, not a move — the endpoint's refcount is bumped
and the sender keeps its handle. If the receiver's table is full the call fails
-ENOSPC and the message is NOT delivered (a half-delivered capability is worse than a
failed send); a bad handle fails -EBADF. Both directions carry a cap: a client's call
hands one to the server (seen in the server's replyWait), and the server's reply hands
one back (seen in the client's call return).
This is the "open" primitive the driver model was blocked on: a bus driver mints a
per-device endpoint and hands it to a class driver, giving it a private channel to one
device without the 8-slot global name registry.
Kernel: shareCapability in ipc-synchronous.zig at both copy points; new
setSystemCallResult3 (r8, saved/restored by the syscall stub); Task gains
ipc_send_cap / ipc_received_cap. Runtime: callCap + Reply, replyWait gains send_cap
and Received.cap; plain call/replyWait delegate with no_cap. New abi.no_cap.
New ipc-cap test (two kernel tasks exercise both directions, each verifying the
endpoint it received is the same object shared, refcount bumped to 2). No class driver
consumes callCap yet — it lands with the first one. Suite 37/37 plus host tests.
The `system` module (formerly `danos`) had become a grab-bag: it held the
loader<->kernel handoff *and* the kernel<->user ABI *and* the device wire types, in
one module three different audiences imported. Usage proved the seam — the
bootloader never touched the syscall/device ABI, and user space never touched the
boot handoff — so split it by audience, one module per contract:
system/boot-handoff.zig loader <-> kernel: BootInformation, Framebuffer,
MemoryMap, the VM layout + physicalToVirtual, kernel_abi
system/abi.zig kernel <-> user, core: SystemCall, mmap prot flags,
page_size, notify_badge_bit, ServiceId
system/devices/device-abi.zig kernel <-> user, devices: DeviceDescriptor,
DeviceClass, ResourceDescriptor, ResourceKind, ...
device-abi is the devices sub-project's public interface, exposed as its own module
the way vfs exposes vfs-protocol — importable by user space, unlike the
kernel-internal device model it also feeds. That collapses a real duplication:
DeviceClass and ResourceKind were defined twice (device-model.zig and the contract,
kept "in sync by hand"); device-model now re-exports them from device-abi, so the
enum a driver matches on and the one the kernel classifies with are one type.
Each import now declares which contract it speaks: the bootloader imports only
boot-handoff; a driver only abi + device-abi (via the runtime); the kernel all
three. This also retires the `system` / `runtime.system` name overlap. page_size
lands in abi (it's part of the mmap contract user space aligns to); the bootloader
keeps its own local 4 KiB constant so it depends on nothing but the handoff.
All 21 importers rewired, docs updated to keep /system mapping to source. Build,
host tests, and the QEMU suite (36/36) all green.
The shared kernel<->user ABI contract (BootInformation, the SystemCall numbers,
DeviceDescriptor, page_size, ...) is now the `system` module at
system/system.zig, following the convention that a directory's root file takes
the directory's name.
One overlap to note: the runtime's syscall wrappers are already `runtime.system`,
so the single file that uses both the contract and those wrappers
(library/runtime/heap.zig) aliases the wrappers locally as `system_calls`. The
two are distinct (top-level `system` vs `runtime.system`); everywhere else the
contract is just `system`.
Also: the QEMU run's serial capture now lands in the FHS log location,
zig-out/var/log/system/serial0-<timestamp>.log — a stand-in for the kernel's own
logging system, which will eventually write there itself.
Suite 35/35 plus host tests green.
The source layout now mirrors the runtime filesystem hierarchy
(docs/danos-file-system-hierarchy-FSH.md): what lives under system/ in the
source is what a running danos represents under /system. Each service and
driver is a sub-project directory that is its own Zig module — cross-project
references go by module name, never by a path into another project's files.
Moves (all git mv, history preserved):
- src/ -> system/ (danos internals; the self-representation)
root.zig -> danos.zig (the kernel<->user contract module)
kernel/arch/ -> kernel/architecture/ (arch -> architecture)
device/ -> devices/ (what /system/devices reflects)
boot/ -> /boot (the loaders, top level)
- sbin/ -> split by role:
init, vfs -> system/services/<name>/<name>.zig
hpetd, busd -> system/drivers/<name>/<name>.zig
vfs-test -> system/services/vfs/vfs-test.zig (inside the vfs project)
- lib/ -> library/runtime/ (room for other libraries beside runtime)
The VFS wire protocol becomes its own module, system/services/vfs/protocol.zig
("vfs-protocol"): the vfs sub-project exposes its interface, and the runtime's
file layer imports it by name. First instance of the "protocol module" pattern
(docs/driver-model.md); usb/block will expose theirs the same way.
Also: fix a naming-standard violation in the protocol — Op -> Operation (and
req -> request, _pad -> _padding). Docs updated: /system/services added to the
FHS doc, a repository-layout section added to the docs index, and stale source
paths swept across comments and docs.
Runtime boot paths are unchanged (the bootloader still loads /sbin/init);
aligning the runtime filesystem to the FHS is a separate follow-up. Suite 35/35
plus host tests green.
Daniel Samson
Daniel Samson