removing init heartbeat in releases

Point the display entry (#19) at nvidia-gpus.md and intel-igpu.md as future native scanout backends.

.zig-version

@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-0.16.0

README.md

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 # DanOS
-Codename: Shodan
-Version: 1
 
-A small resilient operating system, written from scratch in Zig.
+**Codename: Shodan**
+
+A very small resilient operating system.
 
 ## Zen of DanOS:
 
@@ -18,12 +18,12 @@ A small resilient operating system, written from scratch in Zig.
     - Useful during driver development.
     - Drivers can claim MMIO / ports
     - Driver resources (e.g. IRQ/Port/MMIO) claims are automatically cleaned up if the driver dies or is killed
-    - Drivers can also hook into the process lifecyle to clean up or reset hardware
+    - Drivers can also hook into the process lifecycle to clean up or reset hardware
 - No legacy to deal with
     - Zig code uses a clean coding style (Zen of Zig)
     - Favor reading code over writing code.
     - No magic numbers.
-    - No shortend names unless its for ABI compatibility or acronyms
+    - No shortened names unless its for ABI compatibility or acronyms
 - Inter-Process Communication (IPC)
   - Publish and subscribe to Asynchronous Messages
   - Talk to services and processes synchronously
@@ -54,6 +54,17 @@ the UEFI bootloader at `zig-out/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.efi`, the kernel at
 `zig-out/system/kernel`, init at `zig-out/system/services/init`, drivers under
 `zig-out/system/drivers/`, and the initial-ramdisk at `zig-out/boot/`.
 
+## Release media
+
+```sh
+zig build release-x86-64
+```
+
+Produces `zig-out/danos-x86-64.iso`, a hybrid ISO that boots flashed raw to a
+USB stick (balenaEtcher, dd) or burned to optical media — see
+[docs/release-iso.md](docs/release-iso.md). `zig build check-iso-image`
+validates it without booting.
+
 ## Run
 
 Boot it in QEMU with OVMF (opens a display window):

boot/efi.zig

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ const std = @import("std");
 const uefi = std.os.uefi;
 const elf = std.elf;
 const boot_handoff = @import("boot-handoff");
+const build_options = @import("build_options");
 const BootInformation = boot_handoff.BootInformation;
 const GraphicsOutput = uefi.protocol.GraphicsOutput;
 const EdidActive = uefi.protocol.edid.Active;
@@ -84,7 +85,7 @@ fn boot() !noreturn {
     // the map and exiting would invalidate the map key.
     const cr3 = try buildBootstrapTables(bs, &boot_information);
 
-    log("EFI: kernel loaded, exiting boot services\r\n");
+    progress("EFI: kernel loaded, exiting boot services\r\n");
     boot_information.memory_map = try exitBootServices(bs);
 
     // Switch onto our tables and jump to the kernel in one uninterruptible step.
@@ -395,7 +396,7 @@ fn loadInit(bs: *uefi.tables.BootServices, boot_information: *BootInformation) !
     const image = try loadFile(bs, init_file_name);
     boot_information.init_base = @intFromPtr(image.ptr);
     boot_information.init_len = image.len;
-    log("EFI: /system/services/init loaded\r\n");
+    progress("EFI: /system/services/init loaded\r\n");
 }
 
 /// Ferry the initial_ramdisk (the VFS server + drivers) to the kernel, same as init.
@@ -403,7 +404,7 @@ fn loadInitialRamdisk(bs: *uefi.tables.BootServices, boot_information: *BootInfo
     const image = try loadFile(bs, initial_ramdisk_file_name);
     boot_information.initial_ramdisk_base = @intFromPtr(image.ptr);
     boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len = image.len;
-    log("EFI: initial_ramdisk loaded\r\n");
+    progress("EFI: initial_ramdisk loaded\r\n");
 }
 
 /// Validate the ELF, copy every PT_LOAD segment to its physical address, and
@@ -561,6 +562,14 @@ fn log(comptime message: []const u8) void {
     _ = out.outputString(std.unicode.utf8ToUtf16LeStringLiteral(message)) catch {};
 }
 
+/// A boot-progress breadcrumb: like `log`, but compiled out unless `-Dserial`
+/// (off by default), so a real-hardware boot stays silent. Fatal errors use
+/// `log` directly and always show, so a failed boot still explains itself.
+fn progress(comptime message: []const u8) void {
+    if (!build_options.serial) return;
+    log(message);
+}
+
 /// Write a runtime ASCII byte string (e.g. an @errorName) by widening to UTF-16.
 fn logBytes(bytes: []const u8) void {
     const out = uefi.system_table.con_out orelse return;

build.zig

@@ -54,6 +54,12 @@ fn timestamp(b: *std.Build) []const u8 {
 /// can't reach), linked against the `runtime` runtime library with the shared user
 /// link script. Pinned to LLVM + LLD so the script's PHDRS (segment permissions)
 /// are authoritative — the kernel's W^X user-ELF loader requires exact perms.
+///
+/// The compilation root is not the program's own file but the shared shim
+/// library/runtime/root.zig, which supplies the root declarations (`main`
+/// re-export, panic handler, `_start` pull) so a program only defines
+/// `pub fn main`. The program's file becomes the `program` module the shim
+/// imports; reach it through `programModule` to add per-binary imports.
 fn addUserBinary(
     b: *std.Build,
     target: std.Build.ResolvedTarget,
@@ -64,10 +70,26 @@ fn addUserBinary(
     name: []const u8,
     root: []const u8,
 ) *std.Build.Step.Compile {
+    // Settings (target, optimize, code model, ...) live on the root module only;
+    // the program and runtime modules leave theirs null and inherit them.
+    const program_module = b.createModule(.{
+        .root_source_file = b.path(root),
+        .imports = &.{
+            .{ .name = "runtime", .module = runtime_module },
+            // Typed volatile MMIO + memory barriers, for drivers. See library/mmio/.
+            .{ .name = "mmio", .module = mmio_module },
+            // Keyboard layouts (keycode + modifiers -> keysym/character), available
+            // to any program that wants it. See library/xkeyboard-config/.
+            .{ .name = "xkeyboard-config", .module = xkeyboard_config_module },
+            // ACPI/PnP hardware-ID registry, so drivers name devices
+            // (HardwareId.ps2_keyboard) instead of magic "_HID" strings.
+            .{ .name = "acpi-ids", .module = acpi_ids_module },
+        },
+    });
     const exe = b.addExecutable(.{
         .name = name,
         .root_module = b.createModule(.{
-            .root_source_file = b.path(root),
+            .root_source_file = b.path("library/runtime/root.zig"),
             .target = target,
             .optimize = .ReleaseSmall,
             .code_model = .large,
@@ -77,14 +99,7 @@ fn addUserBinary(
             .stack_protector = false,
             .imports = &.{
                 .{ .name = "runtime", .module = runtime_module },
-                // Typed volatile MMIO + memory barriers, for drivers. See library/mmio/.
-                .{ .name = "mmio", .module = mmio_module },
-                // Keyboard layouts (keycode + modifiers -> keysym/character), available
-                // to any program that wants it. See library/xkeyboard-config/.
-                .{ .name = "xkeyboard-config", .module = xkeyboard_config_module },
-                // ACPI/PnP hardware-ID registry, so drivers name devices
-                // (HardwareId.ps2_keyboard) instead of magic "_HID" strings.
-                .{ .name = "acpi-ids", .module = acpi_ids_module },
+                .{ .name = "program", .module = program_module },
             },
         }),
     });
@@ -96,6 +111,114 @@ fn addUserBinary(
     return exe;
 }
 
+/// The `program` module of a binary built by `addUserBinary` — the module rooted
+/// at the program's own source file. Per-binary imports (protocol modules, bus
+/// ABIs) go here, not on the root shim: module imports are not transitive, so an
+/// import added to the root would be invisible to the program's code.
+fn programModule(exe: *std.Build.Step.Compile) *std.Build.Module {
+    return exe.root_module.import_table.get("program").?;
+}
+
+/// The modules the kernel imports, gathered once so both kernel variants (the
+/// installed one and the serial-enabled one `run-x86-64` boots) are built from
+/// the same set. `build_options` is *not* here — it carries `serial`/`test_case`,
+/// which differ per variant, so `addKernel` builds it fresh each time.
+const KernelModules = struct {
+    boot_handoff: *std.Build.Module,
+    abi: *std.Build.Module,
+    device_abi: *std.Build.Module,
+    architecture: *std.Build.Module,
+    platform: *std.Build.Module,
+    parameters: *std.Build.Module,
+    initial_ramdisk: *std.Build.Module,
+};
+
+/// Build the freestanding x86_64 kernel ELF. Factored so we can build it twice
+/// from one recipe: the installed/flashable image (serial off by default) and the
+/// serial-enabled variant `run-x86-64` boots — they differ only in the `serial`
+/// build option baked into `build_options`.
+fn addKernel(
+    b: *std.Build,
+    kernel_target: std.Build.ResolvedTarget,
+    optimize: std.builtin.OptimizeMode,
+    modules: KernelModules,
+    test_case: ?[]const u8,
+    serial: bool,
+) *std.Build.Step.Compile {
+    // Compile-time configuration the kernel reads as `@import("build_options")`:
+    // the QEMU harness's -Dtest-case, and whether the serial log sink is compiled
+    // in (see the -Dserial option). Built per variant since `serial` differs.
+    const build_options = b.addOptions();
+    build_options.addOption(?[]const u8, "test_case", test_case);
+    build_options.addOption(bool, "serial", serial);
+    const build_options_module = build_options.createModule();
+
+    const exe = b.addExecutable(.{
+        .name = "kernel",
+        .root_module = b.createModule(.{
+            .root_source_file = b.path("system/kernel/kernel.zig"),
+            .target = kernel_target,
+            .optimize = optimize,
+            .code_model = .kernel, // kernel runs in the top 2 GiB (higher half)
+            .red_zone = false, // interrupts would corrupt the SystemV red zone
+            .single_threaded = false, // SMP: the big kernel lock's atomics must be real across cores
+            .sanitize_c = .off, // the UBSan runtime needs f128/SSE support we don't provide
+            .stack_check = false, // stack-probe calls have no runtime to land in
+            .stack_protector = false,
+            .imports = &.{
+                .{ .name = "boot-handoff", .module = modules.boot_handoff },
+                .{ .name = "abi", .module = modules.abi },
+                .{ .name = "device-abi", .module = modules.device_abi },
+                .{ .name = "architecture", .module = modules.architecture },
+                .{ .name = "platform", .module = modules.platform },
+                .{ .name = "parameters", .module = modules.parameters },
+                .{ .name = "build_options", .module = build_options_module },
+                .{ .name = "initial-ramdisk", .module = modules.initial_ramdisk },
+            },
+        }),
+    });
+    exe.setLinkerScript(b.path("system/kernel/architecture/x86_64/linker.ld"));
+    exe.entry = .{ .symbol_name = "_start" };
+    // The self-hosted linker ignores parts of the linker script (PHDRS,
+    // /DISCARD/, AT(), section order); the higher-half layout depends on the
+    // script being authoritative, so pin the kernel to LLVM + LLD.
+    exe.use_llvm = true;
+    exe.use_lld = true;
+    // Higher-half virtual base (matches KERNEL_VIRT_BASE in linker.ld); the
+    // linker's AT() clauses give each segment a low physical load address
+    // (.text at 1 MiB), which the loader allocates and copies into.
+    exe.image_base = 0xFFFFFFFF80100000;
+    return exe;
+}
+
+/// Assemble the bootable FAT32 image (the in-repo Python builder) holding what
+/// the firmware and loader need off the ESP: the EFI stub, `kernel`, `init`, and
+/// the initial-ramdisk. Factored so the serial-enabled `run-x86-64` variant can
+/// bundle its own serial kernel while sharing the loader, init, and ramdisk — all
+/// built once per invocation (the loader's boot breadcrumbs and init's heartbeat
+/// both follow the top-level -Dserial). Returns the image's LazyPath.
+fn addBootImage(
+    b: *std.Build,
+    kernel_bin: std.Build.LazyPath,
+    efi_bin: std.Build.LazyPath,
+    init_bin: std.Build.LazyPath,
+    initial_ramdisk_img: std.Build.LazyPath,
+) std.Build.LazyPath {
+    const mk_fat = b.addSystemCommand(&.{"python3"});
+    mk_fat.addFileArg(b.path("tools/make-fat-image.py"));
+    const fat_image = mk_fat.addOutputFileArg("danos-usb.img");
+    mk_fat.addArg("64"); // MiB
+    mk_fat.addArg("EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.efi");
+    mk_fat.addFileArg(efi_bin);
+    mk_fat.addArg("system/kernel");
+    mk_fat.addFileArg(kernel_bin);
+    mk_fat.addArg("system/services/init");
+    mk_fat.addFileArg(init_bin);
+    mk_fat.addArg("boot/initial-ramdisk.img");
+    mk_fat.addFileArg(initial_ramdisk_img);
+    return fat_image;
+}
+
 pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     ensureZigVersion();
 
@@ -249,6 +372,20 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     // The block protocol, so runtime.block (the block-device client) can speak it.
     runtime_module.addImport("block-protocol", block_protocol_module);
 
+    // The display protocol, so runtime.display (the compositor client) and the display
+    // service both speak it through the runtime, like the other protocol modules.
+    const display_protocol_module = b.addModule("display-protocol", .{
+        .root_source_file = b.path("system/services/display/protocol.zig"),
+    });
+    runtime_module.addImport("display-protocol", display_protocol_module);
+
+    // The scanout protocol: the compositor's outbound present channel to a native scanout
+    // driver (virtio-gpu), separate from the client-facing display protocol (docs/display-v2.md).
+    const scanout_protocol_module = b.addModule("scanout-protocol", .{
+        .root_source_file = b.path("system/services/display/scanout-protocol.zig"),
+    });
+    runtime_module.addImport("scanout-protocol", scanout_protocol_module);
+
     // The power protocol: system power's domain-named surface (docs/power.md).
     const power_protocol_module = b.addModule("power-protocol", .{
         .root_source_file = b.path("system/services/power/protocol.zig"),
@@ -285,9 +422,12 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     // Compile-time configuration the kernel reads as `@import("build_options")`. The
     // QEMU test harness sets -Dtest-case=<name> to run one self-test at boot.
     const test_case = b.option([]const u8, "test-case", "Kernel self-test case to run at boot (see system/kernel/tests.zig)");
-    const build_options = b.addOptions();
-    build_options.addOption(?[]const u8, "test_case", test_case);
-    const build_options_module = build_options.createModule();
+    // The serial-console log sink. Off by default: a real machine often has no
+    // working legacy COM1, and the boot log is kept in RAM (klog) and flushed to
+    // disk instead — serial is now only a QEMU convenience. `run-x86-64` and the
+    // QEMU test harness (test/qemu_test.py, which asserts on serial markers) turn
+    // it on; a flashable `zig build` image leaves it out. See serial.zig.
+    const serial = b.option(bool, "serial", "Compile the serial-console log sink into the kernel (default: off; run-x86-64 and the test harness enable it)") orelse false;
 
     // --- 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,
@@ -299,41 +439,17 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
         .abi = .none,
     });
 
-    const exe = b.addExecutable(.{
-        .name = "kernel",
-        .root_module = b.createModule(.{
-            .root_source_file = b.path("system/kernel/kernel.zig"),
-            .target = kernel_target,
-            .optimize = optimize,
-            .code_model = .kernel, // kernel runs in the top 2 GiB (higher half)
-            .red_zone = false, // interrupts would corrupt the SystemV red zone
-            .single_threaded = false, // SMP: the big kernel lock's atomics must be real across cores
-            .sanitize_c = .off, // the UBSan runtime needs f128/SSE support we don't provide
-            .stack_check = false, // stack-probe calls have no runtime to land in
-            .stack_protector = false,
-            .imports = &.{
-                .{ .name = "boot-handoff", .module = boot_handoff_module },
-                .{ .name = "abi", .module = abi_module },
-                .{ .name = "device-abi", .module = device_abi_module },
-                .{ .name = "architecture", .module = architecture_module },
-                .{ .name = "platform", .module = platform_module },
-                .{ .name = "parameters", .module = parameters_module },
-                .{ .name = "build_options", .module = build_options_module },
-                .{ .name = "initial-ramdisk", .module = initial_ramdisk_module },
-            },
-        }),
-    });
-    exe.setLinkerScript(b.path("system/kernel/architecture/x86_64/linker.ld"));
-    exe.entry = .{ .symbol_name = "_start" };
-    // The self-hosted linker ignores parts of the linker script (PHDRS,
-    // /DISCARD/, AT(), section order); the higher-half layout depends on the
-    // script being authoritative, so pin the kernel to LLVM + LLD.
-    exe.use_llvm = true;
-    exe.use_lld = true;
-    // Higher-half virtual base (matches KERNEL_VIRT_BASE in linker.ld); the
-    // linker's AT() clauses give each segment a low physical load address
-    // (.text at 1 MiB), which the loader allocates and copies into.
-    exe.image_base = 0xFFFFFFFF80100000;
+    const kernel_modules = KernelModules{
+        .boot_handoff = boot_handoff_module,
+        .abi = abi_module,
+        .device_abi = device_abi_module,
+        .architecture = architecture_module,
+        .platform = platform_module,
+        .parameters = parameters_module,
+        .initial_ramdisk = initial_ramdisk_module,
+    };
+    // The installed/flashable kernel: serial follows -Dserial (off by default).
+    const exe = addKernel(b, kernel_target, optimize, kernel_modules, test_case, serial);
 
     // Everything installs into a FHS-shaped zig-out: it IS the danos filesystem *and*
     // the boot volume. Each binary lands at its addressed, leaf-collapsed path — the
@@ -348,6 +464,14 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     // linked into the kernel's user region against the `runtime` runtime library, and
     // started in ring 3 by the kernel's user-ELF loader.
     const init_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "init", "system/services/init/init.zig");
+    // init reads the same `serial` flag the kernel does: its liveness heartbeat is a
+    // serial/test-build diagnostic (the QEMU harness's init tests assert on it, and
+    // -Dserial images emit it), so a flashable image runs a purely event-driven PID 1
+    // that wakes only for real work. The test harness builds with -Dserial=true, so
+    // the heartbeat stays present under test.
+    const init_options = b.addOptions();
+    init_options.addOption(bool, "serial", serial);
+    programModule(init_exe).addImport("build_options", init_options.createModule());
     const init_install = b.addInstallArtifact(init_exe, .{ .dest_dir = .{ .override = .{ .custom = "system/services" } } });
     b.getInstallStep().dependOn(&init_install.step);
 
@@ -364,28 +488,33 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     // The xHCI bus driver builds chapter-9 requests and decodes descriptors from
     // usb-abi, and reports each interface's (class,subclass,protocol) identity via
     // usb-ids.packTriple.
-    usb_xhci_bus_exe.root_module.addImport("usb-abi", usb_abi_module);
-    usb_xhci_bus_exe.root_module.addImport("usb-ids", usb_ids_module);
-    usb_xhci_bus_exe.root_module.addImport("usb-transfer-protocol", usb_transfer_protocol_module);
+    programModule(usb_xhci_bus_exe).addImport("usb-abi", usb_abi_module);
+    programModule(usb_xhci_bus_exe).addImport("usb-ids", usb_ids_module);
+    programModule(usb_xhci_bus_exe).addImport("usb-transfer-protocol", usb_transfer_protocol_module);
     // The USB HID class drivers: keyboard and mouse. They own no hardware — each
     // opens its device through runtime.usb (the transfer protocol) and publishes to
     // the input service. They build chapter-9 class requests from usb-abi.
     const usb_hid_keyboard_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "usb-hid-keyboard", "system/drivers/usb-hid/keyboard.zig");
-    usb_hid_keyboard_exe.root_module.addImport("usb-abi", usb_abi_module);
+    programModule(usb_hid_keyboard_exe).addImport("usb-abi", usb_abi_module);
     const usb_hid_mouse_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "usb-hid-mouse", "system/drivers/usb-hid/mouse.zig");
-    usb_hid_mouse_exe.root_module.addImport("usb-abi", usb_abi_module);
+    programModule(usb_hid_mouse_exe).addImport("usb-abi", usb_abi_module);
     // The USB mass-storage class driver: opens its device via runtime.usb, drives it
     // with Bulk-Only Transport + SCSI, and serves the block protocol under `.block`.
     const usb_storage_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "usb-storage", "system/drivers/usb-storage/usb-storage.zig");
-    usb_storage_exe.root_module.addImport("block-protocol", block_protocol_module);
+    programModule(usb_storage_exe).addImport("block-protocol", block_protocol_module);
     // The FAT filesystem server: mounts the block device and serves it into the VFS
     // at /mnt/usb. Its engine (engine.zig / on-disk.zig) is imported relatively.
     const fat_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "fat", "system/services/fat/fat.zig");
+    const display_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "display", "system/services/display/display.zig");
+    const display_demo_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "display-demo", "system/services/display-demo/display-demo.zig");
+    const virtio_gpu_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "virtio-gpu", "system/drivers/virtio-gpu/virtio-gpu.zig");
+    const shm_server_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "shm-server", "system/services/shm-server/shm-server.zig");
+    const shm_client_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "shm-client", "system/services/shm-client/shm-client.zig");
     const fat_test_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "fat-test", "system/services/fat/fat-test.zig");
     const pci_bus_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "pci-bus", "system/drivers/pci-bus/pci-bus.zig");
     // The PCI bus driver decodes each function's class triple to human names in its
     // boot log (class/subclass/prog-IF), so pull in the shared pci-class reference.
-    pci_bus_exe.root_module.addImport("pci-class", pci_class_module);
+    programModule(pci_bus_exe).addImport("pci-class", pci_class_module);
     // A test fixture, not a real driver: hellos to the device manager, then faults —
     // what the driver-restart scenario drives the crash-loop cap with.
     const crash_test_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "crash-test", "system/services/crash-test/crash-test.zig");
@@ -404,13 +533,13 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
         .fdt => "system/services/fdt/fdt.zig",
     };
     const discovery_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "discovery", discovery_source);
-    if (discovery == .acpi) discovery_exe.root_module.addImport("aml", aml_module);
+    if (discovery == .acpi) programModule(discovery_exe).addImport("aml", aml_module);
     const device_manager_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "device-manager", "system/services/device-manager/device-manager.zig");
     // Names the xHCI PCI class triple from the shared taxonomy instead of a bare 0x0C0330.
-    device_manager_exe.root_module.addImport("pci-class", pci_class_module);
+    programModule(device_manager_exe).addImport("pci-class", pci_class_module);
     // The manager matches reported USB interfaces by their (class,subclass,protocol)
     // triple (usbDriverForIdentity), built from the named usb-ids codes.
-    device_manager_exe.root_module.addImport("usb-ids", usb_ids_module);
+    programModule(device_manager_exe).addImport("usb-ids", usb_ids_module);
     // The input service and its exercisers: the fan-out server, a hardware-free synthetic
     // source, and a subscriber that doubles as the `input` test's oracle. See docs/input.md.
     const input_exe = addUserBinary(b, kernel_target, runtime_module, mmio_module, xkeyboard_config_module, acpi_ids_module, "input", "system/services/input/input.zig");
@@ -448,6 +577,16 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     mk_run.addFileArg(fat_exe.getEmittedBin());
     mk_run.addArg("fat-test");
     mk_run.addFileArg(fat_test_exe.getEmittedBin());
+    mk_run.addArg("display");
+    mk_run.addFileArg(display_exe.getEmittedBin());
+    mk_run.addArg("display-demo");
+    mk_run.addFileArg(display_demo_exe.getEmittedBin());
+    mk_run.addArg("virtio-gpu");
+    mk_run.addFileArg(virtio_gpu_exe.getEmittedBin());
+    mk_run.addArg("shm-server");
+    mk_run.addFileArg(shm_server_exe.getEmittedBin());
+    mk_run.addArg("shm-client");
+    mk_run.addFileArg(shm_client_exe.getEmittedBin());
     mk_run.addArg("pci-bus");
     mk_run.addFileArg(pci_bus_exe.getEmittedBin());
     mk_run.addArg("crash-test");
@@ -485,6 +624,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
         .{ usb_hid_mouse_exe, "system/drivers" },
         .{ usb_storage_exe, "system/drivers" },
         .{ fat_exe, "system/services" },
+        .{ display_exe, "system/services" },
         .{ log_flush_exe, "system/services" },
     }) |entry| {
         const step = b.addInstallArtifact(entry[0], .{ .dest_dir = .{ .override = .{ .custom = entry[1] } } });
@@ -498,6 +638,13 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     // Boot methods live in boot/, one per way of getting the kernel running.
     // Each is its own binary/entry (a loader is built for its own target); today
     // that's UEFI for x86-64, with room for e.g. a device-tree path for the Pis.
+    // The loader reads -Dserial too, so its boot-progress breadcrumbs (con_out,
+    // which firmware may mirror to a serial console) are silenced by default — a
+    // real-hardware boot stays quiet. Fatal-error messages ignore this and always
+    // show, so a failed boot still explains itself on screen. See boot/efi.zig.
+    const loader_options = b.addOptions();
+    loader_options.addOption(bool, "serial", serial);
+    const loader_options_module = loader_options.createModule();
     const efiexe = b.addExecutable(.{
         .name = "BOOTX64",
         .root_module = b.createModule(.{
@@ -510,6 +657,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
             .imports = &.{
                 // The bootloader speaks only the handoff contract — never the user ABI.
                 .{ .name = "boot-handoff", .module = boot_handoff_module },
+                .{ .name = "build_options", .module = loader_options_module },
             },
         }),
     });
@@ -525,21 +673,17 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     // stub, the kernel, init, and the initial-ramdisk. QEMU presents this image as
     // a USB mass-storage device the guest boots from (see run-x86-64 and the test
     // harness), and the danos fat driver mounts the same image at /mnt/usb.
-    const mk_fat = b.addSystemCommand(&.{"python3"});
-    mk_fat.addFileArg(b.path("tools/make-fat-image.py"));
-    const fat_image = mk_fat.addOutputFileArg("danos-usb.img");
-    mk_fat.addArg("64"); // MiB
-    mk_fat.addArg("EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.efi");
-    mk_fat.addFileArg(efiexe.getEmittedBin());
-    mk_fat.addArg("system/kernel");
-    mk_fat.addFileArg(exe.getEmittedBin());
-    mk_fat.addArg("system/services/init");
-    mk_fat.addFileArg(init_exe.getEmittedBin());
-    mk_fat.addArg("boot/initial-ramdisk.img");
-    mk_fat.addFileArg(initial_ramdisk_img);
+    const fat_image = addBootImage(b, exe.getEmittedBin(), efiexe.getEmittedBin(), init_exe.getEmittedBin(), initial_ramdisk_img);
     const fat_image_install = b.addInstallFile(fat_image, "danos-usb.img");
     b.getInstallStep().dependOn(&fat_image_install.step);
 
+    // The image `run-x86-64` boots: identical to the flashable one but with the
+    // serial log sink compiled in, so a developer always gets the machine-readable
+    // log captured to serial0 — without baking serial into the image users flash.
+    // Built lazily (only when `run-x86-64` is requested), and never installed.
+    const exe_serial = addKernel(b, kernel_target, optimize, kernel_modules, test_case, true);
+    const fat_image_serial = addBootImage(b, exe_serial.getEmittedBin(), efiexe.getEmittedBin(), init_exe.getEmittedBin(), initial_ramdisk_img);
+
     // `zig build check-fat-image` — validate the produced image is a real FAT32
     // with the EFI stub present (the builder's own --verify, no external tools).
     const check_fat = b.addSystemCommand(&.{"python3"});
@@ -549,6 +693,31 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     const check_fat_step = b.step("check-fat-image", "Verify the FAT32 USB image is valid and bootable");
     check_fat_step.dependOn(&check_fat.step);
 
+    // --- release-x86-64: danos-x86-64.iso, the flashable release image ---
+    // Wrap the FAT32 boot volume in a hybrid ISO (the in-repo Python builder
+    // again, no xorriso/isohybrid): an ISO9660 whose El Torito EFI boot entry
+    // and MBR ESP partition entry both point at the embedded FAT image. One
+    // file then boots every way release media is consumed — flashed raw to a
+    // USB stick with Etcher or dd, or burned to optical media — while
+    // danos-usb.img stays the raw superfloppy QEMU and the test harness boot.
+    const mk_iso = b.addSystemCommand(&.{"python3"});
+    mk_iso.addFileArg(b.path("tools/make-iso-image.py"));
+    const iso_image = mk_iso.addOutputFileArg("danos-x86-64.iso");
+    mk_iso.addFileArg(fat_image);
+    const iso_install = b.addInstallFile(iso_image, "danos-x86-64.iso");
+    const release_step = b.step("release-x86-64", "Build the flashable x86-64 release ISO (zig-out/danos-x86-64.iso; flash with Etcher or dd)");
+    release_step.dependOn(&iso_install.step);
+
+    // `zig build check-iso-image` — the ISO builder's own --verify (mirroring
+    // check-fat-image): the MBR partition, the El Torito catalog, and the
+    // embedded FAT32 image must all agree.
+    const check_iso = b.addSystemCommand(&.{"python3"});
+    check_iso.addFileArg(b.path("tools/make-iso-image.py"));
+    check_iso.addArg("--verify");
+    check_iso.addFileArg(iso_image);
+    const check_iso_step = b.step("check-iso-image", "Verify the release ISO is a valid hybrid (MBR ESP partition + El Torito EFI entry)");
+    check_iso_step.dependOn(&check_iso.step);
+
     // --- run-x86-64: boot the x86-64 kernel in QEMU via UEFI/OVMF ---
     // Firmware lives in different places per OS/distro, so probe the known
     // layouts (Architecture, Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora, macOS Homebrew) and use the first
@@ -611,8 +780,9 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     run_efi.addPrefixedFileArg("if=pflash,format=raw,file=", vars_out);
     // Boot off the FAT32 USB image: a mass-storage device on the same xHCI bus as
     // the keyboard and mouse. OVMF finds \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.efi on it and boots.
+    // The serial-enabled variant, so serial0 carries the log for this dev boot.
     run_efi.addArg("-drive");
-    run_efi.addPrefixedFileArg("if=none,id=bootusb,format=raw,file=", fat_image);
+    run_efi.addPrefixedFileArg("if=none,id=bootusb,format=raw,file=", fat_image_serial);
     run_efi.addArgs(&.{
         "-device",
         "usb-storage,bus=xhci.0,drive=bootusb,removable=on,bootindex=0",
@@ -634,8 +804,10 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
     const make_log_dir = b.addSystemCommand(&.{ "mkdir", "-p", log_dir });
     const serial_log = b.fmt("{s}/run-x86-64-serial0-{s}.log", .{ log_dir, timestamp(b) });
     run_efi.addArgs(&.{ "-serial", b.fmt("file:{s}", .{serial_log}) });
-    // The whole FHS zig-out must be installed (and the scratch dir created) before we mount it.
-    run_efi.step.dependOn(b.getInstallStep());
+    // We boot the self-contained `fat_image_serial` (added as a file arg above, so
+    // it's already a dependency) — not the installed FHS zig-out — so `run-x86-64`
+    // builds only the serial kernel, never the flashable one. Just make the serial
+    // scratch dir first.
     run_efi.step.dependOn(&make_log_dir.step);
 
     const run_efi_step = b.step("run-x86-64", "Boot the x86-64 kernel in QEMU (UEFI/OVMF); serial0 is logged to zig-out/qemu-test/run-x86-64-serial0-<timestamp>.log");
@@ -674,6 +846,10 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
         "system/services/vfs/protocol.zig", // NodeKind / DirectoryEntry sizes + op values
         "system/services/fat/on-disk.zig", // FAT on-disk struct sizes + type detection
         "system/services/fat/engine.zig", // FAT read/write over a RAM-backed image
+        "system/services/display/compositor.zig", // Rect math + fill/composite/blit-tile
+        "system/services/display/protocol.zig", // pack(): native pixel encoding per format
+        "system/drivers/virtio-gpu/virtio-gpu-protocol.zig", // virtio-gpu command struct sizes
+        "system/drivers/virtio-gpu/virtio-pci.zig", // virtio 1.0 PCI transport struct sizes
     }) |root| {
         const mod_tests = b.addTest(.{
             .root_module = b.createModule(.{

docs/README.md

@@ -39,37 +39,53 @@ rather than restate it. Roughly in the order things happen at runtime:
     endpoints — the backbone the microkernel's isolated servers talk over.
 12. **[syscall.md](syscall.md) — system calls.** How ring 3 asks the kernel for
     something: the `syscall`/`sysret` fast path, the trap frame, and why the table is
-    deliberately tiny.
-13. **[drivers.md](drivers.md) — writing a driver.** The payoff: a driver is an
+    deliberately tiny. The numbers are a **private** ABI — [vdso.md](vdso.md) designs
+    the public boundary that will hide them.
+13. **[vfs-protocol.md](vfs-protocol.md) — the VFS wire protocol.** The language-neutral
+    byte-level spec of the file protocol spoken over IPC: request/reply headers,
+    the operation table, mount routing, and the append-only evolution rules — the
+    first IPC protocol documented as public ABI.
+14. **[drivers.md](drivers.md) — writing a driver.** The payoff: a driver is an
     ordinary ring-3 process that claims a device, maps its registers, and **sleeps
     until its hardware interrupts it**. The claim is the capability; `irq_ack` is the
     unmask.
-14. **[driver-model.md](driver-model.md) — buses, classes and host controllers.** How
+15. **[driver-model.md](driver-model.md) — buses, classes and host controllers.** How
     real driver stacks factor into three shapes and how families share code. The
     three primitives it proposed are long since built (M13 capability passing,
     M14 DMA + barriers, M15 MSI), and the driver *contract* on top of them —
     hello, supervision, restart — is built too (device-manager.md, M18).
-15. **[process-management.md](process-management.md) — process management.** The
+16. **[process-management.md](process-management.md) — process management.** The
     microkernel's `ps`/`kill`/SIGCHLD: enumerate as a table snapshot, the
     supervision link as the kill authority, and child-exit notifications over the
     same endpoints IRQs arrive on.
-16. **[process-lifecycle.md](process-lifecycle.md) — the process lifecycle.** Built
+17. **[process-lifecycle.md](process-lifecycle.md) — the process lifecycle.** Built
     (M17): signals over IPC as the one lifecycle vocabulary every process speaks — the
     POSIX.1-1990 words with message delivery instead of stack hijack, the stable
     `runtime.process` interface, exit reasons, published exit events any stateful
     service can subscribe to (the VFS releasing dead clients' handles), and the two
     iron rules (cleanup is the kernel's job; kill is not a signal).
-17. **[device-manager.md](device-manager.md) — the device manager.** Built (M18,
+18. **[device-manager.md](device-manager.md) — the device manager.** Built (M18,
     through the app surface): the
     tree, the matcher, and the supervisor. Tree structure lives in the manager,
     authority stays in the kernel; bus drivers report what they see; drivers are
     restarted through the lifecycle vocabulary — the plan that turns
     [resilience.md](resilience.md)'s restart goal into increments.
-18. **[input.md](input.md) — the input module.** Broadcasting input events (keyboard,
+19. **[input.md](input.md) — the input module.** Broadcasting input events (keyboard,
     mouse, joystick): why a synchronous rendezvous can't fan out to many listeners, the
     asynchronous `ipc_send` primitive built to fix it, and the per-device subscribe/publish
     service layered on top.
-19. **[halting.md](halting.md) — halting.** Why a kernel can't just "exit", and
+20. **[display.md](display.md) — the display service.** The display half of the GUI
+    track: a user-space compositor that owns the framebuffer, composes a layer stack into
+    a double buffer, and presents it. Why GOP and the PCI display device are two views of
+    one controller, the device-node + write-combining handoff, and what flicker-free buys
+    that tear-free doesn't. Plan: [display-plan.md](display-plan.md). **v2** (complete) makes
+    scanout a pluggable backend — GOP floor + a native virtio-gpu driver, hot-attached, with
+    runtime mode-set, EDID, fenced vsync presents, and restart re-attach:
+    [display-v2.md](display-v2.md), plan [display-v2-plan.md](display-v2-plan.md). Looking
+    further out, two research snapshots survey what a *native* driver for real GPU silicon
+    would take as another `.scanout` backend: [nvidia-gpus.md](nvidia-gpus.md) (RTX 3060 /
+    Ampere) and [intel-igpu.md](intel-igpu.md) (Intel iGPU).
+21. **[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.
 
 Start with the north star:
@@ -88,6 +104,12 @@ Start with the north star:
   port to **one seam** (`std.os.danos`), so we build `runtime.os` (→ that seam) plus a
   thin `runtime.fs`, retire the `posix` shim, and follow a phased path to
   `zig build-exe hello.zig` running on danos — **not** Linux-ABI emulation.
+- **[vdso.md](vdso.md) — the vDSO, the public system-call boundary.** A design note
+  (not built yet) on keeping `abi.zig` genuinely private: a kernel-supplied, C-ABI
+  entry blob mapped into every process as the *only* way into the kernel — so the
+  syscall numbers can be renumbered or randomised at will, and Rust/C binaries get a
+  stable boundary without danos growing a dynamic linker. danos's public ABI = the
+  vDSO + the documented IPC wire protocols ([vfs-protocol.md](vfs-protocol.md) first).
 
 Cutting across all of these:
 
@@ -95,6 +117,11 @@ Cutting across all of these:
   hardware needed to run danos: minimum specs (UEFI x86-64, ACPI, PCIe ECAM,
   xHCI, ~128 MiB RAM) grounded in what the boot path actually assumes, plus a
   plain-language guide matching Intel/AMD CPU generations by name.
+- **[release-iso.md](release-iso.md) — the release ISO.** The flashable boot
+  media: `zig build release-x86-64` wraps the FAT32 boot volume in a hybrid ISO
+  (MBR ESP partition + El Torito EFI entry, one embedded image) that Etcher/dd
+  flash to USB or a burner writes to disc — built by an in-repo pure-Python
+  tool, like the FAT image itself.
 - **[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.
@@ -239,5 +266,5 @@ exception in [coding-standards.md](coding-standards.md) applies to that seam.
 | danos-native runtime (`runtime`): syscall wrappers, heap, IPC, device access, the file API (`fs`) — the stable application ABI | `library/runtime/` |
 | System services (init, the VFS server + `protocol`, the device-manager) | `system/services/` |
 | Device drivers, one sub-project each (`pci-bus`, `ps2-bus`, `usb-xhci-bus` bus drivers) | `system/drivers/` |
-| Build + `run-x86-64` (QEMU/OVMF) | `build.zig` |
+| Build + `run-x86-64` (QEMU/OVMF) + `release-x86-64` (the flashable ISO) | `build.zig` |
 | QEMU integration test harness | `test/qemu_test.py` |

docs/display-plan.md

@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+# Display service — build plan (v1: the dumb-framebuffer compositor)
+
+The ordered, checkpointable build-out for [display.md](display.md). Each milestone is
+small, lands on its own, and ends in a **verifiable gate** — shaped for a `/loop` run.
+Read [display.md](display.md) first for the *why*; this is the *what* and the *order*.
+
+## Locked decisions (do not relitigate)
+
+- **Handoff = device node + write-combining `mmio_map`.** The kernel seeds a synthetic
+  `display0` node from `BootInformation.framebuffer`; the service claims + WC-maps it.
+  (Not a bespoke `framebuffer_map` syscall — the device route inherits ownership,
+  release-on-death, and re-claim-on-restart.)
+- **v1 = the full compositor pipeline on the dumb framebuffer.** One `display` service
+  owns the LFB + a cacheable back buffer + a layer stack; double-buffer + damage-driven
+  present; clients draw via server-side commands. **No** runtime mode-setting, **no**
+  shared-memory surfaces — both deferred (see display.md, "What v1 does not do").
+
+## Conventions
+
+Follow [coding-standards.md](coding-standards.md): spell out non-acronym abbreviations in
+full, kebab-case file names, no `Co-Authored-By` trailers on commits. New user binaries
+go through `addUserBinary` in [build.zig](../build.zig) and get packed into the
+initial-ramdisk; protocols are `b.addModule("…-protocol", …)` and imported into the
+`runtime` module.
+
+## How to verify along the way
+
+- `zig build test` — host unit tests (compositor math: layer clipping, damage merge,
+  pitch/format blits are all host-testable with a fake framebuffer).
+- `python3 test/qemu_test.py <case>` — boots the real kernel in QEMU; assert on the
+  serial log ([tests.zig](../system/kernel/tests.zig) is the registry).
+- The `run-efi` target renders to QEMU's display (`-device VGA,edid=on,xres=1280,yres=720`)
+  — a screenshot confirms pixels for the milestones whose gate is visual.
+
+---
+
+## D1 — The handoff primitive (kernel) ✅
+
+Make the boot framebuffer reachable and mappable **write-combining** from user space.
+
+- [x] [device-abi.zig](../system/devices/device-abi.zig): added `DeviceClass.display`; a
+      `DisplayInfo{ width, height, pitch, format }` carried on the descriptor; a
+      `flags` field on `ResourceDescriptor` + `resource_flag_write_combining`.
+- [x] [devices-broker.zig](../system/kernel/devices-broker.zig): `seedDisplay(base, w, h,
+      pitch, format)` publishes a root-level `display` node with one WC-flagged `memory`
+      resource `[base, height*pitch]` + the `DisplayInfo`; `displayDevice()` /
+      `displayClaimed()`. Seeded from `kmain` after `devices_broker.init`.
+- [x] [process.zig](../system/kernel/process.zig) `systemMmioMap` + paging
+      (`mapUserDeviceInto` gains a `write_combining` bool): a resource's WC flag maps it
+      through the WC PAT slot (`setupPat`) instead of strong-uncacheable.
+- [x] [console.zig](../system/kernel/console.zig): `setSuppressed` quiesces `write` while
+      the display device is claimed (driven from `systemDeviceClaim` / release); the
+      terminal panic + exception paths clear it first so a dying machine still draws.
+
+**Gate (met, automated):** the `display` kernel test (`python3 test/qemu_test.py display`,
+`displayTest` in [tests.zig](../system/kernel/tests.zig)) asserts the seeded node's shape
+and geometry, then walks the real claim + `mmio_map` path into a throwaway address space
+and verifies the leaf is **write-combining** (PAT entry 4: PAT bit set, PCD/PWT clear) —
+with an uncacheable-still-uncacheable regression guard. Chosen over the original
+screenshot-of-a-fill gate because it proves the *actual* WC property headlessly; the
+visible fill folds into D2's gate (the service clears the screen through the back buffer).
+Regression-checked: `discovery`, `ioport`, `claim-release`, `supervision`, `device-list`,
+`device-manager` all still pass with the +1 device in the table.
+
+## D2 — Service skeleton, protocol, runtime module ✅
+
+Stand up the named service and the double-buffer, no layers yet.
+
+- [x] `system/services/display/protocol.zig`: `Operation{ info, create_layer,
+      configure_layer, destroy_layer, fill_rect, blit_tile, damage, present }`; `extern`
+      `Request`/`Reply`; size + `maximum_payload` consts. (Model: block/protocol.zig.)
+- [x] [abi.zig](../system/abi.zig): `ServiceId.display = 9`.
+- [x] `system/services/display/display.zig`: `main` → enumerate + claim + WC-map the LFB
+      (front) → `mmap` a cacheable back buffer of `height*pitch` → `runtime.service.run`.
+      `info` and a whole-screen `present` (back → front) are live; layer ops fail-stub
+      until D3. Init clears the back buffer and presents it — the double-buffer path.
+- [x] [library/runtime/display.zig](../library/runtime/runtime.zig) (+ barrel export of
+      `display` and `display_protocol`): `info()` and `present()`, cached `.display`
+      lookup with retry (model: block.zig).
+- [x] [init.zig](../system/services/init/init.zig): `"display"` added to `boot_services`.
+- [x] [build.zig](../build.zig): `display-protocol` module on the runtime; `display` exe
+      via `addUserBinary`; packed into the initial-ramdisk; installed to
+      `/system/services/display`.
+- [x] **Kernel fix the back buffer surfaced:** `mmap` was capped at 256 pages (1 MiB) by
+      a fixed kernel-stack `frames` array. Rewrote `systemMmap` to map page-by-page with
+      rollback (no scratch array) and raised the cap to 8192 pages (32 MiB) — enough for a
+      4K back buffer. A real limitation met, exactly the kind this project chases.
+
+**Gate (met, automated):** `python3 test/qemu_test.py display-service` spawns the
+compositor and matches its own serial heartbeats — `display: online {w}x{h} pitch …`
+followed by `display: presented frame 0` — which it prints only after the whole
+claim → WC-map → back-buffer → clear → present chain succeeds (matched on serial like the
+fault cases, since a lone blocking service can't reschedule the in-kernel test context to
+poll). Regression-checked: `usermem`, `heap` (the `mmap` rewrite), `init` (the boot-list
+addition), and D1's `display` all still pass.
+
+## D3 — Layer stack + compositor + damage present ✅
+
+The heart: composite an ordered layer stack, present only what changed.
+
+- [x] A layer table (16 slots): each `Layer` = position, z, visible, a server-owned
+      `mmap`'d surface (freed on `destroy_layer`). `damage` accumulates the dirty screen
+      region since the last present.
+- [x] `create_layer` / `configure_layer` (damages old + new footprints) / `destroy_layer`,
+      `fill_rect`, `blit_tile` (reads the inline tile from the IPC payload, unaligned-safe),
+      `damage`, `present`.
+- [x] Pure, host-tested [compositor.zig](../system/services/display/compositor.zig): `Rect`
+      (intersect/unite), `Surface`, `fillRect`, `composite` (opaque, clipped to a damage
+      rect), `blitTile`. `present` clears the damaged region to the wallpaper, paints the
+      visible layers bottom-to-top (z-sorted), and flushes just that rect back → front (WC).
+      Colour packing (rgbx/bgrx) is `protocol.pack`, also host-tested.
+- [x] Host tests (`zig build test`, green): rect intersect/unite, `fillRect` clipping +
+      `stride > width` padding, `composite` overlap-shows-top + damage clipping, `blitTile`
+      unaligned read + clipping, and `pack` for both pixel formats.
+
+**Gate (met):** `zig build test` green for the compositor + pack unit tests, **and** the
+`display-service` case's startup self-check composites two overlapping layers on the real
+framebuffer and reads back the composited pixels — overlap = top layer, outside = bottom
+layer — logging `display: compositor self-check ok` (matched by the harness).
+
+## D4 — Client API + the demo client ✅
+
+Prove the pipeline end-to-end from a separate process.
+
+- [x] Finished [runtime/display.zig](../library/runtime/runtime.zig): a `Layer` handle with
+      `fill` / `blitTile` (inline tile) / `configure` (move/restack/show) / `damage` /
+      `destroy`, `createLayer`, and a `color(r,g,b)` helper (caches the mode, packs via
+      `protocol.pack`). Coordinates are signed over the wire (`@bitCast` both ways).
+- [x] `system/services/display-demo/`: a hardware-free client (the `input-source` analog)
+      — a full-screen wallpaper layer, a rectangle that slides back and forth (moved by
+      `configure` each frame, so the compositor repaints old + new), and a cursor layer;
+      presents in a loop paced by `runtime.time`. Wired into build + initial-ramdisk.
+- [x] **Bug this surfaced:** `protocol.message_maximum` was 4096, but the kernel caps
+      every IPC message at `MESSAGE_MAXIMUM` = 256 — so `replyWait` rejected the oversized
+      receive buffer with `-E2BIG` and the serve loop had been *spinning* since D2 (unseen,
+      as D2/D3 matched init-time heartbeats). Set it to 256; `blit_tile` is now explicitly
+      a small-tile path (≤ 54 px inline), larger bitmaps being the deferred shm surface.
+
+**Gate (met):** `python3 test/qemu_test.py display-demo` spawns the service + `display-demo`;
+the demo drives a run of frames of motion through the layer client API and logs
+`display-demo: ok` (the visible motion is a screenshot via `zig build run-x86-64`).
+Regression-checked: `zig build test`, `display` (D1), and `display-service` (D2/D3) all
+still pass, and the default `zig build` is clean.
+
+## D5 — Test cases + docs ✅
+
+- [x] The three integration cases exist and pass: `display` (D1 handoff, kernel),
+      `display-service` (D2/D3 compositor + self-check), and `display-demo` (D4 full
+      pipeline: spawn `display` + `display-demo`, match `display-demo: ok`) —
+      [tests.zig](../system/kernel/tests.zig) + [qemu_test.py](../test/qemu_test.py). Plus
+      the pure host tests (`zig build test`).
+- [x] [display.md](display.md) updated to the built state (the "Verifying it" section names
+      the real cases); [README index](README.md) entry present (#19); the `display-track`
+      memory marked DONE with the commits.
+
+**Gate (met):** `python3 test/qemu_test.py display display-service display-demo` all pass,
+`zig build test` is green, and the default `zig build` is clean.
+
+---
+
+## v1 status: complete
+
+D1–D5 done. The display service is a working framebuffer compositor: it owns the
+framebuffer (write-combining), composites a z-ordered layer stack into a cacheable back
+buffer, presents only the damaged region, and is driven over IPC by the `runtime.display`
+client — proven end-to-end by a separate demo process. Two limitations are deliberate and
+documented (docs/display.md): no runtime mode-setting (native backend) and no true vsync
+(no vblank on a dumb framebuffer). Next steps are the Deferred items below.
+
+---
+
+## Deferred (explicitly not in this plan)
+
+- **Shared-memory surfaces** — generalize M13 capability passing to memory objects
+  (`shm_create`/`shm_map`), so bitmap clients hand the compositor a rendered surface
+  instead of drawing commands. The compositor's layer model already anticipates it.
+- **Native backend (Bochs DISPI, then virtio-gpu)** — behind the same internal backend
+  interface as the dumb framebuffer: EDID mode list + runtime resolution/bpp change +
+  (eventually) a vblank/flip path for true vsync.
+- **Driver/compositor process split** — only when a second backend or a second head makes
+  the abstraction pay for itself.

docs/display-v2-plan.md

@@ -0,0 +1,173 @@
+# Display v2 — build plan (pluggable scanout: GOP floor + virtio-gpu native)
+
+The ordered, checkpointable build-out for [display-v2.md](display-v2.md). Each milestone
+lands on its own and ends in a **verifiable gate** — shaped for a `/loop` run, like
+[display-plan.md](display-plan.md). Read display-v2.md first for the *why*.
+
+## Locked decisions (do not relitigate)
+
+- **First native backend = virtio-gpu** (VM standard: mode-set + present/flush + vsync).
+- **Dynamic hot-attach**: boot on GOP, upgrade to native when the driver **announces**
+  (push, not polling); re-attach across driver restarts; GOP is the floor for "no driver
+  ever," not a live fall-back after a reprogram.
+- **v2 builds the `shm` capability** (endpoints → memory objects), shared with the future
+  client-surface path.
+- The compositor's layers/back-buffer/damage are **unchanged**; only scanout is pluggable.
+
+## Conventions
+
+Follow [coding-standards.md](coding-standards.md): spell out non-acronym abbreviations,
+kebab-case file names, no `Co-Authored-By` trailers. New user binaries go through
+`addUserBinary` and get packed into the initial-ramdisk; protocols are
+`b.addModule("…-protocol", …)` imported into `runtime`; new syscalls extend
+[abi.zig](../system/abi.zig) `SystemCall` + a `library/runtime` wrapper.
+
+## How to verify along the way
+
+**Every gate is serial-checkable — no screenshots** (this plan is built to run unattended).
+Where "does it actually display" would otherwise need a human eyeball, the code **reads its
+own pixels back**: the scanout resource is CPU-visible RAM (shm-backed) and the back buffer
+is cacheable, so a driver/compositor can write a known value, read it back, and log a
+pass/fail — and a virtio `resource_flush` is confirmed by the device **acking it on the
+used ring**. Those two together (pixel-readback + flush-ack) are the automated stand-in for
+"it's on screen."
+
+- `zig build test` — host unit tests (backend selection, virtio struct sizes/encodings,
+  pixel-check helpers).
+- `python3 test/qemu_test.py <case>` — boots the kernel in QEMU; asserts on serial markers.
+  The virtio cases boot with `-device virtio-gpu` (a per-case `qemu_extra`).
+- `run-x86-64` renders to a window — for the human's own satisfaction, **not** a gate.
+
+---
+
+## V1 — The scanout backend seam (refactor, no behaviour change) ✅
+
+Extract scanout from the compositor so today's path becomes one backend among future ones.
+
+- [x] `system/services/display/backend.zig`: a `Backend` tagged union with `info()`,
+      `surface()` (the cacheable compose target), `present(damage)`, and capability flags
+      (`canModeSet`/`hasVsync`, both false for GOP).
+- [x] The v1 GOP path is now `backend.Gop` (claims the `display` node, WC-maps the LFB,
+      keeps the cacheable back buffer, `present` = the damage-rect WC copy). display.zig
+      composes into `backend.surface()` and calls `backend.present(damage)` — no LFB or
+      framebuffer geometry left in the compositor core.
+- [x] The selection decision is the pure `chooseKind(native_available)` (gop unless a
+      native driver announced), split from the syscall-bound `select()`/`Gop.init()`.
+
+**Gate (met):** `display-service` + `display-demo` pass **unchanged** (pure refactor; GOP
+is the only backend), and `zig build test` stays green.
+
+## V2 — The `shm` cross-process memory capability (kernel) ✅
+
+- [x] [abi.zig](../system/abi.zig): `shm_create` (34) / `shm_map` (35) syscalls + a
+      `shm_test` service id. Handlers in process.zig: `shm_create(len)` allocates contiguous,
+      zeroed, **cacheable** frames, wraps them in a refcounted object, installs a capability
+      handle, maps them into the caller's shm arena → returns vaddr + handle; `shm_map(cap)`
+      maps the same physical pages into the receiver. Reclaimed on death (see below).
+- [x] The capability core (ipc-synchronous.zig) is now **kind-tagged**: `scheduler.Task`'s
+      handle table holds `HandleObject{kind, ptr}`; `closeHandles` and `shareCapability`
+      dispatch by kind, so an `ShmObject` rides an `ipc_call` `send_cap` exactly like an
+      endpoint and frees only when its last capability drops. `mapUserSharedInto` (paging)
+      maps WB-cacheable + `device_grant`, so a sharer's teardown never frees the shared
+      frames — the object owns them.
+- [x] `library/runtime/shm.zig` (+ barrel export): `create(len) -> Region{ptr, handle, len}`,
+      `map(handle) -> ptr`.
+
+**Gate (met):** `python3 test/qemu_test.py shm` — `shm-client` creates a region, writes a
+pattern, and passes its capability to `shm-server` as an `ipc_call` send_cap; the server
+`shm_map`s it and reads the **same bytes** back → `shm: shared 4096 bytes ok`. Guardrail:
+`ipc`/`ipc-call`/`ipc-cap`, `supervision`, `dma`, `usermem`, `display-service`, and host
+tests all still pass — the handle-table change broke no existing IPC.
+
+## V3 — The virtio-gpu driver: bring-up + a frame on screen ✅
+
+- [x] `system/drivers/virtio-gpu/`: claim the virtio-gpu PCI function (device-manager
+      match on the display/other class triple, driver self-confirms vendor 0x1AF4/device
+      0x1050 from config space), enable memory-space + bus-master, walk the vendor
+      capabilities in config space to find common-config + notify, map the BAR, negotiate
+      VERSION_1, and stand up the control virtqueue in coherent DMA. `virtio-gpu-protocol.zig`
+      + `virtio-pci.zig` for the control/transport structs (host-tested sizes).
+- [x] Create a 2D scanout resource backed by a coherent DMA region (V4 swaps this for the
+      shm-shared surface), `attach_backing`, `set_scanout` to scanout 0, `transfer_to_host_2d`
+      + `resource_flush` of a test pattern, and wait on the used ring.
+- [x] Register a `scanout` service (`ServiceId.scanout` = 11).
+
+**Gate (met):** the `virtio-gpu` case (QEMU `-device virtio-gpu-pci`) boots the
+device-manager stack, which discovers the function and spawns the driver; the driver writes
+a known test pattern into the scanout backing, `transfer_to_host_2d` + `resource_flush`es
+it, and **waits for the device's used-ring ack**, then reads the backing back and checks the
+pattern — logging `virtio-gpu: scanout 640x480 online` and `virtio-gpu: flush acked, pixel
+check ok`. That proves virtqueue + resource + attach + set_scanout + transfer + flush end to
+end without a screenshot (the used-ring ack is the device confirming it consumed the frame).
+
+## V4 — The native backend + hot-attach ✅
+
+- [x] `backend.VirtioGpu` in the compositor: `surface()` = the shared `shm` scanout surface
+      (the compositor composes straight into the device's resource backing; x86 DMA is
+      coherent, so the cacheable shared pages need no flush), `present(damage)` = a `present`
+      request over the driver's `.scanout` endpoint (→ transfer-to-host + resource flush).
+- [x] The driver **announces** to `.display` after bring-up (looks it up with a bounded retry,
+      sends `attach_scanout` with the geometry + the shared surface as an `ipc_call` send_cap).
+      The compositor maps it, looks up `.scanout` itself (no need to pass the endpoint — the
+      driver registered it), switches backend, and re-composites the current frame full-screen.
+      The present is deferred to a one-shot timer so it runs *after* the reply unblocks the
+      driver and it serves `.scanout` — presenting inline would deadlock.
+- [x] Boot still starts on `backend.Gop`; the upgrade happens on announce. `shm_physical` (a
+      new syscall) gives the driver the guest-physical of the shared surface for `attach_backing`.
+
+**Gate (met):** the `display-native` case (QEMU `-device virtio-gpu-pci`, `mem` bumped since it
+boots the whole system) starts the compositor + `display-demo` + device-manager; the driver
+announces, the compositor logs `display: scanout upgraded to virtio-gpu`, drives frames through
+the native backend, and **reads a pixel back** from the shared surface after a present to
+confirm the composited frame landed (`display: native present verified`), while `display-demo:
+ok` still fires — checked order-independently. Without `-device virtio-gpu-pci` nothing is
+announced and it stays on GOP: the v1 `display-service`/`display-demo` gates pass unchanged.
+
+## V5 — Mode-setting, EDID, and vsync ✅
+
+- [x] The driver negotiates `VIRTIO_GPU_F_EDID` (when offered) and reads the monitor's EDID,
+      logging its preferred mode; it offers a small mode list over `.scanout` `get_modes`. The
+      resource + shared surface are sized to the largest mode, so `set_mode` just re-points the
+      scanout rectangle (no resource/surface churn) — a runtime resolution change. `runtime.display`
+      gains `modes()` / `setMode()` (display-protocol `get_modes`/`set_mode`, forwarded to the backend).
+- [x] Every `resource_flush` is issued fenced (`VIRTIO_GPU_FLAG_FENCE`); the device signals the
+      fence when the frame is on screen, which the used-ring ack the synchronous present waits on
+      already gates — a tear-free present.
+- [x] `backend.VirtioGpu` reports `canModeSet` / `hasVsync` = true.
+
+**Gate (met):** the `display-modeset` case (reusing the display-native boot) upgrades to
+virtio-gpu, queries the driver's modes, `setMode`s to a different resolution, and confirms the
+change by reading the backend's geometry back (`display: mode set to {w}x{h}, verified`); the
+fenced present path is exercised and confirmed (`display: vsync present ok`) — both from serial,
+passing 3/3. The driver also logs the EDID preferred mode (`virtio-gpu: EDID preferred mode …`).
+
+## V6 — Resilience (restart + re-attach) + tests + docs ✅
+
+- [x] The virtio-gpu driver now **hellos** the device manager (role: bus) so it is properly
+      supervised — no longer stopped at the hello deadline — and is restarted on death. On
+      driver loss the compositor keeps the last frame (its `.scanout` calls now return
+      `-EPEER` instead of hanging — a kernel fix: an endpoint is marked dead when its owner
+      dies) and **re-attaches** when the restarted driver re-announces. A permanent give-up
+      (crash-loop cap) leaves the frozen frame; GOP is not re-taken.
+- [x] `test/qemu_test.py`: the `virtio-gpu`, `display-native` (hot-attach), `display-modeset`,
+      and `display-reattach` (driver-kill/re-attach) cases. display-v2.md status updated.
+
+**Gate (met):** the `display-reattach` case — device-manager (in `test-scanout-restart` mode)
+kills the virtio-gpu driver once after it hellos; the restart policy respawns it, it
+re-announces, and the compositor logs `display: scanout re-attached` after the initial
+`display: scanout upgraded to virtio-gpu`, with no CPU exception / panic (the compositor
+survives) — passing 3/3. All v1 + v2 cases (host tests, `ipc`/`ipc-call`/`ipc-cap`,
+`supervision`, `shm`, `display-service`, `display-demo`, `virtio-gpu`, `display-native`,
+`display-modeset`) pass; default `zig build` is clean.
+
+---
+
+## Deferred (explicitly not in this plan)
+
+- **Client-rendered surfaces** — now unblocked by the `shm` capability (V2): an app renders
+  its own bitmap and hands the compositor a reference. A natural follow-on.
+- **Bochs DISPI backend** — a simpler second native backend (mode-set only, dumb scanout);
+  slots behind the same interface if wanted.
+- **Real-GPU (NVIDIA/AMD/Intel) drivers** — out of scope; those devices stay on the GOP
+  floor by design.
+- **Hardware-accelerated compositing / multiple heads** — future.

docs/display-v2.md

@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+# The display service v2: a pluggable scanout backend
+
+**Status: complete (V1–V6).** The compositor boots on the GOP framebuffer and, when a
+virtio-gpu driver announces itself, hot-attaches a native backend over the shared `shm`
+scanout surface — with runtime mode-setting, EDID, and fenced (vsync) presents, and it
+re-attaches across driver restarts. All serial-gated (see [display-v2-plan.md](display-v2-plan.md)).
+
+v1 ([display.md](display.md)) is a compositor that owns the **GOP framebuffer** — it
+composites a layer stack into a cacheable back buffer and streams damage to the linear
+framebuffer the firmware handed over. That path is portable and good: it drives any GPU,
+including a real NVIDIA card at an ultrawide's native resolution, with zero GPU-specific
+code. v2 keeps it as the **floor** and makes *scanout* — how a finished frame reaches the
+panel — a **pluggable backend**, so the compositor can **upgrade to a real GPU driver when
+one is present** and fall back to the framebuffer when it isn't.
+
+The compositor itself (layers, back buffer, damage) does not change. Only the last step —
+"put this frame on screen" — becomes swappable.
+
+## The shape
+
+```
+   compositor (display service)  ── layer stack + back buffer + damage   (unchanged)
+        │  composites a frame, then: backend.present(damage)
+        ▼
+   scanout backend  (selected at runtime — GOP by default, native when it appears)
+        │
+        ├─ GopBackend        the v1 path: WC copy back→front to the firmware LFB.
+        │                    Always available. No mode-set, no vsync. THE FLOOR.
+        │
+        └─ VirtioGpuBackend  talks to a virtio-gpu driver process over a `scanout`
+                             service: present via a shared resource + flush (real vsync),
+                             EDID mode list, runtime mode-set.
+```
+
+A **backend** is a small interface the compositor calls:
+
+- `surface()` → the pixels to compose into and their geometry `{ptr, pitch, format, w, h}`
+  (the LFB for GOP; a shared scanout resource for virtio-gpu),
+- `present(damage: Rect)` → make the damaged region visible (a no-op-ish WC copy for GOP;
+  a virtio flush, optionally vsync-fenced, for the native path),
+- capability queries — `canModeSet`, `hasVsync` — and, when supported, `modes()` /
+  `setMode(m)`.
+
+The compositor composes into `surface()` and calls `present(damage)` exactly as it does
+today; everything device-specific lives behind the interface.
+
+## Selection and hot-attach
+
+The choice is **dynamic**, because a GPU driver is spawned asynchronously (the device
+manager brings it up after boot), and because danos is meant to be resilient:
+
+1. **Boot on GOP.** The compositor starts on `GopBackend` immediately, so there is never a
+   blank screen while drivers load — the exact v1 behaviour.
+2. **Upgrade on announce.** When the virtio-gpu driver has claimed its device and set up a
+   scanout, it **announces itself to the display service** (a `push`: the driver looks up
+   `.display` and sends an *attach-scanout* message carrying its `scanout` endpoint as a
+   capability). The compositor switches to `VirtioGpuBackend` and re-presents the current
+   frame full-screen. Push beats polling — the compositor doesn't know a priori which
+   driver, if any, exists, and danos has no service-registration pub/sub.
+3. **Native is restartable, not fallback-on-crash.** Once a native driver has reprogrammed
+   the device, the firmware's GOP framebuffer is **stale** — "native → GOP" is not a clean
+   fall-back. So a native driver that **crashes** is *restarted* by its supervisor (the
+   resilience work already merged), re-announces, and the compositor **re-attaches**
+   (native → native). The screen freezes on the last frame during the gap — acceptable.
+4. **GOP is the floor for "no driver was ever there."** On a real GPU (NVIDIA/AMD/Intel)
+   the class-0x03 device matches nothing in the driver table, no `scanout` is ever
+   announced, and the compositor stays on GOP forever — no special-casing. Only if a
+   native driver *permanently* gives up (crash-loop cap) does the compositor attempt GOP
+   again, and even then only if the LFB is still mappable.
+
+## The shared-memory primitive this needs
+
+virtio-gpu's scanout resource is **guest RAM** — the driver allocates it and attaches it
+to a virtio resource, and the compositor composes into it. That means the compositor
+writing into the driver's buffer is **cross-process memory sharing**, the primitive v1
+deferred (docs/display.md, "What v1 does not do"). v2 builds it: the natural generalization
+of M13 capability-passing from *endpoints* to *memory objects* —
+
+```
+shm_create(len) -> {handle, vaddr}     // a shareable, page-aligned RAM region
+… pass `handle` as the send_cap on an ipc_call …
+shm_map(cap)    -> vaddr                // the receiver maps the same physical pages
+```
+
+The payoff is leverage: the **same** primitive unlocks **both** native GPU drivers *and*
+client-rendered surfaces (an app composing its own bitmap and handing the compositor a
+reference instead of drawing by command). One piece of kernel work, two features.
+
+## The virtio-gpu driver
+
+A new ring-3 driver process (the topology v1 anticipated — "split the driver from the
+compositor when a second backend arrives"). It claims the virtio-gpu PCI function, and:
+
+- sets up the **virtqueues** (control + cursor) and the device's config space,
+- creates a **2D scanout resource** backed by an `shm` region, `attach_backing`s it,
+  `set_scanout`s it to a CRTC, and `resource_flush`es damaged rectangles,
+- reads **EDID** (the `GET_EDID` control command) for the mode list, and `set_scanout`
+  at a chosen mode for **runtime mode-setting**,
+- registers a `scanout` service and announces to the display service.
+
+Its `resource_flush` is the real **present** — and gives a genuine **vsync/tear-free**
+path a dumb GOP framebuffer can't.
+
+## What v2 unlocks — and its honest scope
+
+Behind the abstraction, a native backend gives runtime **mode-setting** (resolution /
+refresh / bpp), **EDID** enumeration, and **vsync**. But only on devices we have a driver
+for — realistically **VMs** (virtio-gpu, and later maybe Bochs DISPI). Real discrete GPUs
+need per-vendor KMS-class drivers that aren't getting written, so they **stay on GOP** —
+which is genuinely fine (v1 on the NVIDIA box is smooth). So v2's real value is twofold:
+the **pluggable architecture** (a driver slots in when one exists) and a **rich, vsync'd
+path in VMs**, where danos development happens. The framebuffer floor never goes away.
+
+## Locked decisions
+
+- **First native backend: virtio-gpu** — the VM standard; gives mode-set + a real
+  present/flush (and vsync), and exercises the whole pluggable design. Tested with QEMU
+  `-device virtio-gpu`.
+- **Dynamic hot-attach** — boot on GOP, upgrade to native on the driver's announce,
+  re-attach across driver restarts; GOP is the floor for "no driver ever," not a live
+  fall-back after a reprogram.
+- **Detection = push** (the driver announces to `.display`), not compositor polling.
+- **v2 builds the `shm` capability** (endpoints → memory objects), shared with the future
+  client-surface path.
+
+## See also
+
+- [display.md](display.md) — v1: the compositor, the GOP-vs-device split, the WC discipline.
+- [display-v2-plan.md](display-v2-plan.md) — the ordered build-out.
+- [driver-model.md](driver-model.md) — claim / `mmio_map` / MSI / capability passing (M13).
+- [resilience.md](resilience.md) — the restart machinery the hot-attach leans on.

docs/display.md

@@ -0,0 +1,264 @@
+# The display service: a framebuffer compositor
+
+The [framebuffer](framebuffer.md) the loader hands over is a flat block of pixel
+memory, and the kernel's [bootstrap console](../system/kernel/console.zig) draws text
+into it directly. That console is a stop-gap. The **display service**
+(`system/services/display/`) is the real thing: an ordinary ring-3 process that *owns*
+the framebuffer, composes a stack of **layers** into an off-screen back buffer, and
+**presents** finished frames to the screen — the display half of the GUI track
+([vision.md](vision.md)), the sibling of the [input service](input.md).
+
+This note is the architecture and the reasoning behind it. The concrete build order
+lives in [display-plan.md](display-plan.md).
+
+## First, a distinction that shapes everything: GOP vs. the PCI device
+
+It is tempting to think "the GOP framebuffer" and "the VGA-compatible display
+controller in the PCIe tree" are two different things. They are not — they are **two
+interfaces to the same silicon, at different times and different levels**, and knowing
+which one you're holding decides what you can do.
+
+- **GOP is firmware's *temporary* driver** for the display controller. It gives you a
+  linear framebuffer pointer and can set video modes — but only until
+  `ExitBootServices`. The loader already leans on this: [`queryFramebuffer`](../boot/efi.zig)
+  reads the monitor's EDID, picks the native mode, and calls `set_mode` **before**
+  exiting ([gop.md](gop.md)). Once the kernel runs, GOP is **gone** — no `set_mode`, no
+  mode list, no EDID. What survives is the frozen snapshot in
+  [`BootInformation.framebuffer`](../system/boot-handoff.zig): `{base, width, height,
+  pitch, format}`, and nothing more.
+
+- **The PCI class-0x03 device is the raw controller** — BARs, config space, registers,
+  IO ports. It is what you actually *own* after boot. On QEMU's emulated adapter
+  ([`-device VGA,edid=on`](../build.zig), the Bochs VBE/DISPI model) the `base` GOP handed
+  you *is* that device's linear-framebuffer BAR — the same physical memory, seen through
+  a different door. On a real discrete GPU, GOP's `base` is an aperture inside the GPU's
+  VRAM BAR. danos already decodes this device
+  ([pci-class.zig](../system/devices/pci-class.zig) has the full `display` namespace, and
+  `pci-bus` already reports it to the [device manager](device-manager.md) with its class
+  triple) — but nothing binds it yet.
+
+What that difference costs you, concretely:
+
+| You want to…                              | Dumb GOP framebuffer (boot handoff) | Native device driver (PCI 0x03)          |
+|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
+| **Report** the current mode              | ✅ from the handoff                 | ✅                                        |
+| **Change resolution / bpp at runtime**   | ❌ GOP is gone                      | ✅ program DISPI regs / virtio-gpu queue  |
+| **Re-read EDID, enumerate monitor modes** | ❌                                  | ✅ the device exposes an EDID block       |
+| **Refresh rate**                         | ❌ (virtual anyway)                 | only a real KMS driver — far future       |
+| **vblank / tear-free present**           | ❌ no vblank signal                 | ✅ vblank IRQ + page-flip (real GPUs)     |
+| **Works on the Pi (no PCI VGA)**         | ✅ VideoCore hands a simple FB      | ✗ per-device                              |
+
+The lesson: the **portable base for the whole GUI stack is the GOP / boot-handoff linear
+framebuffer**. Runtime mode-setting is a *per-device upgrade* layered on top — and on
+the Raspberry Pis there is no PCI VGA at all, so the neutral framebuffer is the only
+thing all three target machines share. That is why the display service is built on the
+dumb framebuffer first, with the native backend as an optional module behind the same
+interface.
+
+## Two constraints this service exists to meet
+
+Like the input service — which existed partly to motivate the asynchronous
+[`ipc_send`](ipc.md) primitive — the display service runs straight into two limits the
+rest of the system hasn't had to face:
+
+1. **The framebuffer is kernel-only today.** It arrives through the boot handoff, is
+   mapped into the kernel's physmap, and is touched only by
+   [`console.zig`](../system/kernel/console.zig). It is *not* a
+   [devices-broker](../system/kernel/devices-broker.zig) node, so
+   `device.claim`/`mmio_map` cannot reach it, and there is no framebuffer
+   [syscall](syscall.md). A user-space display service needs a **new mechanism just to
+   touch the pixels**. (See "The handoff" below — this is built.)
+
+2. **danos has no cross-process shared memory.** The memory syscalls are `mmap`
+   (private, zeroed), `mmio_map` (a *claimed device's* MMIO), and `dma_alloc` (new
+   pinned physical). The block driver's "pass a buffer by physical address" trick
+   ([block/protocol.zig](../system/services/block/protocol.zig)) works *only because its
+   consumer is DMA hardware*. A compositor that CPU-reads and blends client layers can't
+   use it — it would have to *map* another process's memory, which nothing allows. This
+   is deferred (see "What v1 does not do"), because v1 sidesteps it entirely.
+
+## Architecture
+
+```
+  kernel  ── owns the boot framebuffer; bootstrap console only
+     │   seeds a "display0" device node from BootInformation.framebuffer
+     │   (ResourceKind.memory = [base, height*pitch], write-combining hint,
+     │    plus DisplayInfo{width, height, pitch, format})
+     ▼
+  display service   (system/services/display/, ServiceId.display)      ← the compositor
+     │   device.claim(display0) → mmio_map(WRITE-COMBINING) = FRONT buffer (the LFB)
+     │   mmap(cacheable) a BACK buffer of the same geometry
+     │   owns:  an ordered LAYER STACK  +  a per-frame DAMAGE list
+     │   loop:  composite dirty layers → back buffer → present dirty rects → front
+     │   backend is an INTERNAL interface: {gop-fb} today; {bochs-dispi, virtio-gpu} later
+     ▼   reached by name (ipc_lookup); clients drive it over the display protocol
+  ┌────────────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┐
+  drawing clients (v1)                  surface clients (deferred)
+  runtime.display commands:             runtime.display surfaces:
+    create_layer / configure_layer        shm_create → pass as a capability →
+    fill_rect / blit_tile / damage         the compositor maps & composites the
+    present                                client-rendered bitmap directly
+```
+
+The bring-up sequence mirrors a hardware driver's — it is the
+[`usb-xhci-bus` `initialise`](../system/drivers/usb-xhci-bus/usb-xhci-bus.zig) shape
+(claim → `mmio_map` → run loop) — and the request/reply service shell is the
+[FAT](../system/services/fat/fat.zig) / [input](../system/services/input/input.zig) shape
+([`runtime.service.run`](../library/runtime/service.zig) with a `protocol.zig` of
+`extern struct` messages and an `Operation` tag).
+
+**One process, for now.** v1 is a *single* service that both owns the framebuffer and
+composites — it does not split a "framebuffer driver" from a "compositor" the way input
+splits `ps2-bus` from the input service. The backend (dumb FB vs. a native GPU) is an
+*internal* interface, not a process boundary. That boundary earns its keep only when a
+second backend or a second monitor appears; until then it is complexity with no payoff.
+
+## The handoff: a device node + a write-combining map
+
+The framebuffer crosses into user space through the machinery that already exists for
+every other device, rather than a bespoke syscall — so it inherits ownership,
+release-on-death, and re-claim-on-restart for free (the [resilience](resilience.md)
+story: a crashed display service returns the LFB to the kernel, and its restart
+re-claims it).
+
+- The kernel seeds a synthetic **`display0`** node into the
+  [devices-broker](../system/kernel/devices-broker.zig) at init, from
+  `BootInformation.framebuffer`: one `ResourceKind.memory` resource spanning
+  `[base, height*pitch]`, tagged **write-combining**, plus a small
+  `DisplayInfo{width, height, pitch, format}` (the memory resource says *where* and *how
+  big*; `DisplayInfo` says how to *interpret* the bytes).
+- The service `device.claim`s it and `mmio_map`s the resource. The map is
+  **write-combining**, not the strong-uncacheable that `mmio_map` uses for register
+  MMIO. The kernel already programs a WC PAT slot for its own console
+  ([`setupPat`](../system/kernel/architecture/x86_64/paging.zig)); this reaches it from
+  the user mapping path. **This matters:** an uncacheable framebuffer makes the
+  back→front blit unusably slow.
+- On `claim`, the kernel's bootstrap console goes quiet, so the two never fight over the
+  LFB. A panic is the one exception — by then the service is likely dead anyway, and a
+  panic on screen wins.
+
+The display service is a **named boot service**: `init` spawns it by name alongside
+`vfs`/`input`/`device-manager` ([init.zig](../system/services/init/init.zig)), and it
+self-discovers `display0` with `device.enumerate`. The [device manager](device-manager.md)
+matching path (PCI class 0x03 → a driver) is reserved for the future *native* backend, not
+this singleton synthetic node.
+
+## Double buffering and the write-combining discipline
+
+Two buffers, with deliberately different memory types:
+
+- The **front buffer** is the LFB — **write-combining**: fast to *write*, slow to
+  *read*. The rule is therefore **never read the front buffer**. Only ever stream into
+  it, sequentially.
+- The **back buffer** is ordinary **cacheable** RAM (`mmap`), the same geometry. All
+  compositing happens here, where reads and read-modify-write blends are cheap.
+
+So a frame is: compose every dirty layer into the cacheable back buffer, then **present**
+— copy the changed regions back→front in sequential, WC-friendly writes. Two details the
+[framebuffer](framebuffer.md) note already establishes carry over: step rows by `pitch`,
+not `width*4`; and handle both `rgbx` and `bgrx` [pixel formats](gop.md).
+
+## Flicker vs. tearing — what double buffering does and doesn't buy
+
+These are two different artifacts, and the dumb framebuffer fixes exactly one of them:
+
+- **Flicker** is the user seeing intermediate, half-drawn states (a clear-then-redraw
+  flash). Double buffering **eliminates it completely** — the screen only ever receives
+  whole, finished frames.
+- **Tearing** is a present landing while the display's scanout beam is mid-frame, so the
+  top of the screen shows the new frame and the bottom the old. Avoiding it requires
+  presenting during the vertical blank (**vsync**) — which needs a vblank signal. **A
+  dumb GOP framebuffer has no vblank.**
+
+So v1 is **flicker-free**, and it *minimizes* the tear window by presenting only damaged
+rectangles (less to copy → a smaller window in which the beam can catch a half-updated
+frame), but it is **not tear-free**. Genuine vsync waits for a backend with a vblank IRQ
+or a flush/flip path — a native-device capability, not something the firmware
+framebuffer can offer. Stated plainly here so the limitation is understood, not
+discovered.
+
+## Layers and the client protocol
+
+The compositor holds an **ordered stack of layers**. Each layer has a rectangle, a
+z-order, a visibility flag, and a surface. Presenting walks the stack bottom-to-top,
+painting each dirty layer into the back buffer, then flushes the damage to the front.
+
+In v1 the surfaces are **server-owned**, and clients draw into them with a small
+immediate-mode command protocol — essentially the model early X used, and enough for a
+shell, a terminal, a cursor, and a wallpaper:
+
+| Operation          | Meaning                                                        |
+|--------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|
+| `info`             | report `{width, height, pitch, format}` of the display        |
+| `create_layer`     | allocate a server-owned surface, return a layer handle        |
+| `configure_layer`  | set a layer's rect, z-order, visibility                       |
+| `destroy_layer`    | release a layer                                               |
+| `fill_rect`        | fill a rectangle of a layer with a colour                     |
+| `blit_tile`        | copy a small client-supplied pixel tile into a layer (inline) |
+| `damage`           | mark a region of a layer dirty                                |
+| `present`          | composite dirty layers and flush to the screen                |
+
+Text is intentionally *not* an operation — a client renders glyphs by blitting tiles
+(the [PSF font](../system/kernel/font.psf) path the console already uses can move into a
+client). Keeping the protocol to rectangles and tiles keeps the compositor small and the
+policy in the client.
+
+## `runtime.display`
+
+Clients speak the protocol through a new [`library/runtime/display.zig`](../library/runtime/runtime.zig),
+the [`runtime.block`](../library/runtime/block.zig) shape (a cached `.display` lookup
+with a boot-race retry): `display.info()`, a `Layer` handle with `fill` / `blitTile` /
+`damage`, and `present()`. Application code never issues the raw syscalls — it calls the
+runtime, as with every other danos service.
+
+## What v1 does not do (and why that's fine)
+
+Two capabilities are deliberately out of the first cut. Neither reshapes anything above;
+both are clean additions behind the interfaces v1 establishes.
+
+- **Client-rendered surfaces (shared memory).** The fast path for a bitmap-heavy app is
+  to render into its *own* buffer and hand the compositor a *reference*, not a stream of
+  commands. That needs the missing cross-process shared-memory primitive — best built as
+  the natural generalization of the existing M13 [capability passing](driver-model.md)
+  from *endpoints* to *memory objects* (`shm_create(len) → {cap, vaddr}`, pass `cap` on
+  an `ipc_call`, receiver `shm_map(cap) → vaddr`). v1 avoids it because server-owned
+  surfaces already prove the whole pipeline.
+
+- **Runtime mode-setting (a native backend).** Detecting the EDID mode list and changing
+  resolution / bpp at runtime needs the raw PCI device. The first native backend is
+  Bochs DISPI — the register interface QEMU's `-device VGA` exposes — behind the same
+  internal backend interface the dumb framebuffer sits behind. Refresh-rate and colour
+  management (a gamma LUT) are real-GPU-KMS territory, far beyond this.
+
+## Verifying it
+
+Three QEMU test cases ([tests.zig](../system/kernel/tests.zig), `python3
+test/qemu_test.py <case>`), each layering on the last:
+
+- **`display`** — the kernel handoff: the seeded `display` device is shaped correctly and
+  the claim → `mmio_map` leaf is genuinely **write-combining** (PAT entry 4), asserted at
+  the page-table level.
+- **`display-service`** — the compositor comes up: it claims the framebuffer, allocates
+  the cacheable back buffer, presents a cleared frame through the double-buffer path
+  (`display: online … / presented frame 0`), and a startup **self-check** composites two
+  overlapping layers on the real framebuffer and reads them back — overlap = the top
+  layer — logging `display: compositor self-check ok`.
+- **`display-demo`** — the full pipeline from a separate process: the hardware-free
+  [`display-demo`](../system/services/display-demo/) client (the
+  [`input-source`](../system/services/input-source/) analog) drives layers — a wallpaper, a
+  sliding rectangle, a cursor — through the layer client API and heartbeats
+  `display-demo: ok`, proving a frame travelled client → compositor → screen, exactly as
+  the [input test](input.md) proves an event travels source → service → subscriber. The
+  visible motion itself is a screenshot away via `zig build run-x86-64`.
+
+The compositor's pixel math (rectangle clipping, fill, composite, tile blit) and colour
+packing are additionally covered by pure host unit tests under `zig build test`.
+
+## See also
+
+- [framebuffer.md](framebuffer.md) — the linear framebuffer, pitch vs. width, `volatile`.
+- [gop.md](gop.md) — GOP, and why only linear RGBX/BGRX modes are paintable.
+- [input.md](input.md) — the sibling service; the async `ipc_send` fan-out.
+- [driver-model.md](driver-model.md) — claim / `mmio_map`, capability passing, the trust model.
+- [device-manager.md](device-manager.md) — matching and supervision (the native backend's route).
+- [display-plan.md](display-plan.md) — the ordered build-out.

docs/intel-igpu.md

@@ -0,0 +1,556 @@
+# Native Intel iGPU display support — feasibility and roadmap
+
+**Status: research snapshot, not implemented.** This records what a *minimal, display-only*
+native driver for an **Intel integrated GPU** — EDID read + mode-set + framebuffer scanout, with
+**no** 3D/media/compute — would take, and how it slots into danos's pluggable scanout
+architecture. It is a survey of primary sources (Intel's open-source
+[Programmer's Reference Manuals](https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/docs/graphics-for-linux/developer-reference/1-0/overview.html),
+coreboot's [libgfxinit](https://doc.coreboot.org/gfx/libgfxinit.html), the Linux
+[i915 display](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/tree/master/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/display) driver,
+and Haiku's [intel_extreme](https://github.com/haiku/haiku/tree/master/src/add-ons/kernel/drivers/graphics/intel_extreme/)),
+not an implementation. It is the companion to [nvidia-gpus.md](nvidia-gpus.md) and should be read
+against it — the two answer the same question for opposite silicon.
+
+Read [display.md](display.md) and [display-v2.md](display-v2.md) first — this doc assumes the v2
+model where scanout is a **pluggable backend** and a native driver is just another `.scanout`
+service (like the virtio-gpu one), announcing to the compositor over `attach_scanout`.
+
+## TL;DR
+
+- **Intel is a materially easier, lower-tier target than the NVIDIA RTX 3060 — and the reason is
+  documentation, not silicon.** Intel publishes official, register-level, per-platform **Display
+  Engine** PRMs with named registers, bitfields, and numbered enable sequences; NVIDIA publishes
+  no display PRM and forces reverse-engineering against GPL nouveau. A minimal Intel display-only
+  driver is roughly **tier 2 to low-tier 3** for well-covered generations (Skylake / Kaby Lake /
+  Coffee Lake), versus NVIDIA's **tier 4** for GA106. This is the load-bearing conclusion.
+- **The display block is a genuinely separable register domain.** Mode-set + scanout touch only
+  display registers (pipes, planes, transcoders, DDI buffers, PLLs, power wells, GMBUS/AUX) — **no
+  render engine, no command streamer, no GEM/3D, no signed microcode.** Two small carve-outs, both
+  trivial pokes that do *not* pull in the render engine: a real CDCLK frequency change writes the
+  shared GT PCODE mailbox, and the plane's surface register is a GGTT (memory-interface) address.
+- **There is no firmware wall on the display path.** The only display microcontroller (DMC / "CSR",
+  Skylake+) is **optional** — its sole job is saving/restoring display state across DC5/DC6
+  low-power idle. Without it, i915 prints "Disabling runtime power management" and mode-sets and
+  scans out normally. GuC/HuC are render/media coprocessors, never touched by a display driver.
+  Pre-Skylake parts have no display microcontroller at all yet mode-set fine. There is **nothing
+  analogous to NVIDIA's GSP**.
+- **The scanout memory model is dramatically simpler than a discrete GPU.** Intel iGPUs have **no
+  VRAM**: the display scans out of ordinary system RAM addressed through the Global GTT (GGTT), a
+  flat single-level page table. Linear (untiled) framebuffers are first-class. You need **no
+  GEM/TTM, no VMM, no VRAM allocator, no BAR1 aperture juggling** — the exact machinery the NVIDIA
+  path forces on you.
+- **coreboot libgfxinit is a compact, complete, display-only reference** doing precisely this scope
+  (EDID + PLL/mode-set + scanout, zero 3D) in ~22k lines of formally-analysed SPARK/Ada — versus
+  i915's ~400k lines. It is a *read-and-reimplement* reference, not drop-in code (GPL-2.0-or-later,
+  and Ada, not Zig).
+- **The clean-room, permissively-licensed path is real** — you can implement from the PRM without
+  reading GPL code, and Haiku's MIT `intel_extreme` is a permissive precedent. This is the decisive
+  contrast with NVIDIA, where no vendor register spec exists.
+- **The practical catch is hardware, not software.** On a desktop with an RTX 3060, the monitor is
+  almost certainly cabled to the *card*, so an iGPU driver would light a dark motherboard port; the
+  CPU may be an **F-SKU with the iGPU fused off entirely**; and every clean-room reference targets
+  *older* Intel. Intel is the right target to **learn** display bring-up — "run it on my machine"
+  is a separate, machine-dependent question that may not resolve in the reader's favour.
+- **Recommendation:** as with the NVIDIA doc, GOP already gives native-resolution scanout with zero
+  GPU code. A native Intel driver buys runtime mode changes, hardware vsync, and multihead — and it
+  reaches "first pixel" far faster than the NVIDIA path *if* the target machine actually has a
+  usable, cable-attached iGPU of a documented generation.
+
+## Display engine architecture, and why it's separable
+
+For the common single-display path (SST DisplayPort / HDMI / eDP), the Intel display data flow is a
+small, fully documented, essentially fixed sequence:
+
+```
+memory surface → PLANE(s) → PIPE → TRANSCODER → DDI (drives IO/PHY) → connector
+```
+
+The Tiger Lake PRM Vol 12 states it verbatim: *"The front end of the display contains the pipes.
+The pipes connect to the transcoders. The transcoders, except for wireless, connect to the DDIs to
+drive the IO/PHY."* A **pipe** blends planes (primary/sprite/cursor) into one raster stream; the
+**transcoder** wraps it in port-protocol timing (DP/HDMI/eDP/DSI); the **DDI** is the physical port
+and PHY. Pipe, Planes, Transcoder, and Digital Display Interface are each first-class PRM chapters
+with per-object files in libgfxinit
+([TGL PRM Vol 12](https://cdrdv2-public.intel.com/705833/intel-gfx-prm-osrc-tgl-vol-12-display-engine.pdf)).
+
+**Two honest qualifications** the raw research overstated (per verification):
+
+- The pipeline is *not* strictly linear in all cases — the same PRM pages document optional branches
+  a minimal driver simply ignores (wireless writeback to memory, MIPI DSI, DisplayPort multistream
+  many-to-one, DSC/tiled pipe-joining). Ignoring them does not weaken feasibility.
+- The four-object model *as named* is **Haswell-onward** (DDI introduced ~2013), not "every gen."
+  Pre-Haswell used FDI + PCH transcoders + port-specific encoders. Within the modern iGPU range
+  danos would realistically target (Skylake → Meteor/Lunar Lake) the model is stable.
+
+**The DPLL/clock block is a separate, per-port programmable clock source** and is one of the harder,
+most gen-specific pieces: pick/enable a PLL, route its output to the DDI, then bring up the port.
+The register layout and divider math change substantially per generation — pre-SKL SPLL/WRPLL/LCPLL,
+Skylake+ shared DPLL0–3, Gen11+ combo-PHY plus Type-C MG/DKL PLLs. Pixel-clock computation is a
+classic per-gen rewrite.
+
+### Separable from render — the single most important enabler
+
+The display is a distinct register domain from render/media, and this is confirmed at the primary
+level: the TGL PRM ships display as its own volume (Vol 12), separate from Render Engine (Vol 9) and
+Media (Vol 11); Linux's KMS "is provided by Intel Display Driver, and **shared with drm/xe**"
+([kernel.org i915](https://docs.kernel.org/gpu/i915.html)) — i.e. the display module is
+reused across two different GPU drivers. A full mode-set lights a display end-to-end using only power
+wells, PLL/port-clock, DDI-buffer/PHY, transcoder and pipe registers — **zero render commands, zero
+GEM objects, zero command-streamer.** libgfxinit is decisive proof: complete EDID + modeset +
+framebuffer with no render/3D code at all.
+
+Two carve-outs the "touches ONLY display registers" phrasing needs (per verification), **neither of
+which drags in the render engine**:
+
+1. A mode-set that changes the **Core Display Clock (CDCLK)** frequency/voltage pokes the shared **GT
+   Driver Mailbox** (PCODE/PCU power-controller interface), per Vol 12's own "Display Voltage
+   Frequency Switching" step. A trivial register handshake, documented alongside the display sequence.
+2. The primary plane's surface register (`PLANE_SURF`) holds a **GGTT graphics address** (a
+   memory-interface concept, not covered in Vol 12). Using pre-mapped stolen memory — as libgfxinit
+   does — sidesteps any active GGTT programming. See [Memory and scanout](#memory-and-scanout).
+
+### Per-gen churn: what's stable, what you rewrite
+
+The **object model** (pipes/planes/transcoders/DDIs, GMBUS-for-EDID, double-buffered plane registers
+armed atomically) is conceptually stable from Ironlake/Haswell through Tiger Lake. What you rewrite
+per generation is:
+
+1. the **CPU-vs-PCH split and interconnect**,
+2. the **port/PHY + DPLL** programming,
+3. **register offsets + power-well / CDCLK topology**, and
+4. the **mode-set enable sequence itself** (power-well ordering, PLL lock, DDI-buffer enable,
+   transcoder clock-select) — an effective fourth axis the raw research folded into (1)/(2).
+
+Interconnect eras, with the timeline **corrected** (the cited Haiku doc was chronologically loose):
+
+- **Gen5 Ironlake (2010) → Ivy Bridge:** FDI (Flexible Display Interface) links the CPU display
+  engine to PCH-resident ports. The FDI/PCH-split era begins at **Ironlake**, not Gen7.
+- **Haswell (Gen7.5):** the main digital outputs come **back onto the CPU die as DDIs** (DDI A = eDP)
+  — the *opposite* of "moving output to the PCH," and it collapses the FDI/PCH dance **for the
+  digital ports only**. FDI is **retained** for the legacy VGA/CRT path (DDI E → PCH CRT DAC), so a
+  driver gets the single DDI code path only by omitting analog VGA (which a minimal driver does).
+- **Skylake (Gen9):** reworks clock/PLL, CDCLK, and the power-well model; introduces the optional DMC.
+- **Gen11 Ice Lake / Gen12 Tiger Lake:** add combo-PHY + USB-Type-C/Thunderbolt MG/DKL PHYs — the
+  single biggest cost increase, and the reason "newest silicon" is *not* the easiest target. (DSC is
+  documented per-**pipe**; MSO is an eDP feature — not "per-transcoder" as the raw research said.)
+
+### The tractable sweet spot
+
+The documented, tractable sweet spot for a from-scratch display-only driver is the
+**Haswell (Gen7.5) / Broadwell (Gen8) DDI family, with Skylake (Gen9) as the modern-hardware pick**
+since it shares the same DDI object model. Rationale:
+
+- Broadwell has a complete, freely downloadable
+  [PRM Vol 11 Display](https://cdrdv2-public.intel.com/690828/intel-gfx-prm-osrc-bdw-vol-11-display.pdf);
+  its engine (3 pipes A/B/C, 4 transcoders incl. transcoder-EDP that floats onto any pipe, DDI A–E,
+  WRPLL/SPLL/LCPLL) is the classic "DDI + transcoder + WRPLL" model.
+- It predates the combo-PHY / Type-C / MG-DKL complexity of Ice Lake / Tiger Lake.
+- libgfxinit's DDI **connector/EDID/DP layer is uniform from Haswell through Coffee Lake**, so the
+  hardest-to-get-right port logic generalises widely.
+
+Two supporting claims from the raw research are **wrong and corrected here (verification):**
+
+- **The BDW and SKL PRMs are NOT 0BSD-licensed.** Both carry a Creative Commons
+  **Attribution-NoDerivatives** notice. Only the *newer* OSRC PRMs (Tiger Lake 2021 onward) put their
+  embedded code samples under **Zero-Clause BSD**. So for the recommended Haswell/Broadwell/Skylake
+  generations there are no "copy-pasteable 0BSD code samples" — the legal basis is *reimplementation
+  from a CC-BY-ND spec* (register facts are not copyrightable), not copying.
+- **FDI+PCH is not fully eliminated on Haswell/Broadwell.** The BDW PRM keeps FDI for the DDI E → PCH
+  CRT DAC. The "one DDI code path" holds only for the digital outputs a minimal driver targets.
+
+Sandy/Ivy Bridge (Gen6/7) is where the hobby-doc walkthroughs concentrate (the OSDev GMBUS/EDID
+material) but carries the FDI+PCH split cost. *(Low confidence on the OSDev specifics — the wiki
+returns 403 to automated fetches and its "guaranteed to work" phrasing is a hobby assertion, not a
+silicon guarantee.)*
+
+## Documentation — and the clean-room question
+
+This is the crux of the whole comparison. **Intel hands you the register spec that NVIDIA withholds.**
+
+- The Tiger Lake **"Vol 12: Display Engine"** PRM is a real, first-party, open-source document —
+  **433 pages, verified by direct download** — with named registers + addresses + bitfield tables
+  (`TRANS_DDI_FUNC_CTL`, `DDI_BUF_CTL`, `DP_TP_CTL`, `PLANE_STRIDE`, `DPLL_CFGCR0/1`, `CDCLK_CTL`,
+  `PWR_WELL_CTL_DDI`, …) and **numbered, step-by-step enable sequences** with explicit writes, wait
+  conditions, and microsecond timeouts. It even includes the "magic value" tables older PRMs deferred
+  to the driver (DisplayPort PLL DCO/divider values; voltage-swing/de-emphasis in mV). *"A spec you
+  could write a driver from directly"* is well-supported, not hyperbole
+  ([TGL Vol 12](https://cdrdv2-public.intel.com/705833/intel-gfx-prm-osrc-tgl-vol-12-display-engine.pdf)).
+- **Clean-room, permissively-licensed implementation is legally and practically feasible from the
+  PRM alone.** CC-BY-ND governs redistribution of the *document*; register addresses and bit
+  definitions are functional facts, and original code implementing a described hardware interface is
+  not a derivative of the PDF. *(This is standard copyright reasoning, not adjudicated case law —
+  treat it as well-grounded, not settled.)* Two independent implementations already exist built
+  essentially from these docs (libgfxinit, Haiku), so the spec is demonstrably sufficient.
+
+**The documentation ceiling — corrected.** The raw research said public PRMs stop "roughly at Ice
+Lake / Tiger Lake." Verification refuted this: full public **"Vol 12 Display Engine"** PRMs exist for
+Ice Lake, Lakefield, Tiger Lake, Rocket Lake, DG1, **and DG2/Arc "Alchemist" (Gen12.5, 2022)** —
+[the ACM display PRM is public](https://www.x.org/docs/intel/ACM/intel-gfx-prm-osrc-acm-vol12-displayengine.pdf).
+The genuine cliff is **Meteor Lake (2023) and newer**: those have only a high-level architecture
+overview, no register-level display PRM, and i915 references their display registers by opaque
+internal **Bspec numeric IDs**. Alder Lake and Raptor Lake iGPUs are Gen12 Xe-LP display — the same
+IP as Tiger Lake — so despite lacking a dedicated PRM they are effectively covered by the TGL PRM.
+
+Net: a from-docs driver can confidently target **Skylake through DG2/Arc**, which is essentially the
+entire current laptop/NUC installed base; only Meteor Lake and later slide back toward the NVIDIA
+situation (reverse-engineering or reading GPL i915). The PRMs also survived 01.org's shutdown and are
+mirrored in several stable places (Intel's cdrdv2 host, the
+[Igalia CC-BY-ND archive](https://github.com/Igalia/intel-osrc-gfx-prm) for Gen4–Gen9.5,
+[kiwitree](https://kiwitree.net/~lina/intel-gfx-docs/prm/), x.org) — not a single point of failure.
+*(Note: the Igalia archive stops at Kaby Lake and contains no Display Engine volume; the TGL/DG2
+display PRMs are separate Intel/x.org downloads.)*
+
+## coreboot libgfxinit — the native reference
+
+[libgfxinit](https://doc.coreboot.org/gfx/libgfxinit.html) is the closest thing to a template danos
+could ask for: a self-contained **native modeset library** (no VBIOS/int10, no firmware blobs) that
+probes displays via EDID over DDC/I²C and DP AUX, and drives LVDS, eDP, DP1–3, HDMI1–3, analog VGA,
+plus USB-C DP/HDMI alt-mode on Tiger Lake. It sets up pipes (Primary/Secondary/Tertiary), planes,
+transcoders, PLLs, panel power/backlight, the GTT, and framebuffer scanout — **display-only, zero
+3D/media/compute**, which is exactly danos's scope. Its public entry is essentially
+`Initialize()` then `Update_Outputs(Pipe_Configs)`, where each `Pipe_Config` carries
+`{Port, Framebuffer, Cursor, Mode}` — a near-perfect fit for a pluggable scanout backend.
+
+Why it beats i915 as a reference (**verified by measurement**): **131 Ada source files, ~818 KB,
+~22k code lines** across *all* generations, factored precisely along the axes you care about (`edid`,
+`dp_aux`, `dp_training`, `pipe_setup`, `transcoder`, `plls`, `connectors`, `port_detect`), with
+**none** of the DRM/KMS/GEM/TTM, GT/3D, RC6/RPS, or GuC/HuC machinery that makes
+`drivers/gpu/drm/i915` **~419k lines / 900 files / 12 MB**. (A grep confirms *zero* gem/ttm/guc/huc/
+execbuf identifiers in the tree.) It depends only on a small HW-access shim, `libhwbase`
+(`HW.PCI`, `HW.Port_IO`, `HW.MMIO`, `HW.Time`), which maps naturally onto danos's MMIO-grant + IPC
+primitives — you provide Zig equivalents and the modeset logic sits on top. *(Correction to the raw
+research: the widely-quoted "~13–14k LOC" is only the generic `common/` layer; the eight
+per-generation subdirs roughly double it.)*
+
+**It is a read-and-reimplement reference, not drop-in code.** Two hard constraints:
+
+- **License is GPL-2.0-or-later** (the COPYING file is GPLv2; per-file headers add "or any later
+  version"). The CC-BY-4.0 on the docs *site* is a footer, not the source license. Copyleft applies
+  to ported code.
+- **It is SPARK/Ada, and designed to run as coreboot boot-firmware**, not a runtime OS driver. A
+  danos port means either an Ada/GNAT toolchain in the build or hand-transliteration into Zig; the
+  SPARK "absence of runtime errors" proof does **not** carry over to your reimplementation (and note
+  it proves absence of runtime errors, **not** functional modeset correctness).
+
+Two more caveats worth knowing: its **error handling is limited** — "only the case that no display
+could be found counts as failure"; a later DP link-training failure is *not* propagated. And its
+**verified-in-coreboot** hardware list stops at **Coffee Lake + Apollo Lake**, even though the tree
+contains a `tigerlake/` directory (Ice Lake has no directory at all, and Alder Lake support is only
+"begun"). So treat Haswell..Coffee Lake as the trustworthy transliteration window and TGL as
+present-but-less-proven.
+
+The orchestration reads as a clean state machine (`hw-gfx-gma.adb` `Enable_Output`):
+`Fill_Port_Config → Preferred_Link_Setting → PLLs.Alloc → [retry] Connectors.Pre_On →
+Display_Controller.On → Connectors.Post_On`, with a literal *"try each DP-lane configuration twice"*
+inner retry and an outer link-setting step-down. `hw-gfx-dp_training.adb` (398 lines) is a complete,
+generic DP link-training implementation (TP1/TP2/TP3, CR + EQ loops, swing/pre-emphasis adjust from
+sink status). Per-generation buffer translations plug in underneath via
+`Program_Buffer_Translations`, gated on `Config.Has_DDI_Buffer_Trans`. All of this was confirmed
+against the source line-by-line.
+
+## The EDID + mode-set path (Haswell/Broadwell target)
+
+The whole path is memory-mapped register programming with polled status bits — no command ring, no
+microcode, no DMA channel.
+
+**EDID over DDC (GMBUS).** Pure MMIO poking of the GMBUS I²C controller (`GMBUS0`–`GMBUS5`): `GMBUS0`
+selects pin-pair/port + clock; `GMBUS1` carries slave address (`0x50` for EDID), byte count,
+direction, SW-ready; `GMBUS2` exposes HW-ready/NAK/ACTIVE to poll; `GMBUS3` is a 4-byte data FIFO;
+`GMBUS5` gives the 2-byte segment index for E-DDC. A read is: write `GMBUS0`, write `GMBUS1`
+(`CYCLE_WAIT | count | SLAVE_READ | SW_RDY | slave<<addr`), loop {poll `HW_RDY`, read 4 bytes}, then
+STOP ([i915 intel_gmbus.c](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/display/intel_gmbus.c)).
+
+**EDID + DPCD over DP AUX.** For DisplayPort/eDP, EDID (as I²C-over-AUX to `0x50`) and all DPCD
+capability/link-status registers are read over the AUX channel: per-DDI `DDI_AUX_CTL` + 5×
+`DDI_AUX_DATA`. Build a 3–5 byte header + payload, set SEND_BUSY, poll it clear, read
+DONE/TIMEOUT/RECEIVE_ERROR. Message size 1–20 bytes; spec requires ≥3 retries. On Haswell/BDW the AUX
+clock divider is programmed explicitly; SKL+ derive it automatically
+([i915 intel_dp_aux.c](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/display/intel_dp_aux.c)).
+Both GMBUS and DP-AUX live in libgfxinit's shared `common/` — cheap and nearly gen-invariant.
+
+**The mode-set is a fixed, documented register sequence.** The Broadwell DisplayPort enable order
+(verbatim from BDW PRM Vol 11, pp.98–99): (1) DDI lane capability; (2) panel power sequencing if
+needed; (3) enable the CPU display PLL (WRPLL/SPLL) and wait ~20 µs; (4) Port Clock Select → DDI,
+enable `DP_TP_CTL` with training pattern 1, configure `DDI_BUF_TRANS`, enable `DDI_BUF_CTL`, wait
+>518 µs, run link training, set `DP_TP_CTL` to Normal (Idle first for eDP); (5) Transcoder Clock
+Select, enable the plane, panel fitter if needed, program transcoder timings + M/N/TU, enable
+`TRANS_DDI_FUNC_CTL`, enable `TRANS_CONF`, then backlight. Disable is the exact reverse — a bounded
+checklist.
+
+**DisplayPort/eDP link training is driver-driven in software over AUX** — the CPU runs the
+clock-recovery and channel-equalization state machines by hand; it is **not** offloaded to a hardware
+sequencer or firmware. The source side exposes only primitives: `DP_TP_CTL` selects the training
+pattern the port emits; `DDI_BUF_CTL`/`DDI_BUF_TRANS` set voltage-swing/pre-emphasis. The driver
+loops: emit pattern + set source levels → write `TRAINING_PATTERN_SET` (DPCD 0x102) + `TRAINING_LANEx_SET`
+(0x103) over AUX → delay (100 µs CR / 400 µs EQ) → read `LANE_STATUS` → on failure adjust to the
+sink's `ADJUST_REQUEST` values and retry. A few hundred lines of ordinary CPU/AUX code (libgfxinit
+`Train_DP`: CR loop 1..32, EQ loop 1..6). **This is the single fiddliest, most fragile piece** — a
+TMDS/HDMI panel avoids it entirely, and targeting an already-lit eDP panel avoids most of it.
+
+**The clock (WRPLL) is documented divider math, not a magic table.** On Haswell/BDW the WRPLL derives
+the symbol clock from a 2700 MHz LCPLL reference through R2/N2/P dividers with VCO 2400–4800 MHz —
+small integer arithmetic. DP is *easier* than HDMI because it runs at a few fixed link rates (1.62 /
+2.7 / 5.4 GHz), so a DP/eDP-only minimal driver can often use fixed rates and skip most of the search.
+
+**Plane/scanout programming is trivial for a compositor.** The primary plane is `PRI_CTL`
+(enable + pixel format), `PRI_STRIDE`, `PRI_SURF` (surface base — writing it triggers the atomic
+update), `PRI_OFFSET`; formats include 32-bit BGRX 8:8:8 and 16-bit BGRX 5:6:5 — a direct match for a
+linear XRGB compositor buffer. Plane registers are double-buffered and latch at vblank via an
+**arming** write — so a page-flip is "write base + stride + size, then the arming write." This is
+*exactly* the primitive danos's damage-driven compositor already expresses over GOP/virtio-gpu; the
+incremental work is "program these display-domain registers," not a new scanout model. The panel
+fitter (`PF_WIN_POS`/`PF_WIN_SZ`/`PF_CTRL`) can be left disabled for native-resolution scanout;
+Skylake+ replaces it with a shared pipe-scaler (`PS_CTRL`).
+
+**Smallest useful target:** eDP (DDI A / transcoder-EDP) or a single DP output at native resolution,
+panel fitter off, plane in 32bpp XRGB. That is: GMBUS + I²C-over-AUX EDID/DPCD, one fixed-rate or
+WRPLL config, the ~20-step enable sequence, the software CR/EQ loop, and `PRI_*` plane setup with
+`PRI_SURF`-write flips. Out of scope: 3D, media, tiling, RC6/power-gating, PSR, audio.
+
+## Memory and scanout
+
+This is where Intel's *architecture* — not just its docs — makes the job smaller, and it is the
+biggest single simplification versus a discrete GPU.
+
+- **No VRAM.** Intel iGPUs have a unified memory architecture; the display scans out of ordinary
+  **system RAM** addressed through the **Global GTT (GGTT)**. The only way to give the GPU memory is
+  to bind system pages into the GGTT
+  ([i915/GEM crashcourse](https://blog.ffwll.ch/2012/10/i915gem-crashcourse.html)).
+- **The plane surface register is a GGTT offset**, not a raw physical address — the display walks the
+  GGTT to fetch pixels, so a scanout buffer must be GGTT-mapped (global, not per-process). libgfxinit
+  writes the framebuffer offset straight into `DSPSURF`/`PLANE_SURF` masked to 4 KB.
+- **Linear (untiled) scanout is a first-class supported mode** — the plane's tiling field value 0 is
+  Linear. No X/Y/Yf tiling engine is needed for a display-only driver. (UEFI GOP itself hands off a
+  linear framebuffer the plane is already scanning.)
+- **No memory manager.** You need only (1) some contiguous-ish system pages and (2) GGTT PTEs
+  pointing at them (`physical_addr | valid_bit` — the GGTT is a flat single-level array of PTEs in
+  the `GTTMMADR` MMIO BAR), then program the plane. **No GEM/TTM/PPGTT/GuC.** coreboot's native-init
+  literally does `for(i…) WRITE32(base + i*inc | 1, (i*4) | 1)`.
+- **"Stolen memory"** (GSM/DSM) is firmware-reserved system RAM where the firmware places the GGTT
+  itself and the boot framebuffer. A driver is not obligated to keep scanout there — it can rebind
+  GGTT entries to its own pages. Stolen memory matters mainly for *inheriting* the GOP framebuffer at
+  handoff.
+
+**The contrast with NVIDIA is stark.** On a discrete GPU the scanout surface must live in **VRAM**
+(nouveau always pins scanout to VRAM), CPU access goes through the **BAR1** aperture (which on
+consumer cards can be far smaller than total VRAM unless Resizable BAR is on), and you need a
+contiguous aligned VRAM allocator plus a BAR1 mapping. The Intel iGPU path **eliminates all of that**
+— scanout is plain system RAM, and a userspace compositor can write the framebuffer pages directly
+(as danos already does with the GOP WC framebuffer).
+
+Because danos boots via GOP, an Intel driver attaches to a display whose **GGTT is already populated
+and whose plane is already scanning a linear framebuffer at native resolution.** A minimal driver can
+reuse that live mapping and reprogram the running plane rather than come up from cold — the same
+"attach to a live display" advantage the NVIDIA doc identifies, but with a far smaller register
+surface and no firmware wall. *(Low-confidence, per-target details to pin from the specific gen's
+PRM: GGTT PTE size — 4-byte pre-gen8 vs 8-byte gen8+ — the `GTTMMADR`/aperture BAR layout, surface
+alignment — 4 KB floor but some gens/tilings want 256 KB — and whether the display's GGTT-mediated
+DMA sits before or after danos's M16 IOMMU on the target platform.)*
+
+## Firmware
+
+A minimal display-only Intel driver is **effectively firmware-free — more so than NVIDIA.**
+
+- **DMC (Display Microcontroller, "CSR", Skylake+) is NOT required for mode-set or scanout.** Its
+  sole job is saving/restoring display-engine registers across DC5/DC6 low-power idle. Absent, i915
+  prints *"Failed to load DMC firmware … Disabling runtime power management"* and the display
+  mode-sets and scans out normally — you lose only the deep display idle states, not output
+  ([intel_dmc.c](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/display/intel_dmc.c);
+  corroborated by multiple distro bug threads). *(A source-level `HAS_DMC` early-return citation would
+  strengthen this beyond distro testimony, but the conclusion is well-supported.)*
+- **Pre-Skylake parts have no display microcontroller at all** yet perform full mode-set (and even
+  Panel Self Refresh). This confirms the display engine is fundamentally CPU/MMIO-driven; the
+  microcontroller is an add-on for autonomous idling, not a prerequisite for lighting a panel.
+  Targeting a pre-Skylake or DMC-optional generation sidesteps the question entirely.
+- **GuC and HuC are render/media microcontrollers on the GT side** — GuC schedules the render engines,
+  HuC assists HEVC/H.265 codec (plus later HDCP/PXP/GSC). Neither is in the scanout path; a
+  display-only driver never loads them
+  ([kernel.org microcontrollers](https://docs.kernel.org/gpu/i915.html)).
+- **PSR firmware lives on the panel**, not in the OS — a minimal driver simply doesn't enable PSR.
+- **Type-C/TCSS (Ice Lake+) firmware** (PMC/IOM/PHY) is part of platform BIOS/coreboot init and the
+  hardware, *not* a signed blob the display driver loads at runtime. A driver attaching to an
+  already-lit GOP connector, or targeting classic DDI ports, avoids it. *(Cold DP-alt-mode changes
+  from a userspace driver on modern TCSS platforms were not traced to primary source — flagged.)*
+
+There is **no signed-firmware wall over the Intel GPU at all** on the display path. This is the
+architectural opposite of NVIDIA's mandatory, unsignable, ABI-unstable GSP — which even on the
+near-side "direct" display path is a permanent maintenance liability for anything beyond scanout.
+
+## Licensing
+
+The situation is *better* than NVIDIA's but still nuanced.
+
+- **The two best code references are both GPL** — Linux i915 (GPL-2.0) and coreboot libgfxinit
+  (GPL-2.0-or-later). You cannot copy either into a permissively-licensed danos. libgfxinit's WRPLL
+  divider math is itself copied from i915, so it carries the same encumbrance.
+- **But you don't need to copy code.** The Intel PRM is a *specification*, and a clean-room Zig
+  implementation written from the PRM (using libgfxinit/i915 only to understand behaviour, never to
+  copy) is legitimate — register numbers and bit definitions are functional facts, not copyrightable
+  expression. This is the exact inverse of the NVIDIA case, where no such spec exists and the only
+  guide is the GPL/RE'd code itself.
+- **A permissive precedent exists: Haiku's `intel_extreme` is MIT-licensed** and was built from
+  Intel's public docs. So if danos wants a permissive license, the model is: implement from the PRM,
+  optionally read MIT Haiku for structure, treat GPL libgfxinit/i915 as documentation-of-last-resort.
+- **A licensing nuance on the recommended generations:** the "copy the 0BSD PRM code samples" shortcut
+  only applies to Tiger-Lake-era (2021+) PRMs. The Haswell/Broadwell/Skylake PRMs are CC-BY-ND, so
+  their register *facts* are free to implement but there are no code samples to lift.
+
+As with the NVIDIA doc: danos's userspace-driver-over-IPC model (a driver is a separate process behind
+a defined protocol) is the cleanest possible license boundary if the project ever chooses to ship a
+GPL display-driver binary and keep the rest of danos permissive — but that is a boundary judgement
+wanting real diligence, not a settled fact. The clean-room-from-PRM route avoids the question.
+
+## Prior art outside Linux
+
+This is a **real contrast with NVIDIA**, where no one has built a from-scratch native driver outside
+Linux. For Intel there are **multiple independent, non-Linux, clean-room native modeset
+implementations** to learn from:
+
+- **coreboot libgfxinit** — SPARK/Ada, G45/GM45 and Arrandale → Coffee Lake + Apollo Lake (TGL
+  in-tree), the strongest structural reference.
+- **Haiku `intel_extreme`** — modeset-only (no 2D/3D accel), **MIT-licensed**, i845 through Sandy
+  Bridge solid, newer Gemini/Ice/Tiger Lake in progress but "hit or miss, as the driver lags behind
+  the specs" ([Haiku generations](https://www.haiku-os.org/docs/develop/drivers/intel_extreme/generations.html),
+  [Phoronix Sept 2024](https://www.phoronix.com/news/Haiku-OS-September-2024)).
+- **SerenityOS** — added basic native Intel graphics ([PR #6277](https://github.com/SerenityOS/serenity/pull/6277)),
+  though only for very old ICH7-class hardware.
+- **managarm** — native Intel G45 support.
+
+The catch: **every clean-room non-Linux implementation targets old hardware.** A modern Gen12 "Xe"
+desktop iGPU is beyond all of them; for the very newest parts only GPL i915 covers the registers. So
+the wealth of prior art is real but concentrated below Tiger Lake.
+
+## The practical desktop caveat
+
+Before any effort estimate is trusted, three hardware realities — the honest reason "Intel is easier"
+does **not** automatically mean "it'll light up the reader's monitor":
+
+1. **Muxing / cabling.** On a desktop with a discrete RTX 3060, the monitor is almost certainly
+   plugged into the *card's* outputs, not the motherboard's. An iGPU driver would light a
+   **different, currently-dark** output. To see danos on Intel the reader would have to physically
+   move the cable to a motherboard video port **and** likely enable the iGPU / "IGD Multi-Monitor" in
+   BIOS. Intel-first probably does **not** light the current display without re-cabling.
+2. **No iGPU at all.** Intel **F-SKU** desktop chips (i5-9400F, i5-12400F, i5-13400F, i7-13700KF, …)
+   ship the graphics **fused off** and cannot be re-enabled. These are extremely common in
+   budget/mid gaming builds paired with an RTX 3060. On an F-SKU (or an X-series HEDT part) the
+   Intel-iGPU path is a **non-starter** regardless of cabling.
+3. **Generation coverage.** If the CPU *is* a recent non-F part, its iGPU may be Gen12 Xe (Alder/
+   Raptor Lake), beyond libgfxinit's verified set and beyond most non-Linux prior art — leaving GPL
+   i915 (or the TGL-class PRM, which covers Alder/Raptor display IP) as the only reference.
+
+A cleaner path for *learning* without the hardware lottery: an older bare-metal Intel box (Haswell/
+Skylake NUC or laptop) whose panel is natively on the iGPU. Note QEMU does **not** emulate an Intel
+iGPU display engine, so a VM cannot exercise a real Intel modeset path — virtio-gpu (already working)
+is the VM answer.
+
+## Alternatives, and the honest Intel-vs-NVIDIA verdict
+
+| Option | What you get | The tradeoff |
+|---|---|---|
+| **Stay on GOP** (working today) | Native-res scanout, zero GPU code/firmware/maintenance | Resolution frozen at ExitBootServices; no runtime mode change, no hardware vsync, no multihead |
+| **Intel iGPU, reuse-GOP** | EDID read + plane page-flips on the GOP-set mode | Still bounded to GOP's resolution; but real driver-owned scanout |
+| **Intel iGPU, full modeset** (this doc) | Runtime modeset, vsync, multihead, from public docs | Tier 2–3 effort; DP link training; per-gen churn; **needs a cable-attached, documented iGPU** |
+| **Native NVIDIA GA106 direct** ([nvidia-gpus.md](nvidia-gpus.md)) | Same, on the RTX 3060 the monitor is actually plugged into | **Tier 4**; GPL-only reference; DMA channel modeset; de-emphasised legacy path |
+| **GA106 via GSP/OGKM** | Also unlocks 3D later | Tier 5; unstable version-pinned firmware ABI |
+
+**The verdict for *this reader* (RTX 3060 box):** For pure "see danos on my screen," **NVIDIA-direct
+is paradoxically the more relevant path**, because the monitor is already cabled to the 3060 and GOP
+already drives it — a native NVIDIA driver reprograms *that* live display. An Intel driver, however
+much easier to *write*, likely lights a dark motherboard port the reader isn't looking at, or hits an
+F-SKU with no iGPU.
+
+**The verdict for *learning display bring-up*:** **Intel wins decisively.** Public register PRMs, four
+independent open reference drivers, an MIT precedent (Haiku), a compact formally-analysed blueprint
+(libgfxinit), no signed-firmware wall, no VRAM/BAR memory manager, and a legitimate permissive
+clean-room path. It reaches "first pixel" far faster than the NVIDIA native path — *on hardware that
+actually has a cable-attached, documented Intel iGPU.* Those two goals — "run on my machine" and
+"learn the craft" — point at different silicon, and that is the honest bottom line.
+
+## "First light" milestones — a danos `.scanout` service
+
+Framed as a danos `.scanout` service (like the virtio-gpu and proposed NVIDIA ones), inheriting the
+GOP-initialized display — no firmware, no cold POST:
+
+1. **PCI/BAR bring-up** — enumerate the iGPU, map its MMIO BAR (`GTTMMADR` + register block) and the
+   aperture BAR via danos MMIO grants; confirm the display engine is GOP-live.
+2. **EDID** — implement GMBUS DDC (`0x50`) and DP AUX; read + parse the panel EDID and DPCD caps.
+   *(Smallest self-contained, gen-invariant milestone — a good first commit.)*
+3. **First pixel = reprogram, don't re-modeset** — with GOP's mode and GGTT mapping inherited,
+   reprogram the running plane (`PRI_CTL`/`PRI_STRIDE`/`PRI_SURF`, linear, 32bpp XRGB) to point at a
+   danos-owned system-RAM buffer; prove a page-flip via the `PRI_SURF` arming write on the *current*
+   mode before changing timings. This defers the entire DPLL/DDI/transcoder/link-training surface —
+   the hardest, most gen-specific ~70% of the work.
+4. **GGTT ownership** — write your own GGTT PTEs (via an MMIO grant to `GTTMMADR`) pointing at
+   compositor-owned pages, for double-buffered damage-driven present.
+5. **Wire into the compositor `.scanout` backend** (`attach_scanout`); add vsync via the display
+   vblank interrupt (IRQ-as-IPC).
+6. **Full mode-set** (the hard, gen-specific step) — for one chosen generation (Haswell/Broadwell or
+   Skylake): WRPLL/DPLL programming, the ~20-step DDI/transcoder/pipe enable sequence, panel power
+   sequencing for eDP (`PP_CONTROL`/`PP_ON_DELAYS`/`PP_OFF_DELAYS` — a common black-screen pitfall).
+7. **DisplayPort link training** — only if the panel is DP and GOP's link can't be reused; the
+   software CR/EQ state machine over AUX. TMDS/HDMI avoids it; a live eDP panel avoids most of it.
+8. **Multihead**, then optionally a second generation once one is solid.
+
+Keep the GOP backend as the fallback the whole way — a stall at any step still leaves danos with a
+working display, exactly the resilience v2 already provides via re-attach.
+
+## Reading list
+
+**Native reference — coreboot libgfxinit (GPL-2.0-or-later, SPARK/Ada):**
+- `common/hw-gfx-gma.adb` — `Enable_Output`, the end-to-end modeset state machine.
+- `common/hw-gfx-dp_training.adb` — the complete generic DP link-training CR/EQ loops.
+- `common/hw-gfx-gma-pipe_setup.adb` — plane/pipe/scaler + `DSPSURF`/`DSPSTRIDE`/`DSPCNTR` scanout.
+- `common/hw-gfx-gma-transcoder.adb` — timing generator; `common/hw-gfx-edid.adb`,
+  `hw-gfx-gma-i2c.adb`, `hw-gfx-dp_aux_ch.adb` — EDID/DDC/AUX; `hw-gfx-gma-registers.ads` — offsets.
+- `common/haswell*/`, `skylake/`, `tigerlake/` — the per-gen PLL/PHY/buffer-translation backends.
+
+**Vendor register specs — Intel OSRC PRMs:**
+- [Broadwell Vol 11: Display](https://cdrdv2-public.intel.com/690828/intel-gfx-prm-osrc-bdw-vol-11-display.pdf)
+  (CC-BY-ND) — the recommended Haswell/Broadwell-class enable sequences, plane, panel fitter.
+- [Tiger Lake Vol 12: Display Engine](https://cdrdv2-public.intel.com/705833/intel-gfx-prm-osrc-tgl-vol-12-display-engine.pdf)
+  (code samples 0BSD) — the most complete modern reference incl. PLL/voltage-swing value tables.
+- [DG2/Arc Vol 12: Display Engine](https://www.x.org/docs/intel/ACM/intel-gfx-prm-osrc-acm-vol12-displayengine.pdf)
+  — the newest public display PRM (Gen12.5, 2022).
+- [Igalia CC-BY-ND archive](https://github.com/Igalia/intel-osrc-gfx-prm) (Gen4–Gen9.5) and the
+  [kiwitree mirror](https://kiwitree.net/~lina/intel-gfx-docs/prm/) — stable mirrors.
+
+**GPL reference-of-last-resort — Linux i915 display:**
+- `intel_gmbus.c`, `intel_dp_aux.c` — the concrete EDID/DDC and DP-AUX register sequences.
+- `intel_ddi.c` / `intel_ddi_buf_trans.c`, `intel_cdclk.c`, `intel_dpll_mgr.c` — DDI/CDCLK/PLL;
+  `i9xx_plane.c`, `intel_crtc.c` — plane/pipe; `intel_dp.c` — link training. Huge and modular; a
+  reference to confirm undocumented quirks, not a template.
+
+**Permissive prior art — Haiku `intel_extreme` (MIT):**
+- [`src/add-ons/kernel/drivers/graphics/intel_extreme/`](https://github.com/haiku/haiku/tree/master/src/add-ons/kernel/drivers/graphics/intel_extreme/)
+  — a second independent modeset-only driver; MIT, so structurally readable for a permissive danos.
+- [generations.html](https://www.haiku-os.org/docs/develop/drivers/intel_extreme/generations.html)
+  — the best plain-English per-generation fault-line map.
+
+## Open questions (unresolved by the survey)
+
+- **Does the target machine have a usable, cable-attached iGPU at all?** F-SKU check, CPU generation,
+  and monitor cabling must be resolved before any effort estimate is trusted (see
+  [practical caveat](#the-practical-desktop-caveat)).
+- **Does danos even need native mode-*setting*, or only plane/scanout control on the GOP-set mode?**
+  If runtime mode changes aren't required, the driver collapses to EDID + plane page-flips, dropping
+  the DPLL/DDI/link-training ~70% of the work.
+- **GGTT vs raw physical:** confirm from the exact target-gen PRM that `PLANE_SURF` is interpreted as
+  a GGTT graphics address (well-established, but per-gen confirmation advisable), and the PTE size /
+  `GTTMMADR` / aperture layout for writing GGTT entries.
+- **Reuse the firmware/GOP GGTT + framebuffer, or install your own GGTT entries?** The latter (needed
+  for double-buffering) means writing GGTT PTEs from the userspace driver via an MMIO grant.
+- **eDP panel power sequencing** (`PP_*`, T1–T12 delays) — not covered in this pass and a common
+  black-screen source.
+- **IOMMU interaction** — whether the display's GGTT-mediated DMA needs IOMMU passthrough for the
+  framebuffer pages under danos's M16 IOMMU, or sits before the IOMMU on the target platform.
+- **DP link-training / AUX robustness and per-generation register drift** are the dominant *risks* —
+  not documentation scarcity.
+- **Exact Haswell/BDW MMIO offsets** (commonly cited: GMBUS ~`0xC5100`, `DDI_AUX_CTL_A` ~`0x64010`,
+  `DDI_BUF_CTL_A` ~`0x64000`, `DP_TP_CTL_A` ~`0x64040`) were not extracted verbatim from the PRM —
+  confirm against `i915_reg.h` before coding.
+
+---
+
+*Research snapshot; verify against current libgfxinit / i915 source and the specific target
+generation's PRM before building. Intel's public-PRM coverage and the muxing/F-SKU realities of a
+given machine both change what is actually achievable.*

docs/nvidia-gpus.md

@@ -0,0 +1,246 @@
+# Native NVIDIA GPU support — feasibility and roadmap
+
+**Status: research snapshot, not implemented.** This records what a *native* display driver for a
+real discrete NVIDIA GPU — specifically an **RTX 3060 (Ampere GA106)** — would take, and how it
+would slot into danos's pluggable scanout architecture. It is a survey of primary sources
+(NVIDIA's [open-gpu-kernel-modules](https://github.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-kernel-modules), the Linux
+[nouveau/nvkm](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/tree/master/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau) driver,
+NVIDIA's [open-gpu-doc](https://nvidia.github.io/open-gpu-doc/), and
+[linux-firmware](https://github.com/NVIDIA/linux-firmware)), not an implementation. The NVIDIA
+driver landscape moves quickly (GSP defaults, firmware ABIs); treat specifics as a mid-decade
+snapshot and re-verify against current source before building.
+
+Read [display.md](display.md) and [display-v2.md](display-v2.md) first — this doc assumes the
+v2 model where scanout is a **pluggable backend** and a native driver is just another `.scanout`
+service (like the virtio-gpu one), announcing to the compositor over `attach_scanout`.
+
+## TL;DR
+
+- A **minimal display-only driver** (EDID + mode-set + framebuffer scanout, **no** 3D/compute)
+  for the RTX 3060 **can and should avoid the GSP entirely**. nouveau has a register-level,
+  CPU-driven display path for Ampere (`nvkm/engine/disp/ga102.c`) that lights up GA106 with no
+  external firmware; the signed-firmware wall gates the **compute/graphics** engines (PGRAPH),
+  **not** the display controller. "GSP is mandatory on Ampere" is true only for NVIDIA's own
+  RM-object route.
+- **danos's UEFI GOP boot is the single biggest thing in its favour.** The VBIOS/GOP has already
+  run devinit and brought up the display PLLs, so a driver attaches to a **live, initialized**
+  GA106 — no firmware load, no cold-boot POST, no devinit interpreter. You reprogram a running
+  display rather than bring one up from cold.
+- It is still a **hard, multi-week-to-months expert effort** (effort tier ≈ 4/5) dominated by
+  NVDisplay channel-DMA programming, SOR/head routing, DisplayPort AUX + link training, and the
+  display supervisor handshake. The GSP/RM route is tier 5 (near-infeasible solo).
+- The **licensing tension is counterintuitive**: the permissively-licensed reference (NVIDIA
+  open-gpu-kernel-modules, MIT/GPLv2) is the **hard GSP path**; the register-level display code
+  you actually want lives in **GPL nouveau**. See [Licensing](#licensing).
+- The **window is closing**: GA10x (Ampere) is the *last* NVIDIA family with a register-level
+  display path — Ada (RTX 40) deleted its non-GSP display HAL. Targeting Ampere specifically
+  matters.
+- **Recommendation:** for *this card*, GOP already gives native-resolution scanout with zero GPU
+  code and zero maintenance. A native driver buys only runtime mode changes, hardware
+  vsync/vblank, and multihead. It is justified if that runtime control is a danos goal, or to
+  *learn the craft* — for which an Intel iGPU or a pre-Turing NVIDIA card reaches "first pixel"
+  far faster.
+
+## The GSP wall, and why display sits on the near side of it
+
+On Turing and later, NVIDIA split its driver's Resource Manager into a host **CPU-RM** and a
+**GSP-RM** running on an on-die RISC-V core ("Peregrine"), talking over RPC
+([LWN 953144](https://lwn.net/Articles/953144/)). The GSP is a *full resource manager*, not a
+display coprocessor — there is no "display-only" GSP image and no small display RPC subset. Its
+boot chain is entirely signed and mandatory: a VBIOS-resident **FWSEC-FRTS** app carves a
+write-protected region (WPR2), a signed **Booter** on the SEC2 falcon loads the GSP bootloader,
+and that loads **GSP-RM** inside WPR. The firmware ships pre-computed signatures and the driver
+picks one by an on-chip fuse-version register — **you cannot self-sign**, and there is **no stable
+firmware ABI** (it is revised every driver release; nouveau and the Rust nova-core driver each pin
+exactly one version). A GSP driver is a permanent maintenance liability, not a one-time build
+([LWN 1037379](https://lwn.net/Articles/1037379/),
+[nova-core cover letter](https://lore.freedesktop.org/nouveau/20250826-nova_firmware-v2-7-93566252fe3a@nvidia.com/T/)).
+
+**But display doesn't need any of that on Ampere.** `nvkm/engine/disp/ga102.c` dual-dispatches:
+
+```
+if (nvkm_gsp_rm(device->gsp)) return r535_disp_new(&ga102_disp, ...);  // GSP RPC path
+return nvkm_disp_new_(&ga102_disp, ...);                               // direct register path
+```
+
+Both branches use the same `ga102_disp` HAL and the same `GA102_DISP_*` class IDs; GSP merely
+swaps register programming for RPC. GA106 (chipset `0x176`) is wired to `ga102_disp_new` in the
+device table, identical to GA102/103/104/107. Ampere lit up displays via the **direct** path in
+Linux 5.11/5.17 — two years before GSP-RM landed (6.7, 2023)
+([ga102.c](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/torvalds/linux/master/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nvkm/engine/disp/ga102.c),
+[Phoronix GA106](https://www.phoronix.com/news/Nouveau-NVIDIA-GA106)).
+
+**Caveat — this is now the legacy path.** As of Linux 6.18, nouveau defaults to GSP on
+Turing/Ampere; the direct path is a retained, forceable fallback (`nouveau.config=NvGspRm=0`, and
+automatic when GSP firmware is absent). It is stable and proven, but NVIDIA and nova-core are
+moving to GSP-only, and **Ada already deleted its non-GSP display HAL**. GA10x is the last family
+that keeps a register-level display path.
+
+## What "direct" actually entails
+
+"Direct" is not "plain register pokes." Only SOR / PLL / DP-link / clock setup is bare MMIO. The
+**mode-set and scanout themselves flow through the NVDisplay channels — a DMA pushbuffer**:
+
+- Display classes for Ampere (the C670 family): core `GA102_DISP_CORE_CHANNEL_DMA` (`0xc67d`),
+  window `0xc67e`, window-immediate `0xc67b`, cursor `0xc67a` (headers `clc67d.h` / `clc67e.h` /
+  `clc67a.h` in [open-gpu-doc `classes/display/`](https://github.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-doc/tree/master/classes/display)).
+- The core channel needs **instance memory, a RAMHT, DMA objects, and a channel user-MMIO
+  region** ([disp/chan.c](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/torvalds/linux/master/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nvkm/engine/disp/chan.c)).
+  The register-level "plumbing" to allocate/kick a channel is in NVIDIA's GA102 display register
+  manual: `NV_PDISP_FE_CHNCTL_CORE/WIN/CURS`, `NV_PDISP_FE_PBBASE/PBBASEHI`
+  ([dev_display_withoffset.ref.txt](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-doc/master/manuals/ampere/ga102/dev_display_withoffset.ref.txt)).
+- **Mode-set is a method stream** on the core channel: `HEAD_SET_RASTER_*`,
+  `HEAD_SET_PIXEL_CLOCK_FREQUENCY`, `HEAD_SET_CONTROL_OUTPUT_RESOURCE`, `SOR_SET_CONTROL`
+  (protocol select), viewport/scaler, then `UPDATE`. The window channel points at the scanout
+  surface (`SET_CONTEXT_DMA_ISO`, `SET_STORAGE`, `SET_OFFSET`).
+- After `UPDATE` you must complete the display **supervisor** interrupt handshake (SV1/SV2/SV3).
+
+**EDID and DisplayPort are a separate subdev you must port.** open-gpu-doc documents *none* of
+EDID/DDC/AUX. On the direct path you read EDID in-driver via nouveau's `nvkm/subdev/i2c`: bit-bang
+**DDC/I²C at address `0x50`** (E-DDC `0x30`) for TMDS/HDMI, or native **DP AUX** in `i2c/aux.c`
+for DisplayPort. DisplayPort **link training** (the `dp.c` `train_cr` / `train_eq` state machine
+over AUX — clock recovery, lane/rate, voltage-swing/pre-emphasis) is the single hardest and most
+fragile piece; a DVI/HDMI (TMDS) panel avoids it entirely.
+
+## The memory floor (smaller than you'd fear)
+
+Neither route hands you a framebuffer allocator — even GSP-RM does not manage the scanout
+framebuffer; the driver owns VRAM and merely tells GSP where its page directory is. But
+display-only is a small fraction of a full GEM/TTM stack:
+
+- **Pitch-linear (untiled) scanout is allowed** on nv50→Ampere — the window's storage method has a
+  `PITCH` layout mode, so you skip block-linear tiling math
+  ([wndwc37e.c](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/torvalds/linux/master/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/dispnv50/wndwc37e.c)).
+- The window references its surface through a simple **display context-DMA**
+  (`SET_CONTEXT_DMA_ISO` + a 256-byte-granular `SET_OFFSET = addr>>8`) — a base/limit descriptor,
+  **not** the GPU's 5-level compute page tables. **No full GPU VMM is needed** for scanout.
+- The surface must live in **VRAM** in practice (nouveau always pins scanout to VRAM). *Open
+  question:* whether GA10x can scan out from a system-memory (GART) surface via a sysmem-target
+  ctxdma — which would let danos skip a VRAM allocator. No source forbids it; nouveau never does
+  it (confidence: medium).
+- **CPU access** to the framebuffer for compositing goes through **BAR1** (a VRAM aperture); BAR0
+  is the 16 MB register window. BAR1 can be smaller than 12 GB of VRAM unless Resizable BAR maps
+  it all.
+
+**Net:** you need (1) a contiguous aligned VRAM allocator (256-byte base, pitch a multiple of
+64 bytes — confirm against the Ampere display refs), (2) a little instmem for the channel
+pushbuffers + iso ctxdma, (3) a BAR1 CPU mapping. You do **not** need the 5-level VMM, GEM/TTM
+eviction, or tiling.
+
+## Licensing
+
+The tension is the opposite of convenient:
+
+- **NVIDIA open-gpu-kernel-modules is dual MIT/GPLv2** — usable under MIT, no copyleft on your
+  other code — **but its display logic is the GSP/RM-object route.** Its class headers
+  (`cl0073.h`, `cl2080.h`, `ctrl0073*.h`) are useful, permissive references.
+- **nouveau is GPLv2**, and the **register-level display sequences you actually want live in
+  nouveau**, not in the MIT code. So the *easy technical path is the GPL-licensed one.* Reading
+  GPL nouveau and reimplementing it in Zig is a derivative-work risk proportional to how closely
+  your code tracks its structure/constants.
+
+Options: **(a)** accept that the danos NVIDIA display driver is a **GPL component**. danos's
+userspace-driver-over-IPC model (a driver is a separate process behind a defined protocol, not
+linked into the kernel) is about the cleanest possible GPL boundary, so the GPL would be contained
+to that one binary and the rest of danos could keep its own license — but this is a
+licensing-boundary judgement that wants real diligence, not a settled fact. **(b)** clean-room
+from *specification* rather than *code*: [envytools](https://envytools.readthedocs.io) + NVIDIA's
+open-gpu-doc register manuals + the MIT OGKM class headers, treating nouveau as
+documentation-of-last-resort.
+
+**Firmware licensing is moot for the direct path** (no firmware is loaded). For completeness: the
+GSP blobs are marked redistributable under `LICENCE.nvidia`, which permits use by **any
+OSI-approved open-source OS** (not just Linux), on NVIDIA GPUs, **unmodified**, with **no
+reverse-engineering of the firmware binary**. The one gate — is danos released under an OSI
+license? — is only reached on the GSP route, which this doc recommends against for this card.
+
+## Prior art
+
+**No one has built a from-scratch native NVIDIA driver outside Linux.** FreeBSD ships
+`nvidia-drm-kmod`, a *port of NVIDIA's own closed `nvidia-drm.ko`* loading the GSP blob (its old
+nouveau port was removed). Haiku's NVIDIA support is likewise a *port of OGKM* (GSP, Turing+, very
+alpha). OpenBSD / DragonFly have neither. Every non-Linux OS that supports modern NVIDIA chose to
+**wrap NVIDIA's GSP stack** rather than write a native driver. A danos direct-register driver
+would have exactly one reference implementation — GPL nouveau — and no non-Linux precedent.
+
+## Alternatives
+
+| Option | What you get | The tradeoff |
+|---|---|---|
+| **Stay on GOP** (working today) | Native-res scanout, zero GPU code/firmware/maintenance | Resolution frozen at ExitBootServices; **no runtime mode change, no hardware vsync, no multihead** |
+| **Pre-Turing NVIDIA** (Kepler / early Maxwell) | Direct EVO/disp-core + CRTC/PLL modeset, **no signed firmware, no coprocessor**; mature nouveau reference | Older display class; not this card; only reclocking is firmware-gated |
+| **Intel iGPU** | **Publicly documented** register interfaces (Intel PRMs); no coprocessor mediating modeset | i915 is huge + generation-specific; write one generation from the PRM |
+| **Native GA106 direct** (this doc) | Runtime modeset, vsync, multihead on the actual card | Tier-4 effort; GPL reference; DP link training; legacy/de-emphasized path |
+| **GA106 via GSP/OGKM** | Also unlocks 3D / reclocking later | Tier-5; ~14k-line ante; unstable version-pinned ABI; unprecedented outside Linux |
+
+## "First light" milestones (direct path, inheriting GOP state)
+
+Framed as a danos `.scanout` service (like the virtio-gpu driver), taking the direct register path
+and inheriting the GOP-initialized display — no signed firmware, no devinit, no GSP:
+
+1. **PCI/BAR bring-up** — enumerate GA106 (`0x176`), map **BAR0** (registers) and **BAR1** (VRAM
+   aperture) via danos MMIO grants; confirm the display engine is GOP-live.
+2. **VRAM + instmem allocator** — contiguous aligned VRAM for the scanout surface (256-byte base)
+   + small instmem for pushbuffers / RAMHT / iso ctxdma. No VMM, no TTM.
+3. **EDID** — port `nvkm/subdev/i2c` DDC (`0x50`) + DP-AUX (`aux.c`); read + parse the panel EDID.
+4. **Core channel up** — allocate the `0xc67d` core channel as a DMA pushbuffer; stand up the
+   SV1/SV2/SV3 supervisor-interrupt handshake.
+5. **First pixel = reprogram, don't re-POST** — bind a window (`0xc67e`) at the existing WC
+   framebuffer via `SET_CONTEXT_DMA_ISO` + `SET_OFFSET`, pitch-linear, `UPDATE`; prove you can
+   drive the *current* GOP mode from your own channel before changing anything.
+6. **Modeset** — push raster timings on a head, route head→SOR→connector, program the pixel-clock
+   PLL, switch to an EDID mode (needs the `clc67d/e` method opcodes from the OGKM headers + the
+   supervisor timing from nouveau `head.c`).
+7. **DisplayPort link training** — only if the panel is DP and GOP's link can't be reused; the
+   `dp.c` `train_cr`/`train_eq` state machine. TMDS/HDMI is far simpler.
+8. **Wire into the compositor `.scanout` backend** (`attach_scanout`), add vsync via the display
+   interrupt, then multihead.
+
+Keep the GOP backend as the fallback the whole way — a stall at any step still leaves danos with a
+working display (exactly the resilience v2 already provides via re-attach).
+
+## Reading list
+
+**Direct path — nouveau (GPLv2):**
+- `nvkm/engine/disp/ga102.c` — the GA10x display HAL + the GSP/non-GSP dispatch.
+- `nvkm/engine/disp/{head.c, ior.c, dp.c, hdmi.c, chan.c}` — head/SOR routing, DP AUX + link
+  training, channel-DMA plumbing.
+- `dispnv50/{corec37d.c, corec57d.c, wndwc37e.c, wndwc57e.c, wndwc67e.c, headc37d.c, cursc37a.c}`.
+- `nvkm/subdev/i2c` (DDC + `aux.c`) for EDID; `nvkm/subdev/bios/init.c` + `devinit/` **only** if
+  you ever have to re-POST (danos's GOP handoff means you shouldn't).
+
+**Object model / GSP path — NVIDIA OGKM (MIT/GPLv2):** class headers `cl0073.h`, `cl2080.h`,
+`ctrl0073system.h`, `ctrl0073specific.h`; `src/nvidia/` for RM control sequences.
+`nvidia-modeset.ko` (NVKMS) is a *policy* layer over RM and can be bypassed entirely.
+[nova-core](https://lore.freedesktop.org/nouveau/) (Rust) is the forward-looking reference for GSP
+boot mechanics (falcon signing, queue rings, RPC).
+
+**Register / method specs — NVIDIA open-gpu-doc:**
+- [`classes/display/README.txt`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-doc/master/classes/display/README.txt)
+  — the channel model + class-to-GPU map (read first).
+- [`classes/display/clc67d.h`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-doc/master/classes/display/clc67d.h)
+  + `clc67e.h` / `clc67a.h` — the Ampere core/window/cursor mode-set method vocabulary.
+- [`manuals/ampere/ga102/dev_display_withoffset.ref.txt`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-doc/master/manuals/ampere/ga102/dev_display_withoffset.ref.txt)
+  — `NV_PDISP_FE_*` channel/pushbuffer registers + SOR.
+- [`DCB`](https://github.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-doc/tree/master/DCB) — connector→output-resource
+  routing; [`Devinit`](https://github.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-doc/tree/master/Devinit) +
+  [`BIOS-Information-Table`](https://github.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-doc/tree/master/BIOS-Information-Table)
+  — VBIOS parsing (bring-up reference; not needed if inheriting GOP).
+- The 632 KB Volta [`dev_display.ref`](https://download.nvidia.com/open-gpu-doc/Display-Ref-Manuals/1/gv100/dev_display.ref)
+  is the best shot at SOR-DP/AUX register detail the smaller Ampere file omits.
+
+## Open questions (unresolved by the survey)
+
+Each needs a direct read of the named nouveau file or experimentation on the actual card:
+
+- Exact GA106 register/method offsets and PADLINK→SOR→connector wiring (can vary by board vendor).
+- Whether *any* PLL/devinit re-run is unavoidable vs. fully inherited from GOP.
+- Whether DisplayPort needs full retraining on takeover, or the GOP-established link can be reused.
+- The precise SV1/SV2/SV3 supervisor sequence.
+- Whether a system-memory-target scanout ctxdma could eliminate the VRAM allocator.
+- The exact `clc67d.h`/`clc67e.h` method opcode numbers (not captured verbatim in the survey).
+
+---
+
+*Research snapshot; verify against current nouveau / open-gpu-kernel-modules source before
+building — NVIDIA's GSP defaults and firmware ABIs change per release.*

docs/os-developer-guide/README.MD

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# OS Developer Guide
+
+This document is for those who need to understand the architectural decisions behind the OS.
+
+## Written in Zig?
+
+The os was initially written in zig because it has excellent support for EFI. With zig, we could forgo using a third party bootloader, reducing the time to boot up the kernel. Following the "Zen of Zig", helped to produce the most readable codebase for an operating system ever created. So those, new to OS development could quickly get up to speed.
+
+

docs/release-iso.md

@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+# The release ISO — flashable boot media
+
+`zig build release-x86-64` produces **`zig-out/danos-x86-64.iso`**, the file you
+hand to someone who wants to try danos on a real machine: point
+[balenaEtcher](https://etcher.balena.io) (or Raspberry Pi Imager, or plain `dd`)
+at it, flash a USB stick, and boot the stick. The same file also burns to
+optical media. `zig build check-iso-image` validates it without booting.
+
+```
+zig build release-x86-64
+# Etcher: select danos-x86-64.iso → select the stick → Flash
+# or: sudo dd if=zig-out/danos-x86-64.iso of=/dev/rdiskN bs=4m   (macOS; triple-check N)
+```
+
+## Why an ISO when danos-usb.img already boots
+
+`danos-usb.img` is a raw FAT32 **superfloppy** — a filesystem starting at
+sector 0, no partition table. UEFI firmware accepts that from a USB stick (it
+probes whole-disk FAT before giving up), which is why `dd`-ing the .img works
+and why QEMU and the test harness boot it directly. But it is a
+developer-shaped artifact: flashing apps expect an ISO, and a superfloppy
+can't be burned to a CD/DVD or carry a partition table for pickier firmware.
+
+The ISO wraps that same FAT image — bit-identical, built by the same
+`tools/make-fat-image.py` — in a container that boots everywhere release media
+gets consumed. One payload, two images: the .img stays the raw volume the QEMU
+harness mounts and boots, the .iso is what leaves the building.
+
+## How a hybrid ISO boots twice
+
+The trick (the same one Linux distribution ISOs use, usually via `xorriso
+-isohybrid…`) is that ISO9660 reserves its first 32 KiB as a **system area** it
+never touches — exactly where an MBR lives on a disk. So one file can carry two
+tables of contents, both pointing at the same embedded FAT image:
+
+* **Flashed to USB (Etcher, dd):** firmware sees a disk whose sector 0 is an
+  MBR with one partition of type `0xEF` (EFI System Partition) covering the
+  embedded FAT image. It mounts that ESP and runs `\EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.efi` —
+  the standard removable-media path ([efi.md](efi.md)).
+* **Burned to optical media:** firmware reads the ISO9660 volume descriptors
+  at sector 16 and finds an **El Torito** boot record. Its catalog has one
+  entry, platform ID `0xEF` (EFI), whose start LBA is — again — the embedded
+  FAT image. The firmware exposes that image as a virtual disk and runs the
+  same `BOOTX64.efi` off it.
+
+Neither path involves the legacy BIOS boot-sector machinery: danos is
+UEFI-only ([system-requirements.md](system-requirements.md)), so the MBR holds
+no boot code, just the partition entry, and the El Torito entry is EFI-class,
+not floppy emulation.
+
+One El Torito wrinkle: the catalog's sector-count field is 16-bit (units of
+512 bytes), so it can name at most 32 MiB — less than the 64 MiB FAT image.
+That is fine in practice: firmware sizes the FAT filesystem from its own BPB,
+and the boot files sit in the first few MiB of the image (clusters are
+allocated from the front) either way. The USB path has no such cap.
+
+## The builder
+
+`tools/make-iso-image.py` follows the house rule of
+[make-fat-image.py](../tools/make-fat-image.py): pure Python 3 standard
+library, no external tools (no xorriso, mkisofs, or isohybrid), with a
+`--verify` mode the `check-iso-image` step runs — it checks that the MBR
+partition and the El Torito catalog agree on where the FAT image lives and
+that a FAT32 boot sector is actually there. Every timestamp field in the ISO
+is zeroed, so the build is reproducible byte-for-byte.
+
+The ISO9660 filesystem around the boot machinery is minimal but real: a root
+directory listing `BOOT.CAT` (the catalog) and `EFI.IMG` (the FAT image), so
+`file`, mount tools, and archive browsers can open the ISO and see what's in
+it.

docs/testing.md

@@ -27,6 +27,15 @@ transcript. Serial is per-architecture (x86 uses port I/O; an ARM board uses a
 memory-mapped UART), so it lives behind the [arch](arch.md) boundary — and adding
 a new architecture's UART is what makes the same tests run there.
 
+The serial log sink is **compiled in only under `-Dserial`** (off by default).
+A real machine often has no live legacy COM1 — writing to a dead one is slow —
+and the boot log is kept in a RAM buffer (`klog`) and flushed to disk instead,
+so serial is now purely a QEMU/dev aid. The harness (`test/qemu_test.py`) builds
+every case with `-Dserial=true`, and `zig build run-x86-64` boots a serial-enabled
+image variant, so both get the transcript; a flashable `zig build` image leaves
+serial out. (Even with `-Dserial`, a loopback probe disables a dead port at boot,
+so a serial-enabled image is still safe on real hardware.)
+
 ## In-kernel test cases
 
 Building with `-Dtest-case=<name>` makes the kernel, after normal bring-up, run one

docs/vdso.md

@@ -0,0 +1,206 @@
+# The vDSO — the public system-call boundary
+
+> **Status:** design note, not built. The runtime today issues raw `syscall`
+> instructions from `library/runtime/system-call.zig` using the numbers in
+> `system/abi.zig`. This note designs the layer that replaces that arrangement:
+> a **kernel-supplied, C-ABI entry library** mapped into every process — the
+> only supported way into the kernel — so the raw numbers can stay private,
+> be renumbered at will, and eventually be randomised per boot.
+
+## Why: the ABI danos promises, and the one it doesn't
+
+`system/abi.zig` is the **private** kernel ↔ runtime contract. Its header says
+so: the numbers are an implementation detail the runtime hides and may
+renumber, the same split as libSystem over the XNU syscalls on macOS or win32
+over the NT syscalls on Windows. Linux — with its world-visible, frozen
+syscall table — is the outlier, not the norm.
+
+That stance has consequences the moment binaries exist that we don't rebuild
+ourselves:
+
+1. **Third-party binaries** (docs/zig-self-hosting.md) must keep working across
+   kernel updates. If they contain raw `syscall` instructions with today's
+   numbers baked in, every renumbering breaks the world — the ABI would be
+   *de facto* public no matter what the header says. Go on macOS made exactly
+   this mistake: it issued XNU syscalls directly instead of going through
+   libSystem, and macOS updates repeatedly broke every Go binary until Go
+   switched to the library like everyone else.
+2. **Not everything is Zig.** A Rust or C program can't import the `runtime`
+   module. The public boundary has to be expressible in the one calling
+   convention every language speaks: the C ABI.
+3. **Randomised syscall numbers** — a hardening option we want open — only
+   work if no user binary anywhere knows a number at build time. The binding
+   must happen at *load time*, from something the kernel controls.
+
+All three point at the same well-known shape: a **vDSO** (virtual dynamic
+shared object). The kernel carries a small blob of user-mode code, maps it
+into every process at spawn, and that blob — not the application — contains
+the `syscall` instructions. Fuchsia works exactly this way: its vDSO is the
+*only* kernel entry, version-matched by construction because the kernel itself
+injects it. Because the kernel and the blob ship as one artifact, there is
+**no version skew, no loader, no search path, and no shared file on disk** —
+which is what makes this the resilient way to have a private ABI
+(docs/resilience.md), where a conventional `ld.so` + `/lib/libdanos.so`
+arrangement would add a loader to every spawn and a single shared point of
+failure.
+
+The public danos ABI then has exactly two layers, neither of which is
+`abi.zig`:
+
+| Layer | Contract | Spoken by |
+|-------|----------|-----------|
+| **vDSO** | C-ABI functions, this note | every language's thin shim (`runtime.system` for Zig, a `-sys` crate for Rust, a header for C) |
+| **IPC wire protocols** | byte layouts over `ipc_call` ([vfs-protocol.md](vfs-protocol.md) is the first one documented) | any client that can lay out bytes |
+
+Everything above those — the heap, `runtime.fs`, the service harness — is
+per-language convenience, compiled into each binary from source, exactly as
+today. Nothing about the Zig runtime's shape changes; it just stops being the
+*only* door.
+
+## The blob
+
+A single copy of the vDSO code lives in the kernel image (built by
+`build.zig` as a tiny freestanding object, embedded like the AP trampoline).
+At boot the kernel finalises it once — this is where randomised numbers would
+be patched in — and thereafter maps the **same physical pages** read-execute
+into every process's address space. The blob is:
+
+- **Position-independent.** It is mapped at a per-process randomised base, so
+  it must be PIC (rip-relative addressing only — no relocations to process).
+- **Stateless and re-entrant.** No writable data. Anything stateful belongs to
+  the process, not the vDSO.
+- **Architecture-specific.** The x86-64 blob wraps `syscall`; an aarch64 blob
+  wraps `svc #0`. It lives beside the other per-architecture kernel sources
+  (`system/kernel/architecture/<arch>/`), selected the same way the
+  `architecture` module is (docs/arch.md).
+
+### Shape: a function table, not an ELF
+
+A real `.so` with a dynamic symbol table is the conventional vDSO shape, but
+linking against one at load time needs a dynamic linker in every binary —
+machinery danos deliberately doesn't have. Instead the v1 shape is the
+simplest thing that is still a stable contract — a **function-pointer table**
+at the vDSO base:
+
+```
+offset 0   u64  magic        'danosVDS' — a mapped-the-wrong-thing guard
+offset 8   u64  api_level    incremented when the table grows
+offset 16  u64  count        number of table entries that follow
+offset 24  u64  table[count] function pointers into the vDSO's own code
+```
+
+Table *indices* are the public constants (published in a C header,
+`danos.h`), assigned once and append-only — the same discipline the IPC
+protocols use for operation values. The pointers point at stubs inside the
+blob; what those stubs put in `rax` is nobody's business but the kernel's.
+A language shim binds in one step: read the base from the init block, check
+the magic, keep the table pointer. Feature detection for a binary built
+against older headers is `count`/`api_level` — a kernel never removes or
+reorders entries.
+
+(If danos ever grows a real dynamic linker, the same blob can additionally
+present an ELF `dynsym` without breaking the table — Fuchsia's vDSO is
+likewise both a mappable blob and a linkable `.so`. That is a later
+convenience, not a requirement.)
+
+### Delivery: the auxiliary vector
+
+The kernel already builds a System V entry block — argc, argv, envp
+terminator, **auxiliary vector** — on every new process's stack
+(`buildEntryStack`, read by `runtime.start`). The vDSO base rides in a new
+auxv entry, exactly Linux's `AT_SYSINFO_EHDR` move. No new syscall, no magic
+address, and a language shim finds it the same portable way on every
+architecture.
+
+## The function surface
+
+One table entry per kernel call, C ABI (System V AMD64), names prefixed
+`danos_`. The current `SystemCall` set maps directly; integer arguments and
+returns are `u64`, errors return as negative values exactly as today.
+
+The calls that return two values in `rax:rdx` today — `dma_alloc`
+(vaddr + paddr), `msi_bind` (address + data), `shm_create` (vaddr + handle) —
+become functions returning a two-`u64` struct. The System V ABI returns a
+16-byte struct in `rax:rdx`, so the stub is a plain `syscall; ret` — the
+C-ABI spelling of the existing convention, at zero cost.
+
+Grouped as `abi.zig` groups them:
+
+| Group | Functions |
+|-------|-----------|
+| process | `danos_exit`, `danos_yield`, `danos_sleep`, `danos_spawn`, `danos_process_enumerate`, `danos_process_kill`, `danos_process_exit_reason`, `danos_process_subscribe`, `danos_process_signal`, `danos_signal_bind` |
+| memory | `danos_mmap`, `danos_munmap`, `danos_dma_alloc`, `danos_dma_free`, `danos_shm_create`, `danos_shm_map`, `danos_shm_physical` |
+| ipc | `danos_endpoint_create`, `danos_ipc_register`, `danos_ipc_lookup`, `danos_ipc_call`, `danos_ipc_reply_wait`, `danos_ipc_send` |
+| devices | `danos_device_enumerate`, `danos_device_claim`, `danos_device_register`, `danos_mmio_map`, `danos_irq_bind`, `danos_irq_ack`, `danos_msi_bind`, `danos_io_read`, `danos_io_write` |
+| time | `danos_clock`, `danos_wall_clock`, `danos_timer_bind` |
+| diagnostics | `danos_debug_write`, `danos_klog_read` |
+
+The constants that ride alongside the calls — mmap protection bits, DMA
+flags, notification badge bits, `ExitReason`, `Signal`, well-known service
+ids, `page_size`, the IPC message maximum — move to the public header too:
+they are wire values a Rust program needs verbatim. What stays private in
+`abi.zig` is exactly the thing the vDSO exists to hide: the `SystemCall`
+numbers and the trap convention.
+
+## Enforcement, and an honest threat model
+
+Renumbering only has teeth if the kernel **refuses syscalls that don't come
+from the vDSO**. The check is cheap: on kernel entry, the saved user `rip`
+must lie inside the calling process's vDSO mapping; otherwise the process is
+killed with a fault-class exit reason (its supervisor restarts or gives up,
+docs/process-lifecycle.md — a foreign-syscall attempt is a bug or an attack,
+never something to limp past). Fuchsia enforces exactly this.
+
+What this buys, precisely:
+
+- **ABI freedom** — the real prize. The numbers can change per release or per
+  boot and nothing outside the kernel image cares. The private ABI stays
+  actually private, permanently.
+- **A single audited chokepoint** for kernel entry, per process, at a
+  randomised address.
+- **Raised bar for exploits**: shellcode can't issue a hard-coded `syscall`;
+  it must first discover the per-process vDSO base (ASLR) and call through
+  it.
+
+What it does *not* buy: an attacker with arbitrary code execution in a
+process can still *call* the vDSO functions — they are mapped executable in
+that process, and return-oriented chains reach them. Syscall randomisation is
+hardening, not a security boundary; the security boundary remains the
+capability model (what the process's endpoints and device claims let it do).
+It is worth building anyway — for the ABI freedom first and the hardening
+second — but the design should never be sold as more than that.
+
+## Migration
+
+Phased so every step ships alone (the M-milestone discipline):
+
+1. **The blob + the table.** Build the vDSO, map it at spawn, deliver the
+   base via auxv. `runtime.system-call.zig` binds through the table when the
+   auxv entry is present, falls back to raw `syscall` when absent — the whole
+   tree keeps booting during the transition.
+2. **Cut the runtime over.** Delete the raw stubs; `runtime` no longer
+   imports the `SystemCall` numbers at all (`abi.zig`'s enum becomes
+   kernel-internal). The QEMU suite passing proves the table carries the
+   whole system.
+3. **Enforce + randomise.** Add the `rip`-range check, then per-boot number
+   randomisation patched into the blob at kernel init. A test boots with
+   randomisation on and runs the full suite.
+4. **The other languages.** Publish `danos.h`; a Rust `danos-sys` crate wraps
+   the table. This is also the seam `std.os.danos` calls through when the Zig
+   self-hosting fork lands (docs/zig-self-hosting.md) — the vDSO is what
+   makes that seam stable across kernel versions.
+
+## What deliberately stays out
+
+- **No dynamic linker, no `/lib/*.so`.** The vDSO is kernel-injected precisely
+  so danos binaries can stay fully static above it. Sharing *library code*
+  across processes stays what it is today: a service behind IPC, or source
+  compiled into each binary.
+- **No file/device I/O in the vDSO.** The microkernel line doesn't move: the
+  vDSO wraps the same deliberately tiny table (docs/syscall.md); files are
+  still the VFS server's business over IPC.
+- **No fast-path user-mode implementations yet.** Linux's vDSO exists mostly
+  to answer `gettimeofday` without a kernel entry. `danos_clock` could one
+  day read the calibrated TSC in user mode the same way — the blob is where
+  such an optimisation would live — but that is an optimisation, not part of
+  this design's contract.

docs/vfs-protocol.md

@@ -0,0 +1,170 @@
+# The VFS wire protocol
+
+> **Status:** built and spoken today between `runtime.fs` (the client) and the
+> VFS server (`system/services/vfs`), with mounted backends (the FAT server)
+> speaking the same protocol behind the router. The Zig source of truth is
+> `system/services/vfs/protocol.zig` (the `vfs-protocol` module), whose unit
+> tests pin the sizes and values below. This page is the **language-neutral
+> wire specification** of that contract — what a Rust or C client implements
+> ([vdso.md](vdso.md) explains why the IPC protocols, not the syscall
+> numbers, are danos's public ABI).
+
+## Transport
+
+A VFS exchange is one synchronous IPC rendezvous (`ipc_call`,
+docs/ipc.md): the client sends one message and blocks; the server replies
+with one message. The endpoint is found by well-known service id
+(`ipc_lookup`, service id **1** = vfs).
+
+- A message is at most **256 bytes** (`message_maximum`).
+- A request is a fixed 32-byte **Request** header followed by an inline
+  payload of at most **224 bytes** (`maximum_payload`) — a path, or write
+  bytes. There is no multi-message request: paths and single reads/writes
+  must fit, and larger transfers loop (see *read* / *write*).
+- A reply is a fixed 24-byte **Reply** header followed by an inline payload —
+  read bytes, a `FileStatus`, or a `DirectoryEntry`.
+- All integers are **little-endian**; layouts are C layout for x86-64
+  (`extern struct`), offsets given below so nothing need be inferred.
+
+The kernel never parses any of this — it only moves the bytes
+(docs/syscall.md); files are entirely a user-space affair.
+
+## Request header — 32 bytes
+
+| offset | size | field | meaning |
+|-------:|-----:|-------|---------|
+| 0 | 4 | `operation` | an **Operation** value (below) |
+| 4 | 4 | — | padding |
+| 8 | 8 | `node` | the server-side open-node id from a prior `open`; 0 for path-based operations |
+| 16 | 8 | `offset` | byte position for read/write; entry index (cursor) for readdir; else 0 |
+| 24 | 4 | `len` | payload length for path/write operations; requested byte count for read |
+| 28 | 4 | `flags` | open flags (below); else 0 |
+
+## Reply header — 24 bytes
+
+| offset | size | field | meaning |
+|-------:|-----:|-------|---------|
+| 0 | 4 | `status` | **0 = success**, negative = failure (signed) |
+| 4 | 4 | — | padding |
+| 8 | 8 | `node` | the new open-node id (for `open`); else 0 |
+| 16 | 4 | `len` | reply payload length in bytes |
+| 20 | 4 | — | padding |
+
+On failure the router replies `status = -1`; a mounted backend's negative
+status is forwarded to the client verbatim. A richer errno vocabulary is
+future work — clients must treat *any* negative status as failure, not match
+on -1.
+
+## Operations
+
+Values are append-only and never renumbered (the same evolution rule every
+danos protocol follows); an unrecognised operation gets a `status = -1`
+reply.
+
+| value | operation | request payload | reply |
+|------:|-----------|-----------------|-------|
+| 0 | `open` | the path (`len` = its length), `flags` as below | `node` = open-node id |
+| 1 | `close` | — (`node` set) | status only |
+| 2 | `read` | — (`node`, `offset`, `len` = wanted count) | `len` bytes read, payload = the bytes; `len` 0 at end of file |
+| 3 | `write` | the bytes (`node`, `offset`, `len` = count) | `len` = bytes accepted (may be short — loop) |
+| 4 | `status` | — (`node` set) | payload = **FileStatus** (24 bytes) |
+| 5 | `readdir` | — (`node` = a directory, `offset` = cursor) | payload = one **DirectoryEntry** + name; `len` 0 at end |
+| 6 | `mount` | the mount-point path; the backend endpoint rides as the call's **capability** | status only |
+| 7 | `unmount` | the mount-point path | status only |
+| 8 | `mkdir` | the path | status only |
+| 9 | `unlink` | the path | status only |
+| 10 | `rename` | old path, one `0x00`, new path (`len` = total) | status only |
+
+Notes per operation:
+
+- **open** — paths are absolute (`/mnt/usb/notes.txt`) or bare names
+  (`greeting`); bare names resolve in the VFS's flat ramfs, absolute paths
+  route through the mount table (below). The returned `node` is an id in the
+  *router's* open table; clients never see a backend's own ids.
+- **read / write** — a single exchange moves at most 224 bytes
+  (`maximum_payload`); the client loops, advancing `offset` by the returned
+  `len`, until done (read) or the slice is written (write). A `write` reply
+  shorter than requested is progress, not an error; a `len` of 0 means no
+  forward progress — stop rather than spin.
+- **readdir** — `offset` is a **cursor: the entry index**, not a byte
+  position. Each call returns exactly one entry; the client increments the
+  cursor by 1. A reply with `len` 0 is end-of-directory. The directory must
+  have been opened with the `directory` flag.
+- **mount** — the one operation that passes a **capability**: the caller
+  (a filesystem server, e.g. FAT) sends its own request endpoint as the
+  `ipc_call` capability argument, and the router forwards everything under
+  the mount point to it — speaking this same protocol, with paths rewritten
+  relative to the mount. Prefixes match at path boundaries only
+  (`/mnt/usb` never captures `/mnt/usbextra`); the longest matching prefix
+  wins.
+- **rename** — same-directory rename only (the router requires old and new to
+  resolve under one mount).
+
+## Open flags
+
+Bitwise OR in `Request.flags`, meaningful for `open` only:
+
+| bit | name | meaning |
+|----:|------|---------|
+| 1 | `create` | create the file if it does not exist |
+| 2 | `directory` | open a directory node for `readdir` rather than a file |
+| 4 | `truncate` | truncate an existing file to zero length on open (replace, don't overwrite in place) |
+
+## FileStatus — 24 bytes (the `status` reply payload)
+
+| offset | size | field | meaning |
+|-------:|-----:|-------|---------|
+| 0 | 8 | `size` | file size in bytes |
+| 8 | 4 | `kind` | a **NodeKind** value |
+| 12 | 4 | — | padding |
+| 16 | 8 | `mtime` | modification time, Unix epoch seconds UTC; 0 if the backend keeps none |
+
+## DirectoryEntry — 16 bytes + name (the `readdir` reply payload)
+
+| offset | size | field | meaning |
+|-------:|-----:|-------|---------|
+| 0 | 4 | `kind` | a **NodeKind** value |
+| 4 | 4 | `name_len` | length of the name that follows |
+| 8 | 8 | `size` | the entry's size in bytes |
+| 16 | `name_len` | name | the entry's name, not NUL-terminated |
+
+## NodeKind
+
+Aligned to the FSH file-type table
+(docs/danos-file-system-hierarchy-FSH.md):
+
+| value | kind |
+|------:|------|
+| 0 | regular file |
+| 1 | directory |
+| 2 | character device |
+| 3 | block device |
+| 4 | symbolic link |
+| 5 | fifo |
+| 6 | socket |
+
+Clients should map unknown values to *regular* rather than reject — the
+table can grow.
+
+## Lifetimes and trust
+
+Open-node ids live in the server. A client that dies without closing leaks
+nothing permanently: the VFS subscribes to the kernel's published process-exit
+events (docs/process-lifecycle.md) and releases a dead client's handles,
+closing forwarded backend nodes best-effort. Ids are plain integers, not
+capabilities — the VFS trusts its callers with each other's ids today, which
+is acceptable while every client is part of the system image and worth
+revisiting (per-client id namespaces) before third-party binaries arrive.
+
+## Evolution rules
+
+What a non-Zig implementation may rely on, and what it must not:
+
+- Operation values, flag bits, `NodeKind` values, and struct layouts are
+  **append-only and frozen once shipped** — the unit tests in `protocol.zig`
+  pin them exactly so a refactor can't silently move them.
+- The 256-byte message ceiling is a property of the current IPC transport,
+  not a promise; clients should read `maximum_payload`-shaped limits from the
+  reply lengths they actually get (loop-until-done), not hard-code 224.
+- Negative statuses beyond -1 will appear (an errno vocabulary); success is
+  exactly 0.

library/runtime/block.zig

@@ -38,6 +38,13 @@ pub const Device = struct {
         return self.transfer(.write, lba, count, physical);
     }
 
+    /// Commit any device write cache to stable media (SCSI SYNCHRONIZE CACHE), so
+    /// prior writes survive a power-off. A filesystem calls this before the machine
+    /// goes down; no data transfer, so the buffer arguments are unused.
+    pub fn flush(self: Device) bool {
+        return self.transfer(.flush, 0, 0, 0);
+    }
+
     fn transfer(self: Device, operation: protocol.Operation, lba: u64, count: u32, physical: u64) bool {
         var request = protocol.Request{ .operation = @intFromEnum(operation), .lba = lba, .count = count, .physical = physical };
         var reply: [protocol.reply_size]u8 = undefined;

library/runtime/display.zig

@@ -0,0 +1,198 @@
+//! User-space display client: talk to the display service (query the mode, and — from D3
+//! — create layers, draw, and present) without hand-rolling the IPC. The `runtime.block`
+//! shape: a cached `.display` lookup with a boot-race retry, then extern-struct request/
+//! reply marshalling. See system/services/display/ and docs/display.md.
+
+const std = @import("std");
+const ipc = @import("ipc.zig");
+const system = @import("system.zig");
+const protocol = @import("display-protocol");
+
+/// The display's current mode, as `info()` reports it.
+pub const Info = struct {
+    width: u32,
+    height: u32,
+    pitch: u32, // bytes per row (may exceed width*4; see docs/framebuffer.md)
+    format: u32, // a device-abi DisplayFormat value (0 = rgbx, 1 = bgrx)
+};
+
+/// The service endpoint, looked up once and cached.
+var handle: ?ipc.Handle = null;
+
+/// Look up the display service, retrying while it comes up (a client races its
+/// registration at boot). Returns the endpoint, or null if it never appears.
+fn service() ?ipc.Handle {
+    if (handle) |h| return h;
+    var attempts: usize = 0;
+    while (attempts < 100) : (attempts += 1) {
+        if (ipc.lookup(.display)) |h| {
+            handle = h;
+            return h;
+        }
+        system.sleep(50);
+    }
+    return null;
+}
+
+/// Send one request, receive its reply; true on a zero status. `out` receives the reply
+/// so callers can read `info`/`layer` fields on success.
+fn transact(request: protocol.Request, out: *protocol.Reply) bool {
+    const h = service() orelse return false;
+    var req = request;
+    var reply: [protocol.reply_size]u8 = undefined;
+    const len = ipc.call(h, std.mem.asBytes(&req), &reply) catch return false;
+    if (len < protocol.reply_size) return false;
+    out.* = std.mem.bytesToValue(protocol.Reply, reply[0..protocol.reply_size]);
+    return out.status == 0;
+}
+
+/// The display's current mode, or null if the service never came up.
+pub fn info() ?Info {
+    var reply: protocol.Reply = undefined;
+    if (!transact(.{ .operation = @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.info) }, &reply)) return null;
+    return .{ .width = reply.width, .height = reply.height, .pitch = reply.pitch, .format = reply.format };
+}
+
+/// Composite the dirty layers and flush the frame to the screen.
+pub fn present() bool {
+    var reply: protocol.Reply = undefined;
+    return transact(.{ .operation = @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.present) }, &reply);
+}
+
+/// One selectable display mode.
+pub const Mode = protocol.Mode;
+
+/// Fill `out` with the resolutions the display can switch to; returns how many were written
+/// (zero on the GOP floor, or if the service never came up).
+pub fn modes(out: []Mode) usize {
+    const h = service() orelse return 0;
+    var request = protocol.Request{ .operation = @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.get_modes) };
+    var reply: [protocol.modes_reply_size]u8 = undefined;
+    const len = ipc.call(h, std.mem.asBytes(&request), &reply) catch return 0;
+    if (len < protocol.modes_reply_size) return 0;
+    const answer = std.mem.bytesToValue(protocol.ModesReply, reply[0..protocol.modes_reply_size]);
+    if (answer.status != 0) return 0;
+    const count = @min(@min(answer.count, protocol.max_modes), out.len);
+    for (0..count) |i| out[i] = answer.modes[i];
+    return count;
+}
+
+/// Change the display resolution. Only a native backend that supports mode-setting honours it
+/// (on the GOP floor it returns false); on success the display's `info()` reports the new mode.
+pub fn setMode(width: u32, height: u32) bool {
+    var reply: protocol.Reply = undefined;
+    const changed = transact(.{ .operation = @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.set_mode), .width = width, .height = height }, &reply);
+    if (changed) mode = null; // the cached mode is stale now
+    return changed;
+}
+
+/// The mode, cached after the first `info()` so `color()` doesn't round-trip per pixel.
+var mode: ?Info = null;
+
+fn cachedInfo() ?Info {
+    if (mode) |m| return m;
+    const i = info() orelse return null;
+    mode = i;
+    return i;
+}
+
+/// The native pixel value for an 8-bit-per-channel colour, in the display's format. A
+/// client packs colours through this so it never has to know the byte order itself.
+pub fn color(r: u8, g: u8, b: u8) u32 {
+    const format = if (cachedInfo()) |i| i.format else 0;
+    return protocol.pack(format, r, g, b);
+}
+
+/// A handle to a server-owned layer: a positioned, z-ordered surface the client draws
+/// into by command. Create with `createLayer`; drawing and moves take effect on the next
+/// `present`. Coordinates are signed (a layer may sit partly off-screen).
+pub const Layer = struct {
+    id: u32,
+
+    /// Fill a rectangle of this layer (layer-local coordinates) with a native `colour`.
+    pub fn fill(self: Layer, x: i32, y: i32, w: u32, h: u32, colour: u32) bool {
+        var reply: protocol.Reply = undefined;
+        return transact(.{
+            .operation = @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.fill_rect),
+            .layer = self.id,
+            .x = @bitCast(x),
+            .y = @bitCast(y),
+            .width = w,
+            .height = h,
+            .colour = colour,
+        }, &reply);
+    }
+
+    /// Copy a `w`×`h` tile of native pixels (row-major, little-endian bytes) into this
+    /// layer at (`x`, `y`). The tile rides inline in the request, so `w*h*4` must fit
+    /// `protocol.maximum_payload`.
+    pub fn blitTile(self: Layer, x: i32, y: i32, w: u32, h: u32, pixels: []const u8) bool {
+        var request = protocol.Request{
+            .operation = @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.blit_tile),
+            .layer = self.id,
+            .x = @bitCast(x),
+            .y = @bitCast(y),
+            .width = w,
+            .height = h,
+        };
+        const header = std.mem.asBytes(&request);
+        if (header.len + pixels.len > protocol.message_maximum) return false;
+        var buffer: [protocol.message_maximum]u8 = undefined;
+        @memcpy(buffer[0..header.len], header);
+        @memcpy(buffer[header.len..][0..pixels.len], pixels);
+        const h_svc = service() orelse return false;
+        var reply: [protocol.reply_size]u8 = undefined;
+        const len = ipc.call(h_svc, buffer[0 .. header.len + pixels.len], &reply) catch return false;
+        if (len < protocol.reply_size) return false;
+        return std.mem.bytesToValue(protocol.Reply, reply[0..protocol.reply_size]).status == 0;
+    }
+
+    /// Move / restack / show or hide the layer.
+    pub fn configure(self: Layer, x: i32, y: i32, z: u32, visible: bool) bool {
+        var reply: protocol.Reply = undefined;
+        return transact(.{
+            .operation = @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.configure_layer),
+            .layer = self.id,
+            .x = @bitCast(x),
+            .y = @bitCast(y),
+            .z = z,
+            .visible = if (visible) 1 else 0,
+        }, &reply);
+    }
+
+    /// Mark a rectangle of this layer (layer-local) dirty for the next present — for when
+    /// the layer's pixels changed without a drawing call the compositor already tracked.
+    pub fn damage(self: Layer, x: i32, y: i32, w: u32, h: u32) bool {
+        var reply: protocol.Reply = undefined;
+        return transact(.{
+            .operation = @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.damage),
+            .layer = self.id,
+            .x = @bitCast(x),
+            .y = @bitCast(y),
+            .width = w,
+            .height = h,
+        }, &reply);
+    }
+
+    /// Release the layer and its surface.
+    pub fn destroy(self: Layer) bool {
+        var reply: protocol.Reply = undefined;
+        return transact(.{ .operation = @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.destroy_layer), .layer = self.id }, &reply);
+    }
+};
+
+/// Create a server-owned layer of `w`×`h` pixels at screen (`x`, `y`) with stacking order
+/// `z` (higher is nearer the front), initially visible. Returns a handle, or null.
+pub fn createLayer(x: i32, y: i32, w: u32, h: u32, z: u32) ?Layer {
+    var reply: protocol.Reply = undefined;
+    if (!transact(.{
+        .operation = @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.create_layer),
+        .x = @bitCast(x),
+        .y = @bitCast(y),
+        .width = w,
+        .height = h,
+        .z = z,
+        .visible = 1,
+    }, &reply)) return null;
+    return .{ .id = reply.layer };
+}

library/runtime/root.zig

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+//! The root module every user binary is compiled through (build.zig,
+//! `addUserBinary`). The program's own file is imported as `program`, and this
+//! shim contributes the declarations Zig resolves from the compilation root —
+//! `main` (dispatched by runtime.start) and the panic handler — and pulls in the
+//! `_start` entry shim. A program therefore only defines `pub fn main`; nothing
+//! else is required in its source file.
+
+const runtime = @import("runtime");
+const program = @import("program");
+
+/// Resolved as `@import("root").main` by runtime.start's comptime dispatch.
+pub const main = program.main;
+
+/// The panic handler for every safety check in the image (runtime.start.panic).
+pub const panic = runtime.panic;
+
+comptime {
+    _ = &runtime.start._start; // pull the runtime entry shim into the image
+}

library/runtime/runtime.zig

@@ -4,12 +4,11 @@
 //! shim. It is compiled into each binary (inheriting its `.large` code model and
 //! freestanding target), so all user programs share one implementation.
 //!
-//! A user binary needs three lines:
-//!   const runtime = @import("runtime");
-//!   pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-//!   comptime { _ = &runtime.start._start; }   // pull the entry shim in
-//! and a `pub fn main() void` or `pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void`
-//! (arguments arrive via `init`).
+//! A user binary only defines a `pub fn main() void` or
+//! `pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void` (arguments arrive via `init`).
+//! The panic handler and the `_start` entry pull live in the shared compilation
+//! root, library/runtime/root.zig, which build.zig wires around every program —
+//! nothing to declare per source file.
 
 pub const system = @import("system.zig");
 /// Monotonic time, delays, and deadlines over the kernel clock/sleep/timer syscalls
@@ -38,6 +37,11 @@ pub const device = @import("device.zig");
 /// DMA-capable memory for drivers: contiguous, pinned, uncacheable buffers.
 pub const dma = @import("dma.zig");
 
+/// Shared cacheable memory: create a region + capability, pass the capability to another
+/// process (an `ipc_call` send_cap), map the same pages there. See library/runtime/shm.zig
+/// and docs/display-v2.md.
+pub const shm = @import("shm.zig");
+
 /// USB class-driver client: open a device on the xHCI bus and drive it
 /// (control / interrupt / bulk transfers). See library/runtime/usb.zig.
 pub const usb = @import("usb.zig");
@@ -46,12 +50,21 @@ pub const usb = @import("usb.zig");
 /// usb-storage). See library/runtime/block.zig.
 pub const block = @import("block.zig");
 
+/// Display-service client: query the mode, and (from D3) create layers, draw, and
+/// present frames. See library/runtime/display.zig and system/services/display/.
+pub const display = @import("display.zig");
+/// The display wire protocol (shared with the display service and its clients).
+pub const display_protocol = @import("display-protocol");
+/// The scanout wire protocol: the compositor's present channel to a native scanout driver
+/// (virtio-gpu). See system/services/display/scanout-protocol.zig and docs/display-v2.md.
+pub const scanout_protocol = @import("scanout-protocol");
+
 /// The danos-native file API (open/read/write/list over the user-space VFS) — the
 /// layer danos programs use directly, and where the operations that later become
 /// `std.os.danos` are staged. See docs/zig-self-hosting.md.
 pub const fs = @import("fs.zig");
 
-/// Re-exported so a user binary can `pub const panic = runtime.panic;`.
+/// Re-exported so the root shim (root.zig) can install it as the panic handler.
 pub const panic = start.panic;
 
 /// Process entry types: the `Init` handed to `main`, and its `Arguments`.

library/runtime/shm.zig

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+//! User-space shared memory: `shm_create` / `shm_map`. A process creates a shareable,
+//! zeroed, cacheable RAM region and gets back a pointer plus a **capability handle**; it
+//! passes that handle to another process as an `ipc_call` send_cap, and the receiver
+//! `shm_map`s it to map the same physical pages. The kernel primitive under the display
+//! compositor↔native-driver and app↔compositor surface paths (docs/display-v2.md). The
+//! generalization of capability passing from endpoints to memory objects.
+
+const abi = @import("abi");
+const sc = @import("system-call.zig");
+const ipc = @import("ipc.zig");
+
+inline fn failed(r: usize) bool {
+    return r > ~@as(usize, 0) - 4095; // a wrapped -errno lands in the top page
+}
+
+/// A shared region: the `ptr` the CPU touches, and the `handle` (a capability) to hand to
+/// another process as an `ipc_call` send_cap.
+pub const Region = struct {
+    ptr: [*]u8,
+    handle: ipc.Handle,
+    len: usize,
+};
+
+/// Grant `len` bytes (rounded up to whole pages) of shareable, zeroed, cacheable RAM.
+/// Returns the region or null on failure. Two return values — vaddr in rax, handle in rdx —
+/// so this is a hand-written stub like `dma.alloc`.
+pub fn create(len: usize) ?Region {
+    var rax: usize = undefined;
+    var rdx: usize = undefined; // out: the capability handle
+    asm volatile ("syscall"
+        : [rax] "={rax}" (rax),
+          [rdx] "={rdx}" (rdx),
+        : [n] "{rax}" (@intFromEnum(abi.SystemCall.shm_create)),
+          [a0] "{rdi}" (len),
+        : .{ .rcx = true, .r11 = true, .memory = true });
+    if (failed(rax)) return null;
+    return .{ .ptr = @ptrFromInt(rax), .handle = rdx, .len = len };
+}
+
+/// Map the shared region named by a capability `handle` this process received (via an
+/// `ipc_call` send_cap) into its address space — the same physical pages the creator sees.
+/// Returns the pointer, or null on failure.
+pub fn map(handle: ipc.Handle) ?[*]u8 {
+    const r = sc.systemCall1(.shm_map, handle);
+    if (failed(r)) return null;
+    return @ptrFromInt(r);
+}
+
+/// The guest-physical base of the shared region named by `handle` (which this process must
+/// hold a capability for). The region's frames are contiguous, so this single address plus
+/// the region length is all a device needs — e.g. a virtio-gpu driver programming an
+/// `attach_backing`. Returns null on failure.
+pub fn physical(handle: ipc.Handle) ?usize {
+    const r = sc.systemCall1(.shm_physical, handle);
+    if (failed(r)) return null;
+    return r;
+}

library/runtime/start.zig

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 //! The user-space process entry shim. Every user binary roots `_start` here (via
-//! `entry = _start` in build.zig) and forces this file to be analysed with
-//! `comptime { _ = &runtime.start._start; }`, so the whole runtime is linked in.
+//! `entry = _start` in build.zig); the shared compilation root, root.zig, forces
+//! this file to be analysed with `comptime { _ = &runtime.start._start; }`, so
+//! the whole runtime is linked in.
 
 const std = @import("std");
 const system = @import("system.zig");
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ export fn rt_start(stack: [*]const u64) callconv(.c) noreturn {
 /// Comptime-dispatch on root.main's signature, in the spirit of std's start.zig:
 /// zero parameters or one `process.Init`; returns void, noreturn, u8, !void, or !u8.
 fn callMain(init: process.Init) u8 {
-    const root = @import("root"); // the user binary's root source file
+    const root = @import("root"); // root.zig, re-exporting the program's main
     const main_information = @typeInfo(@TypeOf(root.main)).@"fn";
 
     const call_arguments = switch (main_information.params.len) {

system/abi.zig

@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ pub const SystemCall = enum(u64) {
     timer_bind = 31, // timer_bind(endpoint, ms) -> 0/-errno: one-shot timer — posts a notification when ms elapse
     klog_read = 32, // klog_read(offset, ptr, len) -> bytes copied: copy the kernel RAM log buffer out to a user buffer (for persisting the boot log to disk)
     wall_clock = 33, // wall_clock() -> Unix epoch seconds (UTC): the RTC wall-clock time, for filesystem timestamps (mtime). Monotonic time is `clock`.
+    shm_create = 34, // shm_create(len) -> vaddr (rax), handle (rdx): a shareable, zeroed, cacheable RAM region mapped into this AS; the handle is a capability passed to another process as an ipc_call send_cap (docs/display-v2.md)
+    shm_map = 35, // shm_map(cap) -> vaddr: map the shared region named by a received capability into this AS (the same physical pages the creator sees)
+    shm_physical = 36, // shm_physical(cap) -> paddr: the guest-physical base of a shared region held by capability, so a driver can program it into a device (e.g. virtio-gpu attach_backing); the pages are contiguous (docs/display-v2.md)
     _,
 };
 
@@ -183,6 +186,9 @@ pub const ServiceId = enum(u32) {
     usb_bus = 6, // the xHCI host-controller driver's transfer endpoint; USB class drivers look it up and `callCap`-open their device to get a private per-device transfer channel (docs/driver-model.md)
     block = 7, // a block-device driver (USB mass storage today): read/write of fixed-size blocks, the storage a filesystem sits on
     fat = 8, // the FAT filesystem server; the VFS mounts it and forwards paths under its mount point (/mnt/usb) to it
+    display = 9, // the display service: owns the framebuffer, composites a layer stack, presents frames (docs/display.md)
+    shm_test = 10, // the shm test server (V2): a client passes it a shared-memory capability, it maps + verifies (docs/display-v2.md)
+    scanout = 11, // a native scanout driver (virtio-gpu): the compositor finds it here to upgrade off the GOP framebuffer (docs/display-v2.md)
     _,
 };
 

system/devices/acpi.zig

@@ -3,11 +3,13 @@
 //! Walks the ACPI tables the firmware left in memory (starting from the RSDP the
 //! bootloader handed us) and translates the static tables into the generic
 //! `device` model, so the kernel enumerates hardware without knowing ACPI is the
-//! source. This is deliberately the *static-table* path: MADT (CPUs / interrupt
-//! controllers), MCFG (PCIe ECAM -> PCI enumeration), HPET (timer), and FADT
-//! (power register map). The DSDT/SSDT bytecode is handed to the `aml` submodule
-//! only to extract the sleep-state (`_Sx`) values for power management; full AML namespace
-//! interpretation is a separate, larger subproject.
+//! source. This is deliberately the *static-table* path, and **only** that: MADT
+//! (CPUs / interrupt controllers), MCFG (PCIe ECAM -> PCI enumeration), HPET
+//! (timer), and FADT (power register map). The DSDT/SSDT bytecode is *not*
+//! interpreted here — the kernel collects the blobs and publishes them on the
+//! acpi-tables node for the ring-3 acpi service to parse (device enumeration and
+//! soft-off). Keeping the ~0.5 MB AML interpretation out of kernel init keeps it
+//! off the single-core critical path (nothing else runs alongside it there).
 //!
 //! ACPI tables live in `.acpi_tables` / `.acpi_nvs` memory, which the kernel
 //! identity-maps, so table addresses are dereferenced directly. PCIe ECAM is MMIO
@@ -19,7 +21,6 @@ const boot_handoff = @import("boot-handoff");
 const abi = @import("abi");
 const parameters = @import("parameters");
 const device_model = @import("device-model.zig");
-const aml = @import("aml/aml.zig");
 const DeviceTree = device_model.DeviceTree;
 const Hal = device_model.Hal;
 
@@ -37,8 +38,11 @@ pub const RegisterAccess = struct {
     }
 };
 
-/// Everything the power subsystem needs, extracted from the FADT and the AML
-/// sleep packages during discovery. Populated by `discover`, read by `power`.
+/// The power register map, extracted from the FADT during discovery. Populated by
+/// `discover`, read by `power` (kernel reboot). The **sleep-state (`_Sx`) values
+/// live in AML**, which the kernel no longer parses — soft-off (S5) is owned by the
+/// ring-3 acpi service (it re-parses the blobs on the published acpi-tables node and
+/// writes the PM1 control register itself). So this holds only the FADT scalars.
 pub const PowerInformation = struct {
     /// The System Control Interrupt's GSI (FADT SCI_INT) — the line ACPI events
     /// (power button, GPEs) arrive on. Published to the acpi service for M21.
@@ -54,10 +58,6 @@ pub const PowerInformation = struct {
     reset: RegisterAccess = .{},
     reset_value: u8 = 0,
     reset_supported: bool = false,
-    /// SLP_TYP values for S5 (soft off) and S3 (suspend), from the AML sleep-state (`_Sx`)
-    /// packages.
-    s5: ?aml.SleepType = null,
-    s3: ?aml.SleepType = null,
 };
 
 /// Filled in by `discover`; the power service reads it to reboot/shutdown.
@@ -141,19 +141,6 @@ const maximum_cpus = parameters.maximum_cpus;
 /// Filled in by `discover` (from the MADT); SMP bring-up reads it to wake the APs.
 pub var cpu_information: CpuInformation = .{};
 
-/// Integrity/diagnostics for the AML parse. `consumed == total` means the parser
-/// walked every byte of the DSDT/SSDTs without desyncing.
-pub const AmlStats = struct {
-    nodes: usize = 0,
-    consumed: usize = 0,
-    total: usize = 0,
-};
-pub var aml_stats: AmlStats = .{};
-
-/// The ACPI namespace built from the DSDT/SSDTs, kept for sleep-state (`_Sx`) lookup now and
-/// device enumeration later. Null until `discover` runs successfully.
-pub var namespace: ?aml.Namespace = null;
-
 /// Physical address of the DSDT the FADT points at, or 0.
 pub var dsdt_physical: u64 = 0;
 
@@ -165,8 +152,9 @@ var fadt_physical: u64 = 0;
 var fadt_length: u64 = 0;
 
 // AML blocks (DSDT + any SSDTs) collected during the table walk, as physical
-// address + length of each table's post-header bytecode. Scanned after the walk
-// for the sleep-state (`_Sx`) packages.
+// address + length of each table's post-header bytecode. The kernel does not
+// interpret them — it publishes them on the acpi-tables node for the ring-3 acpi
+// service to parse (device enumeration + soft-off). See publishAcpiTablesNode.
 var aml_block_physical: [32]u64 = undefined;
 var aml_block_len: [32]usize = undefined;
 var aml_block_count: usize = 0;
@@ -373,7 +361,7 @@ const Hpet = extern struct {
 
 /// Discover hardware from the ACPI tables rooted at `rsdp_physical` and populate
 /// `device_tree`. `hal` provides MMIO mapping (for PCIe ECAM) and port I/O. Also parses the
-/// FADT and the AML sleep-state (`_Sx`) packages into `power_information` for the power service.
+/// FADT into `power_information`, and publishes the AML blobs for the ring-3 acpi service.
 pub fn discover(rsdp_physical: u64, memory_regions: []const boot_handoff.MemoryRegion, device_tree: *DeviceTree, hal: Hal) !void {
     if (rsdp_physical == 0) return error.NoRsdp;
     boot_memory_regions = memory_regions;
@@ -383,8 +371,6 @@ pub fn discover(rsdp_physical: u64, memory_regions: []const boot_handoff.MemoryR
     fadt_physical = 0;
     fadt_length = 0;
     platform_information = .{};
-    aml_stats = .{};
-    namespace = null;
     dsdt_physical = 0;
     aml_block_count = 0;
 
@@ -401,34 +387,20 @@ pub fn discover(rsdp_physical: u64, memory_regions: []const boot_handoff.MemoryR
         try walkRoot(u32, rsdp.root_system_description_table_address, device_tree, hal);
     }
 
-    // Now that the DSDT and any SSDTs are collected, build the AML namespace and
-    // read the sleep types from it.
-    var blocks: [aml_block_physical.len][]const u8 = undefined;
-    for (0..aml_block_count) |i| {
-        blocks[i] = @as([*]const u8, @ptrFromInt(boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(aml_block_physical[i])))[0..aml_block_len[i]];
-    }
-    const active = blocks[0..aml_block_count];
-    if (aml.parse(device_tree.allocator, active)) |pr| {
-        namespace = pr.namespace;
-        aml_stats = .{ .nodes = namespace.?.nodeCount(), .consumed = pr.consumed, .total = pr.total };
-        power_information.s5 = aml.sleepState(&namespace.?, 5);
-        power_information.s3 = aml.sleepState(&namespace.?, 3);
-        // The namespace's Device objects are no longer folded into the kernel
-        // tree (M20.3): the ring-3 acpi service claims the acpi-tables node
-        // (published below), re-parses the same blobs, and registers + reports
-        // the _HID devices itself. The kernel keeps the namespace only for the
-        // \_S5 sleep type above.
-    } else |_| {
-        // AML parse failed (e.g. out of memory); power stays best-effort with
-        // whatever the FADT alone provided.
-    }
+    // The kernel does **not** interpret the DSDT/SSDTs. Static-table discovery
+    // above (MADT/HPET/FADT/MCFG) is all the kernel needs — CPUs, timers, PCIe,
+    // and the power register map. The AML bytecode (device enumeration and the
+    // sleep-state `_Sx` values for soft-off) is entirely the ring-3 acpi service's
+    // job: it claims the acpi-tables node published below, parses the same blobs,
+    // and both registers the `_HID` devices and owns S5. Not parsing ~0.5 MB of
+    // AML in the kernel keeps boot latency off the critical, single-core path.
 
     // Publish the acpi-tables node (docs/discovery.md): the AML blobs as
     // memory resources for the acpi service to map and parse in ring 3, a broad
     // io_port grant for the OperationRegion access its interpreter needs, and
     // the SCI for the events track (M21). Exactly one node, one trusted
-    // claimant. Kept even when the kernel-side device building (above) retires
-    // in M20.3 — the kernel still owns the *static* tables and \_S5.
+    // claimant — the sole path by which AML (devices + soft-off) reaches ring 3,
+    // now that the kernel keeps only the *static* tables for itself.
     publishAcpiTablesNode(device_tree) catch {};
 }
 
@@ -461,12 +433,6 @@ fn publishAcpiTablesNode(device_tree: *DeviceTree) !void {
     if (fadt_physical != 0) _ = node.addResource(.memory, fadt_physical, fadt_length);
 }
 
-/// The number of Device objects in the namespace built during discovery, or 0.
-pub fn amlDeviceCount() usize {
-    if (namespace) |*ns| return aml.deviceCount(ns);
-    return 0;
-}
-
 /// Walk the RSDT (Entry = u32) or XSDT (Entry = u64): validate it, then dispatch
 /// each SDT it points at. A bad individual table is skipped, not fatal.
 fn walkRoot(comptime Entry: type, root_physical: u64, device_tree: *DeviceTree, hal: Hal) !void {
@@ -502,7 +468,7 @@ fn handleTable(device_tree: *DeviceTree, hal: Hal, sdt_physical: u64) !void {
     } else if (std.mem.eql(u8, &sig, &DMAR)) {
         parseDmar(hal, header);
     } else if (std.mem.eql(u8, &sig, &SSDT)) {
-        // Secondary namespace bytecode — collect for the sleep-state (`_Sx`) scan.
+        // Secondary namespace bytecode — collect it to publish for the ring-3 parse.
         addAmlBlock(sdt_physical);
     }
     // Any other signature is recognised but left opaque for now.
@@ -740,8 +706,8 @@ const fadt_x_pm_tmr_blk = 208; // GAS
 const flag_reset_register_supported = 1 << 10;
 const flag_tmr_value_ext = 1 << 8; // PM timer counter is 32-bit (else 24-bit)
 
-/// FADT -> the power register map (into `power_information`) and the DSDT address, which
-/// is queued for the AML sleep-state (`_Sx`) scan. No AML interpretation happens here.
+/// FADT -> the power register map (into `power_information`) and the DSDT address,
+/// whose bytecode is collected for the ring-3 parse. No AML interpretation here.
 fn parseFadt(header: *const SystemDescriptorTableHeader) void {
     const base: [*]align(1) const u8 = @ptrCast(header);
     const len: usize = header.length;

system/devices/device-abi.zig

@@ -38,6 +38,13 @@ pub const DeviceClass = enum(u32) {
     /// resources; the (class, subclass, protocol) triple that says what it is
     /// travels in the bus report's identity, not here.
     usb_device,
+    /// A scanout framebuffer: a linear region of pixel memory the display service
+    /// claims and maps. Unlike the other classes this one is not firmware-discovered
+    /// — the kernel seeds it from the loader's [[boot-handoff]] framebuffer
+    /// (`devices_broker.seedDisplay`). Its one `memory` resource is the framebuffer,
+    /// flagged write-combining; the geometry to interpret it travels in
+    /// `DeviceDescriptor.display`.
+    display,
     unknown,
 };
 
@@ -59,10 +66,39 @@ pub const ResourceDescriptor = extern struct {
     kind: u64, // a ResourceKind value
     start: u64,
     len: u64,
+    /// A bitmask of `resource_flag_*` hints. Zero for a plain register/RAM window;
+    /// the kernel reads it when it maps the resource. Defaulted so every existing
+    /// literal (which never set flags) keeps compiling and lays out identically.
+    flags: u64 = 0,
 };
 
+/// `ResourceDescriptor.flags`: map this `memory` resource **write-combining** rather
+/// than strong-uncacheable — for a framebuffer, where batched bursts to pixel memory
+/// are the whole point (an uncacheable framebuffer blit is glacial). See
+/// `mmio_map` (system/kernel/process.zig) and `setupPat` (…/x86_64/paging.zig).
+pub const resource_flag_write_combining: u64 = 1 << 0;
+
 pub const maximum_device_resources = 8;
 
+/// The byte order of a display's pixels — mirrors the loader's `PixelFormat`
+/// ([[boot-handoff]]) with the same numeric values, but lives here so user space
+/// (which must never import the loader↔kernel handoff) can name it. Only the two
+/// linear 32-bpp layouts a console can paint into exist; see docs/gop.md.
+pub const DisplayFormat = enum(u32) {
+    rgbx = 0, // byte 0 = Red,  1 = Green, 2 = Blue,  3 = reserved
+    bgrx = 1, // byte 0 = Blue, 1 = Green, 2 = Red,   3 = reserved
+};
+
+/// The geometry of a `display` device's framebuffer, carried in its descriptor so a
+/// claiming driver knows how to interpret the pixel bytes its `memory` resource maps.
+/// `pitch` is bytes per row (may exceed `width * 4`; see docs/framebuffer.md).
+pub const DisplayInfo = extern struct {
+    width: u32 = 0, // visible pixels per row
+    height: u32 = 0, // visible rows
+    pitch: u32 = 0, // bytes from one row's start to the next
+    format: u32 = 0, // a DisplayFormat value
+};
+
 /// `DeviceDescriptor.parent` for a device with no parent — a root of the device tree.
 pub const no_parent: u64 = ~@as(u64, 0);
 
@@ -92,4 +128,9 @@ pub const DeviceDescriptor = extern struct {
     resource_count: u64,
     hid: [8]u8,
     resources: [maximum_device_resources]ResourceDescriptor,
+    // Framebuffer geometry, meaningful only when `class` is `DeviceClass.display`
+    // (zeroed otherwise). Kept here — a class-specific field on the shared descriptor —
+    // the same way `pci_class` is meaningful only for `pci_device` and `hid` only for
+    // `acpi_device`.
+    display: DisplayInfo = .{},
 };

system/devices/platform.zig

@@ -22,13 +22,14 @@ pub const Resource = device_model.Resource;
 pub const ResourceKind = device_model.ResourceKind;
 pub const Hal = device_model.Hal;
 pub const PowerInformation = acpi.PowerInformation;
-pub const AmlStats = acpi.AmlStats;
 pub const PlatformInformation = acpi.PlatformInformation;
 pub const RegisterAccess = acpi.RegisterAccess;
 pub const IsoEntry = acpi.IsoEntry;
 pub const Cpu = acpi.Cpu;
 
-/// The register map + sleep types discovery extracted, for logging/diagnostics.
+/// The FADT power register map discovery extracted (PM1 control, reset register),
+/// for kernel reboot and diagnostics. Sleep-state values are userspace's (S5 is
+/// owned by the ring-3 acpi service), so they are not here.
 pub fn powerInformation() PowerInformation {
     return acpi.power_information;
 }
@@ -39,18 +40,6 @@ pub fn platformInformation() PlatformInformation {
     return acpi.platform_information;
 }
 
-/// AML parse integrity/diagnostics (namespace node count, bytes consumed).
-/// The number of Device objects in the kernel's own AML namespace, or 0 if the
-/// parse produced none — the `acpi-parse` test compares the ring-3 service's
-/// count against this.
-pub fn amlDeviceCount() usize {
-    return acpi.amlDeviceCount();
-}
-
-pub fn amlStats() AmlStats {
-    return acpi.aml_stats;
-}
-
 /// The usable logical processors discovered during enumeration — one entry per
 /// core danos may schedule on, each carrying the Local APIC ID an SMP wake targets.
 /// `len` is the hardware's degree of parallelism: how many tasks *could* run at the
@@ -92,12 +81,8 @@ pub fn discover(
 }
 
 /// Restart the machine. Never returns on success; returns only if no reset method
-/// worked (extremely unlikely). Backend-agnostic entry the kernel calls.
+/// worked (extremely unlikely). Backend-agnostic entry the kernel calls. Soft-off
+/// (S5) is not a kernel operation — the ring-3 acpi service owns it (docs/power.md).
 pub fn reboot(hal: Hal) void {
     power.reboot(hal);
 }
-
-/// Power the machine off (ACPI S5). Never returns on success.
-pub fn shutdown(hal: Hal) void {
-    power.shutdown(hal);
-}

system/devices/power.zig

@@ -1,34 +1,17 @@
-//! Machine power control: enter ACPI mode, reboot, and power off (ACPI S5).
+//! Machine reboot: restart via the FADT reset register, with legacy fallbacks.
 //!
-//! Built entirely on the register map `acpi` extracted from the FADT plus the
-//! sleep-state (`_Sx`) types the AML submodule pulled from the DSDT, driven through the
-//! injected `Hal` (port I/O and MMIO). Nothing here is x86-specific beyond the
-//! well-known legacy reset fallbacks, which are guarded behind the ACPI methods.
-//!
-//! S3 (suspend-to-RAM) is stubbed: it needs a wake trampoline and device
-//! re-initialisation, a milestone of its own.
+//! Built on the register map `acpi` extracted from the FADT, driven through the
+//! injected `Hal` (port I/O and MMIO). Soft-off (ACPI S5) and suspend (S3) are
+//! **not** here: they need the AML sleep-state (`_Sx`) values, which the kernel no
+//! longer parses — the ring-3 acpi service owns power management (it re-parses the
+//! blobs and writes the PM1 control register itself). See docs/power.md. Reboot
+//! stays in the kernel because it needs no AML — only the FADT reset register and
+//! the well-known legacy fallbacks — so it survives as a last-resort restart.
 
 const acpi = @import("acpi.zig");
 const device_model = @import("device-model.zig");
 const Hal = device_model.Hal;
 
-const slp_en: u32 = 1 << 13; // SLP_EN: writing 1 triggers the sleep transition
-const sci_en: u32 = 1 << 0; // SCI_EN in PM1 control: set once ACPI mode is active
-
-/// Switch the platform into ACPI mode if it isn't already, so the PM1 control
-/// register is live. A no-op when the firmware exposes no SMI command port (ACPI
-/// already enabled, as under QEMU/OVMF) — we still verify SCI_EN first.
-pub fn enable(hal: Hal) void {
-    const pi = acpi.power_information;
-    if (!pi.pm1a_cnt.present()) return;
-    if (readRegister(hal, pi.pm1a_cnt) & sci_en != 0) return; // already in ACPI mode
-    if (pi.smi_cmd == 0 or pi.acpi_enable == 0) return; // no way to switch; assume fine
-
-    hal.pioWrite(1, pi.smi_cmd, pi.acpi_enable);
-    var spins: usize = 0;
-    while (readRegister(hal, pi.pm1a_cnt) & sci_en == 0 and spins < 1_000_000) : (spins += 1) {}
-}
-
 /// Restart the machine. Tries the ACPI reset register first, then the two legacy
 /// fallbacks. Returns only if every method failed (very unlikely).
 pub fn reboot(hal: Hal) void {
@@ -48,42 +31,6 @@ pub fn reboot(hal: Hal) void {
     delay();
 }
 
-/// Power the machine off via ACPI S5. Requires the soft-off (`_S5`) sleep type; if
-/// it wasn't found in the AML, there is nothing safe to do and this returns.
-pub fn shutdown(hal: Hal) void {
-    enable(hal);
-    const pi = acpi.power_information;
-    const s5 = pi.s5 orelse return;
-
-    if (pi.pm1a_cnt.present()) {
-        writeRegister(hal, pi.pm1a_cnt, sleepValue(s5.slp_typ_a));
-    }
-    if (pi.pm1b_cnt.present()) {
-        writeRegister(hal, pi.pm1b_cnt, sleepValue(s5.slp_typ_b));
-    }
-    delay();
-}
-
-/// S3 suspend-to-RAM — not implemented (needs a wake path + device re-init).
-pub fn sleepS3(hal: Hal) error{Unsupported}!void {
-    _ = hal;
-    return error.Unsupported;
-}
-
-/// The PM1 control write that requests sleep type `slp_typ`: SLP_TYP in bits
-/// [12:10], SLP_EN in bit 13.
-fn sleepValue(slp_typ: u8) u32 {
-    return (@as(u32, slp_typ & 0x7) << 10) | slp_en;
-}
-
-fn readRegister(hal: Hal, register: acpi.RegisterAccess) u32 {
-    if (register.mmio) {
-        const p: *align(1) volatile u32 = @ptrFromInt(hal.mapMmio(register.address, 4, true));
-        return p.*;
-    }
-    return hal.pioRead(register.width, @intCast(register.address));
-}
-
 fn writeRegister(hal: Hal, register: acpi.RegisterAccess, value: u32) void {
     if (register.mmio) {
         const p: *align(1) volatile u32 = @ptrFromInt(hal.mapMmio(register.address, 4, true));
@@ -93,8 +40,8 @@ fn writeRegister(hal: Hal, register: acpi.RegisterAccess, value: u32) void {
     }
 }
 
-/// A short busy-wait so a reset/power-off takes effect before we fall through to
-/// the next method. The empty asm is an architecture-neutral barrier that keeps the loop
+/// A short busy-wait so a reset takes effect before we fall through to the next
+/// method. The empty asm is an architecture-neutral barrier that keeps the loop
 /// from being optimised away.
 fn delay() void {
     var i: usize = 0;

system/drivers/pci-bus/pci-bus.zig

@@ -263,8 +263,3 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
         .on_message = onMessage,
     });
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start; // pull the runtime entry shim into the image
-}

system/drivers/ps2-bus/keyboard.zig

@@ -177,8 +177,3 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
         }
     }
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start;
-}

system/drivers/ps2-bus/mouse.zig

@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
         _ = runtime.system.write("/system/drivers/ps2-bus/mouse: out of memory\n");
         return;
     };
-    if (device.findDeviceDescriptorByHid(buffer, hid) == null) {
+    if (ps2.findMouseDescriptor(buffer) == null) {
         writeLine("/system/drivers/ps2-bus/mouse: no device for hid {s}\n", .{hid});
         return;
     }
@@ -137,8 +137,3 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
         }
     }
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start;
-}

system/drivers/ps2-bus/ps2-bus.zig

@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ pub fn main() void {
     // to the *port*, whatever device identify found on it.
     var maybe_auxiliary_interrupt: ?struct { device_id: u64, interrupt_index: u64, gsi: u64 } = null;
     if (port_device_types[@intFromEnum(ps2.Port.two)] != null) {
-        if (device.findDeviceDescriptorByHid(buffer, acpi_ids.HardwareId.ps2_mouse.hid())) |descriptor| {
+        if (ps2.findMouseDescriptor(buffer)) |descriptor| {
             if (findInterruptResourceIndex(descriptor)) |auxiliary_index| {
                 if (device.claim(descriptor.id) and device.irqBind(descriptor.id, auxiliary_index, endpoint)) {
                     maybe_auxiliary_interrupt = .{
@@ -308,8 +308,3 @@ pub fn main() void {
         reply_len = handleAttach(receive[0..got.len], got, &reply_buffer);
     }
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start;
-}

system/drivers/ps2-bus/ps2-library.zig

@@ -270,6 +270,22 @@ pub const DeviceType = enum(u32) {
     }
 };
 
+/// The `_HID`s a PS/2 pointing device (the controller's aux channel) can enumerate
+/// under. It is the same 8042 mouse channel whichever id the firmware chose:
+/// QEMU/OVMF report the generic `.ps2_mouse` (PNP0F13), VirtualBox reports
+/// `.microsoft_ps2_mouse` (PNP0F03). Both mean "the mouse on port two".
+pub const mouse_hardware_ids = [_]acpi_ids.HardwareId{ .ps2_mouse, .microsoft_ps2_mouse };
+
+/// Find the aux (mouse) device's ACPI node, whichever of the PS/2-mouse `_HID`s the
+/// firmware used — the bus needs it to bind IRQ12, and the mouse driver to confirm
+/// its device is present. Returns the first match, or null if none is reported.
+pub fn findMouseDescriptor(buffer: []device.DeviceDescriptor) ?device.DeviceDescriptor {
+    for (mouse_hardware_ids) |id| {
+        if (device.findDeviceDescriptorByHid(buffer, id.hid())) |descriptor| return descriptor;
+    }
+    return null;
+}
+
 // --- the bus <-> child-driver forwarding protocol -----------------------------
 //
 // The 8042's ports and IRQ1 live on the PNP0303 node that only the ps2-bus driver

system/drivers/usb-hid/keyboard.zig

@@ -167,8 +167,3 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
         }
     }
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start;
-}

system/drivers/usb-hid/mouse.zig

@@ -133,8 +133,3 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
         }
     }
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start;
-}

system/drivers/usb-storage/scsi.zig

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ const op_inquiry: u8 = 0x12;
 const op_read_capacity_10: u8 = 0x25;
 const op_read_10: u8 = 0x28;
 const op_write_10: u8 = 0x2A;
+const op_synchronize_cache_10: u8 = 0x35;
 
 /// INQUIRY: standard device data (36 bytes: peripheral type, removable, vendor
 /// and product strings).
@@ -57,6 +58,16 @@ pub fn write10(lba: u32, blocks: u16) [10]u8 {
     return cdb;
 }
 
+/// SYNCHRONIZE CACHE(10): commit the device's write cache to stable media. LBA 0
+/// and block count 0 mean "the whole medium". No data stage. Without this a write
+/// can sit in the USB flash controller's cache and be lost if power is cut right
+/// after — which is exactly what a shutdown-time log flush hits on real hardware.
+pub fn synchronizeCache10() [10]u8 {
+    var cdb = [_]u8{0} ** 10;
+    cdb[0] = op_synchronize_cache_10;
+    return cdb;
+}
+
 /// Decode an 8-byte READ CAPACITY(10) reply.
 pub fn parseCapacity(bytes: [8]u8) struct { last_lba: u32, block_size: u32 } {
     return .{

system/drivers/usb-storage/usb-storage.zig

@@ -147,6 +147,14 @@ fn onMessage(message: []const u8, reply: []u8, sender: u32, capability: ?runtime
             const ok = transact(&cdb, false, request.physical, request.count * block_size);
             return writeReply(reply, .{ .status = if (ok) 0 else -1, .block_size = block_size, .block_count = if (ok) request.count else 0 });
         },
+        @intFromEnum(block_protocol.Operation.flush) => {
+            // SYNCHRONIZE CACHE: commit the device's write cache to flash. No data
+            // stage. Makes prior writes durable before a caller (init at shutdown)
+            // cuts power. A device without a volatile cache reports success anyway.
+            const cdb = scsi.synchronizeCache10();
+            const ok = transact(&cdb, false, 0, 0);
+            return writeReply(reply, .{ .status = if (ok) 0 else -1, .block_size = block_size, .block_count = 0 });
+        },
         else => return 0,
     }
 }
@@ -172,8 +180,3 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
         .on_message = onMessage,
     });
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start;
-}

system/drivers/usb-xhci-bus/usb-xhci-bus.zig

@@ -417,8 +417,3 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
         .on_notification = onNotification,
     });
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start; // pull the runtime entry shim into the image
-}

system/drivers/virtio-gpu/virtio-gpu-protocol.zig

@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+//! The virtio-gpu control protocol — the command/response structs the driver exchanges with
+//! the device over its control virtqueue (virtio spec, "GPU Device"). `extern` structs, so
+//! the layout matches the little-endian wire format exactly. Host-tested for size. See
+//! docs/display-v2.md.
+
+const std = @import("std");
+
+/// Control command / response types (virtio_gpu_ctrl_type). Commands are 0x01xx, responses
+/// 0x11xx (ok) / 0x12xx (error).
+pub const CmdType = enum(u32) {
+    get_display_info = 0x0100,
+    resource_create_2d = 0x0101,
+    resource_unref = 0x0102,
+    set_scanout = 0x0103,
+    resource_flush = 0x0104,
+    transfer_to_host_2d = 0x0105,
+    resource_attach_backing = 0x0106,
+    resource_detach_backing = 0x0107,
+    get_edid = 0x010a,
+
+    resp_ok_nodata = 0x1100,
+    resp_ok_display_info = 0x1101,
+    resp_ok_edid = 0x1104,
+    resp_err_unspec = 0x1200,
+    _,
+};
+
+/// Set in a command's `flags` to request a fence; the device echoes `fence_id` in the
+/// response and does not report completion until the command's effects are visible.
+pub const flag_fence: u32 = 1 << 0;
+
+/// VIRTIO_GPU_F_EDID — device feature bit 1 (the low feature word): the device answers the
+/// `get_edid` command. Negotiate it only when the device offers it.
+pub const feature_edid: u32 = 1 << 1;
+
+/// virtio_gpu_ctrl_hdr — the header on every command and response.
+pub const CtrlHdr = extern struct {
+    type: u32,
+    flags: u32 = 0,
+    fence_id: u64 = 0,
+    ctx_id: u32 = 0,
+    ring_idx: u8 = 0,
+    padding: [3]u8 = .{ 0, 0, 0 },
+};
+
+pub const Rect = extern struct {
+    x: u32,
+    y: u32,
+    width: u32,
+    height: u32,
+};
+
+/// 2D pixel formats. QEMU's virtio-gpu host default is B8G8R8X8 (matches our bgrx).
+pub const format_b8g8r8x8_unorm: u32 = 2;
+pub const format_r8g8b8x8_unorm: u32 = 134;
+
+pub const ResourceCreate2d = extern struct {
+    hdr: CtrlHdr,
+    resource_id: u32,
+    format: u32,
+    width: u32,
+    height: u32,
+};
+
+/// One scatter-gather entry of a resource's guest backing (a physical span).
+pub const MemEntry = extern struct {
+    addr: u64,
+    length: u32,
+    padding: u32 = 0,
+};
+
+/// Header for RESOURCE_ATTACH_BACKING; `nr_entries` `MemEntry` follow it inline.
+pub const ResourceAttachBacking = extern struct {
+    hdr: CtrlHdr,
+    resource_id: u32,
+    nr_entries: u32,
+};
+
+pub const SetScanout = extern struct {
+    hdr: CtrlHdr,
+    rect: Rect,
+    scanout_id: u32,
+    resource_id: u32,
+};
+
+pub const ResourceFlush = extern struct {
+    hdr: CtrlHdr,
+    rect: Rect,
+    resource_id: u32,
+    padding: u32 = 0,
+};
+
+/// Copy the guest backing into the host resource for `rect` (2D resources must transfer
+/// before a flush shows the update).
+pub const TransferToHost2d = extern struct {
+    hdr: CtrlHdr,
+    rect: Rect,
+    offset: u64,
+    resource_id: u32,
+    padding: u32 = 0,
+};
+
+pub const max_scanouts = 16;
+
+pub const DisplayOne = extern struct {
+    rect: Rect,
+    enabled: u32,
+    flags: u32,
+};
+
+pub const RespDisplayInfo = extern struct {
+    hdr: CtrlHdr,
+    pmodes: [max_scanouts]DisplayOne,
+};
+
+pub const GetEdid = extern struct {
+    hdr: CtrlHdr,
+    scanout: u32,
+    padding: u32 = 0,
+};
+
+pub const RespEdid = extern struct {
+    hdr: CtrlHdr,
+    size: u32,
+    padding: u32 = 0,
+    edid: [1024]u8,
+};
+
+test "virtio-gpu struct sizes match the wire layout" {
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 24), @sizeOf(CtrlHdr));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 16), @sizeOf(Rect));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 40), @sizeOf(ResourceCreate2d));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 16), @sizeOf(MemEntry));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 32), @sizeOf(ResourceAttachBacking));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 48), @sizeOf(SetScanout));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 48), @sizeOf(ResourceFlush));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 56), @sizeOf(TransferToHost2d));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 24 + 4 + 4 + 1024), @sizeOf(RespEdid));
+}

system/drivers/virtio-gpu/virtio-gpu.zig

@@ -0,0 +1,617 @@
+//! /system/drivers/virtio-gpu — the virtio-gpu (virtio 1.0, modern PCI) display driver.
+//! The device manager spawns it for the display/other PCI function (class 0x0380) whose
+//! config space says vendor 0x1AF4 / device 0x1050; this instance claims that device and
+//! brings up a single 2D scanout.
+//!
+//! V3 (this increment): the whole path end to end, proven from serial without a screenshot.
+//! Claim the function, map its config space (resource 0) and the BAR that carries the
+//! virtio structures, walk the vendor capabilities to find common-config / notify, reset
+//! and negotiate VERSION_1, stand up the control virtqueue in DMA memory, then drive the
+//! GPU: RESOURCE_CREATE_2D → ATTACH_BACKING (a coherent DMA buffer) → SET_SCANOUT, paint a
+//! known test pattern, TRANSFER_TO_HOST_2D → RESOURCE_FLUSH, and **wait for the device's
+//! used-ring ack**. Reading the backing back confirms it is CPU-visible; the ack confirms
+//! the device consumed the frame. The compositor backend, hot-attach, mode-set/EDID, and
+//! restart/re-attach are V4–V6. See docs/display-v2.md.
+
+const std = @import("std");
+const runtime = @import("runtime");
+const mmio = @import("mmio");
+const device = runtime.device;
+const dma = runtime.dma;
+const shm = runtime.shm;
+const system = runtime.system;
+const ipc = runtime.ipc;
+const dp = runtime.display_protocol;
+const sp = runtime.scanout_protocol;
+const dm = runtime.device_manager_protocol;
+const vp = @import("virtio-pci.zig");
+const vg = @import("virtio-gpu-protocol.zig");
+
+/// The DisplayFormat (device-abi) our B8G8R8X8 scanout resource presents: bgrx = 1. Handed to
+/// the compositor in the announce so it packs colours in the surface's byte order.
+const display_format_bgrx: u32 = 1;
+
+/// The PCI vendor/device ids of a modern virtio-gpu (Red Hat / virtio; GPU is a
+/// virtio-1.0-only device, so the id is always the modern 0x1050 — no legacy variant).
+const virtio_vendor: u16 = 0x1AF4;
+const virtio_gpu_device: u16 = 0x1050;
+
+/// The scanout resource + shared surface are sized to the *largest* mode we offer; a mode
+/// change (V5) re-points the scanout rectangle within it, so the resource, its backing, and
+/// the shared surface never churn — and the surface's row stride is always `max_width`, which
+/// the compositor is told in the announce. Kept modest so the backing is an easy contiguous run.
+const max_width: u32 = 800;
+const max_height: u32 = 600;
+const scanout_bytes: usize = @as(usize, max_width) * max_height * 4;
+const resource_id: u32 = 1;
+
+/// The modes this scanout offers (all ≤ max). The first is the mode it comes up in.
+const Mode = struct { width: u32, height: u32 };
+const offered_modes = [_]Mode{ .{ .width = 640, .height = 480 }, .{ .width = 800, .height = 600 } };
+
+/// The active mode — the scanout rectangle within the max-sized surface. Changed by `set_mode`.
+var current_width: u32 = offered_modes[0].width;
+var current_height: u32 = offered_modes[0].height;
+
+/// Monotonic fence id for fenced (vsync) flushes; the device signals the fence when the flush
+/// is complete, which its used-ring ack already gates our synchronous present on.
+var fence_next: u64 = 1;
+
+/// Whether the device offered VIRTIO_GPU_F_EDID, so `get_edid` is worth issuing.
+var edid_available = false;
+
+/// The control virtqueue. We drive it synchronously — one command, notify, poll the used
+/// ring — so a depth of 16 is ample; we ask the device to shrink to it (virtio 1.0 lets the
+/// driver reduce queue_size), keeping the whole ring inside one page.
+const queue_size: u16 = 16;
+const desc_offset: usize = 0; // 16 * 16 = 256 bytes
+const avail_offset: usize = 256; // flags + idx + ring[16] + used_event = 38 bytes
+const used_offset: usize = 1024; // flags + idx + ring[16] + avail_event = 134 bytes
+
+/// The command scratch: the request the device reads, then its response, in one DMA page.
+const request_offset: usize = 0;
+const response_offset: usize = 2048;
+
+var device_id: u64 = 0;
+
+// Mapped virtio structures (virtual addresses into the device's BAR).
+var common_base: usize = 0;
+var notify_base: usize = 0;
+var notify_multiplier: u32 = 0;
+var notify_addr: usize = 0;
+
+// Per-BAR mapping cache: several capabilities usually share one BAR, and mmio_map must not
+// be asked to map the same resource twice.
+var bar_virtual: [6]usize = .{ 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 };
+
+// DMA memory: the virtqueue rings and the command scratch.
+var ring: dma.Region = undefined;
+var command: dma.Region = undefined;
+
+// The scanout backing is a **shared** (shm) region, not DMA: cacheable so the compositor
+// composites into it cheaply (x86 DMA is coherent, so the device still sees the writes), and
+// shareable so the same physical pages the device scans out of are the ones the compositor
+// paints. The driver keeps the capability to hand to the compositor in the announce.
+var surface: shm.Region = undefined;
+
+// Split-virtqueue producer/consumer shadows.
+var avail_shadow: u16 = 0;
+var used_shadow: u16 = 0;
+
+/// Format one whole log line and emit it in a single `write`, so this driver's output can
+/// never interleave mid-line with the other drivers the manager runs concurrently.
+fn log(comptime fmt: []const u8, arguments: anytype) void {
+    var line: [160]u8 = undefined;
+    _ = system.write(std.fmt.bufPrint(&line, fmt, arguments) catch return);
+}
+
+// --- common-config register access (little-endian MMIO at `common_base`) ---------------
+
+fn cfgRead(comptime T: type, comptime field: []const u8) T {
+    return mmio.read(T, common_base + @offsetOf(vp.CommonCfg, field));
+}
+fn cfgWrite(comptime T: type, comptime field: []const u8, value: T) void {
+    mmio.write(T, common_base + @offsetOf(vp.CommonCfg, field), value);
+}
+/// Write a 64-bit common-config register as two 32-bit halves (low then high) — the widest
+/// access every virtio-pci host is required to accept for the queue-address registers.
+fn cfgWrite64(comptime field: []const u8, value: u64) void {
+    const at = common_base + @offsetOf(vp.CommonCfg, field);
+    mmio.write(u32, at, @truncate(value));
+    mmio.write(u32, at + 4, @truncate(value >> 32));
+}
+fn orStatus(bit: u8) void {
+    cfgWrite(u8, "device_status", cfgRead(u8, "device_status") | bit);
+}
+
+// --- PCI config-space capability walk (config space is resource 0) ---------------------
+
+/// Map the BAR numbered `bar` (0..5) and return its virtual base, correlating the BAR's
+/// physical address (read from config space) with one of our device resources — because a
+/// virtio capability names a BAR *number*, while `mmio_map` takes a *resource index* (and
+/// resource 0 is config space, so BAR resources are re-numbered and gaps skipped).
+fn mapBar(config: usize, descriptor: *const device.DeviceDescriptor, bar: u8) ?usize {
+    if (bar >= 6) return null;
+    if (bar_virtual[bar] != 0) return bar_virtual[bar];
+
+    const low = mmio.read(u32, config + 0x10 + @as(usize, bar) * 4);
+    if (low & 0x1 != 0) return null; // an I/O-space BAR — virtio structures are in memory BARs
+    var base: u64 = low & 0xFFFF_FFF0;
+    if ((low & 0x6) == 0x4) { // 64-bit memory BAR: the high half is the next dword
+        const high = mmio.read(u32, config + 0x10 + (@as(usize, bar) + 1) * 4);
+        base |= @as(u64, high) << 32;
+    }
+
+    for (descriptor.resources[0..@intCast(descriptor.resource_count)], 0..) |resource, index| {
+        if (resource.kind == @intFromEnum(device.ResourceKind.memory) and resource.start == base) {
+            const v = device.mmioMap(device_id, index) orelse return null;
+            bar_virtual[bar] = v;
+            return v;
+        }
+    }
+    log("virtio-gpu: BAR {d} (physical 0x{x}) is not a mapped resource\n", .{ bar, base });
+    return null;
+}
+
+/// Walk the PCI capability list from mapped config space, recording the common-config and
+/// notify structures (the only two V3 needs). Returns false if either is missing.
+fn walkCapabilities(config: usize, descriptor: *const device.DeviceDescriptor) bool {
+    if (mmio.read(u16, config + 0x06) & 0x10 == 0) { // Status bit 4: capabilities list present
+        log("virtio-gpu: device has no PCI capability list\n", .{});
+        return false;
+    }
+    var cap: u8 = @as(u8, @truncate(mmio.read(u8, config + 0x34))) & 0xFC;
+    var guard: u32 = 0;
+    while (cap != 0 and guard < 48) : (guard += 1) {
+        const at = config + cap;
+        const id = mmio.read(u8, at + 0);
+        const next = mmio.read(u8, at + 1) & 0xFC;
+        // Only map BARs for the structures V3 uses (common + notify). The other virtio
+        // capabilities (isr, device, and especially the cfg_pci back-door, which carries a
+        // placeholder bar=0/offset=0) reference BARs we never touch, so mapping them would
+        // just log spurious "not a mapped resource" noise.
+        if (id == vp.pci_cap_vendor) {
+            const cfg_type = mmio.read(u8, at + 3);
+            if (cfg_type == vp.cfg_common or cfg_type == vp.cfg_notify) {
+                const bar = mmio.read(u8, at + 4);
+                const offset = mmio.read(u32, at + 8);
+                if (mapBar(config, descriptor, bar)) |bar_base| {
+                    if (cfg_type == vp.cfg_common) {
+                        common_base = bar_base + offset;
+                    } else {
+                        notify_base = bar_base + offset;
+                        notify_multiplier = mmio.read(u32, at + 16); // virtio_pci_notify_cap tail
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        cap = next;
+    }
+    if (common_base == 0 or notify_base == 0) {
+        log("virtio-gpu: missing common-config or notify capability\n", .{});
+        return false;
+    }
+    return true;
+}
+
+// --- the control virtqueue -------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Publish the two-descriptor chain (request read by the device, response written by it),
+/// notify the control queue, and wait for the device to return the buffer on the used ring.
+fn submit(request_len: usize, response_len: usize) bool {
+    const desc: [*]vp.Desc = @ptrFromInt(ring.virtual + desc_offset);
+    desc[0] = .{
+        .addr = command.physical + request_offset,
+        .len = @intCast(request_len),
+        .flags = vp.desc_flag_next,
+        .next = 1,
+    };
+    desc[1] = .{
+        .addr = command.physical + response_offset,
+        .len = @intCast(response_len),
+        .flags = vp.desc_flag_write,
+        .next = 0,
+    };
+
+    const avail_ring: [*]u16 = @ptrFromInt(ring.virtual + avail_offset + 4);
+    avail_ring[avail_shadow % queue_size] = 0; // head of the chain is descriptor 0
+    mmio.wmb();
+    avail_shadow +%= 1;
+    mmio.write(u16, ring.virtual + avail_offset + 2, avail_shadow); // avail.idx
+    mmio.wmb();
+
+    mmio.write(u16, notify_addr, 0); // ring the control queue's doorbell
+    return waitUsed();
+}
+
+/// Spin, then sleep-poll, on the used-ring index until the device advances it. QEMU
+/// processes the notify on its own thread, so the ack usually lands immediately; the sleep
+/// fallback covers a device that defers it without burning the CPU.
+fn waitUsed() bool {
+    var tries: u32 = 0;
+    while (tries < 2000) : (tries += 1) {
+        mmio.rmb();
+        const idx = mmio.read(u16, ring.virtual + used_offset + 2); // used.idx
+        if (idx != used_shadow) {
+            used_shadow = idx;
+            return true;
+        }
+        if (tries > 8) system.sleep(1);
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
+/// The type field of the response the device wrote — `resp_ok_nodata` on success.
+fn responseType() u32 {
+    const response: *vg.CtrlHdr = @ptrFromInt(command.virtual + response_offset);
+    return response.type;
+}
+
+/// Submit a command whose response is a bare header, returning its response type (0 if the
+/// device never acked).
+fn command_nodata(request_len: usize) u32 {
+    if (!submit(request_len, @sizeOf(vg.CtrlHdr))) return 0;
+    return responseType();
+}
+
+const ok_nodata: u32 = @intFromEnum(vg.CmdType.resp_ok_nodata);
+
+fn requestAt(comptime T: type) *T {
+    return @ptrFromInt(command.virtual + request_offset);
+}
+
+/// A deterministic, recognisable pixel so a read-back is a real check, not a tautology.
+fn testPixel(index: u32) u32 {
+    return 0xFF00_0000 | (index *% 0x9E37_79B1);
+}
+
+// --- bring-up --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+fn initialise(endpoint: ipc.Handle) bool {
+    _ = endpoint;
+    if (!device.claim(device_id)) {
+        log("virtio-gpu: unable to claim device {d}\n", .{device_id});
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    var descriptors: [64]device.DeviceDescriptor = undefined;
+    const total = device.enumerate(&descriptors);
+    const descriptor = for (descriptors[0..@min(total, descriptors.len)]) |*d| {
+        if (d.id == device_id) break d;
+    } else {
+        log("virtio-gpu: device {d} not in the device tree\n", .{device_id});
+        return false;
+    };
+
+    // Config space is resource 0. Confirm it really is a virtio-gpu, then enable memory-space
+    // decode + bus mastering (the device DMAs the ring and backing out of RAM); pci-bus only
+    // preserves whatever the firmware left, and a secondary display is often left disabled.
+    const config = device.mmioMap(device_id, 0) orelse {
+        log("virtio-gpu: config-space map failed\n", .{});
+        return false;
+    };
+    const vendor = mmio.read(u16, config + 0x00);
+    const dev = mmio.read(u16, config + 0x02);
+    if (vendor != virtio_vendor or dev != virtio_gpu_device) {
+        log("virtio-gpu: not a virtio-gpu (vendor 0x{x} device 0x{x})\n", .{ vendor, dev });
+        return false;
+    }
+    mmio.write(u16, config + 0x04, mmio.read(u16, config + 0x04) | 0x06); // MEM + bus master
+
+    if (!walkCapabilities(config, descriptor)) return false;
+
+    // Reset, then the modern feature handshake: acknowledge, take driver ownership, require
+    // VERSION_1 and offer nothing else, and confirm the device accepts that.
+    cfgWrite(u8, "device_status", 0);
+    orStatus(vp.status_acknowledge);
+    orStatus(vp.status_driver);
+
+    // Low feature word (device-specific): note whether the device offers EDID (bit 1).
+    cfgWrite(u32, "device_feature_select", 0);
+    edid_available = cfgRead(u32, "device_feature") & vg.feature_edid != 0;
+    // High feature word: VERSION_1 (bit 32) is required for a modern device.
+    cfgWrite(u32, "device_feature_select", vp.feature_version_1_word);
+    if (cfgRead(u32, "device_feature") & vp.feature_version_1_bit == 0) {
+        log("virtio-gpu: device does not offer VERSION_1 (not a modern device)\n", .{});
+        return false;
+    }
+    // Accept exactly VERSION_1, plus EDID when the device offered it (never a feature it didn't).
+    cfgWrite(u32, "driver_feature_select", 0);
+    cfgWrite(u32, "driver_feature", if (edid_available) vg.feature_edid else 0);
+    cfgWrite(u32, "driver_feature_select", vp.feature_version_1_word);
+    cfgWrite(u32, "driver_feature", vp.feature_version_1_bit);
+    orStatus(vp.status_features_ok);
+    if (cfgRead(u8, "device_status") & vp.status_features_ok == 0) {
+        log("virtio-gpu: device rejected the negotiated features\n", .{});
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    // Stand up the control virtqueue (queue 0) in coherent DMA memory.
+    cfgWrite(u16, "queue_select", 0);
+    const device_qsize = cfgRead(u16, "queue_size");
+    if (device_qsize < queue_size) {
+        log("virtio-gpu: control queue too small ({d})\n", .{device_qsize});
+        return false;
+    }
+    ring = dma.alloc(4096, dma.coherent) orelse {
+        log("virtio-gpu: virtqueue allocation failed\n", .{});
+        return false;
+    };
+    command = dma.alloc(4096, dma.coherent) orelse {
+        log("virtio-gpu: command-buffer allocation failed\n", .{});
+        return false;
+    };
+    mmio.write(u16, ring.virtual + avail_offset, 1); // VIRTQ_AVAIL_F_NO_INTERRUPT: we poll
+    cfgWrite(u16, "queue_size", queue_size);
+    cfgWrite64("queue_desc", ring.physical + desc_offset);
+    cfgWrite64("queue_driver", ring.physical + avail_offset);
+    cfgWrite64("queue_device", ring.physical + used_offset);
+    cfgWrite(u16, "queue_msix_vector", 0xFFFF); // VIRTIO_MSI_NO_VECTOR
+    cfgWrite(u16, "queue_enable", 1);
+
+    cfgWrite(u16, "queue_select", 0);
+    notify_addr = notify_base + @as(usize, cfgRead(u16, "queue_notify_off")) * notify_multiplier;
+
+    orStatus(vp.status_driver_ok);
+
+    // Drive the GPU: create a 2D resource at the *max* mode, back it with a shared surface, and
+    // scan out the current-mode rectangle within it.
+    {
+        const request = requestAt(vg.ResourceCreate2d);
+        request.* = .{
+            .hdr = .{ .type = @intFromEnum(vg.CmdType.resource_create_2d) },
+            .resource_id = resource_id,
+            .format = vg.format_b8g8r8x8_unorm,
+            .width = max_width,
+            .height = max_height,
+        };
+        if (command_nodata(@sizeOf(vg.ResourceCreate2d)) != ok_nodata) {
+            log("virtio-gpu: resource_create_2d failed\n", .{});
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Back the resource with a shared (shm) surface, so the compositor and the device work
+    // the same physical pages. The device needs the guest-physical base for attach_backing.
+    surface = shm.create(scanout_bytes) orelse {
+        log("virtio-gpu: scanout surface allocation failed\n", .{});
+        return false;
+    };
+    const surface_physical = shm.physical(surface.handle) orelse {
+        log("virtio-gpu: could not resolve the scanout surface physical address\n", .{});
+        return false;
+    };
+    {
+        const request = requestAt(vg.ResourceAttachBacking);
+        request.* = .{
+            .hdr = .{ .type = @intFromEnum(vg.CmdType.resource_attach_backing) },
+            .resource_id = resource_id,
+            .nr_entries = 1,
+        };
+        const entry: *vg.MemEntry = @ptrFromInt(command.virtual + request_offset + @sizeOf(vg.ResourceAttachBacking));
+        entry.* = .{ .addr = surface_physical, .length = @intCast(scanout_bytes) };
+        if (command_nodata(@sizeOf(vg.ResourceAttachBacking) + @sizeOf(vg.MemEntry)) != ok_nodata) {
+            log("virtio-gpu: resource_attach_backing failed\n", .{});
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+    if (!setScanoutRect()) {
+        log("virtio-gpu: set_scanout failed\n", .{});
+        return false;
+    }
+    log("virtio-gpu: scanout {d}x{d} online\n", .{ current_width, current_height });
+
+    // Hello the device manager so it counts us as up (and does not stop us at the hello
+    // deadline). A restarted instance re-hellos here and re-announces below — the compositor
+    // re-attaches to the fresh scanout (V6).
+    helloManager();
+
+    // Read the monitor's EDID (best-effort, when the device offers it) — the mode list a real
+    // driver derives from it; we log the preferred mode and keep our fixed offered list.
+    readEdid();
+
+    // Paint a known pattern, present it, and read it back — the V3 self-test that proves the
+    // whole path (virtqueue, resource, shared backing, transfer, flush) before a client attaches.
+    const pixels: [*]u32 = @ptrCast(@alignCast(surface.ptr));
+    const pixel_count: usize = @as(usize, max_width) * max_height;
+    for (0..pixel_count) |i| pixels[i] = testPixel(@intCast(i));
+
+    if (!presentFull()) {
+        log("virtio-gpu: initial present failed\n", .{});
+        return false;
+    }
+    // The scanout surface is CPU-visible RAM: read the pattern back to prove the mapping,
+    // which together with the flush ack above is the automated stand-in for "it's on screen".
+    mmio.rmb();
+    if (pixels[0] != testPixel(0) or pixels[pixel_count / 2] != testPixel(@intCast(pixel_count / 2))) {
+        log("virtio-gpu: pixel read-back mismatch\n", .{});
+        return false;
+    }
+    log("virtio-gpu: flush acked, pixel check ok\n", .{});
+
+    // Offer the shared surface to the compositor so it upgrades off the GOP floor (V4).
+    announce();
+    return true;
+}
+
+/// Point scanout 0 at the current-mode rectangle of the resource. Reused by initial bring-up
+/// and by `set_mode`.
+fn setScanoutRect() bool {
+    const request = requestAt(vg.SetScanout);
+    request.* = .{
+        .hdr = .{ .type = @intFromEnum(vg.CmdType.set_scanout) },
+        .rect = .{ .x = 0, .y = 0, .width = current_width, .height = current_height },
+        .scanout_id = 0,
+        .resource_id = resource_id,
+    };
+    return command_nodata(@sizeOf(vg.SetScanout)) == ok_nodata;
+}
+
+/// Read and log the monitor's preferred mode from its EDID (VIRTIO_GPU_F_EDID). Best-effort:
+/// a device that doesn't offer EDID, or a missing/short block, is logged and ignored.
+fn readEdid() void {
+    if (!edid_available) {
+        log("virtio-gpu: EDID not offered by device\n", .{});
+        return;
+    }
+    const request = requestAt(vg.GetEdid);
+    request.* = .{ .hdr = .{ .type = @intFromEnum(vg.CmdType.get_edid) }, .scanout = 0 };
+    if (!submit(@sizeOf(vg.GetEdid), @sizeOf(vg.RespEdid))) {
+        log("virtio-gpu: EDID request not acked\n", .{});
+        return;
+    }
+    const response: *vg.RespEdid = @ptrFromInt(command.virtual + response_offset);
+    if (response.hdr.type != @intFromEnum(vg.CmdType.resp_ok_edid) or response.size < 64) {
+        log("virtio-gpu: EDID unavailable\n", .{});
+        return;
+    }
+    // The first detailed timing descriptor (EDID base-block offset 54) is the preferred mode:
+    // active pixels are 12-bit, low byte + high nibble (bytes 2/4 horizontal, 5/7 vertical).
+    const e = &response.edid;
+    const h_active = @as(u32, e[56]) | (@as(u32, e[58] & 0xF0) << 4);
+    const v_active = @as(u32, e[59]) | (@as(u32, e[61] & 0xF0) << 4);
+    log("virtio-gpu: EDID preferred mode {d}x{d}\n", .{ h_active, v_active });
+}
+
+/// Present the whole surface: copy the guest backing into the host resource, then flush it to
+/// the panel. Reused by the V3 self-test and by every compositor present over `.scanout`. V4
+/// presents the full surface; the damage-rect fast path is a later refinement.
+fn presentFull() bool {
+    mmio.wmb(); // the surface writes must be visible before the device transfers them
+    {
+        // Transfer the current-mode rectangle from the guest backing to the host resource. The
+        // device uses the resource's (max) width as the row stride, so the top-left rect at
+        // offset 0 is exactly the visible area — the compositor composes at that same stride.
+        const request = requestAt(vg.TransferToHost2d);
+        request.* = .{
+            .hdr = .{ .type = @intFromEnum(vg.CmdType.transfer_to_host_2d) },
+            .rect = .{ .x = 0, .y = 0, .width = current_width, .height = current_height },
+            .offset = 0,
+            .resource_id = resource_id,
+        };
+        if (command_nodata(@sizeOf(vg.TransferToHost2d)) != ok_nodata) return false;
+    }
+    {
+        // A fenced flush (vsync): the device signals the fence when the frame is actually on
+        // screen — which its used-ring ack, what our synchronous submit waits on, already gates.
+        const request = requestAt(vg.ResourceFlush);
+        request.* = .{
+            .hdr = .{ .type = @intFromEnum(vg.CmdType.resource_flush), .flags = vg.flag_fence, .fence_id = fence_next },
+            .rect = .{ .x = 0, .y = 0, .width = current_width, .height = current_height },
+            .resource_id = resource_id,
+        };
+        fence_next += 1;
+        if (command_nodata(@sizeOf(vg.ResourceFlush)) != ok_nodata) return false;
+    }
+    return true;
+}
+
+/// Hello the device manager (role: bus — we own a PCI function, though we report no children):
+/// the handshake that marks us up so the manager doesn't stop us at the hello deadline, and
+/// (as a supervised driver) restarts us if we die. Best-effort: without a manager we still run.
+fn helloManager() void {
+    var tries: u32 = 0;
+    const manager = while (tries < 100) : (tries += 1) {
+        if (ipc.lookup(.device_manager)) |h| break h;
+        system.sleep(20);
+    } else {
+        log("virtio-gpu: no device manager to hello\n", .{});
+        return;
+    };
+    const hello = dm.Hello{ .role = @intFromEnum(dm.Role.bus), .device_id = device_id };
+    var reply: [dm.reply_size]u8 = undefined;
+    const n = ipc.call(manager, std.mem.asBytes(&hello), &reply) catch {
+        log("virtio-gpu: hello call failed\n", .{});
+        return;
+    };
+    if (n < dm.reply_size or std.mem.bytesToValue(dm.HelloReply, reply[0..dm.reply_size]).status != 0) {
+        log("virtio-gpu: hello refused\n", .{});
+        return;
+    }
+    log("virtio-gpu: hello acknowledged\n", .{});
+}
+
+/// Announce the scanout to the display service so it upgrades off the GOP framebuffer: hand it
+/// the shared surface as a capability plus the geometry. Best-effort and non-fatal — without a
+/// display service (the standalone virtio-gpu bring-up test) the driver is still a valid
+/// scanout service; it just serves no one. The display replies immediately (it defers its
+/// first present to a timer), so this returns before we start serving `.scanout` — no deadlock.
+fn announce() void {
+    var tries: u32 = 0;
+    const display = while (tries < 50) : (tries += 1) {
+        if (ipc.lookup(.display)) |h| break h;
+        system.sleep(20);
+    } else {
+        log("virtio-gpu: no display service to announce to (scanout-only)\n", .{});
+        return;
+    };
+    var request = dp.Request{
+        .operation = @intFromEnum(dp.Operation.attach_scanout),
+        .x = max_width, // the shared surface's row stride in pixels (it is sized to the max mode)
+        .width = current_width,
+        .height = current_height,
+        .colour = display_format_bgrx,
+    };
+    var reply: [dp.reply_size]u8 = undefined;
+    _ = ipc.callCap(display, std.mem.asBytes(&request), &reply, surface.handle) catch {
+        log("virtio-gpu: announce to display failed\n", .{});
+        return;
+    };
+    log("virtio-gpu: announced scanout to display\n", .{});
+}
+
+/// A `sp.Reply{status}` written into `reply`.
+fn scanoutStatus(reply: []u8, ok: bool) usize {
+    const response = sp.Reply{ .status = if (ok) 0 else -1 };
+    @memcpy(reply[0..sp.reply_size], std.mem.asBytes(&response));
+    return sp.reply_size;
+}
+
+/// The `.scanout` service: the compositor drives present / mode queries here. The pixels are
+/// already in the shared surface, so a present is a transfer-to-host + fenced flush; a mode
+/// change just re-points the scanout rectangle (the surface is sized to the largest mode).
+fn onMessage(message: []const u8, reply: []u8, sender: u32, capability: ?ipc.Handle) usize {
+    _ = sender;
+    _ = capability;
+    if (message.len < sp.request_size) return 0;
+    const request = std.mem.bytesToValue(sp.Request, message[0..sp.request_size]);
+    switch (request.operation) {
+        @intFromEnum(sp.Operation.present) => return scanoutStatus(reply, presentFull()),
+        @intFromEnum(sp.Operation.get_modes) => {
+            var response = sp.ModesReply{ .status = 0, .count = offered_modes.len, .modes = undefined };
+            for (0..sp.max_modes) |i| {
+                response.modes[i] = if (i < offered_modes.len)
+                    .{ .width = offered_modes[i].width, .height = offered_modes[i].height }
+                else
+                    .{ .width = 0, .height = 0 };
+            }
+            @memcpy(reply[0..sp.modes_reply_size], std.mem.asBytes(&response));
+            return sp.modes_reply_size;
+        },
+        @intFromEnum(sp.Operation.set_mode) => {
+            const w = request.width;
+            const h = request.height;
+            if (w == 0 or h == 0 or w > max_width or h > max_height) return scanoutStatus(reply, false);
+            current_width = w;
+            current_height = h;
+            return scanoutStatus(reply, setScanoutRect());
+        },
+        else => return 0,
+    }
+}
+
+pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
+    const argument = init.arguments.get(1) orelse {
+        _ = system.write("virtio-gpu: missing device id (argv[1])\n");
+        return;
+    };
+    device_id = std.fmt.parseInt(u64, argument, 10) catch {
+        log("virtio-gpu: malformed device id '{s}'\n", .{argument});
+        return;
+    };
+    runtime.service.run(256, .{
+        .service = .scanout,
+        .init = initialise,
+        .on_message = onMessage,
+    });
+}

system/drivers/virtio-gpu/virtio-pci.zig

@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+//! virtio 1.0 PCI transport — the vendor capabilities in PCI config space that point at the
+//! device's structures (common config, notify, ISR) in a BAR, the common-config register
+//! block, and the split-virtqueue layout. `extern` structs matching the spec. Host-tested
+//! for size. See docs/display-v2.md.
+
+const std = @import("std");
+
+/// PCI vendor-specific capability id (0x09) — virtio 1.0 structures are advertised as these.
+pub const pci_cap_vendor: u8 = 0x09;
+
+/// virtio_pci_cap `cfg_type`: which structure a vendor capability points at.
+pub const cfg_common: u8 = 1;
+pub const cfg_notify: u8 = 2;
+pub const cfg_isr: u8 = 3;
+pub const cfg_device: u8 = 4;
+pub const cfg_pci: u8 = 5;
+
+/// virtio_pci_cap — a vendor capability naming a structure at (bar, offset, length) within
+/// a PCI BAR. Read straight out of config space.
+pub const PciCap = extern struct {
+    cap_vndr: u8, // 0x09
+    cap_next: u8, // next capability's offset in config space (0 = end)
+    cap_len: u8,
+    cfg_type: u8, // cfg_common / cfg_notify / ...
+    bar: u8, // which BAR the structure lives in
+    padding: [3]u8,
+    offset: u32, // offset within the BAR
+    length: u32, // length of the structure
+};
+
+/// virtio_pci_notify_cap: a notify capability carries a multiplier after the base cap; the
+/// per-queue notify address is `notify_base + queue_notify_off * notify_off_multiplier`.
+pub const NotifyCap = extern struct {
+    cap: PciCap,
+    notify_off_multiplier: u32,
+};
+
+/// virtio_pci_common_cfg — the common configuration register block (little-endian MMIO).
+pub const CommonCfg = extern struct {
+    device_feature_select: u32,
+    device_feature: u32,
+    driver_feature_select: u32,
+    driver_feature: u32,
+    msix_config: u16,
+    num_queues: u16,
+    device_status: u8,
+    config_generation: u8,
+    queue_select: u16,
+    queue_size: u16,
+    queue_msix_vector: u16,
+    queue_enable: u16,
+    queue_notify_off: u16,
+    queue_desc: u64,
+    queue_driver: u64,
+    queue_device: u64,
+};
+
+/// device_status bits (written to `CommonCfg.device_status` during bring-up).
+pub const status_acknowledge: u8 = 1;
+pub const status_driver: u8 = 2;
+pub const status_driver_ok: u8 = 4;
+pub const status_features_ok: u8 = 8;
+
+/// VIRTIO_F_VERSION_1 — feature bit 32 (in the second 32-bit feature word). Required for a
+/// modern device; we negotiate exactly this bit and nothing else.
+pub const feature_version_1_word: u32 = 1; // device_feature_select value for bits 32..63
+pub const feature_version_1_bit: u32 = 1 << 0; // bit 32 within that word
+
+// --- split virtqueue -------------------------------------------------------
+
+pub const Desc = extern struct {
+    addr: u64, // guest-physical
+    len: u32,
+    flags: u16,
+    next: u16,
+};
+pub const desc_flag_next: u16 = 1; // buffer continues in `next`
+pub const desc_flag_write: u16 = 2; // device-writable (else driver-writable/device-readable)
+
+/// The available ring's fixed header; a `[queue_size]u16` ring and a trailing `used_event`
+/// u16 follow it in memory (laid out by the driver).
+pub const AvailHdr = extern struct {
+    flags: u16,
+    idx: u16,
+};
+
+/// One entry of the used ring.
+pub const UsedElem = extern struct {
+    id: u32,
+    len: u32,
+};
+
+/// The used ring's fixed header; a `[queue_size]UsedElem` ring and a trailing `avail_event`
+/// u16 follow it.
+pub const UsedHdr = extern struct {
+    flags: u16,
+    idx: u16,
+};
+
+test "virtio-pci struct sizes match the spec" {
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 16), @sizeOf(PciCap));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 56), @sizeOf(CommonCfg));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 16), @sizeOf(Desc));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 8), @sizeOf(UsedElem));
+}

system/kernel/architecture/x86_64/cpu.zig

@@ -106,6 +106,12 @@ pub fn serialWrite(bytes: []const u8) void {
     serial.write(bytes);
 }
 
+/// Whether a working UART was detected (loopback probe). When false the serial
+/// sink is silently inert — a dead legacy COM1 costs nothing per byte.
+pub fn serialPresent() bool {
+    return serial.present();
+}
+
 /// Emit a one-byte progress checkpoint to whatever hardware debug sink the
 /// platform has — here the POST diagnostic port (0x80), which a POST card or BMC
 /// displays. The last-resort progress signal when there's no text output at all.
@@ -162,10 +168,18 @@ pub fn mapUserPageInto(root: u64, virtual: u64, physical: u64, writable: bool, e
     paging.mapUserInto(root, virtual, physical, writable, executable);
 }
 
-/// Map a device MMIO window into address space `root`: strong-uncacheable, RW+NX,
-/// and marked so teardown won't free the MMIO frames as RAM. For IO passthrough.
-pub fn mapUserDeviceInto(root: u64, virtual: u64, physical: u64, len: u64) void {
-    paging.mapUserDeviceInto(root, virtual, physical, len);
+/// Map a device MMIO window into address space `root`: RW+NX, and marked so teardown
+/// won't free the MMIO frames as RAM. `write_combining` picks the cache type —
+/// false = strong-uncacheable (registers), true = write-combining (a framebuffer).
+/// For IO passthrough.
+pub fn mapUserDeviceInto(root: u64, virtual: u64, physical: u64, len: u64, write_combining: bool) void {
+    paging.mapUserDeviceInto(root, virtual, physical, len, write_combining);
+}
+
+/// Is the user leaf mapping `virtual` in address space `root` write-combining? Null if
+/// unmapped. For tests verifying the framebuffer map's cache type.
+pub fn userLeafIsWriteCombining(root: u64, virtual: u64) ?bool {
+    return paging.leafIsWriteCombining(root, virtual);
 }
 
 /// Map coherent DMA RAM into address space `root`: strong-uncacheable, RW+NX, but
@@ -174,6 +188,13 @@ pub fn mapUserDmaInto(root: u64, virtual: u64, physical: u64, len: u64) void {
     paging.mapUserDmaInto(root, virtual, physical, len);
 }
 
+/// Map shared cacheable RAM into address space `root`: write-back cacheable, RW+NX, and
+/// marked so teardown won't free the frames (they're owned by a refcounted shm object,
+/// freed when its last capability drops). For shm_create/shm_map.
+pub fn mapUserSharedInto(root: u64, virtual: u64, physical: u64, len: u64) void {
+    paging.mapUserSharedInto(root, virtual, physical, len);
+}
+
 /// Map a page into the kernel address space (non-executable). For the heap, etc.
 pub fn mapPage(virtual: u64, physical: u64, writable: bool) void {
     paging.map(virtual, physical, writable);

system/kernel/architecture/x86_64/isr.s

@@ -205,7 +205,17 @@ syscall_entry:
     push %r14
     push %r15
     mov %rsp, %rdi               # trap-frame pointer
+    # Preserve the caller's SSE/x87 register file across the syscall — see the same
+    # dance in isr_common. Without it a syscall (or a task the scheduler runs while
+    # this one blocks) clobbers the caller's live XMM values, which the compiler is
+    # free to hold across a syscall (its wrappers only clobber rcx/r11/memory).
+    mov %rsp, %rbx
+    and $-16, %rsp
+    sub $512, %rsp
+    fxsave (%rsp)
     call interruptDispatch
+    fxrstor (%rsp)
+    mov %rbx, %rsp              # back to the trap frame (undo the fxsave scratch)
     pop %r15
     pop %r14
     pop %r13
@@ -357,7 +367,21 @@ isr_common:
     push %r14
     push %r15
     mov %rsp, %rdi          # first argument: pointer to the trap frame
+    # Save the interrupted SSE/x87 register file before any kernel code runs, and
+    # restore it on the way out — the kernel and user both keep live values in XMM
+    # (a 16-byte struct copy is a movdqu), and the kernel never otherwise preserves
+    # them, so an interrupt handler (and whatever the scheduler runs in its place)
+    # would silently clobber the interrupted task's vector registers. rbx bridges the
+    # exact rsp across the call: it is callee-saved (interruptDispatch and every
+    # context switch preserve it), so it survives even a blocking dispatch, and the
+    # `and`/`sub` gives fxsave its required 16-byte-aligned scratch on the kernel stack.
+    mov %rsp, %rbx
+    and $-16, %rsp
+    sub $512, %rsp
+    fxsave (%rsp)
     call interruptDispatch
+    fxrstor (%rsp)
+    mov %rbx, %rsp          # back to the trap frame (undo the fxsave scratch)
     pop %r15
     pop %r14
     pop %r13

system/kernel/architecture/x86_64/paging.zig

@@ -7,8 +7,13 @@
 //! unmapped as a null guard. It also exposes map/unmap for on-demand mapping,
 //! which the kernel heap will build on.
 //!
-//! Everything is 4 KiB pages — precise and simple; the extra table memory is
-//! negligible against available RAM.
+//! The physmap (the permanent window onto all physical RAM) is built with 2 MiB
+//! huge pages wherever the range is 2 MiB-aligned, falling back to 4 KiB for the
+//! unaligned edges. On a big machine that is the difference between ~16.7M page-
+//! table entries (128 MiB of tables) and ~32K — it makes both the build and the
+//! footprint scale sanely with RAM. Everything else (kernel segments, heap, user
+//! space, on-demand MMIO) stays 4 KiB: precise, and the table memory is
+//! negligible there.
 
 const boot_handoff = @import("boot-handoff");
 const abi = @import("abi");
@@ -22,10 +27,22 @@ const writable: u64 = 1 << 1;
 const user: u64 = 1 << 2; // U/S: accessible from ring 3 (must be set at every level)
 const pwt: u64 = 1 << 3; // page write-through
 const pcd: u64 = 1 << 4; // page cache disable (with PWT: strong-uncacheable under the default PAT)
+const page_size_bit: u64 = 1 << 7; // PS: this PDPT/PD entry is a 1 GiB/2 MiB leaf, not a pointer to the next table
 const device_grant: u64 = 1 << 9; // available bit: this leaf maps device MMIO, not RAM — do not reclaim
 const no_execute: u64 = 1 << 63;
 const address_mask: u64 = 0x000F_FFFF_FFFF_F000;
 
+// The PAT-index bit. In a 4 KiB PTE it is bit 7; in a huge leaf (2 MiB PDE / 1 GiB
+// PDPTE) bit 7 is PS, so the PAT bit moves to bit 12. With PCD=PWT=0 this selects
+// PAT entry 4, which `setupPat` programs to write-combining (see mapRangePhysmap).
+const pte_pat: u64 = 1 << 7;
+const huge_pat: u64 = 1 << 12;
+const ia32_pat: u32 = 0x277;
+
+/// The physmap's page size for 2 MiB-aligned RAM: one PD leaf covers this instead
+/// of 512 PT entries. 4 KiB pages fill the unaligned edges (see mapRangePhysmap).
+const huge_page_size: u64 = 2 << 20; // 2 MiB
+
 // ELF segment flags (p_flags).
 const pf_x: u32 = 1;
 const pf_w: u32 = 2;
@@ -74,7 +91,15 @@ fn allocTable() u64 {
 /// entries are writable and executable so the leaf's bits govern (a page is
 /// writable only if every level is; non-executable if any level is).
 fn descend(entry: *u64) u64 {
-    if (entry.* & present != 0) return entry.* & address_mask;
+    if (entry.* & present != 0) {
+        // A present-but-huge entry is a leaf, not a table: descending would read
+        // its 2 MiB/1 GiB data frame as a page table and corrupt RAM. This only
+        // fires on a bug — a 4 KiB map landing inside a physmap huge page — and a
+        // loud panic beats silent corruption. (The physmap and the 4 KiB regions
+        // live in disjoint PML4 slots, so it should never happen.)
+        if (entry.* & page_size_bit != 0) @panic("paging: descend through a huge-page leaf");
+        return entry.* & address_mask;
+    }
     const frame = allocTable();
     entry.* = frame | present | writable;
     return frame;
@@ -96,15 +121,39 @@ fn mapPage(pml4: u64, virtual: u64, physical: u64, flags: u64) void {
     tableAt(pt)[(virtual >> 12) & 0x1FF] = (physical & address_mask) | flags | present;
 }
 
+/// Map one 2 MiB huge page `virtual` -> `physical` with `flags` — a leaf at the PD
+/// level (PS bit set), with no PT beneath it. Both addresses must be 2 MiB-aligned.
+/// One of these replaces 512 `mapPage`s (and the PT frame they'd need).
+fn mapHugePage(pml4: u64, virtual: u64, physical: u64, flags: u64) void {
+    const pml4e = &tableAt(pml4)[(virtual >> 39) & 0x1FF];
+    if (init_done and (virtual >> 63) == 1 and pml4e.* & present == 0)
+        @panic("paging: new higher-half PML4 entry after init");
+    const pdpt = descend(pml4e);
+    const pdpte = &tableAt(pdpt)[(virtual >> 30) & 0x1FF];
+    const pd = descend(pdpte);
+    tableAt(pd)[(virtual >> 21) & 0x1FF] = (physical & address_mask) | flags | present | page_size_bit;
+}
+
 /// Map [physical_base, physical_base+len) into the physmap (at physicalToVirtual(physical)) with
 /// `flags`, rounded out to whole pages. This is how the kernel keeps a permanent
-/// window onto physical memory once the low identity map goes away.
-fn mapRangePhysmap(pml4: u64, physical_base: u64, len: u64, flags: u64) void {
+/// window onto physical memory once the low identity map goes away. The 2 MiB-
+/// aligned interior is mapped with huge pages; the unaligned head/tail with 4 KiB.
+/// `write_combining` selects the WC memory type (setupPat's PAT entry 4) via the
+/// PAT bit — bit 7 in a 4 KiB PTE, bit 12 in a huge leaf — for the framebuffer.
+fn mapRangePhysmap(pml4: u64, physical_base: u64, len: u64, flags: u64, write_combining: bool) void {
+    const pte_flags = if (write_combining) flags | pte_pat else flags;
+    const huge_flags = if (write_combining) flags | huge_pat else flags;
     var address = physical_base & ~@as(u64, page_size - 1);
     const end = physical_base + len;
-    while (address < end) : (address += page_size) {
-        mapPage(pml4, boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(address), address, flags);
-    }
+    // Head: 4 KiB pages up to the next 2 MiB boundary.
+    while (address < end and address & (huge_page_size - 1) != 0) : (address += page_size)
+        mapPage(pml4, boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(address), address, pte_flags);
+    // Interior: 2 MiB huge pages while a whole one still fits.
+    while (address + huge_page_size <= end) : (address += huge_page_size)
+        mapHugePage(pml4, boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(address), address, huge_flags);
+    // Tail: 4 KiB pages for whatever is left.
+    while (address < end) : (address += page_size)
+        mapPage(pml4, boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(address), address, pte_flags);
 }
 
 fn regions(mm: boot_handoff.MemoryMap) []const boot_handoff.MemoryRegion {
@@ -118,11 +167,26 @@ fn enableNx() void {
     io.wrmsr(efer_msr, io.rdmsr(efer_msr) | (1 << 11));
 }
 
+/// Program this core's PAT so entry 4 (selected by the PAT bit with PCD=PWT=0) is
+/// **write-combining**, leaving the other seven at their reset types. Nothing else
+/// in danos sets the PAT bit, so this changes no existing mapping — it only gives
+/// the framebuffer a write-combining type, which turns its full-screen clear from
+/// glacial (uncached writes to a GPU BAR, the real-hardware default via MTRRs) into
+/// a batched burst. Must run on **every** core (PAT is per-logical-processor) — the
+/// framebuffer mapping lives in the shared kernel half, so a core with the reset
+/// PAT would see it as write-back and alias. Called from `init` (BSP) and each AP.
+pub fn setupPat() void {
+    // Reset PAT is PA0=WB PA1=WT PA2=UC- PA3=UC PA4=WB PA5=WT PA6=UC- PA7=UC; flip
+    // PA4 from WB (0x06) to WC (0x01). Type codes: UC=0 WC=1 WT=4 WP=5 WB=6 UC-=7.
+    io.wrmsr(ia32_pat, 0x0007_0401_0007_0406);
+}
+
 /// Build the address space and switch onto it.
 pub fn init(allocFrame: *const fn () ?u64, freeFrame: *const fn (u64) void, boot_information: *const boot_handoff.BootInformation) void {
     alloc_frame = allocFrame;
     free_frame = freeFrame;
     enableNx();
+    setupPat(); // BSP: PAT entry 4 = write-combining, for the framebuffer window
     const pml4 = allocTable();
 
     // 1. All RAM in the physmap (physicalToVirtual(physical)) RW + NX. No identity/low-half
@@ -130,13 +194,15 @@ pub fn init(allocFrame: *const fn () ?u64, freeFrame: *const fn (u64) void, boot
     //    mapped on demand (mapMmio) or explicitly below.
     for (regions(boot_information.memory_map)) |r| {
         if (r.kind == .mmio) continue;
-        mapRangePhysmap(pml4, r.base, r.pages * page_size, present | writable | no_execute);
+        mapRangePhysmap(pml4, r.base, r.pages * page_size, present | writable | no_execute, false);
     }
 
     // 2. Physmap windows for the framebuffer and the Local APIC (device memory
-    //    the kernel touches directly), RW + NX.
+    //    the kernel touches directly), RW + NX. The framebuffer is **write-
+    //    combining** (see setupPat) so the console's full-screen clear is a burst,
+    //    not millions of uncached single-word writes.
     const fb = boot_information.framebuffer;
-    mapRangePhysmap(pml4, fb.base, @as(u64, fb.height) * fb.pitch, present | writable | no_execute);
+    mapRangePhysmap(pml4, fb.base, @as(u64, fb.height) * fb.pitch, present | writable | no_execute, true);
     mapPage(pml4, boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(0xFEE00000), 0xFEE00000, present | writable | no_execute);
 
     // 3. The kernel's own segments at their higher-half link addresses, mapped
@@ -254,8 +320,12 @@ pub fn mapUserInto(pml4: u64, virtual: u64, physical: u64, writable_page: bool,
 /// RAM allocator (`freeSubtree`). RW + NX; the caller places `virtual` in a
 /// user-exclusive range (PML4[225]). Both `virtual` and `physical` are page-aligned by
 /// the caller; a sub-page `physical` offset is the caller's to re-apply.
-pub fn mapUserDeviceInto(pml4: u64, virtual: u64, physical: u64, len: u64) void {
-    const flags: u64 = present | user | writable | no_execute | pcd | pwt | device_grant;
+pub fn mapUserDeviceInto(pml4: u64, virtual: u64, physical: u64, len: u64, write_combining: bool) void {
+    // Registers are strong-uncacheable (PCD|PWT). A framebuffer instead wants
+    // write-combining — the PAT bit (bit 7 in a 4 KiB PTE) with PCD=PWT=0 selects PAT
+    // entry 4, which `setupPat` programs to WC — so pixel writes batch into bursts.
+    const cache: u64 = if (write_combining) pte_pat else (pcd | pwt);
+    const flags: u64 = present | user | writable | no_execute | device_grant | cache;
     const first = physical & ~@as(u64, page_size - 1);
     const last = (physical + (if (len == 0) 1 else len) - 1) & ~@as(u64, page_size - 1);
     var off: u64 = 0;
@@ -296,6 +366,57 @@ pub fn mapUserDmaInto(pml4: u64, virtual: u64, physical: u64, len: u64) void {
     }
 }
 
+/// The raw leaf entry mapping `virtual` in the address space rooted at `pml4`, or null
+/// if any level of the walk is absent. **Read-only** — never allocates or descends into
+/// a missing table (unlike the `map*` paths' `descendUser`). Stops at the first huge
+/// leaf. For tests and introspection that need a page's actual flag bits.
+pub fn leafEntryOf(pml4: u64, virtual: u64) ?u64 {
+    const l4 = tableAt(pml4)[(virtual >> 39) & 0x1FF];
+    if (l4 & present == 0) return null;
+    const l3 = tableAt(l4 & address_mask)[(virtual >> 30) & 0x1FF];
+    if (l3 & present == 0) return null;
+    if (l3 & page_size_bit != 0) return l3; // 1 GiB leaf
+    const l2 = tableAt(l3 & address_mask)[(virtual >> 21) & 0x1FF];
+    if (l2 & present == 0) return null;
+    if (l2 & page_size_bit != 0) return l2; // 2 MiB leaf
+    const l1 = tableAt(l2 & address_mask)[(virtual >> 12) & 0x1FF];
+    if (l1 & present == 0) return null;
+    return l1;
+}
+
+/// Is the 4 KiB leaf mapping `virtual` write-combining — the PAT bit set with PCD and
+/// PWT clear, which `setupPat` makes PAT entry 4 (WC)? Null if unmapped. The device
+/// mapping path (`mapUserDeviceInto`) always uses 4 KiB leaves, so bit 7 (`pte_pat`)
+/// is the PAT selector in play.
+pub fn leafIsWriteCombining(pml4: u64, virtual: u64) ?bool {
+    const e = leafEntryOf(pml4, virtual) orelse return null;
+    return (e & pte_pat != 0) and (e & pcd == 0) and (e & pwt == 0);
+}
+
+/// Map `[physical, physical+len)` into the user half rooted at `pml4` as **shared cacheable
+/// RAM**: write-back cacheable (RW + NX) for CPU compositing, and carrying `device_grant`
+/// so teardown (`freeSubtree`) does **not** return the frames to the allocator. The frames
+/// are owned by a refcounted shared-memory object (system/kernel/ipc-synchronous.zig) and
+/// freed only when its last capability drops — not when one sharer's address space dies, or
+/// the other sharers would be left mapping freed RAM. The caller aligns `virtual`/`physical`.
+pub fn mapUserSharedInto(pml4: u64, virtual: u64, physical: u64, len: u64) void {
+    const flags: u64 = present | user | writable | no_execute | device_grant; // WB cacheable
+    const first = physical & ~@as(u64, page_size - 1);
+    const last = (physical + (if (len == 0) 1 else len) - 1) & ~@as(u64, page_size - 1);
+    var off: u64 = 0;
+    while (first + off <= last) : (off += page_size) {
+        const v = virtual + off;
+        const pml4e = &tableAt(pml4)[(v >> 39) & 0x1FF];
+        const pdpt = descendUser(pml4e);
+        const pdpte = &tableAt(pdpt)[(v >> 30) & 0x1FF];
+        const pd = descendUser(pdpte);
+        const pde = &tableAt(pd)[(v >> 21) & 0x1FF];
+        const pt = descendUser(pde);
+        tableAt(pt)[(v >> 12) & 0x1FF] = ((first + off) & address_mask) | flags;
+        invalidate(v);
+    }
+}
+
 /// Create a new address space: a fresh PML4 with an empty user half and the
 /// kernel's higher half shared in (copying PML4[256..512), whose entries point
 /// at the kernel's PDPTs — pre-created at init and never restaled, so growth in
@@ -338,8 +459,8 @@ fn freeSubtree(physical: u64, level: u32) void {
 }
 
 /// Whether `virtual` is currently mapped **executable** — present with the NX bit
-/// clear. Walks the 4-level tables (all danos mappings are 4 KiB, so no huge-page
-/// case). Returns false if unmapped. Used for W^X checks in tests.
+/// clear. Walks the 4-level tables, stopping at a 2 MiB huge-page leaf (the physmap
+/// uses them). Returns false if unmapped. Used for W^X checks in tests.
 pub fn isExecutable(virtual: u64) bool {
     const pml4e = tableAt(kernel_pml4)[(virtual >> 39) & 0x1FF];
     if (pml4e & present == 0) return false;
@@ -347,6 +468,7 @@ pub fn isExecutable(virtual: u64) bool {
     if (pdpte & present == 0) return false;
     const pde = tableAt(pdpte & address_mask)[(virtual >> 21) & 0x1FF];
     if (pde & present == 0) return false;
+    if (pde & page_size_bit != 0) return pde & no_execute == 0; // 2 MiB huge leaf
     const pte = tableAt(pde & address_mask)[(virtual >> 12) & 0x1FF];
     if (pte & present == 0) return false;
     return pte & no_execute == 0;
@@ -385,9 +507,9 @@ pub fn unmapInto(pml4: u64, virtual: u64) void {
 /// Resolve a virtual address to a physical one in the address space rooted at
 /// `pml4`, walking the tables through the physmap (CR3-independent — works for
 /// any address space, not just the live one). Returns null if `virtual` is not
-/// mapped at any level. All danos mappings are 4 KiB, so there is no huge-page
-/// case. The foundation for cross-address-space copies and for munmap (which
-/// needs the frame behind a user vaddr to free it).
+/// mapped at any level. Stops at a 2 MiB huge-page leaf (the physmap uses them),
+/// resolving the offset within it. The foundation for cross-address-space copies
+/// and for munmap (which needs the frame behind a user vaddr to free it).
 pub fn translateIn(pml4: u64, virtual: u64) ?u64 {
     const pml4e = tableAt(pml4)[(virtual >> 39) & 0x1FF];
     if (pml4e & present == 0) return null;
@@ -395,6 +517,8 @@ pub fn translateIn(pml4: u64, virtual: u64) ?u64 {
     if (pdpte & present == 0) return null;
     const pde = tableAt(pdpte & address_mask)[(virtual >> 21) & 0x1FF];
     if (pde & present == 0) return null;
+    if (pde & page_size_bit != 0) // 2 MiB huge leaf: frame base is bits 51:21
+        return (pde & address_mask & ~@as(u64, huge_page_size - 1)) | (virtual & (huge_page_size - 1));
     const pte = tableAt(pde & address_mask)[(virtual >> 12) & 0x1FF];
     if (pte & present == 0) return null;
     return (pte & address_mask) | (virtual & (page_size - 1));

system/kernel/architecture/x86_64/serial.zig

@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@ const Access = enum { port, mmio };
 var access: Access = .port;
 var base: u64 = 0x3F8; // COM1
 
+/// Whether `init`/`reconfigure` found a *working* UART at `base`. False on a
+/// legacy-free machine whose COM1 is decoded but dead: writing to it is then a
+/// no-op, so `write` never spins waiting for a transmit register that will never
+/// drain. Cleared until proven by the loopback probe.
+var uart_present: bool = false;
+
 fn portOut(p: u16, value: u8) void {
     asm volatile ("outb %[value], %[p]"
         :
@@ -57,6 +63,34 @@ pub fn init() void {
     setRegister(3, 0x03); // 8 bits, no parity, one stop bit; DLAB off
     setRegister(2, 0xC7); // enable + clear FIFO, 14-byte threshold
     setRegister(4, 0x0B); // RTS/DSR set
+    uart_present = probe();
+}
+
+/// Detect a *working* UART by internal loopback: route the transmitter back to
+/// the receiver (MCR bit 4), send a byte, and check it comes back. A port that is
+/// merely decoded but has nothing behind it (the common case on a legacy-free
+/// board that still answers I/O at 0x3F8) never echoes, so this returns false.
+///
+/// This matters for speed, not just correctness: a dead UART's line-status
+/// register reads back 0x00, so its transmit-holding-empty bit never sets, and
+/// `writeByte` would otherwise spin its full guard — tens of milliseconds — on
+/// *every* logged byte. On real hardware that alone can add ~a minute to boot.
+fn probe() bool {
+    const saved_mcr = register(4);
+    setRegister(4, 0x1E); // MCR: LOOP | OUT2 | OUT1 | RTS — internal loopback
+    setRegister(0, 0xAE); // push a distinctive byte into the loopback path
+    var guard: u32 = 0;
+    while (register(5) & 0x01 == 0 and guard < 10_000) : (guard += 1) {} // await Data Ready
+    const echo = register(0);
+    setRegister(4, saved_mcr); // restore the modem-control lines
+    return echo == 0xAE;
+}
+
+/// Whether a working UART was detected (see `probe`). The log sink stays
+/// registered regardless — it simply does nothing until this is true — so a UART
+/// that only `reconfigure` discovers (via SPCR) still starts logging.
+pub fn present() bool {
+    return uart_present;
 }
 
 /// Point the console at the UART ACPI's SPCR table names (MMIO or I/O port) and
@@ -70,15 +104,19 @@ pub fn reconfigure(is_mmio: bool, address: u64) void {
 }
 
 fn writeByte(c: u8) void {
-    // Wait for the transmit-holding register to empty — but bounded, so an absent
-    // UART (whose line-status register reads back as 0x00) can't hang the kernel.
+    // Wait for the transmit-holding register to empty. `write` only reaches here
+    // for a UART the loopback probe proved live, so this bounds a momentary stall
+    // (e.g. deasserted flow control), not an absent port: ~5000 legacy-port reads
+    // is a few ms — comfortably longer than one 38400-baud byte-time (~260 µs).
     var guard: u32 = 0;
-    while (register(5) & 0x20 == 0 and guard < 100_000) : (guard += 1) {}
+    while (register(5) & 0x20 == 0 and guard < 5_000) : (guard += 1) {}
     setRegister(0, c);
 }
 
-/// Write bytes, translating LF to CRLF so terminals and logs line up.
+/// Write bytes, translating LF to CRLF so terminals and logs line up. A no-op
+/// when no working UART was detected, so a dead COM1 costs nothing per byte.
 pub fn write(bytes: []const u8) void {
+    if (!uart_present) return;
     for (bytes) |c| {
         if (c == '\n') writeByte('\r');
         writeByte(c);

system/kernel/architecture/x86_64/smp.zig

@@ -173,6 +173,7 @@ fn delayMicros(us: u64) void {
 /// signals the BSP, then jumps to the generic scheduler entry. Never returns.
 fn apEntry(percpu: usize) callconv(.c) noreturn {
     const cpu = boot_index;
+    paging.setupPat(); // this core's PAT: entry 4 = write-combining, to match the BSP
     gdt.loadOnThisCpu(cpu); // this core's GDT (with its own TSS slot)
     tss.setupThisCpu(cpu); // this core's TSS + IST stack, loaded into TR
     idt.loadOnThisCpu(); // the shared IDT

system/kernel/console.zig

@@ -2,12 +2,15 @@
 //! into the linear framebuffer the bootloader handed us. No firmware, no driver
 //! — just pixels.
 //!
-//! This is a **bootstrap** console — a stop-gap so early boot has something on
-//! screen. The framebuffer is a general graphics surface, *not* inherently a text
-//! terminal; once the driver machinery exists it becomes a proper graphics device
-//! driver and this text-grid crutch goes away. It is therefore kept **separate
-//! from the diagnostic [log](log.zig)** — the log fans out to serial/debugcon/file,
-//! while this only paints the handful of user-facing status lines and panics.
+//! This is a **bootstrap / fatal-fallback** console. The driver machinery now exists — the
+//! user-space **display service** ([../services/display](../services/display/display.zig),
+//! docs/display.md) owns the framebuffer in normal operation — so this no longer paints
+//! routine status. It exists for the two cases the display service can't cover: **early
+//! boot**, before the service has claimed the framebuffer, and **fatal errors** (a kernel
+//! panic or a kernel-mode fault), which force it back on (`setSuppressed`) so a dying
+//! machine's last words reach the screen even over a live display. It is kept **separate
+//! from the diagnostic [log](log.zig)** — the log fans out to serial/debugcon/file and
+//! carries all routine kernel output; this only paints those fatal cases.
 //!
 //! The module owns a single console and a `present` flag; `write` is a no-op when
 //! the firmware handed over no framebuffer (a headless machine), so the kernel
@@ -20,6 +23,12 @@ const boot_handoff = @import("boot-handoff");
 var con: Console = undefined;
 var con_present: bool = false;
 
+/// Set while a user-space display service owns the framebuffer: `write` falls silent so
+/// the kernel doesn't paint over the compositor. Driven by the display device's
+/// claim/release (system/kernel/process.zig). The terminal panic/exception paths clear
+/// it first (`setSuppressed(false)`) — a dying machine's message wins over any display.
+var suppressed: bool = false;
+
 /// Set up the console over `fb`, or mark it absent if there's no usable
 /// framebuffer. Clears the screen when present.
 pub fn init(fb: boot_handoff.Framebuffer) void {
@@ -41,13 +50,20 @@ pub fn present() bool {
     return con_present;
 }
 
-/// Output sink: draw `bytes` on screen. A no-op when no framebuffer is present,
-/// so it's always safe to call.
+/// Output sink: draw `bytes` on screen. A no-op when no framebuffer is present, or
+/// while a display service owns the screen (`suppressed`), so it's always safe to call.
 pub fn write(bytes: []const u8) void {
-    if (!con_present) return;
+    if (!con_present or suppressed) return;
     for (bytes) |c| con.putChar(c);
 }
 
+/// Quiesce (or resume) the bootstrap console. Set true when a display service claims the
+/// framebuffer; set false when that claim is released, or by the panic path to force a
+/// last message onto a screen a (now-irrelevant) service was holding.
+pub fn setSuppressed(value: bool) void {
+    suppressed = value;
+}
+
 /// The console font, embedded at compile time. cp850-8x16, PSF2 format:
 /// a 32-byte header, then 256 glyphs of 16 bytes each (one byte per 8-pixel
 /// row). We index glyphs straight by byte value, so ASCII maps 1:1.

system/kernel/devices-broker.zig

@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ var devices: [maximum_devices]device_abi.DeviceDescriptor = undefined;
 var claimed: [maximum_devices]?u32 = .{null} ** maximum_devices; // owner task id, or null
 var count: usize = 0;
 
+/// The id of the seeded framebuffer node (`seedDisplay`), or null when the machine
+/// handed over no framebuffer. Lets the process layer recognise the display claim
+/// (to quiesce the bootstrap console) without threading the id through every caller.
+var display_device: ?u64 = null;
+
 /// Devices discovery found but the table had no room for. Non-zero means the machine
 /// is bigger than `maximum_devices` and some hardware is simply invisible to drivers —
 /// which would otherwise be an entirely silent failure. Logged at boot.
@@ -45,10 +50,55 @@ pub var dropped: usize = 0;
 pub fn init(device_tree: *const platform.DeviceTree) void {
     count = 0;
     dropped = 0;
+    display_device = null;
     for (&claimed) |*c| c.* = null;
     walk(device_tree.root, device_abi.no_parent);
 }
 
+/// Publish the loader's framebuffer as a `display` device — a root-level node with one
+/// write-combining `memory` resource over the linear framebuffer and its geometry in
+/// `.display`. The framebuffer is *not* firmware-discovered (it rides the
+/// [[boot-handoff]], not the device tree), so it is seeded explicitly, after `init`.
+/// Returns the new device id, or null when there is no framebuffer (headless) or the
+/// table is full. Idempotent-ish: only ever call once per boot.
+pub fn seedDisplay(base: u64, width: u32, height: u32, pitch: u32, format: u32) ?u64 {
+    if (base == 0 or width == 0 or height == 0) return null; // headless
+    if (count >= maximum_devices) {
+        dropped += 1;
+        return null;
+    }
+    var d = std.mem.zeroes(device_abi.DeviceDescriptor);
+    d.id = count;
+    d.parent = device_abi.no_parent;
+    d.class = @intFromEnum(device_abi.DeviceClass.display);
+    d.pci_class = device_abi.no_pci_class;
+    d.resource_count = 1;
+    d.resources[0] = .{
+        .kind = @intFromEnum(device_abi.ResourceKind.memory),
+        .start = base,
+        .len = @as(u64, height) * pitch,
+        .flags = device_abi.resource_flag_write_combining,
+    };
+    d.display = .{ .width = width, .height = height, .pitch = pitch, .format = format };
+    devices[count] = d;
+    display_device = d.id;
+    count += 1;
+    return d.id;
+}
+
+/// The id of the seeded framebuffer device, or null when none was seeded.
+pub fn displayDevice() ?u64 {
+    return display_device;
+}
+
+/// Whether the framebuffer device is currently claimed by some process. The bootstrap
+/// console uses this (via the process layer) to fall silent while a display service
+/// owns the screen, and to resume if that service dies and its claim is released.
+pub fn displayClaimed() bool {
+    const id = display_device orelse return false;
+    return ownerOf(id) != null;
+}
+
 /// Record `node` (unless it's the synthetic root) and recurse, threading the id we
 /// assigned it down to its children as their parent.
 fn walk(node: *platform.Device, parent_id: u64) void {

system/kernel/ipc-synchronous.zig

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ const architecture = @import("architecture");
 const scheduler = @import("scheduler.zig");
 const sync = @import("sync.zig");
 const heap = @import("heap.zig");
+const pmm = @import("pmm.zig");
 
 const page_size = abi.page_size;
 const Task = scheduler.Task;
@@ -89,6 +90,10 @@ const user_half_end: u64 = 0x0000_8000_0000_0000;
 /// (per process) and/or by a registry slot, counted by `refcount`.
 pub const Endpoint = struct {
     refcount: u32 = 1,
+    // The task that created it. When that task dies, the endpoint is marked `dead` so a caller
+    // gets -EPEER instead of blocking forever on a service that will never reply again (V6).
+    owner: u32 = 0,
+    dead: bool = false,
     // Callers blocked in `call`, awaiting receive, in FIFO order (threaded via
     // Task.next; each such task is .blocked and in no scheduler queue).
     sender_head: ?*Task = null,
@@ -109,10 +114,30 @@ pub const Endpoint = struct {
 
 pub fn createIpcEndpoint() ?*Endpoint {
     const endpoint = heap.allocator().create(Endpoint) catch return null;
-    endpoint.* = .{};
+    endpoint.* = .{ .owner = scheduler.currentId() };
     return endpoint;
 }
 
+/// A task is dying: kill the endpoints it registered as services. Mark each `dead` (so a later
+/// `call` returns -EPEER rather than blocking on a reply that will never come), wake anyone
+/// already parked sending to it with that error, and vacate its registry slot. Only *registered*
+/// endpoints are reachable from here; unregistered ones drop with the task's handle table. The
+/// caller holds the big kernel lock (this runs on the death path). See docs/display-v2.md (V6).
+pub fn killOwnedEndpointsLocked(task_id: u32) void {
+    for (&registry) |*slot| {
+        const endpoint = slot.* orelse continue;
+        if (endpoint.owner != task_id) continue;
+        endpoint.dead = true;
+        while (dequeueSender(endpoint)) |sender| {
+            sender.ipc_status = -EPEER;
+            sender.ipc_received_cap = abi.no_cap;
+            scheduler.readyLocked(sender);
+        }
+        slot.* = null;
+        dropRef(endpoint);
+    }
+}
+
 /// Drop a reference; free the endpoint when the last one goes. (Frames are leaked
 /// today like other kernel objects — but the refcount bookkeeping lands now.)
 pub fn dropRef(endpoint: *Endpoint) void {
@@ -123,6 +148,43 @@ pub fn dropRef(endpoint: *Endpoint) void {
     }
 }
 
+// --- capability objects: what a handle-table entry can name ------------------
+
+/// The `kind` tag on a `scheduler.HandleObject` — which capability object a handle names.
+/// Defined here (not in scheduler) because the meaning is the IPC/capability layer's.
+pub const handle_kind_endpoint: u8 = 0;
+pub const handle_kind_shm: u8 = 1;
+
+/// A page-aligned block of **shared cacheable RAM** (docs/display-v2.md), referenced by
+/// capability handles across processes and freed when the last one drops. `phys` is its
+/// contiguous physical base, `pages` its length. A sharer's address-space teardown never
+/// reclaims these frames (the mapping carries `device_grant`); this object owns them.
+pub const ShmObject = struct {
+    refcount: u32 = 1,
+    phys: u64,
+    pages: usize,
+};
+
+/// Wrap `pages` contiguous frames at `phys` (already allocated + zeroed by the caller) in a
+/// refcounted shm object, or null if the heap is out of room.
+pub fn createShm(phys: u64, pages: usize) ?*ShmObject {
+    const shm = heap.allocator().create(ShmObject) catch return null;
+    shm.* = .{ .phys = phys, .pages = pages };
+    return shm;
+}
+
+/// Drop a shared-memory reference; when the last one goes, return its frames to the
+/// allocator and free the object. (The mappings themselves are torn down with each
+/// sharer's address space; `device_grant` keeps that from freeing the frames early.)
+pub fn dropShmRef(shm: *ShmObject) void {
+    if (shm.refcount > 1) {
+        shm.refcount -= 1;
+    } else {
+        for (0..shm.pages) |i| pmm.free(shm.phys + i * page_size);
+        heap.allocator().destroy(shm);
+    }
+}
+
 // --- sender FIFO (endpoint-local, via Task.next) ----------------------------
 
 fn enqueueSender(endpoint: *Endpoint, t: *Task) void {
@@ -222,11 +284,25 @@ pub fn copyFromUser(user_as: u64, user_va: u64, destination: []u8) bool {
 /// no live handle, or `-ENOSPC` if `to`'s table is full. Callers only invoke this when
 /// `cap != no_cap`. Used by both IPC directions to carry an endpoint with a message.
 fn shareCapability(from: *Task, to: *Task, cap: u64) i64 {
-    const endpoint = resolveHandle(from, cap) orelse return -EBADF;
-    endpoint.refcount += 1;
-    const handle = installHandle(to, endpoint);
+    if (cap >= from.handles.len) return -EBADF;
+    const entry = from.handles[@intCast(cap)] orelse return -EBADF;
+    // Bump the named object's refcount (a copy, not a move — the sender keeps its handle),
+    // dispatching by kind so both endpoints and shared-memory regions can travel with a
+    // message.
+    switch (entry.kind) {
+        handle_kind_endpoint => {
+            const e: *Endpoint = @ptrCast(@alignCast(entry.ptr));
+            e.refcount += 1;
+        },
+        handle_kind_shm => {
+            const s: *ShmObject = @ptrCast(@alignCast(entry.ptr));
+            s.refcount += 1;
+        },
+        else => return -EBADF,
+    }
+    const handle = installEntry(to, entry);
     if (handle < 0) {
-        dropRef(endpoint); // undo the bump; the receiver had no room
+        dropEntry(entry); // undo the bump; the receiver had no room
         return -ENOSPC;
     }
     return handle;
@@ -241,6 +317,7 @@ pub fn call(endpoint: *Endpoint, message_ptr: u64, message_len: u64, reply_ptr:
     if (message_len > MESSAGE_MAXIMUM or reply_cap > MESSAGE_MAXIMUM) return -E2BIG;
     const flags = sync.enter();
     defer sync.leave(flags);
+    if (endpoint.dead) return -EPEER; // the service that owned this endpoint is gone — don't block
 
     const me = scheduler.current();
     me.ipc_send_ptr = message_ptr;
@@ -416,36 +493,68 @@ pub fn notifyFromIsr(endpoint: *Endpoint, badge: u64) void {
 
 // --- per-process handle table + name registry -------------------------------
 
-/// Install `endpoint` in task `t`'s handle table; returns the small-int handle or
-/// -ENOSPC. The caller has already taken/holds the reference the slot represents.
-pub fn installHandle(t: *Task, endpoint: *Endpoint) i64 {
+/// Install a capability object (kind + pointer) in task `t`'s handle table; returns the
+/// small-int handle or -ENOSPC. The caller has already taken/holds the reference the slot
+/// represents.
+fn installEntry(t: *Task, entry: scheduler.HandleObject) i64 {
     for (&t.handles, 0..) |*slot, i| {
         if (slot.* == null) {
-            slot.* = @ptrCast(endpoint);
+            slot.* = entry;
             return @intCast(i);
         }
     }
     return -ENOSPC;
 }
 
-/// Resolve a handle to its endpoint, or null if out of range / unused.
-pub fn resolveHandle(t: *Task, h: u64) ?*Endpoint {
-    if (h >= t.handles.len) return null;
-    const slot = t.handles[@intCast(h)] orelse return null;
-    return @ptrCast(@alignCast(slot));
+/// Install an endpoint handle. The common case; keeps the endpoint callers' signature.
+pub fn installHandle(t: *Task, endpoint: *Endpoint) i64 {
+    return installEntry(t, .{ .kind = handle_kind_endpoint, .ptr = @ptrCast(endpoint) });
 }
 
-/// Drop every endpoint reference an exiting task holds. Called from the scheduler
-/// exit path so a dead server's endpoints don't linger referenced.
+/// Install a shared-memory handle.
+pub fn installShmHandle(t: *Task, shm: *ShmObject) i64 {
+    return installEntry(t, .{ .kind = handle_kind_shm, .ptr = @ptrCast(shm) });
+}
+
+/// Resolve a handle to its endpoint, or null if out of range, unused, or a different kind
+/// (e.g. an shm handle used where an endpoint is expected).
+pub fn resolveHandle(t: *Task, h: u64) ?*Endpoint {
+    if (h >= t.handles.len) return null;
+    const entry = t.handles[@intCast(h)] orelse return null;
+    if (entry.kind != handle_kind_endpoint) return null;
+    return @ptrCast(@alignCast(entry.ptr));
+}
+
+/// Resolve a handle to its shared-memory object, or null if out of range, unused, or not
+/// an shm handle.
+pub fn resolveShm(t: *Task, h: u64) ?*ShmObject {
+    if (h >= t.handles.len) return null;
+    const entry = t.handles[@intCast(h)] orelse return null;
+    if (entry.kind != handle_kind_shm) return null;
+    return @ptrCast(@alignCast(entry.ptr));
+}
+
+/// Drop every capability reference an exiting task holds, dispatching by kind so a dead
+/// task's endpoints *and* shared-memory regions are released correctly. Called from the
+/// scheduler exit path.
 pub fn closeHandles(t: *Task) void {
     for (&t.handles) |*slot| {
-        if (slot.*) |p| {
-            dropRef(@ptrCast(@alignCast(p)));
+        if (slot.*) |entry| {
+            dropEntry(entry);
             slot.* = null;
         }
     }
 }
 
+/// Drop the reference a handle-table entry represents, by kind.
+fn dropEntry(entry: scheduler.HandleObject) void {
+    switch (entry.kind) {
+        handle_kind_endpoint => dropRef(@ptrCast(@alignCast(entry.ptr))),
+        handle_kind_shm => dropShmRef(@ptrCast(@alignCast(entry.ptr))),
+        else => {},
+    }
+}
+
 var registry: [maximum_services]?*Endpoint = .{null} ** maximum_services;
 
 /// Publish `endpoint` under well-known `id` (takes a reference). Returns 0 or -errno.

system/kernel/kernel.zig

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ const wall_clock = @import("wall-clock.zig");
 const pmm = @import("pmm.zig");
 const heap = @import("heap.zig");
 const scheduler = @import("scheduler.zig");
+const sync = @import("sync.zig");
 const process = @import("process.zig");
 const devices_broker = @import("devices-broker.zig");
 const irq = @import("irq.zig");
@@ -60,8 +61,16 @@ fn kmain(boot_information: *const BootInformation) noreturn {
     // file on a ramdisk/USB/SSD), so a message survives as long as any is present.
     // A headless, serial-less machine still boots correctly — it just goes quiet,
     // with port-0x80 checkpoints as the only progress signal.
-    architecture.serialInit();
-    log.addSink(architecture.serialWrite);
+    //
+    // Serial is compiled in only under -Dserial (build.zig): a real machine often
+    // has no live legacy COM1, and the log survives in the RAM buffer (below) and
+    // is flushed to disk — so serial is now a QEMU/dev convenience the flashable
+    // image leaves out. When it *is* built in, `serialInit`'s loopback probe still
+    // guards against a dead port (so a -Dserial image is safe on real hardware).
+    if (build_options.serial) {
+        architecture.serialInit();
+        log.addSink(architecture.serialWrite);
+    }
     if (architecture.debugconPresent()) log.addSink(architecture.debugconWrite);
     // Retain the whole stream in a RAM buffer too, so a user program can later
     // read it back (klog_read) and persist the boot log to disk — the only way to
@@ -72,8 +81,14 @@ fn kmain(boot_information: *const BootInformation) noreturn {
     // surface — a bootstrap text console today, a graphics device driver later — so
     // we never assume the OS is text-based. Only a few user-facing status lines
     // (via `status`) and panics are mirrored to it; the verbose log stays out.
+    //
+    // The console is brought up *after* paging (below), not here: its one-time
+    // full-screen clear then runs on the kernel's **write-combining** mapping of the
+    // framebuffer instead of the loader's uncached one — a fast burst rather than
+    // millions of uncached writes on real hardware. Until then, on-screen output is
+    // absent (an early panic still lands in the serial/RAM log); the trade is worth
+    // a near-instant boot. `console.write` is a safe no-op while the console is down.
     const fb = boot_information.framebuffer;
-    console.init(fb);
 
     log.checkpoint(cp_entry);
 
@@ -83,10 +98,10 @@ fn kmain(boot_information: *const BootInformation) noreturn {
     architecture.init();
 
     status("/system/kernel: initialising kernel...\n");
-    log.write(if (console.present())
-        "/system/kernel: framebuffer console online (bootstrap; graphics driver later)\n"
+    if (build_options.serial) log.write(if (architecture.serialPresent())
+        "/system/kernel: serial console online (COM1)\n"
     else
-        "/system/kernel: no framebuffer (headless) -> logging to serial/debugcon only\n");
+        "/system/kernel: no serial UART (COM1 absent) -> log kept in RAM/debugcon\n");
     log.write("/system/kernel: cpu tables online (GDT, IDT, TSS)\n");
     log.print("  resolution : {d}x{d}\n", .{ fb.width, fb.height });
     log.print("  pitch      : {d} bytes\n", .{fb.pitch});
@@ -142,6 +157,16 @@ fn kmain(boot_information: *const BootInformation) noreturn {
     log.print("  page tables: root = 0x{x:0>16}\n", .{architecture.activePageTable()});
     log.print("  kernel segs: {d} (mapped with W^X permissions)\n", .{boot_information.kernel_segment_count});
 
+    // Now on our own tables, the framebuffer window is write-combining: bring up the
+    // on-screen console and clear it to a blank canvas (a fast burst here, not the loader's
+    // uncached crawl). Routine boot output goes only to the log; this console now exists for
+    // early-boot and fatal (`fatal`/panic) output, until the display service takes over.
+    console.init(fb);
+    log.write(if (console.present())
+        "/system/kernel: framebuffer ready (early-boot + fatal fallback; the display service drives it in normal operation)\n"
+    else
+        "/system/kernel: no framebuffer (headless) -> logging to serial/debugcon only\n");
+
     // Bring up the kernel heap (dynamic allocation), built on the VMM.
     heap.init();
     log.checkpoint(cp_heap);
@@ -172,25 +197,24 @@ fn kmain(boot_information: *const BootInformation) noreturn {
             log.print("/system/kernel: WARNING {d} device(s) dropped — table full\n", .{devices_broker.dropped});
         }
 
+        // Publish the loader's framebuffer as a claimable `display` device, so a
+        // user-space display service can take it over the same claim + mmio_map path as
+        // any other hardware (it is not firmware-discovered; it rides the boot handoff).
+        if (devices_broker.seedDisplay(fb.base, fb.width, fb.height, fb.pitch, @intFromEnum(fb.format))) |display_id| {
+            log.print("/system/kernel: framebuffer device {d} seeded ({d}x{d}, pitch {d}, write-combining)\n", .{ display_id, fb.width, fb.height, fb.pitch });
+        }
+
         // Install the device-IRQ trampolines, so a driver's irq_bind has vectors to
         // land on. Every line stays masked until something binds it (ioapic.init).
         irq.init();
 
-        // Power register map extracted from the FADT + AML, for confidence it parsed.
+        // Power register map, from the FADT (the SLP_TYP sleep values live in AML,
+        // which the kernel doesn't parse — the ring-3 acpi service owns soft-off).
         const pw = platform.powerInformation();
         log.write("/system/kernel: power\n");
         log.print("  pm1a_cnt   : {s} 0x{x} (width {d})\n", .{ if (pw.pm1a_cnt.mmio) "mmio" else "io", pw.pm1a_cnt.address, pw.pm1a_cnt.width });
-        if (pw.s5) |s| {
-            log.print("  S5 slp_typ : a={d} b={d}\n", .{ s.slp_typ_a, s.slp_typ_b });
-        } else {
-            log.write("  S5 slp_typ : (not found)\n");
-        }
         log.print("  reset      : supported={} {s} 0x{x} val 0x{x}\n", .{ pw.reset_supported, if (pw.reset.mmio) "mmio" else "io", pw.reset.address, pw.reset_value });
 
-        // AML namespace parse integrity: consumed should equal total.
-        const am = platform.amlStats();
-        log.print("  aml        : {d} namespace nodes, parsed {d}/{d} bytes\n", .{ am.nodes, am.consumed, am.total });
-
         // Feed the architecture layer the discovered addresses/facts so it makes no legacy
         // assumptions — the point of all this on UEFI Class 3 firmware. MMIO bases
         // (HPET, I/O APIC) come from the device tree; scalar facts from ACPI.
@@ -392,11 +416,22 @@ fn bringUpSecondaries() void {
     log.print("/system/kernel: {d}/{d} cores online\n", .{ scheduler.onlineCount(), cores.len });
 }
 
-/// A user-facing status line: to the diagnostic `log` *and* the on-screen console
-/// (if a framebuffer is present). The verbose log uses `log.*` directly and never
-/// touches the framebuffer.
+/// A user-facing status line. Now that the user-space **display service** owns the
+/// framebuffer in normal operation (docs/display.md), routine kernel output goes to the
+/// diagnostic `log` (serial/debugcon/RAM) *only* — never to the on-screen console, which
+/// the compositor is about to paint over. For a message that must reach the screen even so
+/// — a panic or a fatal fault, when the machine is going down — use `fatal`.
 fn status(message: []const u8) void {
     log.write(message);
+}
+
+/// A fatal, user-facing message: to the diagnostic log *and* the on-screen console, forcing
+/// the console back on (`setSuppressed(false)`) first — a dying machine's last words outrank
+/// any display service holding the framebuffer. The console is otherwise silent in normal
+/// operation (see `status`); it exists now only for early-boot and fatal output.
+fn fatal(message: []const u8) void {
+    log.write(message);
+    console.setSuppressed(false);
     console.write(message);
 }
 
@@ -405,6 +440,11 @@ fn statusPrint(comptime fmt: []const u8, args: anytype) void {
     status(std.fmt.bufPrint(&buffer, fmt, args) catch return);
 }
 
+fn fatalPrint(comptime fmt: []const u8, args: anytype) void {
+    var buffer: [256]u8 = undefined;
+    fatal(std.fmt.bufPrint(&buffer, fmt, args) catch return);
+}
+
 /// Frames (4 KiB pages) to whole MiB.
 fn mib(pages: u64) u64 {
     return pages * abi.page_size / (1024 * 1024);
@@ -465,16 +505,25 @@ fn onException(state: *const architecture.CpuState) noreturn {
 
     log.checkpoint(cp_exception);
     const core = scheduler.currentCpuIndex();
-    // A fault is user-facing enough to paint on screen too (via statusPrint), on
-    // top of the diagnostic log.
-    statusPrint("\nCPU EXCEPTION on core {d}: {s} (vector {d})\n", .{ core, architecture.exceptionName(state.vector), state.vector });
-    statusPrint("  error code : 0x{x}\n", .{state.error_code});
-    statusPrint("  IP         : 0x{x:0>16}\n", .{architecture.instructionPointer(state)});
-    statusPrint("  SP         : 0x{x:0>16}\n", .{architecture.stackPointer(state)});
-    if (architecture.faultAddress(state)) |address| statusPrint("  fault addr : 0x{x:0>16}\n", .{address});
+    // The machine is going down: paint the exception on screen too — `fatalPrint` forces the
+    // console back on even if a display service was holding the framebuffer — on top of the
+    // diagnostic log.
+    fatalPrint("\nCPU EXCEPTION on core {d}: {s} (vector {d})\n", .{ core, architecture.exceptionName(state.vector), state.vector });
+    // Name the culprit: which task, and whether it faulted in ring 3 (a process the
+    // kernel would normally kill — landing here means it had no address space) or ring 0
+    // (the trusted base itself). Without this the fatal report is anonymous.
+    fatalPrint("  task       : {d} ({s}), {s}\n", .{ scheduler.currentIdSafe(), scheduler.currentNameSafe(), if (architecture.fromUser(state)) "ring 3 (user)" else "ring 0 (kernel)" });
+    fatalPrint("  error code : 0x{x}\n", .{state.error_code});
+    fatalPrint("  IP         : 0x{x:0>16}\n", .{architecture.instructionPointer(state)});
+    fatalPrint("  SP         : 0x{x:0>16}\n", .{architecture.stackPointer(state)});
+    if (architecture.faultAddress(state)) |address| fatalPrint("  fault addr : 0x{x:0>16}\n", .{address});
 
     var buffer: [128]u8 = undefined;
     log.recordPanic(std.fmt.bufPrint(&buffer, "CPU exception {s} (vector {d}) on core {d} at IP 0x{x}", .{ architecture.exceptionName(state.vector), state.vector, core, architecture.instructionPointer(state) }) catch "cpu exception");
+    // Free the BKL if this core held it (a kernel-mode fault, or a nested fault in the
+    // recovery teardown), so halting this one core doesn't deadlock every other core on
+    // the lock. Only that core stops; the rest — and the supervisor — keep running.
+    sync.releaseIfHeldHere();
     architecture.halt();
 }
 
@@ -486,9 +535,11 @@ pub const panic = std.debug.FullPanic(struct {
         _ = first_trace_address;
         log.checkpoint(cp_panic);
         log.recordPanic(message);
-        status("\nKERNEL PANIC: ");
-        status(message);
-        status("\n");
+        fatal("\nKERNEL PANIC: "); // a panic outranks any display service holding the screen
+        fatal(message);
+        fatal("\n");
+        fatalPrint("  task       : {d} ({s})\n", .{ scheduler.currentIdSafe(), scheduler.currentNameSafe() });
+        sync.releaseIfHeldHere(); // don't deadlock the other cores on the lock we may hold
         architecture.halt();
     }
 }.panic);

system/kernel/process.zig

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ const parameters = @import("parameters");
 const architecture = @import("architecture");
 const pmm = @import("pmm.zig");
 const scheduler = @import("scheduler.zig");
+const console = @import("console.zig");
 const sync = @import("sync.zig");
 const ipc = @import("ipc-synchronous.zig");
 const devices_broker = @import("devices-broker.zig");
@@ -80,9 +81,23 @@ pub const device_arena_end: u64 = device_arena_base + (4 << 30);
 pub const dma_arena_base: u64 = 0x0000_7200_0000_0000;
 pub const dma_arena_end: u64 = dma_arena_base + (256 << 20); // 256 MiB per process
 
-/// Largest single `mmap` grant, in pages (1 MiB). The user heap grows in small
-/// chunks, so this bound is generous; it also caps the frame scratch array below.
-const maximum_mmap_pages = 256;
+/// The shared-memory arena: where `shm_create`/`shm_map` place shared cacheable regions, in
+/// PML4[230] — a user-exclusive region distinct from the DMA arena. The frames are owned by
+/// a refcounted shm object and freed when its last capability drops, not on teardown, so the
+/// mapping carries `device_grant`. Per-process cursor in `Task.shm_map_next` (docs/display-v2.md).
+pub const shm_arena_base: u64 = 0x0000_7300_0000_0000;
+pub const shm_arena_end: u64 = shm_arena_base + (256 << 20); // 256 MiB per process
+
+/// Largest single `shm_create`, in pages (32 MiB) — enough for a 4K framebuffer surface;
+/// also an overflow guard on the page count. shm frames are contiguous (like DMA), so this
+/// bounds the contiguous allocation asked of the frame allocator.
+const maximum_shm_pages = 8192;
+
+/// Largest single `mmap` grant, in pages (32 MiB). Big enough for a display service's
+/// back buffer at up to 4K (3840x2160x4 ≈ 8100 pages); the user heap otherwise grows in
+/// small chunks. `systemMmap` maps page by page with rollback, so this is only a sanity
+/// bound (and an overflow guard on the page count), not the size of any scratch array.
+const maximum_mmap_pages = 8192;
 
 /// Ceiling on a process's argv entries, including argv[0]. Arguments are spawn
 /// parameters ("you are the driver for device 12"), not bulk data — IPC carries
@@ -209,6 +224,9 @@ fn system_call(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
         .timer_bind => systemTimerBind(state),
         .klog_read => systemKlogRead(state),
         .wall_clock => systemWallClock(state),
+        .shm_create => systemShmCreate(state),
+        .shm_map => systemShmMap(state),
+        .shm_physical => systemShmPhysical(state),
         _ => fail(state),
     }
 }
@@ -301,12 +319,19 @@ fn systemDeviceEnumerate(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
 
 /// device_claim(id) -> 0/-1: take exclusive ownership of a device for this process.
 fn systemDeviceClaim(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
+    const device_id = architecture.systemCallArg(state, 0);
     const claim_flags = sync.enter();
     defer sync.leave(claim_flags);
-    if (devices_broker.claim(architecture.systemCallArg(state, 0), scheduler.current().id))
-        architecture.setSystemCallResult(state, 0)
-    else
-        fail(state);
+    if (devices_broker.claim(device_id, scheduler.current().id)) {
+        // A display service just took the framebuffer — quiesce the bootstrap console
+        // so the kernel and the service don't scribble over each other's pixels. The
+        // claim releases (and the console resumes) automatically if the service dies;
+        // see releaseTaskResourcesLocked.
+        if (devices_broker.displayDevice()) |display_id| {
+            if (device_id == display_id) console.setSuppressed(true);
+        }
+        architecture.setSystemCallResult(state, 0);
+    } else fail(state);
 }
 
 /// mmio_map(device_id, resource_index) -> vaddr: map a claimed device's MMIO window into
@@ -341,7 +366,10 @@ fn systemMmioMap(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
     const base_v = t.device_map_next;
     if (base_v + pages * page_size > device_arena_end) return fail(state);
 
-    architecture.mapUserDeviceInto(t.aspace, base_v, r.start, r.len);
+    // A framebuffer resource asks (via its flag) to be mapped write-combining rather
+    // than the strong-uncacheable default that register MMIO needs.
+    const write_combining = (r.flags & device_abi.resource_flag_write_combining) != 0;
+    architecture.mapUserDeviceInto(t.aspace, base_v, r.start, r.len, write_combining);
     t.device_map_next = base_v + pages * page_size;
     architecture.setSystemCallResult(state, base_v + (r.start & (page_size - 1))); // register base
 }
@@ -447,6 +475,81 @@ fn systemDmaFree(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
     architecture.setSystemCallResult(state, 0);
 }
 
+/// shm_create(len) -> vaddr (rax), handle (rdx): grant `len` bytes (rounded up to whole
+/// pages) of **shareable, zeroed, cacheable** RAM — contiguous frames mapped into the
+/// caller's shm arena — and hand back the virtual address plus a capability handle. Unlike
+/// `dma_alloc` the memory is write-back cacheable (for CPU compositing, not device DMA) and
+/// its frames are owned by a refcounted object: the handle is passed to another process as
+/// an `ipc_call` send_cap, that process `shm_map`s it, and the frames free only when the
+/// last capability drops (docs/display-v2.md — the compositor↔native-driver and
+/// app↔compositor surface path).
+fn systemShmCreate(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
+    const len = architecture.systemCallArg(state, 0);
+    const t = scheduler.current();
+    if (t.aspace == 0 or len == 0) return fail(state);
+
+    const pages: usize = @intCast((len + page_size - 1) / page_size);
+    if (pages == 0 or pages > maximum_shm_pages) return fail(state);
+
+    // Reserve arena virtual space up front, so a mapping failure needs no rollback.
+    if (t.shm_map_next == 0) t.shm_map_next = shm_arena_base;
+    const base_v = t.shm_map_next;
+    if (base_v + pages * page_size > shm_arena_end) return fail(state); // arena exhausted
+
+    const phys = pmm.allocContiguous(pages, ~@as(u64, 0)) orelse return fail(state);
+    // Zero through the physmap (the frames aren't mapped in the caller yet).
+    const kernel_view: [*]u8 = @ptrFromInt(boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(phys));
+    @memset(kernel_view[0 .. pages * page_size], 0);
+
+    const shm = ipc.createShm(phys, pages) orelse {
+        for (0..pages) |i| pmm.free(phys + i * page_size);
+        return fail(state);
+    };
+    const handle = ipc.installShmHandle(t, shm);
+    if (handle < 0) {
+        ipc.dropShmRef(shm); // last ref: frees the object and its frames
+        return fail(state);
+    }
+
+    architecture.mapUserSharedInto(t.aspace, base_v, phys, pages * page_size);
+    t.shm_map_next = base_v + pages * page_size;
+    architecture.setSystemCallResult(state, base_v); // vaddr for the CPU
+    architecture.setSystemCallResult2(state, @intCast(handle)); // capability handle to pass on
+}
+
+/// shm_map(cap) -> vaddr: map the shared region named by a capability handle the caller
+/// received (via an `ipc_call` send_cap) into its shm arena — the same physical frames the
+/// creator sees — returning the virtual address. The handle already holds a reference (taken
+/// when the capability was shared), so this only adds a mapping; it never bumps the refcount.
+fn systemShmMap(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
+    const cap = architecture.systemCallArg(state, 0);
+    const t = scheduler.current();
+    if (t.aspace == 0) return fail(state);
+
+    const shm = ipc.resolveShm(t, cap) orelse return fail(state); // not an shm handle we hold
+    if (t.shm_map_next == 0) t.shm_map_next = shm_arena_base;
+    const base_v = t.shm_map_next;
+    const size = shm.pages * page_size;
+    if (base_v + size > shm_arena_end) return fail(state);
+
+    architecture.mapUserSharedInto(t.aspace, base_v, shm.phys, size);
+    t.shm_map_next = base_v + size;
+    architecture.setSystemCallResult(state, base_v);
+}
+
+/// shm_physical(cap) -> paddr: the guest-physical base of a shared region the caller holds a
+/// capability for. The frames are contiguous (allocated by `allocContiguous`), so a single
+/// physical base + length describes the whole region — which is exactly what a driver needs
+/// to hand a shm surface to a device (virtio-gpu `attach_backing`). Only a holder of the
+/// capability can ask; there is no ambient way to turn a virtual address into a physical one.
+fn systemShmPhysical(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
+    const cap = architecture.systemCallArg(state, 0);
+    const t = scheduler.current();
+    if (t.aspace == 0) return fail(state);
+    const shm = ipc.resolveShm(t, cap) orelse return fail(state); // not an shm handle we hold
+    architecture.setSystemCallResult(state, shm.phys);
+}
+
 /// device_register(parent_id, descriptor_ptr) -> id: publish a child device below a device
 /// this process has claimed. The bus-driver primitive: a process that owns a bus
 /// enumerates it and hands each device it finds to the table, where a class driver
@@ -601,6 +704,9 @@ fn releaseTaskResourcesLocked(t: *scheduler.Task) void {
     recordExitLocked(t);
     irq.releaseOwner(t.id);
     devices_broker.releaseAllOwnedBy(t.id);
+    // If that dropped the framebuffer claim (this task was the display service), let the
+    // bootstrap console draw again — the screen is nobody's now, so panics/status land.
+    if (!devices_broker.displayClaimed()) console.setSuppressed(false);
     // The dying task's signal endpoint and one-shot timers go with it.
     if (t.signal_endpoint) |raw| {
         ipc.dropRef(@ptrCast(@alignCast(raw)));
@@ -631,6 +737,7 @@ fn releaseTaskResourcesLocked(t: *scheduler.Task) void {
         scheduler.readyLocked(client); // its blocked `call` now returns the error
     }
     ipc.abandonSenderLocked(t);
+    ipc.killOwnedEndpointsLocked(t.id); // its registered services are gone: callers get -EPEER, not a hang
     scheduler.removeFromWaitQueueLocked(t);
     scheduler.forgetIpcClientLocked(t);
     ipc.closeHandles(t);
@@ -1024,21 +1131,26 @@ fn systemMmap(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
     const base = t.heap_next;
     if (base + pages * page_size > heap_arena_end) return fail(state); // arena exhausted
 
-    // Reserve all frames up front so a mid-way exhaustion rolls back cleanly
-    // (no partially-mapped grant leaks into the address space).
-    var frames: [maximum_mmap_pages]u64 = undefined;
-    var got: usize = 0;
-    while (got < pages) : (got += 1) {
-        frames[got] = pmm.alloc() orelse {
-            for (frames[0..got]) |f| pmm.free(f);
+    // Map page by page. On mid-way frame exhaustion, roll back the pages already mapped
+    // (unmap + free) so no partial grant leaks into the address space — the same
+    // all-or-nothing guarantee as before, but without a fixed scratch array, so the
+    // per-call size can be a multi-MiB framebuffer.
+    var mapped: usize = 0;
+    while (mapped < pages) : (mapped += 1) {
+        const frame = pmm.alloc() orelse {
+            var i: usize = 0;
+            while (i < mapped) : (i += 1) {
+                const va = base + i * page_size;
+                if (architecture.translate(t.aspace, va)) |physical| {
+                    architecture.unmapUserPageInto(t.aspace, va);
+                    pmm.free(physical);
+                }
+            }
             return fail(state);
         };
-    }
-
-    for (frames[0..pages], 0..) |frame, i| {
         const destination: [*]u8 = @ptrFromInt(boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(frame));
         @memset(destination[0..page_size], 0); // hand out zeroed memory
-        architecture.mapUserPageInto(t.aspace, base + i * page_size, frame, true, false); // RW + NX
+        architecture.mapUserPageInto(t.aspace, base + mapped * page_size, frame, true, false); // RW + NX
     }
     t.heap_next = base + pages * page_size;
     architecture.setSystemCallResult(state, base);

system/kernel/scheduler.zig

@@ -86,9 +86,11 @@ pub const Task = struct {
     // uninitialised, process.zig seeds it on the first mmio_map). User task only.
     device_map_next: u64 = 0,
     // --- synchronous IPC (ipc_sync.zig) ---
-    // Per-process handle table: small-int handle -> *ipc_sync.Endpoint, kept
-    // opaque here so the scheduler and IPC modules don't import each other.
-    handles: [ipc_maximum_handles]?*anyopaque = .{null} ** ipc_maximum_handles,
+    // Per-process handle table: a small-int handle names a kernel capability object.
+    // Each entry tags its `kind` (an IPC endpoint or a shared-memory object) so the
+    // close/exit and cap-passing paths reclaim the right type. Kept opaque here so the
+    // scheduler and IPC modules don't import each other (ipc_sync.zig owns the kinds).
+    handles: [ipc_maximum_handles]?HandleObject = .{null} ** ipc_maximum_handles,
     // A server holds the caller it currently owes a reply to (set by ReplyWait's
     // receive, cleared when it replies). A client, while blocked in Call, records
     // its message + reply buffers here and its result lands in `ipc_status`.
@@ -99,6 +101,7 @@ pub const Task = struct {
     ipc_reply_cap: u64 = 0,
     ipc_status: i64 = 0, // client: reply length / -errno, written by the replier
     dma_map_next: u64 = 0, // bump pointer into this task's DMA arena (0 = unseeded)
+    shm_map_next: u64 = 0, // bump pointer into this task's shared-memory arena (0 = unseeded)
     ipc_send_cap: u64 = ~@as(u64, 0), // handle to transfer with this message (abi.no_cap = none)
     ipc_received_cap: u64 = ~@as(u64, 0), // client: handle the reply's transferred cap landed at (abi.no_cap = none)
     next: ?*Task = null, // ready-queue link (also the endpoint sender-FIFO link)
@@ -125,6 +128,13 @@ pub const maximum_task_name = abi.maximum_process_name;
 /// it dimensions a field of `Task`; ipc_sync.zig re-exports it.
 pub const ipc_maximum_handles = 16;
 
+/// One handle-table entry: a capability object plus a `kind` tag saying what `ptr` points
+/// at (an ipc endpoint or a shared-memory object), so a task's exit path and the
+/// capability-passing path reclaim/share the right type. The `kind` values are defined by
+/// ipc_sync.zig (`handle_kind_*`); kept an opaque `u8` here so the scheduler doesn't import
+/// the IPC module.
+pub const HandleObject = struct { kind: u8, ptr: *anyopaque };
+
 var tasks = [_]Task{.{}} ** maximum_tasks;
 var next_id: u32 = 1;
 
@@ -791,6 +801,21 @@ pub fn currentCpuIndex() u32 {
     return thisCpu().index;
 }
 
+/// The running task's id, or 0 if this core's scheduler isn't up yet (early boot, no GS
+/// base). Safe for a fault reporter to call unconditionally — like `currentCpuIndex`,
+/// it never dereferences an unpublished per-CPU pointer and so can't fault a second time.
+pub fn currentIdSafe() u32 {
+    if (architecture.cpuLocal() == 0) return 0;
+    return thisCpu().current.id;
+}
+
+/// The running task's name (argv[0]), or "" if this core's scheduler isn't up yet.
+/// The companion to `currentIdSafe` for naming the culprit in a fatal fault report.
+pub fn currentNameSafe() []const u8 {
+    if (architecture.cpuLocal() == 0) return "";
+    return thisCpu().current.name();
+}
+
 /// Change the running task's priority (takes effect next time it's enqueued).
 pub fn setPriority(p: Priority) void {
     current().priority = p;

system/kernel/sync.zig

@@ -33,6 +33,13 @@ const architecture = @import("architecture");
 /// 0 = free, 1 = held. A single global lock for the whole kernel.
 var held = std.atomic.Value(u32).init(0);
 
+/// The per-CPU base pointer (`architecture.cpuLocal()`) of the core currently holding
+/// the lock, or 0 when free. Metadata only — `held` is what enforces exclusion — read
+/// solely by `releaseIfHeldHere` on the fatal-fault path. `cpuLocal()` is a unique,
+/// architecture-level token per core (0 before this core's GS base is published, which
+/// is fine: that window is single-core early boot, where no other core can deadlock).
+var owner = std.atomic.Value(usize).init(0);
+
 /// Enter the kernel: disable interrupts on this core, then spin until we own the
 /// lock. Returns the caller's prior interrupt flags for `leave` to restore.
 /// Interrupts stay off for the whole critical section so this core's timer tick
@@ -67,14 +74,29 @@ export fn releaseForFreshTask() callconv(.c) void {
     release();
 }
 
+/// Release the big kernel lock **only if this core is the one holding it** — a no-op
+/// otherwise. For the fatal-fault path (a kernel-mode fault, or a nested fault inside the
+/// recovery teardown, both of which run under the lock): a core that dies holding the BKL
+/// must free it, or every other core spins forever in `acquire` and the whole machine
+/// deadlocks instead of just that core stopping. It must NOT free a lock another core
+/// owns, hence the owner check. Caveat: if we held it mid-mutation the shared state may be
+/// inconsistent — but letting the other cores (and the supervisor) run on possibly-degraded
+/// state is strictly more recoverable than a guaranteed total hang.
+pub fn releaseIfHeldHere() void {
+    const me = architecture.cpuLocal();
+    if (me != 0 and owner.load(.monotonic) == me) release();
+}
+
 fn acquire() void {
     // Test-and-test-and-set: try once, then spin read-only until the lock looks
     // free before retrying the (bus-locked) swap — cheaper on the coherency fabric.
     while (held.swap(1, .acquire) != 0) {
         while (held.load(.monotonic) != 0) architecture.cpuRelax();
     }
+    owner.store(architecture.cpuLocal(), .monotonic);
 }
 
 fn release() void {
+    owner.store(0, .monotonic);
     held.store(0, .release);
 }

system/kernel/tests.zig

@@ -95,6 +95,20 @@ pub fn run(case: []const u8, boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
         iommuTest();
     } else if (eql(case, "ioport")) {
         ioPortTest();
+    } else if (eql(case, "display")) {
+        displayTest(boot_information);
+    } else if (eql(case, "display-service")) {
+        displayServiceTest(boot_information);
+    } else if (eql(case, "display-demo")) {
+        displayDemoTest(boot_information);
+    } else if (eql(case, "shm")) {
+        shmTest(boot_information);
+    } else if (eql(case, "virtio-gpu")) {
+        virtioGpuTest(boot_information);
+    } else if (eql(case, "display-native")) {
+        displayNativeTest(boot_information);
+    } else if (eql(case, "display-reattach")) {
+        displayReattachTest(boot_information);
     } else if (eql(case, "clock")) {
         clockTest();
     } else if (eql(case, "smp")) {
@@ -181,10 +195,8 @@ pub fn run(case: []const u8, boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
         containmentTest();
     } else if (eql(case, "device-manager")) {
         deviceManagerTest(boot_information);
-    } else if (eql(case, "poweroff")) {
-        powerTest(.off);
     } else if (eql(case, "reboot")) {
-        powerTest(.reboot);
+        rebootTest();
     } else {
         log("DANOS-TEST-RESULT: FAIL (unknown case '{s}')\n", .{case});
     }
@@ -201,15 +213,14 @@ fn platformHal() platform.Hal {
 /// Drive an ACPI power transition. On success the machine powers off or resets,
 /// so QEMU exits — the harness observes the process exit. If control returns, the
 /// transition failed and we emit a FAIL result.
-fn powerTest(comptime action: enum { off, reboot }) void {
-    const name = if (action == .off) "poweroff" else "reboot";
-    log("DANOS-TEST-BEGIN: {s}\n", .{name});
+// Soft-off (S5) is no longer a kernel operation — the ring-3 acpi service owns it
+// (exercised end-to-end by `orderly-shutdown`). Reboot stays in the kernel (FADT
+// reset register, no AML), so it keeps its own case.
+fn rebootTest() void {
+    log("DANOS-TEST-BEGIN: reboot\n", .{});
     const hal = platformHal();
-    log("DANOS-POWER: attempting {s}\n", .{name});
-    switch (action) {
-        .off => platform.shutdown(hal),
-        .reboot => platform.reboot(hal),
-    }
+    log("DANOS-POWER: attempting reboot\n", .{});
+    platform.reboot(hal);
     check("power transition took effect", false);
     result();
 }
@@ -227,6 +238,19 @@ fn bufferHas(needle: []const u8) bool {
     return std.mem.indexOf(u8, process.write_buffer[0..process.write_len], needle) != null;
 }
 
+/// How many `pci_device` functions the devices broker currently holds. A durable
+/// snapshot, unlike a `bufferHas` poll of the single-latest write_buffer line, so a
+/// test can wait on it without racing transient log output. `scratch` is
+/// caller-owned to keep the (large) descriptor array off this helper's own frame.
+fn brokerPciCount(scratch: []device_abi.DeviceDescriptor) u32 {
+    const k = @min(devices_broker.enumerate(scratch), scratch.len);
+    var count: u32 = 0;
+    for (scratch[0..k]) |d| {
+        if (d.class == @intFromEnum(device_abi.DeviceClass.pci_device)) count += 1;
+    }
+    return count;
+}
+
 /// Non-destructive checks of the memory map and frame allocator.
 fn smoke(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
     log("DANOS-TEST-BEGIN: smoke\n", .{});
@@ -276,22 +300,19 @@ fn timer() void {
 }
 
 /// Verify device discovery populated the platform facts the rest of the kernel
-/// depends on — the results ACPI parsing stashed in globals at boot. These are
-/// stable for the QEMU q35 + OVMF machine the harness runs, and span the tables:
-/// MADT (LAPIC base, CPU count), FADT (PM/reset registers), and the AML parse
-/// (the sleep type, plus the integrity check that every byte was consumed).
+/// depends on — the results the static ACPI tables stashed in globals at boot.
+/// These are stable for the QEMU q35 + OVMF machine the harness runs, and span the
+/// tables: MADT (LAPIC base, CPU count) and FADT (PM/reset registers). The kernel
+/// no longer interprets AML — sleep types are the ring-3 acpi service's concern.
 fn discoveryTest() void {
     log("DANOS-TEST-BEGIN: discovery\n", .{});
     const pinfo = platform.platformInformation();
     const pw = platform.powerInformation();
-    const am = platform.amlStats();
 
     check("LAPIC base discovered (MADT)", pinfo.lapic_base == 0xFEE00000);
     check("ACPI PM timer found (FADT)", pinfo.pm_timer.present());
     check("PM1a control register found (FADT)", pw.pm1a_cnt.present());
     check("reset register supported (FADT)", pw.reset_supported);
-    check("S5 sleep type found (AML)", pw.s5 != null);
-    check("AML parsed completely (consumed == total)", am.total > 0 and am.consumed == am.total);
     check("at least one CPU enumerated (MADT)", platform.cpus().len >= 1);
 
     // M15: every PCI function now carries its own 4 KiB ECAM configuration space as
@@ -1895,18 +1916,14 @@ fn pciScanTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
     };
 
     // Post-flip (M19.3) ground truth: the kernel no longer enumerates PCI
-    // functions, so equivalence inverts — the broker's function count after
-    // the scan must equal what the driver itself reported finding.
+    // functions, so equivalence inverts — every PCI function the broker holds was
+    // put there by the ring-3 driver, so before the driver runs the broker holds
+    // none. One reusable descriptor buffer (each snapshot is ~20 KiB; three live
+    // at once would overflow the 64 KiB bootstrap stack this test runs on).
     var buffer: [64]device_abi.DeviceDescriptor = undefined;
-    const n = @min(devices_broker.enumerate(&buffer), buffer.len);
-    var boot_pci: u32 = 0;
-    for (buffer[0..n]) |d| {
-        if (d.class == @intFromEnum(device_abi.DeviceClass.pci_device)) boot_pci += 1;
-    }
-    check("the kernel seeded no PCI functions (the walk retired)", boot_pci == 0);
+    check("the kernel seeded no PCI functions (the walk retired)", brokerPciCount(&buffer) == 0);
 
     process.setInitialRamdisk(image);
-    process.write_count = 0;
     var manager: u32 = 0;
     var i: u32 = 0;
     while (i < rd.count) : (i += 1) {
@@ -1917,68 +1934,49 @@ fn pciScanTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
     }
     check("device-manager spawned (test-pci-restart mode)", manager != 0);
 
-    // First scan: wait for the driver's count line and parse the number.
-    const count_prefix = "pci-bus: ";
-    const count_suffix = " functions found";
-    var reported: u32 = 0;
-    scheduler.setPriority(1);
+    // The manager spawns pci-bus, which scans the ECAM window and registers every
+    // function it finds, so the broker's PCI count climbs from zero and plateaus.
+    // Wait for it to *settle*: latch N only once the count has held steady for a
+    // stretch, so a mid-scan sample can't latch a low N that the rest of the same
+    // scan then appears to exceed. The count is monotonic (registrations only add;
+    // the table has no unregister) so the plateau is permanent — stability is
+    // reached the moment the scan finishes and holds indefinitely. Sleep between
+    // samples rather than busy-yield: the boot context outranks the drivers, and a
+    // busy spin would starve the very processes it waits on; a sleeping task is
+    // woken by the timer, so the drivers run in between.
+    const poll_ms = 5;
+    var registered: u32 = 0;
+    var steady: u32 = 0;
     var deadline = architecture.millis() + 15000;
-    while (architecture.millis() < deadline and reported == 0) {
-        const line = process.write_buffer[0..process.write_len];
-        if (std.mem.indexOf(u8, line, count_prefix)) |start| {
-            if (std.mem.indexOf(u8, line, count_suffix)) |digits_end| {
-                reported = std.fmt.parseInt(u32, line[start + count_prefix.len .. digits_end], 10) catch 0;
-            }
-        }
-        scheduler.yield();
+    while (architecture.millis() < deadline and steady < 60) { // 60 * 5ms = 300ms steady
+        const now = brokerPciCount(&buffer);
+        if (now != 0 and now == registered) steady += 1 else steady = 0;
+        registered = now;
+        scheduler.sleep(poll_ms);
     }
-    scheduler.setPriority(4);
-    check("the ring-3 scan reported a function count", reported >= 1);
+    check("the ring-3 scan registered its PCI functions in the broker", registered >= 1);
 
-    // Every reported function was registered: the broker holds exactly them.
-    var registered: [64]device_abi.DeviceDescriptor = undefined;
-    const r = @min(devices_broker.enumerate(&registered), registered.len);
-    var registered_pci: u32 = 0;
-    for (registered[0..r]) |d| {
-        if (d.class == @intFromEnum(device_abi.DeviceClass.pci_device)) registered_pci += 1;
+    // The restart drill — the manager kills pci-bus ~1 s after its scan, prunes its
+    // own child tree, and respawns it to re-claim, re-scan, and re-register — is
+    // asserted by the harness's ordered regex over the whole serial log, the way
+    // every restart drill is (see usbReportTest / driverRestartTest): the manager's
+    // kill/prune/respawn lines are transient and would race a write_buffer poll, and
+    // the *broker* count can't witness the restart at all — the table has no
+    // unregister and register is idempotent (devices-broker.zig), so the kill leaves
+    // the nodes in place and the respawn's re-registration dedupes against them.
+    //
+    // That idempotence is exactly this test's kernel-side claim: watch, across the
+    // whole drill, that the count never grows past N. A broken dedup would append
+    // the re-scanned functions as duplicates (N -> 2N), and with no unregister that
+    // overshoot would persist — so a single late sample would catch it; the loop is
+    // belt-and-braces over the ~2 s the kill + backoff + respawn takes.
+    var duplicated = false;
+    deadline = architecture.millis() + 5000;
+    while (architecture.millis() < deadline and !duplicated) {
+        if (brokerPciCount(&buffer) > registered) duplicated = true;
+        scheduler.sleep(20);
     }
-    check("the broker holds exactly the reported functions", registered_pci == reported);
-    const kernel_count = reported; // the no-duplicate check below reuses it
-
-    // The restart drill: the manager kills pci-bus after its reports; the
-    // respawn re-claims, re-scans, and re-registers.
-    const restart_marker = "device-manager: restarting pci-bus";
-    scheduler.setPriority(1);
-    deadline = architecture.millis() + 15000;
-    var restarted = false;
-    while (architecture.millis() < deadline and !restarted) {
-        if (bufferHas(restart_marker)) restarted = true;
-        scheduler.yield();
-    }
-    scheduler.setPriority(4);
-    check("the manager restarted pci-bus", restarted);
-
-    var marker_buffer: [48]u8 = undefined;
-    const marker = std.fmt.bufPrint(&marker_buffer, "pci-bus: {d} functions found", .{reported}) catch "";
-    scheduler.setPriority(1);
-    deadline = architecture.millis() + 15000;
-    var seen = false;
-    while (architecture.millis() < deadline and !seen) {
-        if (bufferHas(marker)) seen = true;
-        scheduler.yield();
-    }
-    scheduler.setPriority(4);
-    check("the respawned scan reported the same count", seen);
-
-    // No duplicates: the registrations deduped against the kernel's own nodes
-    // on the first pass, and against themselves on the second.
-    var after: [64]device_abi.DeviceDescriptor = undefined;
-    const m = @min(devices_broker.enumerate(&after), after.len);
-    var after_count: u32 = 0;
-    for (after[0..m]) |d| {
-        if (d.class == @intFromEnum(device_abi.DeviceClass.pci_device)) after_count += 1;
-    }
-    check("no duplicate PCI nodes after register + restart + re-register", after_count == kernel_count);
+    check("no duplicate PCI nodes after the restart drill", !duplicated);
     result();
 }
 
@@ -2095,11 +2093,11 @@ fn acpiReportTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
     result();
 }
 
-/// M20.1: the ring-3 AML parse agrees with the kernel's. The manager spawns
-/// the discovery service (the acpi build variant); it claims the acpi-tables
-/// node, maps the blobs, parses them, and logs its Device count — which must
-/// equal what the kernel's own parse produced (the equivalence that licenses
-/// retiring the kernel's device build in M20.3).
+/// M20.1: the ring-3 AML parse works. The manager spawns the discovery service
+/// (the acpi build variant); it claims the acpi-tables node, maps the blobs,
+/// parses them, and self-verifies it found at least a floor of Device objects,
+/// printing "acpi-parse: ok". The kernel no longer parses AML, so there is no
+/// kernel count to compare against — the ring-3 parse is now the only one.
 fn acpiParseTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
     log("DANOS-TEST-BEGIN: acpi-parse\n", .{});
     if (boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len == 0) {
@@ -2114,23 +2112,18 @@ fn acpiParseTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
         return;
     };
 
-    // The kernel's own count, from the namespace it already built for \_S5.
-    const kernel_devices = platform.amlDeviceCount();
-    check("the kernel namespace has devices to compare against", kernel_devices >= 1);
-
-    // Spawn the discovery service directly with that count as argv: it parses
-    // the same blobs in ring 3 and self-verifies, printing "acpi-parse: ok" iff
-    // the counts match. The harness's expect regex is that marker — deterministic,
-    // no racing the shared serial buffer.
+    // Spawn the discovery service directly with a device-count *floor* as argv:
+    // it parses the blobs in ring 3 and self-verifies it found at least that many
+    // Device objects, printing "acpi-parse: ok". A floor of 1 just proves the
+    // parser ran and produced a namespace (the QEMU q35 DSDT has dozens). The
+    // marker is deterministic — no racing the shared serial buffer.
     process.setInitialRamdisk(image);
-    var count_text: [16]u8 = undefined;
-    const count_arg = std.fmt.bufPrint(&count_text, "{d}", .{kernel_devices}) catch "0";
     var spawned = false;
     var i: u32 = 0;
     while (i < rd.count) : (i += 1) {
         const item = rd.entry(i) orelse continue;
         if (!eql(item.name, "discovery")) continue;
-        _ = process.spawnProcessSupervised(item.blob, 4, &.{ "discovery", count_arg }, scheduler.currentId(), null) catch 0;
+        _ = process.spawnProcessSupervised(item.blob, 4, &.{ "discovery", "1" }, scheduler.currentId(), null) catch 0;
         spawned = true;
         break;
     }
@@ -2316,6 +2309,237 @@ fn inputTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
     result();
 }
 
+/// D2 — the display service comes up. Spawn it from the initial_ramdisk; it claims the
+/// framebuffer the kernel seeded (D1), maps it write-combining, allocates a cacheable
+/// back buffer, and proves the double-buffer path by clearing that buffer and presenting
+/// it. Its `display: online WxH` + `display: presented frame 0` heartbeats are the
+/// markers — seeing them proves a user-space compositor took the framebuffer and pushed
+/// a whole composed frame to the screen, without ever drawing straight to the LFB.
+fn displayServiceTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
+    log("DANOS-TEST-BEGIN: display-service\n", .{});
+    if (boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len == 0) {
+        check("bootloader handed over an initial_ramdisk", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    const image = @as([*]const u8, @ptrFromInt(boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(boot_information.initial_ramdisk_base)))[0..boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len];
+    const rd = initial_ramdisk.Reader.init(image) orelse {
+        check("initial_ramdisk image is valid", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    };
+
+    // Spawn the compositor and hand it the core. Its own serial heartbeats — `display:
+    // online WxH` and `display: presented frame 0` — are what the harness matches (it
+    // reads serial directly, like the fault cases). We don't poll for them in-kernel: a
+    // single service that comes up and blocks doesn't reschedule this bring-up context
+    // (there is no other runnable task to bounce control back through), so the honest
+    // observation point is the service's output itself, not a check() proxy here.
+    if (!spawnNamed(rd, "display")) {
+        log("display-service: could not spawn the display service\n", .{});
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    scheduler.setPriority(1); // below the service, so it runs and comes up first
+    while (true) scheduler.yield();
+}
+
+/// D4 — a separate process drives the compositor. Spawn the display service and the
+/// hardware-free `display-demo` client, which creates a wallpaper, a moving rectangle,
+/// and a cursor and presents a run of frames. Its `display-demo: ok` heartbeat — printed
+/// only after it drove frames of motion through the layer client API and the compositor —
+/// is the harness's marker (the visible motion itself is a screenshot away via run-x86-64).
+/// The demo keeps presenting, so unlike a lone blocking service the scheduler stays busy;
+/// we still match on serial rather than poll, for consistency.
+fn displayDemoTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
+    log("DANOS-TEST-BEGIN: display-demo\n", .{});
+    if (boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len == 0) {
+        check("bootloader handed over an initial_ramdisk", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    const image = @as([*]const u8, @ptrFromInt(boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(boot_information.initial_ramdisk_base)))[0..boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len];
+    const rd = initial_ramdisk.Reader.init(image) orelse {
+        check("initial_ramdisk image is valid", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    };
+
+    if (!spawnNamed(rd, "display")) {
+        log("display-demo: could not spawn the display service\n", .{});
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    _ = spawnNamed(rd, "display-demo");
+    scheduler.setPriority(1); // below the service + demo, so they run
+    while (true) scheduler.yield();
+}
+
+/// V2 — cross-process shared memory (docs/display-v2.md). Spawn shm-server and shm-client:
+/// the client shm_creates a region, writes a pattern, and passes the region's capability to
+/// the server as an ipc_call send_cap; the server shm_maps it and confirms the pattern is
+/// visible — proving the two processes share the same physical pages, and that the extended
+/// capability-passing (endpoints → memory objects) works. Its `shm: shared 4096 bytes ok`
+/// heartbeat is the marker.
+fn shmTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
+    log("DANOS-TEST-BEGIN: shm\n", .{});
+    if (boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len == 0) {
+        check("bootloader handed over an initial_ramdisk", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    const image = @as([*]const u8, @ptrFromInt(boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(boot_information.initial_ramdisk_base)))[0..boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len];
+    const rd = initial_ramdisk.Reader.init(image) orelse {
+        check("initial_ramdisk image is valid", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    };
+
+    if (!spawnNamed(rd, "shm-server")) {
+        log("shm: could not spawn shm-server\n", .{});
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    _ = spawnNamed(rd, "shm-client");
+    scheduler.setPriority(1); // below the two, so they run
+    while (true) scheduler.yield();
+}
+
+/// V3 — the virtio-gpu driver, end to end (docs/display-v2.md). Boot the device-manager
+/// stack (in its normal mode) so it discovers the virtio-gpu PCI function — present because
+/// the harness boots this case with QEMU's `-device virtio-gpu-pci` — and spawns the driver.
+/// The driver claims the device, brings up the control virtqueue, creates a 2D scanout,
+/// paints a known pattern, flushes it, and waits for the device's used-ring ack. Its serial
+/// heartbeats — `virtio-gpu: scanout WxH online` and `virtio-gpu: flush acked, pixel check
+/// ok` — are the harness's markers (it reads serial directly, like the display cases). The
+/// used-ring ack is the device confirming it consumed the frame; the pixel read-back proves
+/// the backing is CPU-visible RAM — together the automated stand-in for "it's on screen".
+fn virtioGpuTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
+    log("DANOS-TEST-BEGIN: virtio-gpu\n", .{});
+    if (boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len == 0) {
+        check("bootloader handed over an initial_ramdisk", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    const image = @as([*]const u8, @ptrFromInt(boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(boot_information.initial_ramdisk_base)))[0..boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len];
+    const rd = initial_ramdisk.Reader.init(image) orelse {
+        check("initial_ramdisk image is valid", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    };
+
+    // Spawn device-manager in its normal mode: its initialise discovers the PCI host bridge
+    // from the kernel device tree, spawns pci-bus, and matches the virtio-gpu class triple to
+    // spawn our driver with the function's device id as argv[1].
+    process.setInitialRamdisk(image);
+    var manager: u32 = 0;
+    var i: u32 = 0;
+    while (i < rd.count) : (i += 1) {
+        const item = rd.entry(i) orelse continue;
+        if (!eql(item.name, "device-manager")) continue;
+        manager = process.spawnProcessSupervised(item.blob, 4, &.{"device-manager"}, scheduler.currentId(), null) catch 0;
+        break;
+    }
+    if (manager == 0) {
+        log("virtio-gpu: could not spawn device-manager\n", .{});
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    scheduler.setPriority(1); // below the manager and the driver it spawns, so they run
+    while (true) scheduler.yield();
+}
+
+/// V4 — the native backend + hot-attach (docs/display-v2.md). Boot the compositor and the
+/// hardware-free `display-demo` client (as displayDemoTest does), then the device-manager
+/// stack so it discovers the virtio-gpu function — present via QEMU's `-device
+/// virtio-gpu-pci` — and spawns the driver. The driver brings up its scanout, then announces
+/// the shared surface to the already-running compositor, which maps it, upgrades off the GOP
+/// floor, and presents the composited frame through the native backend. Its serial heartbeats
+/// — `display: scanout upgraded to virtio-gpu` and `display: native present verified` — plus
+/// the demo's own `display-demo: ok` are the harness's markers. Display is spawned first so
+/// it is registered on `.display` before the driver announces.
+fn displayNativeTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
+    log("DANOS-TEST-BEGIN: display-native\n", .{});
+    if (boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len == 0) {
+        check("bootloader handed over an initial_ramdisk", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    const image = @as([*]const u8, @ptrFromInt(boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(boot_information.initial_ramdisk_base)))[0..boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len];
+    const rd = initial_ramdisk.Reader.init(image) orelse {
+        check("initial_ramdisk image is valid", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    };
+
+    process.setInitialRamdisk(image);
+    var manager: u32 = 0;
+    var i: u32 = 0;
+    while (i < rd.count) : (i += 1) {
+        const item = rd.entry(i) orelse continue;
+        if (!eql(item.name, "device-manager")) continue;
+        manager = process.spawnProcessSupervised(item.blob, 4, &.{"device-manager"}, scheduler.currentId(), null) catch 0;
+        break;
+    }
+    if (manager == 0) {
+        log("display-native: could not spawn device-manager\n", .{});
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    if (!spawnNamed(rd, "display")) {
+        log("display-native: could not spawn the display service\n", .{});
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    _ = spawnNamed(rd, "display-demo");
+    scheduler.setPriority(1); // below the compositor, the demo, and the driver, so they run
+    while (true) scheduler.yield();
+}
+
+/// V6 — resilience: the compositor survives the virtio-gpu driver dying and re-attaches when
+/// device-manager restarts it (docs/display-v2.md). Same boot as display-native, but the
+/// manager runs in "test-scanout-restart" mode: a moment after the driver hellos, it kills it
+/// once; the normal restart policy respawns it, the restarted driver re-announces, and the
+/// compositor re-attaches to the fresh scanout — logging `display: scanout re-attached` after
+/// the initial `display: scanout upgraded to virtio-gpu`. The compositor must not crash.
+fn displayReattachTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
+    log("DANOS-TEST-BEGIN: display-reattach\n", .{});
+    if (boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len == 0) {
+        check("bootloader handed over an initial_ramdisk", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    const image = @as([*]const u8, @ptrFromInt(boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(boot_information.initial_ramdisk_base)))[0..boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len];
+    const rd = initial_ramdisk.Reader.init(image) orelse {
+        check("initial_ramdisk image is valid", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    };
+
+    process.setInitialRamdisk(image);
+    var manager: u32 = 0;
+    var i: u32 = 0;
+    while (i < rd.count) : (i += 1) {
+        const item = rd.entry(i) orelse continue;
+        if (!eql(item.name, "device-manager")) continue;
+        manager = process.spawnProcessSupervised(item.blob, 4, &.{ "device-manager", "test-scanout-restart" }, scheduler.currentId(), null) catch 0;
+        break;
+    }
+    if (manager == 0) {
+        log("display-reattach: could not spawn device-manager\n", .{});
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    if (!spawnNamed(rd, "display")) {
+        log("display-reattach: could not spawn the display service\n", .{});
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    _ = spawnNamed(rd, "display-demo");
+    scheduler.setPriority(1); // below the compositor, the demo, and the driver, so they run
+    while (true) scheduler.yield();
+}
+
 /// Process arguments, end to end: spawn args-echo bare (its argv[0] is the
 /// initial-ramdisk name). Instance 1 sees argc == 1 and respawns itself through
 /// `system_spawn` with the extra arguments "alpha beta-42" — the syscall argument
@@ -2638,8 +2862,8 @@ fn ioPassTest() void {
         result();
         return;
     };
-    // Map it the way mmio_map does (device grant), then tear the space down.
-    architecture.mapUserDeviceInto(aspace, process.device_arena_base, frame, abi.page_size);
+    // Map it the way mmio_map does (device grant, strong-uncacheable), then tear the space down.
+    architecture.mapUserDeviceInto(aspace, process.device_arena_base, frame, abi.page_size, false);
     architecture.destroyAddressSpace(aspace);
 
     // The page tables were reclaimed; the device-granted frame must not have been.
@@ -2649,6 +2873,75 @@ fn ioPassTest() void {
     result();
 }
 
+/// D1 — the framebuffer handoff primitive. The kernel seeds the loader's framebuffer as
+/// a claimable `display` device with a write-combining `memory` resource; a display
+/// service reaches it over the ordinary claim + mmio_map path. Prove the whole chain:
+/// the node is present and correctly shaped, it maps, and — the point of D1 — the
+/// mapping is genuinely write-combining, not the strong-uncacheable default that would
+/// make a framebuffer blit glacial.
+fn displayTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
+    log("DANOS-TEST-BEGIN: display\n", .{});
+    const fb = boot_information.framebuffer;
+    if (!fb.present()) {
+        // Headless: nothing to seed. Not a failure of the mechanism, so pass cleanly.
+        log("display: no framebuffer (headless); skipping\n", .{});
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+
+    // The kernel seeded a display device in kmain, right after devices_broker.init.
+    const display_id = devices_broker.displayDevice() orelse {
+        check("a framebuffer display device was seeded", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    };
+    var buffer: [64]device_abi.DeviceDescriptor = undefined;
+    const n = @min(devices_broker.enumerate(&buffer), buffer.len);
+    check("the seeded display id is enumerable", display_id < n);
+    if (display_id >= n) {
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    const d = buffer[@intCast(display_id)];
+
+    check("the node is class display", d.class == @intFromEnum(device_abi.DeviceClass.display));
+    check("it carries the framebuffer geometry", d.display.width == fb.width and d.display.height == fb.height and d.display.pitch == fb.pitch);
+    check("it has exactly one resource", d.resource_count == 1);
+    const r = d.resources[0];
+    check("that resource is a memory window", r.kind == @intFromEnum(device_abi.ResourceKind.memory));
+    check("it spans the whole framebuffer", r.start == fb.base and r.len == @as(u64, fb.height) * fb.pitch);
+    check("it is flagged write-combining", (r.flags & device_abi.resource_flag_write_combining) != 0);
+
+    // Walk the real claim + map path a display service would, into a throwaway address
+    // space, and confirm the leaf's cache type. We never run this space (no CR3 load) —
+    // we only read back the page-table entries — so aliasing the same physical page at
+    // two cache types below is inert.
+    const aspace = architecture.createAddressSpace() orelse {
+        check("created a fresh address space", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    };
+    defer architecture.destroyAddressSpace(aspace);
+
+    const page_base = fb.base & ~@as(u64, abi.page_size - 1);
+    architecture.mapUserDeviceInto(aspace, process.device_arena_base, page_base, abi.page_size, true);
+    check(
+        "the framebuffer maps write-combining (PAT entry 4: PAT bit set, PCD/PWT clear)",
+        architecture.userLeafIsWriteCombining(aspace, process.device_arena_base) == true,
+    );
+
+    // Regression guard: the strong-uncacheable default is still that, so WC is a real
+    // choice the flag makes, not the only behaviour.
+    architecture.mapUserDeviceInto(aspace, process.device_arena_base + abi.page_size, page_base, abi.page_size, false);
+    check(
+        "a register window still maps strong-uncacheable",
+        architecture.userLeafIsWriteCombining(aspace, process.device_arena_base + abi.page_size) == false,
+    );
+
+    log("display: mapped {d}x{d} pitch {d} (write-combining)\n", .{ fb.width, fb.height, fb.pitch });
+    result();
+}
+
 fn faultInvalidOpcode() void {
     log("DANOS-TEST-BEGIN: fault-ud\n", .{});
     asm volatile ("ud2");

system/services/acpi/acpi.zig

@@ -103,9 +103,11 @@ fn findTablesNode(buffer: []device.DeviceDescriptor) ?device.DeviceDescriptor {
 }
 
 pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
-    // When the acpi-parse scenario spawns this directly, argv[1] is the kernel's
-    // own device count to self-verify against — deterministic, no log-scraping.
-    const expected: ?usize = if (init.arguments.get(1)) |a| (std.fmt.parseInt(usize, a, 10) catch null) else null;
+    // When the acpi-parse scenario spawns this directly, argv[1] is a device-count
+    // *floor* to self-verify against. The kernel no longer parses AML, so there is
+    // no exact count to match — proving the ring-3 parse found at least a floor of
+    // devices is the check. Deterministic, no log-scraping.
+    const floor: ?usize = if (init.arguments.get(1)) |a| (std.fmt.parseInt(usize, a, 10) catch null) else null;
 
     const buffer = runtime.allocator().alloc(device.DeviceDescriptor, 64) catch {
         _ = runtime.system.write("/system/services/acpi: out of memory\n");
@@ -162,11 +164,11 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
     var namespace = result.namespace;
     const devices = aml.deviceCount(&namespace);
     writeLine("/system/services/acpi: parsed {d} AML blob(s), {d} namespace devices\n", .{ block_count, devices });
-    if (expected) |want| {
-        if (devices == want) {
+    if (floor) |minimum| {
+        if (devices >= minimum) {
             _ = runtime.system.write("acpi-parse: ok\n");
         } else {
-            writeLine("acpi-parse: mismatch (ring-3 {d} vs kernel {d})\n", .{ devices, want });
+            writeLine("acpi-parse: too few (ring-3 {d} < floor {d})\n", .{ devices, minimum });
         }
         // Self-verify mode is standalone (no manager); stop before reporting.
         while (true) runtime.system.sleep(1000);
@@ -692,8 +694,3 @@ fn rd16(bytes: []const u8, off: usize) u64 {
 fn rd32(bytes: []const u8, off: usize) u64 {
     return rd16(bytes, off) | (rd16(bytes, off + 2) << 16);
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start; // pull the runtime entry shim into the image
-}

system/services/args-echo/args-echo.zig

@@ -48,8 +48,3 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
     len += 1;
     _ = runtime.system.write(buffer[0..len]);
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start; // pull the runtime entry shim into the image
-}

system/services/block/protocol.zig

@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ pub const Operation = enum(u32) {
     read = 1,
     /// write(lba, count, physical): write `count` blocks at `lba` from the buffer
     write = 2,
+    /// flush(): commit any device write cache to stable media (no data transfer).
+    /// A filesystem calls this to make prior writes durable — e.g. before power-off,
+    /// so a shutdown-time write isn't lost in the USB flash controller's cache.
+    flush = 3,
 };
 
 pub const Request = extern struct {

system/services/crash-test/crash-test.zig

@@ -37,8 +37,3 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
     const poison: *volatile u32 = @ptrFromInt(0xdead0000);
     poison.* = 1; // the restart machinery's fuel: a real segmentation fault
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start; // pull the runtime entry shim into the image
-}

system/services/device-list/device-list.zig

@@ -81,8 +81,3 @@ pub fn main() void {
         }
     }
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start; // pull the runtime entry shim into the image
-}

system/services/device-manager/device-manager.zig

@@ -41,6 +41,15 @@ const xhci_pci_class: u64 = pci_class.ClassCode.pack(.{
     .prog_if = @intFromEnum(pci_class.serial_bus.usb.ProgIf.xhci),
 });
 
+/// The PCI class triple of a virtio-gpu — Display Controller / Other (0x80) / 0. The class
+/// alone cannot tell it from any other display/other function, so the driver re-confirms
+/// vendor 0x1AF4 / device 0x1050 from config space once spawned; this only gets it spawned.
+const virtio_gpu_pci_class: u64 = pci_class.ClassCode.pack(.{
+    .base = @intFromEnum(pci_class.BaseClass.display),
+    .subclass = 0x80, // "Other" — no named SubClass member (PCI convention)
+    .prog_if = 0,
+});
+
 /// The driver that serves a *reported* PCI function (M19.3: matching moved
 /// from the boot snapshot to the bus reports), or null. A machine can carry
 /// several identical controllers — one driver instance per reported device,
@@ -48,6 +57,7 @@ const xhci_pci_class: u64 = pci_class.ClassCode.pack(.{
 fn pciDriverForIdentity(identity: u64) ?[]const u8 {
     return switch (identity) {
         xhci_pci_class => "usb-xhci-bus",
+        virtio_gpu_pci_class => "virtio-gpu",
         else => null,
     };
 }
@@ -149,6 +159,8 @@ var test_restart_mode = false;
 var test_usb_restart_mode = false;
 var test_usb_killed = false;
 var test_pci_restart_mode = false;
+var test_scanout_restart_mode = false;
+var test_scanout_killed = false;
 var test_kill_pid: u32 = 0;
 var test_kill_due_ns: u64 = 0;
 
@@ -415,6 +427,14 @@ fn onMessage(message: []const u8, reply: []u8, sender: u32, capability: ?runtime
     } else if (driverByProcess(sender)) |driver| {
         driver.state = .running;
         writeLine("/system/services/device-manager: hello from {s} (device {d})\n", .{ driver.name(), hello.device_id });
+        // Resilience drill (V6): once, kill the virtio-gpu driver a moment after it hellos, so
+        // the normal restart policy respawns it — the compositor must survive and re-attach.
+        if (test_scanout_restart_mode and !test_scanout_killed and std.mem.eql(u8, driver.name(), "virtio-gpu")) {
+            test_scanout_killed = true;
+            test_kill_pid = sender;
+            test_kill_due_ns = system.clock() + 1_500_000_000;
+            _ = system.timerOnce(manager_endpoint, 1600);
+        }
     } else {
         status = -1;
         writeLine("/system/services/device-manager: hello from unknown process {d}\n", .{sender});
@@ -557,6 +577,7 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
         test_restart_mode = std.mem.eql(u8, mode, "test-restart");
         test_usb_restart_mode = std.mem.eql(u8, mode, "test-usb-restart");
         test_pci_restart_mode = std.mem.eql(u8, mode, "test-pci-restart");
+        test_scanout_restart_mode = std.mem.eql(u8, mode, "test-scanout-restart");
     }
     runtime.service.run(protocol.message_maximum, .{
         .service = .device_manager,
@@ -565,8 +586,3 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
         .on_notification = onNotification,
     });
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start; // pull the runtime entry shim into the image
-}

system/services/display-demo/display-demo.zig

@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+//! system/services/display-demo — a hardware-free client of the display service, the
+//! `input-source` analog for the compositor. It creates a wallpaper, a rectangle it moves
+//! each frame, and a small cursor, then drives the compositor in a present loop — proof
+//! that a *separate process* can compose a moving scene through the display service over
+//! IPC, exercising the layer client API and damage-driven present end to end
+//! (docs/display.md). It logs `display-demo: ok` once it has driven a run of frames.
+
+const runtime = @import("runtime");
+const display = runtime.display;
+const system = runtime.system;
+const time = runtime.time;
+const input = runtime.input;
+
+pub fn main() void {
+    const mode = display.info() orelse {
+        _ = system.write("display-demo: no display service\n");
+        return;
+    };
+
+    // A full-screen wallpaper under everything.
+    const wallpaper = display.createLayer(0, 0, mode.width, mode.height, 0) orelse return createFailed();
+    _ = wallpaper.fill(0, 0, mode.width, mode.height, display.color(0x10, 0x18, 0x28));
+
+    // A rectangle that slides back and forth.
+    const box_w: u32 = 140;
+    const box_h: u32 = 100;
+    const box_y: i32 = 200;
+    const box = display.createLayer(0, box_y, box_w, box_h, 1) orelse return createFailed();
+    _ = box.fill(0, 0, box_w, box_h, display.color(0xE0, 0x60, 0x40));
+
+    // A little cursor on top. Its position is signed (the layer API is i32) and clamped to
+    // the screen; mouse motion arrives as relative deltas we accumulate below.
+    var cursor_x: i32 = @intCast(mode.width / 2);
+    var cursor_y: i32 = @intCast(mode.height / 2);
+    const cursor_max_x: i32 = @as(i32, @intCast(mode.width)) - 12;
+    const cursor_max_y: i32 = @as(i32, @intCast(mode.height)) - 12;
+    const cursor = display.createLayer(cursor_x, cursor_y, 12, 12, 2) orelse return createFailed();
+    _ = cursor.fill(0, 0, 12, 12, display.color(0xF0, 0xF0, 0xF0));
+
+    _ = display.present();
+    _ = system.write("display-demo: scene up; animating\n");
+
+    const span: i32 = @as(i32, @intCast(mode.width)) - @as(i32, @intCast(box_w));
+    var x: i32 = 0;
+    var dx: i32 = 8;
+    var frame: u32 = 0;
+
+    var mouse = input.subscribeMouse(); // type: ?input.MouseSubscriber
+    if (mouse == null) _ = system.write("display-demo: no mouse; animating without it\n");
+
+    while (true) : (frame += 1) {
+        if (mouse) |*ms| {
+            if (ms.next()) |event| {
+                cursor_x = clamp(cursor_x + event.dx, 0, cursor_max_x);
+                cursor_y = clamp(cursor_y + event.dy, 0, cursor_max_y);
+                _ = cursor.configure(cursor_x, cursor_y, 2, true);
+            }
+        }
+
+        x += dx;
+        if (x <= 0) {
+            x = 0;
+            dx = -dx;
+        } else if (x >= span) {
+            x = span;
+            dx = -dx;
+        }
+        _ = box.configure(x, box_y, 1, true); // move it; the compositor repaints old + new
+        _ = display.present();
+        // A run of frames drawn through the compositor is the automated proof (the visible
+        // motion is a screenshot away via `zig build run-x86-64`).
+        if (frame == 20) _ = system.write("display-demo: ok\n");
+        time.sleep(time.Duration.fromMillis(30));
+    }
+}
+
+/// Clamp `v` to the inclusive range [lo, hi].
+fn clamp(v: i32, lo: i32, hi: i32) i32 {
+    if (v < lo) return lo;
+    if (v > hi) return hi;
+    return v;
+}
+
+fn createFailed() void {
+    _ = system.write("display-demo: create failed\n");
+}

system/services/display/backend.zig

@@ -0,0 +1,273 @@
+//! The compositor's **scanout backend** — how a finished frame reaches the panel
+//! (docs/display-v2.md). The compositor composes its layer stack into the backend's
+//! cacheable `surface()` and calls `present(damage)`; everything device-specific lives
+//! here. Today there is one backend, `Gop` — the firmware framebuffer: a cacheable back
+//! buffer streamed write-combining to the linear framebuffer. A native virtio-gpu backend
+//! slots in beside it later (V4); the compositor never learns which is active.
+
+const std = @import("std");
+const runtime = @import("runtime");
+const compositor = @import("compositor.zig");
+
+const system = runtime.system;
+const device = runtime.device;
+const ipc = runtime.ipc;
+const scanout_protocol = runtime.scanout_protocol;
+const Rect = compositor.Rect;
+const Surface = compositor.Surface;
+
+/// The current display mode, as a backend reports it.
+pub const Info = struct { width: u32, height: u32, pitch: u32, format: u32 };
+
+/// Enumeration scratch — a `DeviceDescriptor` is large, and only one scan is ever needed.
+var device_table: [64]device.DeviceDescriptor = undefined;
+
+/// The GOP framebuffer backend: claims the kernel-seeded `display` device, maps the linear
+/// framebuffer write-combining as the front buffer, and keeps a cacheable back buffer of
+/// the same geometry as the compose target. `present` streams the damaged rectangle from
+/// the back buffer to the LFB (sequential WC writes; the LFB is never read). No mode-set,
+/// no vsync — the portable floor (docs/display-v2.md).
+pub const Gop = struct {
+    device_id: u64,
+    front: [*]volatile u8, // the LFB (write-combining)
+    back: [*]u8, // cacheable compose target, same geometry
+    width: u32,
+    height: u32,
+    pitch: u32,
+    format: u32,
+
+    /// The framebuffer's id and geometry, captured together. `findDisplay` reads these out of
+    /// the enumeration table and returns them by value, so the caller never re-reads the table
+    /// across later syscalls (`device_enumerate` writes the whole table straight into this
+    /// process's memory; reading a descriptor's tail again after other syscalls have run is a
+    /// window we simply avoid by copying the few fields we need up front).
+    const Found = struct { id: u64, width: u32, height: u32, pitch: u32, format: u32 };
+
+    /// The first `display`-class device with a *valid* (non-zero) geometry, or null. A zero
+    /// geometry is treated as "not ready yet" so the caller retries — a real framebuffer always
+    /// has a non-zero width, height, and pitch.
+    fn findDisplay() ?Found {
+        const total = device.enumerate(&device_table);
+        const n = @min(total, device_table.len);
+        for (device_table[0..n]) |*d| {
+            if (d.class != @intFromEnum(device.DeviceClass.display)) continue;
+            if (d.display.width == 0 or d.display.height == 0 or d.display.pitch == 0) continue;
+            return .{ .id = d.id, .width = d.display.width, .height = d.display.height, .pitch = d.display.pitch, .format = d.display.format };
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    /// Claim the framebuffer (retrying while discovery catches up), map the LFB, and
+    /// allocate the back buffer. Null if there is no framebuffer or a mapping fails.
+    pub fn init() ?Gop {
+        var tries: u32 = 0;
+        const found = while (tries < 100) : (tries += 1) {
+            if (findDisplay()) |f| break f;
+            system.sleep(50);
+        } else {
+            _ = system.write("display: no framebuffer device (headless?)\n");
+            return null;
+        };
+
+        if (!device.claim(found.id)) {
+            _ = system.write("display: could not claim the framebuffer\n");
+            return null;
+        }
+        // Resource 0 is the framebuffer memory window; the kernel maps it write-combining
+        // because the resource carries that flag (docs/display-plan.md D1).
+        const front_base = device.mmioMap(found.id, 0) orelse {
+            _ = system.write("display: could not map the framebuffer\n");
+            return null;
+        };
+        const size = @as(usize, found.height) * found.pitch;
+        const back_base = system.mmap(size, system.PROT_READ | system.PROT_WRITE);
+        if (system.mmapFailed(back_base)) {
+            _ = system.write("display: could not allocate the back buffer\n");
+            return null;
+        }
+        return .{
+            .device_id = found.id,
+            .front = @ptrFromInt(front_base),
+            .back = @ptrFromInt(back_base),
+            .width = found.width,
+            .height = found.height,
+            .pitch = found.pitch,
+            .format = found.format,
+        };
+    }
+
+    pub fn info(self: *const Gop) Info {
+        return .{ .width = self.width, .height = self.height, .pitch = self.pitch, .format = self.format };
+    }
+
+    /// The cacheable compose target (the back buffer).
+    pub fn surface(self: *const Gop) Surface {
+        return .{
+            .pixels = @ptrCast(@alignCast(self.back)),
+            .stride = self.pitch / 4, // pitch is bytes; a 32-bpp row is pitch/4 pixels
+            .width = self.width,
+            .height = self.height,
+        };
+    }
+
+    /// Stream the damaged rectangle from the back buffer to the write-combining LFB, row by
+    /// row (sequential writes — what WC memory wants; the LFB is never read).
+    pub fn present(self: *const Gop, damage: Rect) void {
+        const c = damage.intersect(.{ .x = 0, .y = 0, .w = @intCast(self.width), .h = @intCast(self.height) });
+        if (c.isEmpty()) return;
+        var y: i32 = c.y;
+        while (y < c.bottom()) : (y += 1) {
+            const off = @as(usize, @intCast(y)) * self.pitch;
+            const src: [*]const u32 = @ptrCast(@alignCast(self.back + off));
+            const dst: [*]volatile u32 = @ptrCast(@alignCast(self.front + off));
+            var x: i32 = c.x;
+            while (x < c.right()) : (x += 1) dst[@intCast(x)] = src[@intCast(x)];
+        }
+    }
+};
+
+/// A display mode the native backend can switch to.
+pub const Mode = scanout_protocol.Mode;
+
+/// The native virtio-gpu backend: the compositor composes into a **shared** scanout surface
+/// (an `shm` region the driver created and handed over) and `present` asks the driver to put
+/// a frame on the panel over its `.scanout` endpoint. Unlike GOP there is no local copy — the
+/// surface *is* the device's resource backing, so compositing writes land straight where the
+/// driver transfers-and-flushes from (x86 DMA is cache-coherent, so the cacheable shared pages
+/// need no explicit flush). Built by the display service when a driver announces (V4). The
+/// surface is sized to the driver's largest mode, so `stride` (its row width) is fixed while
+/// `width`/`height` — the active mode — change under `setMode` (V5).
+pub const VirtioGpu = struct {
+    pixels: [*]u32, // the shared scanout surface, mapped into the compositor
+    stride: u32, // the surface's row stride in pixels (the driver's max mode width) — fixed
+    width: u32, // the active mode
+    height: u32,
+    format: u32,
+    scanout: ipc.Handle, // the driver's present + mode channel (looked up on `.scanout`)
+
+    pub fn info(self: *const VirtioGpu) Info {
+        return .{ .width = self.width, .height = self.height, .pitch = self.stride * 4, .format = self.format };
+    }
+    pub fn surface(self: *const VirtioGpu) Surface {
+        return .{ .pixels = self.pixels, .stride = self.stride, .width = self.width, .height = self.height };
+    }
+    /// Ask the driver to present. The composited pixels are already in the shared surface, so
+    /// this is a single request over `.scanout`; the driver transfers + fenced-flushes.
+    pub fn present(self: *const VirtioGpu, damage: Rect) void {
+        _ = damage;
+        var request = scanout_protocol.Request{
+            .operation = @intFromEnum(scanout_protocol.Operation.present),
+            .width = self.width,
+            .height = self.height,
+        };
+        var reply: [scanout_protocol.reply_size]u8 = undefined;
+        _ = ipc.call(self.scanout, std.mem.asBytes(&request), &reply) catch {};
+    }
+    /// Fill `out` with the driver's offered modes; returns how many were written.
+    pub fn modes(self: *const VirtioGpu, out: []Mode) usize {
+        var request = scanout_protocol.Request{ .operation = @intFromEnum(scanout_protocol.Operation.get_modes) };
+        var reply: [scanout_protocol.modes_reply_size]u8 = undefined;
+        const n = ipc.call(self.scanout, std.mem.asBytes(&request), &reply) catch return 0;
+        if (n < scanout_protocol.modes_reply_size) return 0;
+        const answer = std.mem.bytesToValue(scanout_protocol.ModesReply, reply[0..scanout_protocol.modes_reply_size]);
+        if (answer.status != 0) return 0;
+        const count = @min(@min(answer.count, scanout_protocol.max_modes), out.len);
+        for (0..count) |i| out[i] = answer.modes[i];
+        return count;
+    }
+    /// Change the scanout resolution. On success the active `width`/`height` update (the shared
+    /// surface — sized to the max mode — is unchanged, so `stride` stays put).
+    pub fn setMode(self: *VirtioGpu, w: u32, h: u32) bool {
+        if (w == 0 or h == 0 or w > self.stride) return false;
+        var request = scanout_protocol.Request{
+            .operation = @intFromEnum(scanout_protocol.Operation.set_mode),
+            .width = w,
+            .height = h,
+        };
+        var reply: [scanout_protocol.reply_size]u8 = undefined;
+        const n = ipc.call(self.scanout, std.mem.asBytes(&request), &reply) catch return false;
+        if (n < scanout_protocol.reply_size) return false;
+        if (std.mem.bytesToValue(scanout_protocol.Reply, reply[0..scanout_protocol.reply_size]).status != 0) return false;
+        self.width = w;
+        self.height = h;
+        return true;
+    }
+};
+
+/// The pluggable scanout backend. A tagged union so the compositor holds one value and
+/// dispatches without caring which is active; the `virtio` native backend joins `gop` at V4.
+pub const Backend = union(enum) {
+    gop: Gop,
+    virtio: VirtioGpu,
+
+    pub fn info(self: *const Backend) Info {
+        return switch (self.*) {
+            inline else => |*b| b.info(),
+        };
+    }
+    pub fn surface(self: *const Backend) Surface {
+        return switch (self.*) {
+            inline else => |*b| b.surface(),
+        };
+    }
+    pub fn present(self: *const Backend, damage: Rect) void {
+        switch (self.*) {
+            inline else => |*b| b.present(damage),
+        }
+    }
+    /// The modes this backend can switch to (none for GOP); returns how many were written.
+    pub fn modes(self: *const Backend, out: []Mode) usize {
+        return switch (self.*) {
+            .virtio => |*v| v.modes(out),
+            .gop => 0,
+        };
+    }
+    /// Change the resolution; false if this backend can't mode-set or the mode was refused.
+    pub fn setMode(self: *Backend, w: u32, h: u32) bool {
+        return switch (self.*) {
+            .virtio => |*v| v.setMode(w, h),
+            .gop => false,
+        };
+    }
+    /// Whether this backend supports runtime mode-setting (GOP: no; virtio-gpu: yes, V5).
+    pub fn canModeSet(self: *const Backend) bool {
+        return switch (self.*) {
+            .gop => false,
+            .virtio => true,
+        };
+    }
+    /// Whether this backend has a vblank/fence for tear-free present (virtio-gpu: yes, V5 — every
+    /// flush is fenced, so the device signals completion when the frame is actually on screen).
+    pub fn hasVsync(self: *const Backend) bool {
+        return switch (self.*) {
+            .gop => false,
+            .virtio => true,
+        };
+    }
+};
+
+/// Which backend to use. The pure selection *decision* is `chooseKind`; `select` below
+/// binds it to the (syscall-bound) bring-up.
+pub const Kind = enum { gop, virtio };
+
+/// The selection decision, factored out of bring-up so it stays pure and host-testable:
+/// prefer a native driver when one has announced itself (docs/display-v2.md V4), else the
+/// GOP floor. Trivial today; it grows real inputs when native detection lands.
+pub fn chooseKind(native_available: bool) Kind {
+    return if (native_available) .virtio else .gop;
+}
+
+/// Pick and bring up the best available backend. Today the GOP framebuffer is the only one
+/// (`chooseKind(false)` → `.gop`), so this is `Gop.init()`. V4 adds the native-if-present
+/// branch, with GOP as the floor.
+pub fn select() ?Backend {
+    return switch (chooseKind(false)) {
+        .gop => .{ .gop = Gop.init() orelse return null },
+        .virtio => unreachable, // no native detection yet (V4)
+    };
+}
+
+test "selection prefers native when present, else the gop floor" {
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(Kind.gop, chooseKind(false));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(Kind.virtio, chooseKind(true));
+}

system/services/display/compositor.zig

@@ -0,0 +1,192 @@
+//! The compositor's pure core: rectangle math and the three blitting primitives the
+//! display service composes frames from — fill a rectangle of a surface, composite one
+//! surface onto another clipped to a damage rectangle, and copy a client-supplied pixel
+//! tile in. Deliberately free of any syscall or `runtime` dependency (it takes plain
+//! pixel pointers), so it is host-tested under `zig build test`. The service
+//! (system/services/display/display.zig) wires real mmap'd surfaces and the framebuffer
+//! to it. Pixels are opaque native 32-bit values — v1 layers don't alpha-blend, and
+//! channel order (rgbx/bgrx) is the caller's concern (see protocol.pack).
+
+const std = @import("std");
+
+/// An axis-aligned rectangle in pixels. Signed, so a surface partly off-screen (a layer
+/// dragged past an edge) clips with plain arithmetic. Half-open: covers [x, x+w) × [y, y+h).
+pub const Rect = struct {
+    x: i32,
+    y: i32,
+    w: i32,
+    h: i32,
+
+    pub const empty = Rect{ .x = 0, .y = 0, .w = 0, .h = 0 };
+
+    pub fn init(x: i32, y: i32, w: i32, h: i32) Rect {
+        return .{ .x = x, .y = y, .w = w, .h = h };
+    }
+
+    pub fn isEmpty(r: Rect) bool {
+        return r.w <= 0 or r.h <= 0;
+    }
+
+    pub fn right(r: Rect) i32 {
+        return r.x + r.w;
+    }
+    pub fn bottom(r: Rect) i32 {
+        return r.y + r.h;
+    }
+
+    /// The overlap of two rectangles, or an empty rectangle if they don't touch.
+    pub fn intersect(a: Rect, b: Rect) Rect {
+        const x0 = @max(a.x, b.x);
+        const y0 = @max(a.y, b.y);
+        const x1 = @min(a.right(), b.right());
+        const y1 = @min(a.bottom(), b.bottom());
+        return .{ .x = x0, .y = y0, .w = x1 - x0, .h = y1 - y0 };
+    }
+
+    /// The bounding box of two rectangles. An empty operand contributes nothing (returns
+    /// the other), so folding damage rectangles with `unite` from `empty` yields their
+    /// bounding box.
+    pub fn unite(a: Rect, b: Rect) Rect {
+        if (a.isEmpty()) return b;
+        if (b.isEmpty()) return a;
+        const x0 = @min(a.x, b.x);
+        const y0 = @min(a.y, b.y);
+        const x1 = @max(a.right(), b.right());
+        const y1 = @max(a.bottom(), b.bottom());
+        return .{ .x = x0, .y = y0, .w = x1 - x0, .h = y1 - y0 };
+    }
+};
+
+/// A block of 32-bit pixels: `pixels` addressed row-major with `stride` pixels between
+/// row starts (≥ width — the framebuffer's stride is pitch/4, a layer's is its width).
+pub const Surface = struct {
+    pixels: [*]u32,
+    stride: u32, // pixels per row
+    width: u32,
+    height: u32,
+
+    pub fn bounds(s: Surface) Rect {
+        return .{ .x = 0, .y = 0, .w = @intCast(s.width), .h = @intCast(s.height) };
+    }
+
+    inline fn row(s: Surface, y: u32) [*]u32 {
+        return s.pixels + @as(usize, y) * s.stride;
+    }
+};
+
+/// Fill `rect` of `s` with the native pixel `colour`, clipped to `s`'s bounds.
+pub fn fillRect(s: Surface, rect: Rect, colour: u32) void {
+    const c = rect.intersect(s.bounds());
+    if (c.isEmpty()) return;
+    var y: i32 = c.y;
+    while (y < c.bottom()) : (y += 1) {
+        const r = s.row(@intCast(y));
+        var x: i32 = c.x;
+        while (x < c.right()) : (x += 1) r[@intCast(x)] = colour;
+    }
+}
+
+/// Composite the whole of `layer` onto `dst` with the layer's top-left at (`dx`, `dy`),
+/// painting only the pixels that fall inside `clip` (a `dst`-space rectangle) and inside
+/// `dst`. Opaque copy. This is the primitive `present` repeats over the visible layer
+/// stack, bottom to top, for each damaged region.
+pub fn composite(dst: Surface, dx: i32, dy: i32, layer: Surface, clip: Rect) void {
+    const on_screen = Rect{ .x = dx, .y = dy, .w = @intCast(layer.width), .h = @intCast(layer.height) };
+    const region = on_screen.intersect(clip).intersect(dst.bounds());
+    if (region.isEmpty()) return;
+    var y: i32 = region.y;
+    while (y < region.bottom()) : (y += 1) {
+        const src = layer.row(@intCast(y - dy));
+        const d = dst.row(@intCast(y));
+        var x: i32 = region.x;
+        while (x < region.right()) : (x += 1) {
+            d[@intCast(x)] = src[@intCast(x - dx)];
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Copy a `w`×`h` tile of native pixels from `src` (raw little-endian bytes, row-major,
+/// tightly packed) into `dst` at (`dx`, `dy`), clipped to `dst`'s bounds. `src` is read
+/// with `readInt` because it comes straight out of an IPC message buffer and carries no
+/// alignment guarantee. Returns without touching anything if `src` is short.
+pub fn blitTile(dst: Surface, dx: i32, dy: i32, src: []const u8, w: u32, h: u32) void {
+    if (src.len < @as(usize, w) * h * 4) return;
+    var ty: u32 = 0;
+    while (ty < h) : (ty += 1) {
+        const yy = dy + @as(i32, @intCast(ty));
+        if (yy < 0 or yy >= dst.height) continue;
+        const drow = dst.row(@intCast(yy));
+        var tx: u32 = 0;
+        while (tx < w) : (tx += 1) {
+            const xx = dx + @as(i32, @intCast(tx));
+            if (xx < 0 or xx >= dst.width) continue;
+            const off = (@as(usize, ty) * w + tx) * 4;
+            drow[@intCast(xx)] = std.mem.readInt(u32, src[off..][0..4], .little);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// --- tests ------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+test "rect intersect: overlap and disjoint" {
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(Rect.init(5, 5, 5, 5), Rect.init(0, 0, 10, 10).intersect(Rect.init(5, 5, 10, 10)));
+    try std.testing.expect(Rect.init(0, 0, 10, 10).intersect(Rect.init(20, 20, 5, 5)).isEmpty());
+}
+
+test "rect unite: bounding box, empty is identity" {
+    const a = Rect.init(2, 2, 4, 4);
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(Rect.init(2, 1, 10, 5), a.unite(Rect.init(10, 1, 2, 2)));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(a, a.unite(Rect.empty));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(a, Rect.empty.unite(a));
+}
+
+test "fillRect clips to surface and honours stride padding" {
+    // A 4×3 surface inside a 6-wide allocation (stride 6 > width 4), like pitch padding.
+    var mem = [_]u32{0} ** (6 * 3);
+    const s = Surface{ .pixels = &mem, .stride = 6, .width = 4, .height = 3 };
+    fillRect(s, Rect.init(-1, -1, 3, 3), 0xAB); // straddles the top-left corner
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0xAB), mem[0 * 6 + 0]);
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0xAB), mem[1 * 6 + 1]);
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0), mem[0 * 6 + 2]); // beyond the 2-wide fill
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0), mem[2 * 6 + 0]); // row 2 untouched
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0), mem[0 * 6 + 4]); // stride padding untouched
+}
+
+test "composite: overlap shows the top layer, clipped to damage" {
+    var back = [_]u32{0} ** (8 * 8);
+    const dst = Surface{ .pixels = &back, .stride = 8, .width = 8, .height = 8 };
+    var lo = [_]u32{0x11} ** (4 * 4);
+    var hi = [_]u32{0x22} ** (4 * 4);
+    const low = Surface{ .pixels = &lo, .stride = 4, .width = 4, .height = 4 };
+    const high = Surface{ .pixels = &hi, .stride = 4, .width = 4, .height = 4 };
+    composite(dst, 0, 0, low, dst.bounds()); // bottom at (0,0)
+    composite(dst, 2, 2, high, dst.bounds()); // top overlaps at (2,2)
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0x11), back[0 * 8 + 0]); // bottom-only
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0x22), back[3 * 8 + 3]); // overlap → top wins
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0x22), back[5 * 8 + 5]); // top-only
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0), back[7 * 8 + 7]); // neither
+}
+
+test "composite honours the damage rectangle" {
+    var back = [_]u32{0} ** (8 * 8);
+    const dst = Surface{ .pixels = &back, .stride = 8, .width = 8, .height = 8 };
+    var fill = [_]u32{0x33} ** (8 * 8);
+    const layer = Surface{ .pixels = &fill, .stride = 8, .width = 8, .height = 8 };
+    composite(dst, 0, 0, layer, Rect.init(2, 2, 2, 2)); // only this damage region
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0x33), back[2 * 8 + 2]);
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0x33), back[3 * 8 + 3]);
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0), back[1 * 8 + 1]); // outside damage
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0), back[4 * 8 + 4]); // outside damage
+}
+
+test "blitTile copies a packed tile, clipping and reading unaligned bytes" {
+    var back = [_]u32{0} ** (4 * 4);
+    const dst = Surface{ .pixels = &back, .stride = 4, .width = 4, .height = 4 };
+    // A 2×2 tile in a byte buffer offset by one byte, so reads are unaligned.
+    var raw = [_]u8{0} ** (1 + 2 * 2 * 4);
+    const tile = raw[1..];
+    for (0..4) |i| std.mem.writeInt(u32, tile[i * 4 ..][0..4], @intCast(0xA0 + i), .little);
+    blitTile(dst, 3, 3, tile, 2, 2); // bottom-right corner; only (3,3) lands on-surface
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0xA0), back[3 * 4 + 3]);
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0), back[0]); // nothing else touched
+}

system/services/display/display.zig

@@ -0,0 +1,457 @@
+//! /system/services/display — the display service (docs/display.md, docs/display-v2.md).
+//! A ring-3 compositor: it composes an ordered stack of **layers** into a cacheable
+//! surface and presents finished frames. Scanout — how a frame reaches the panel — is a
+//! pluggable **backend** ([backend.zig](backend.zig)): the GOP framebuffer today, a native
+//! virtio-gpu driver later; this file never learns which is active. It owns the layer stack
+//! and damage tracking; the pixel math is the pure, host-tested
+//! [compositor.zig](compositor.zig).
+//!
+//! A layer is a server-owned surface (its own cacheable buffer) with a screen position,
+//! z-order, and visibility. Clients create layers, draw into them by command (`fill_rect`,
+//! `blit_tile`), mark `damage`, and ask for a `present`; the compositor repaints only the
+//! damaged region — clear it, paint the visible layers bottom-to-top into the backend's
+//! surface, then `backend.present(damage)`. Shared-memory client surfaces are later
+//! (docs/display-v2.md).
+
+const std = @import("std");
+const runtime = @import("runtime");
+const compositor = @import("compositor.zig");
+const backend_mod = @import("backend.zig");
+
+const protocol = runtime.display_protocol;
+const ipc = runtime.ipc;
+const system = runtime.system;
+const Rect = compositor.Rect;
+const Surface = compositor.Surface;
+
+/// The active scanout backend — the GOP framebuffer at boot, upgraded to a native driver
+/// (virtio-gpu) when one announces itself (V4).
+var backend: backend_mod.Backend = undefined;
+var frames: u64 = 0;
+
+/// This service's endpoint, kept so `attach_scanout` can arm a one-shot timer: the very first
+/// native present must happen in a *later* loop iteration, after the reply to the driver's
+/// announce has unblocked it and it is serving its `.scanout` channel — presenting inline
+/// would deadlock (we'd call the driver while it waits on our reply).
+var service_endpoint: ipc.Handle = 0;
+
+/// Set when the backend has just been upgraded to virtio-gpu: the next present repaints the
+/// whole screen into the shared surface and reads a pixel back to confirm the frame landed.
+var pending_native_verify: bool = false;
+
+/// Set alongside it: after the native present is verified, run the mode-set self-check once
+/// (query the driver's modes, switch to a different one, confirm the geometry changed) — the
+/// serial proof the runtime-resolution-change + fenced-present paths work (V5).
+var pending_modeset_check: bool = false;
+
+/// The wallpaper the compositor clears damaged regions to before painting layers.
+var background: u32 = 0;
+
+/// The layer stack. A fixed table (a compositor has few top-level surfaces during
+/// bring-up); each used slot owns an mmap'd surface. `damage` accumulates the dirty
+/// screen region since the last `present`, so a present touches only what changed.
+const maximum_layers = 16;
+
+const Layer = struct {
+    used: bool = false,
+    x: i32 = 0,
+    y: i32 = 0,
+    z: u32 = 0,
+    visible: bool = false,
+    surface: Surface = undefined,
+    surface_len: usize = 0, // for munmap on destroy
+};
+
+var layers: [maximum_layers]Layer = [_]Layer{.{}} ** maximum_layers;
+var damage: Rect = Rect.empty;
+
+// --- geometry helpers -------------------------------------------------------
+
+fn screenRect() Rect {
+    const m = backend.info();
+    return .{ .x = 0, .y = 0, .w = @intCast(m.width), .h = @intCast(m.height) };
+}
+
+fn layerScreenRect(l: *const Layer) Rect {
+    return .{ .x = l.x, .y = l.y, .w = @intCast(l.surface.width), .h = @intCast(l.surface.height) };
+}
+
+/// Add `r` (screen coordinates) to the pending damage, clipped to the screen.
+fn addDamage(r: Rect) void {
+    damage = damage.unite(r.intersect(screenRect()));
+}
+
+// --- layer operations (called from onMessage and the self-check) ------------
+
+fn freeLayer() ?u32 {
+    for (&layers, 0..) |*l, i| {
+        if (!l.used) return @intCast(i);
+    }
+    return null;
+}
+
+/// A used layer by id, or null if the id is out of range or free.
+fn layerAt(id: u32) ?*Layer {
+    if (id >= maximum_layers or !layers[id].used) return null;
+    return &layers[id];
+}
+
+fn createLayer(x: i32, y: i32, w: u32, h: u32, z: u32, visible: bool) ?u32 {
+    if (w == 0 or h == 0) return null;
+    const slot = freeLayer() orelse return null;
+    const len = @as(usize, w) * h * 4;
+    const base = system.mmap(len, system.PROT_READ | system.PROT_WRITE);
+    if (system.mmapFailed(base)) return null;
+    layers[slot] = .{
+        .used = true,
+        .x = x,
+        .y = y,
+        .z = z,
+        .visible = visible,
+        .surface = .{ .pixels = @ptrFromInt(base), .stride = w, .width = w, .height = h },
+        .surface_len = len,
+    };
+    return slot;
+}
+
+fn fillLayer(id: u32, local: Rect, colour: u32) bool {
+    const l = layerAt(id) orelse return false;
+    compositor.fillRect(l.surface, local, colour);
+    // Damage in screen space = the fill, translated by the layer origin, within the layer.
+    const screen = Rect{ .x = l.x + local.x, .y = l.y + local.y, .w = local.w, .h = local.h };
+    addDamage(screen.intersect(layerScreenRect(l)));
+    return true;
+}
+
+fn blitLayer(id: u32, x: i32, y: i32, w: u32, h: u32, pixels: []const u8) bool {
+    const l = layerAt(id) orelse return false;
+    compositor.blitTile(l.surface, x, y, pixels, w, h);
+    const screen = Rect{ .x = l.x + x, .y = l.y + y, .w = @intCast(w), .h = @intCast(h) };
+    addDamage(screen.intersect(layerScreenRect(l)));
+    return true;
+}
+
+fn configureLayer(id: u32, x: i32, y: i32, z: u32, visible: bool) bool {
+    const l = layerAt(id) orelse return false;
+    addDamage(layerScreenRect(l)); // the old footprint must repaint
+    l.x = x;
+    l.y = y;
+    l.z = z;
+    l.visible = visible;
+    addDamage(layerScreenRect(l)); // and the new one
+    return true;
+}
+
+fn destroyLayer(id: u32) bool {
+    const l = layerAt(id) orelse return false;
+    addDamage(layerScreenRect(l));
+    _ = system.munmap(@intFromPtr(l.surface.pixels), l.surface_len);
+    l.* = .{};
+    return true;
+}
+
+// --- compositing + present --------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Repaint the damaged region `clip` of the backend's compose surface: clear it to the
+/// background, then paint every visible layer that overlaps it, bottom to top (ascending z).
+fn compositeInto(clip: Rect) void {
+    const target = backend.surface();
+    compositor.fillRect(target, clip, background);
+
+    // z-order the used, visible layers (n ≤ 16; a plain insertion sort of indices).
+    var order: [maximum_layers]u32 = undefined;
+    var n: usize = 0;
+    for (layers, 0..) |l, i| {
+        if (l.used and l.visible) {
+            order[n] = @intCast(i);
+            n += 1;
+        }
+    }
+    var a: usize = 1;
+    while (a < n) : (a += 1) {
+        const key = order[a];
+        var b: usize = a;
+        while (b > 0 and layers[order[b - 1]].z > layers[key].z) : (b -= 1) order[b] = order[b - 1];
+        order[b] = key;
+    }
+
+    for (order[0..n]) |i| {
+        const l = layers[i];
+        compositor.composite(target, l.x, l.y, l.surface, clip);
+    }
+}
+
+/// Composite the accumulated damage into the backend's surface, hand it to the backend to
+/// put on screen, then clear the damage. A no-op when nothing is dirty. The frame counter
+/// advances regardless, so callers can name frames.
+fn present() void {
+    const dirty = damage.intersect(screenRect());
+    if (!dirty.isEmpty()) {
+        compositeInto(dirty);
+        backend.present(dirty);
+    }
+    damage = Rect.empty;
+    frames += 1;
+
+    // The first present after a native upgrade confirms the composited frame actually reached
+    // the shared scanout surface (the automated stand-in for "it's on screen").
+    if (pending_native_verify and !dirty.isEmpty()) {
+        pending_native_verify = false;
+        verifyNativePresent();
+    }
+}
+
+/// Read a pixel straight back from the shared scanout surface after a native present. The
+/// surface starts zeroed, so a non-zero centre pixel means the compositor wrote the frame into
+/// the pages the driver transfers-and-flushes from — that, plus the driver acking the present
+/// over `.scanout`, is the serial proof the native path works.
+fn verifyNativePresent() void {
+    const s = backend.surface();
+    const sample = s.pixels[@as(usize, s.height / 2) * s.stride + s.width / 2];
+    if (sample != 0) {
+        _ = system.write("display: native present verified\n");
+    } else {
+        _ = system.write("display: native present FAILED (blank surface)\n");
+    }
+}
+
+/// A native scanout driver announced itself: map the shared surface it handed over, find its
+/// present channel, switch the backend to virtio-gpu, and queue a full-screen repaint. The
+/// present is deferred to a timer (see `service_endpoint`) so it happens after this reply
+/// unblocks the driver and it starts serving `.scanout`.
+fn attachScanout(stride: u32, width: u32, height: u32, format: u32, capability: ?ipc.Handle, reply: []u8) usize {
+    const cap = capability orelse return fail(reply);
+    if (width == 0 or height == 0 or stride < width) return fail(reply);
+    const mapped = runtime.shm.map(cap) orelse return fail(reply);
+    const scanout = ipc.lookup(.scanout) orelse return fail(reply);
+    // A second announce means the driver died and was restarted (V6): re-attach to its fresh
+    // scanout. (The previous shared mapping leaks — there is no shm_unmap syscall yet — but the
+    // frames are the dead driver's, reclaimed on its exit; a handful across a crash is benign.)
+    const reattach = switch (backend) {
+        .virtio => true,
+        else => false,
+    };
+
+    backend = .{ .virtio = .{
+        .pixels = @ptrCast(@alignCast(mapped)),
+        .stride = stride,
+        .width = width,
+        .height = height,
+        .format = format,
+        .scanout = scanout,
+    } };
+    background = protocol.pack(format, 0x20, 0x30, 0x48); // re-pack the wallpaper for the mode
+    addDamage(screenRect()); // the whole new surface must be painted
+    pending_native_verify = true;
+    if (!reattach) pending_modeset_check = true; // the mode-set self-check runs once, on first upgrade
+    _ = system.timerOnce(service_endpoint, 50); // present once the driver is serving .scanout
+    _ = system.write(if (reattach)
+        "display: scanout re-attached\n"
+    else
+        "display: scanout upgraded to virtio-gpu\n");
+    return ok(reply);
+}
+
+/// After the native upgrade is verified, prove the runtime-resolution-change and fenced-present
+/// paths: query the driver's modes, switch to one that differs from the current, re-composite
+/// the whole screen at the new size, and confirm the backend now reports that geometry. The
+/// present goes through the driver's fenced flush, so a clean present is a vsync present.
+fn modesetSelfCheck() void {
+    if (!backend.canModeSet()) return;
+    var mode_list: [4]backend_mod.Mode = undefined;
+    const count = backend.modes(&mode_list);
+    if (count == 0) {
+        _ = system.write("display: mode-set self-check: no modes reported\n");
+        return;
+    }
+    const current = backend.info();
+    var target: ?backend_mod.Mode = null;
+    for (mode_list[0..count]) |m| {
+        if (m.width != current.width or m.height != current.height) {
+            target = m;
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+    const wanted = target orelse {
+        _ = system.write("display: mode-set self-check: no alternate mode offered\n");
+        return;
+    };
+    if (!backend.setMode(wanted.width, wanted.height)) {
+        _ = system.write("display: mode set FAILED\n");
+        return;
+    }
+    addDamage(screenRect()); // repaint the whole screen at the new resolution, then present it
+    present();
+
+    const now = backend.info();
+    if (now.width == wanted.width and now.height == wanted.height) {
+        var line: [80]u8 = undefined;
+        _ = system.write(std.fmt.bufPrint(&line, "display: mode set to {d}x{d}, verified\n", .{ now.width, now.height }) catch "display: mode set, verified\n");
+        if (backend.hasVsync()) _ = system.write("display: vsync present ok\n");
+    } else {
+        _ = system.write("display: mode set FAILED (geometry unchanged)\n");
+    }
+}
+
+// --- startup self-check -----------------------------------------------------
+
+/// Prove the compositor wiring on the real backend: two overlapping opaque layers,
+/// composited, must show the top layer in the overlap and the bottom layer outside it.
+/// Exercises the whole path — mmap surfaces, the z-sort, damage, composite into the
+/// backend surface — and reads the composited result back. Cleans up after itself.
+fn selfCheck() void {
+    const format = backend.info().format;
+    const red = protocol.pack(format, 0xC0, 0x20, 0x20);
+    const green = protocol.pack(format, 0x20, 0xC0, 0x20);
+    const bottom = createLayer(100, 100, 80, 80, 0, true) orelse return fail_check("create");
+    const top = createLayer(140, 140, 80, 80, 1, true) orelse return fail_check("create");
+    _ = fillLayer(bottom, Rect.init(0, 0, 80, 80), red);
+    _ = fillLayer(top, Rect.init(0, 0, 80, 80), green);
+    present();
+
+    const surface = backend.surface();
+    const overlap = surface.pixels[@as(usize, 150) * surface.stride + 150]; // in both → top
+    const bottom_only = surface.pixels[@as(usize, 110) * surface.stride + 110]; // bottom only
+
+    _ = destroyLayer(top);
+    _ = destroyLayer(bottom);
+    present(); // repaint the self-check region back to the background
+
+    if (overlap == green and bottom_only == red) {
+        _ = system.write("display: compositor self-check ok\n");
+    } else {
+        _ = system.write("display: compositor self-check FAILED\n");
+    }
+}
+
+fn fail_check(_: []const u8) void {
+    _ = system.write("display: compositor self-check FAILED (setup)\n");
+}
+
+// --- service ----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+fn initialise(endpoint: ipc.Handle) bool {
+    service_endpoint = endpoint;
+
+    // Pick the scanout backend (GOP today). It logs the reason on failure.
+    backend = backend_mod.select() orelse return false;
+    const mode = backend.info();
+    background = protocol.pack(mode.format, 0x20, 0x30, 0x48); // a dark slate wallpaper
+
+    // Clear the whole screen through the compose surface → present path (double buffering:
+    // no direct-to-scanout drawing).
+    addDamage(screenRect());
+    present();
+
+    var line: [96]u8 = undefined;
+    _ = system.write(std.fmt.bufPrint(&line, "display: online {d}x{d} pitch {d} format {d}\n", .{
+        mode.width, mode.height, mode.pitch, mode.format,
+    }) catch "display: online\n");
+    _ = system.write("display: presented frame 0\n");
+
+    selfCheck();
+    return true;
+}
+
+fn writeReply(reply: []u8, value: protocol.Reply) usize {
+    const bytes = std.mem.asBytes(&value);
+    @memcpy(reply[0..bytes.len], bytes);
+    return bytes.len;
+}
+
+fn ok(reply: []u8) usize {
+    return writeReply(reply, .{ .status = 0 });
+}
+
+fn fail(reply: []u8) usize {
+    return writeReply(reply, .{ .status = -1 });
+}
+
+fn onMessage(message: []const u8, reply: []u8, sender: u32, capability: ?ipc.Handle) usize {
+    _ = sender;
+    if (message.len < protocol.request_size) return fail(reply);
+    const request = std.mem.bytesToValue(protocol.Request, message[0..protocol.request_size]);
+    const payload = message[protocol.request_size..];
+    // Switch on the raw operation value — an out-of-range one must fail cleanly, not
+    // panic an `@enumFromInt`.
+    switch (request.operation) {
+        @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.info) => {
+            const m = backend.info();
+            return writeReply(reply, .{ .status = 0, .width = m.width, .height = m.height, .pitch = m.pitch, .format = m.format });
+        },
+        @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.create_layer) => {
+            // x/y are signed coordinates carried in the u32 wire fields — reinterpret the
+            // bits (@bitCast), don't range-check (@intCast) which a negative would fail.
+            const slot = createLayer(@bitCast(request.x), @bitCast(request.y), request.width, request.height, request.z, request.visible != 0) orelse return fail(reply);
+            return writeReply(reply, .{ .status = 0, .layer = slot });
+        },
+        @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.configure_layer) => {
+            return if (configureLayer(request.layer, @bitCast(request.x), @bitCast(request.y), request.z, request.visible != 0)) ok(reply) else fail(reply);
+        },
+        @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.destroy_layer) => {
+            return if (destroyLayer(request.layer)) ok(reply) else fail(reply);
+        },
+        @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.fill_rect) => {
+            const local = Rect.init(@bitCast(request.x), @bitCast(request.y), @intCast(request.width), @intCast(request.height));
+            return if (fillLayer(request.layer, local, request.colour)) ok(reply) else fail(reply);
+        },
+        @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.blit_tile) => {
+            return if (blitLayer(request.layer, @bitCast(request.x), @bitCast(request.y), request.width, request.height, payload)) ok(reply) else fail(reply);
+        },
+        @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.damage) => {
+            const l = layerAt(request.layer) orelse return fail(reply);
+            const screen = Rect{ .x = l.x + @as(i32, @bitCast(request.x)), .y = l.y + @as(i32, @bitCast(request.y)), .w = @intCast(request.width), .h = @intCast(request.height) };
+            addDamage(screen.intersect(layerScreenRect(l)));
+            return ok(reply);
+        },
+        @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.present) => {
+            present();
+            return ok(reply);
+        },
+        @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.attach_scanout) => {
+            return attachScanout(request.x, request.width, request.height, request.colour, capability, reply);
+        },
+        @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.set_mode) => {
+            if (!backend.setMode(request.width, request.height)) return fail(reply);
+            addDamage(screenRect()); // repaint the whole screen at the new resolution
+            present();
+            return ok(reply);
+        },
+        @intFromEnum(protocol.Operation.get_modes) => {
+            var list: [4]backend_mod.Mode = undefined;
+            const count = backend.modes(&list);
+            var response = protocol.ModesReply{ .status = 0, .count = @intCast(count), .modes = undefined };
+            for (0..protocol.max_modes) |i| {
+                response.modes[i] = if (i < count)
+                    .{ .width = list[i].width, .height = list[i].height }
+                else
+                    .{ .width = 0, .height = 0 };
+            }
+            const bytes = std.mem.asBytes(&response);
+            @memcpy(reply[0..bytes.len], bytes);
+            return bytes.len;
+        },
+        else => return fail(reply),
+    }
+}
+
+/// The only notification the compositor arms is the post-attach present timer: repaint the
+/// screen into the freshly attached native surface, verify the frame landed, then run the
+/// one-shot mode-set self-check (V5).
+fn onNotification(badge: u64) void {
+    _ = badge;
+    present(); // native present + verify (first timer fire after the upgrade)
+    if (pending_modeset_check) {
+        pending_modeset_check = false;
+        modesetSelfCheck();
+    }
+}
+
+pub fn main() void {
+    runtime.service.run(protocol.message_maximum, .{
+        .service = .display,
+        .init = initialise,
+        .on_message = onMessage,
+        .on_notification = onNotification,
+    });
+}

system/services/display/protocol.zig

@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+//! The display wire protocol — what a client says to the display service over its
+//! well-known `.display` endpoint. extern-struct messages with an `Operation` tag, the
+//! same shape as block/vfs/input protocols. The compositor owns the framebuffer and an
+//! ordered stack of **layers**; a client creates layers, draws into them with these
+//! operations, marks damage, and asks for a `present`. v1 surfaces are server-owned (a
+//! client draws by command); shared-memory surfaces are a later milestone (docs/display.md).
+
+const std = @import("std");
+
+pub const Operation = enum(u32) {
+    /// info() -> { width, height, pitch, format }: the display's current mode.
+    info = 0,
+    /// create_layer(x, y, width, height, z) -> { layer }: a new server-owned surface.
+    create_layer = 1,
+    /// configure_layer(layer, x, y, z, visible): move, restack, show, or hide a layer.
+    configure_layer = 2,
+    /// destroy_layer(layer): release a layer.
+    destroy_layer = 3,
+    /// fill_rect(layer, x, y, width, height, colour): fill a rectangle of a layer.
+    fill_rect = 4,
+    /// blit_tile(layer, x, y, width, height, <inline pixels>): copy a small pixel tile in.
+    blit_tile = 5,
+    /// damage(layer, x, y, width, height): mark a region dirty for the next present.
+    damage = 6,
+    /// present(): composite the dirty layers and flush to the screen.
+    present = 7,
+    /// attach_scanout(x=stride, width, height, colour=format) + <surface capability>: a native
+    /// scanout driver announces itself, handing over the shared scanout surface as an `ipc_call`
+    /// send_cap. The compositor maps it, looks up the driver's `.scanout` present channel, and
+    /// upgrades off the GOP floor (docs/display-v2.md V4). `x` is the surface's row stride in
+    /// pixels, `colour` the DisplayFormat.
+    attach_scanout = 8,
+    /// set_mode(width, height): change the display resolution — only a native backend that
+    /// reports `canModeSet` honours it; on the GOP floor it fails (docs/display-v2.md V5).
+    set_mode = 9,
+    /// get_modes() -> ModesReply: the resolutions the display can switch to (empty on GOP).
+    get_modes = 10,
+};
+
+/// The fixed request header. A `blit_tile`'s pixel payload (width*height 32-bit pixels)
+/// follows this header inline in the same message, up to `maximum_payload`.
+pub const Request = extern struct {
+    operation: u32,
+    layer: u32 = 0, // create/configure/destroy/fill/blit/damage: the target layer
+    x: u32 = 0,
+    y: u32 = 0,
+    width: u32 = 0,
+    height: u32 = 0,
+    z: u32 = 0, // create_layer / configure_layer: stacking order (higher = in front)
+    colour: u32 = 0, // fill_rect: the fill colour (native pixel value)
+    visible: u32 = 1, // configure_layer: 0 hides the layer
+    reserved: u32 = 0,
+};
+
+pub const Reply = extern struct {
+    status: i32, // 0 on success, negative on failure
+    reserved: u32 = 0,
+    // info():
+    width: u32 = 0,
+    height: u32 = 0,
+    pitch: u32 = 0,
+    format: u32 = 0, // a device-abi DisplayFormat value (0 = rgbx, 1 = bgrx)
+    // create_layer():
+    layer: u32 = 0,
+    reserved2: u32 = 0,
+};
+
+/// One selectable display mode.
+pub const Mode = extern struct { width: u32, height: u32 };
+pub const max_modes = 4;
+
+/// The reply to `get_modes`: a small fixed list of resolutions the display can switch to.
+pub const ModesReply = extern struct {
+    status: i32,
+    count: u32,
+    modes: [max_modes]Mode,
+};
+pub const modes_reply_size: usize = @sizeOf(ModesReply);
+
+/// The IPC message size — the kernel caps every message at `MESSAGE_MAXIMUM` (256 bytes,
+/// system/kernel/ipc-synchronous.zig), so this matches it (a larger receive/reply buffer
+/// is rejected with -E2BIG). A `blit_tile` therefore carries only a *small* tile inline —
+/// `maximum_payload` bytes = up to 54 pixels, enough for a cursor or small sprite; larger
+/// bitmaps are the deferred shared-memory surface path (docs/display.md).
+pub const message_maximum: usize = 256;
+pub const request_size: usize = @sizeOf(Request);
+pub const reply_size: usize = @sizeOf(Reply);
+pub const maximum_payload: usize = message_maximum - request_size;
+
+/// Pack an 8-bit-per-channel colour into the display's native 32-bit pixel for `format`
+/// (a device-abi `DisplayFormat`: 0 = rgbx, 1 = bgrx). Shared so a `colour` in a
+/// `fill_rect` request means the same thing to the client that sends it and the
+/// compositor that paints it. Little-endian memory, reserved byte 0: rgbx puts red in
+/// the low byte, bgrx puts blue there.
+pub fn pack(format: u32, r: u8, g: u8, b: u8) u32 {
+    const rr: u32 = r;
+    const gg: u32 = g;
+    const bb: u32 = b;
+    return switch (format) {
+        1 => bb | (gg << 8) | (rr << 16), // bgrx
+        else => rr | (gg << 8) | (bb << 16), // rgbx
+    };
+}
+
+test "pack encodes native byte order for rgbx and bgrx" {
+    // rgbx: red in the low byte, blue in byte 2.
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0x0000_00AA), pack(0, 0xAA, 0, 0));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0x00AA_0000), pack(0, 0, 0, 0xAA));
+    // bgrx: blue in the low byte, red in byte 2.
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0x0000_00AA), pack(1, 0, 0, 0xAA));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0x00AA_0000), pack(1, 0xAA, 0, 0));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 0x0000_3020), pack(0, 0x20, 0x30, 0)); // green in byte 1
+}

system/services/display/scanout-protocol.zig

@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+//! The scanout wire protocol — what the compositor says to a native scanout driver (e.g.
+//! virtio-gpu) over its well-known `.scanout` endpoint to put a composited frame on screen.
+//! The driver owns the panel and the shared scanout surface it handed the compositor (via the
+//! display service's `attach_scanout`); the compositor composites into that surface, then asks
+//! the driver to present a damaged rectangle. Tiny by design — one present request. Separate
+//! from the display protocol because the directions differ: clients call the compositor over
+//! `.display`; the compositor calls the driver over `.scanout`. See docs/display-v2.md.
+
+const std = @import("std");
+
+pub const Operation = enum(u32) {
+    /// present(x, y, width, height): put the given rectangle of the shared scanout surface on
+    /// the panel (on virtio-gpu: transfer-to-host of the region, then a fenced resource flush).
+    present = 0,
+    /// get_modes() -> ModesReply: the display modes this scanout can switch to (V5).
+    get_modes = 1,
+    /// set_mode(width, height): change the scanout resolution — the shared surface is sized to
+    /// the largest mode, so this just re-points the scanout rectangle; the surface is unchanged.
+    set_mode = 2,
+};
+
+pub const Request = extern struct {
+    operation: u32,
+    x: u32 = 0,
+    y: u32 = 0,
+    width: u32 = 0,
+    height: u32 = 0,
+};
+
+pub const Reply = extern struct {
+    status: i32, // 0 on success, negative on failure
+    reserved: u32 = 0,
+};
+
+/// One offered display mode.
+pub const Mode = extern struct { width: u32, height: u32 };
+pub const max_modes = 4;
+
+/// The reply to `get_modes`: a small fixed list of modes.
+pub const ModesReply = extern struct {
+    status: i32,
+    count: u32,
+    modes: [max_modes]Mode,
+};
+
+pub const message_maximum: usize = 64;
+pub const request_size: usize = @sizeOf(Request);
+pub const reply_size: usize = @sizeOf(Reply);
+pub const modes_reply_size: usize = @sizeOf(ModesReply);

system/services/fat/fat-test.zig

@@ -101,8 +101,3 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
     }
     _ = runtime.system.write("fat-test: root listing was empty\n");
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start;
-}

system/services/fat/fat.zig

@@ -40,11 +40,16 @@ const IpcBlock = struct {
         const self: *IpcBlock = @ptrCast(@alignCast(context));
         const destination: [*]u8 = @ptrFromInt(self.bounce.virtual);
         @memcpy(destination[0..512], buffer[0..512]);
-        return self.device.write(lba, 1, self.bounce.physical);
+        if (!self.device.write(lba, 1, self.bounce.physical)) return false;
+        device_dirty = true; // a block reached the device; a close will flush it
+        return true;
     }
 };
 
 var ipc_block: IpcBlock = undefined;
+// Set whenever a block is written, cleared when the device cache is flushed on a
+// file close — so writes are committed to stable media before a power-off.
+var device_dirty: bool = false;
 var filesystem: engine.FileSystem = undefined;
 
 // Open handles the VFS holds against this backend: each maps a node id to a
@@ -192,6 +197,14 @@ fn onMessage(message: []const u8, out: []u8, sender: u32, capability: ?runtime.i
         },
         .close => {
             if (openAt(request.node)) |o| o.used = false;
+            // Durable-on-close: if any block reached the device since the last
+            // flush, commit its cache to stable media now (best-effort). This is
+            // what makes init's shutdown log flush survive a real power-off, and is
+            // the right default for removable media the user may unplug.
+            if (device_dirty) {
+                _ = ipc_block.device.flush();
+                device_dirty = false;
+            }
             return writeReply(out, .{ .status = 0 }, &.{});
         },
         .mkdir => {
@@ -229,8 +242,3 @@ pub fn main() void {
         .on_message = onMessage,
     });
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start;
-}

system/services/fdt/fdt.zig

@@ -28,8 +28,3 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
     // supervisor reads a clean exit as "meant to stop" — correct for a
     // placeholder.
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start; // pull the runtime entry shim into the image
-}

system/services/init/init.zig

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 const runtime = @import("runtime");
 const power = runtime.power_protocol;
+const build_options = @import("build_options");
 
 /// Where the kernel boot log is persisted on the USB FAT volume — an 8.3 name at
 /// the mount root (see system/services/log-flush). init writes it at shutdown;
@@ -30,12 +31,22 @@ const log_path = "/mnt/usb/DANOS.LOG";
 /// microkernel keeps such choices in user space, not the kernel. Drivers are absent
 /// on purpose: the device manager owns those. (A future init reads this from a
 /// manifest under /system/services instead of a hardcoded list.)
-const boot_services = [_][]const u8{ "vfs", "input", "device-manager", "fat" };
+const boot_services = [_][]const u8{ "vfs", "input", "device-manager", "fat", "display", "display-demo" };
 
-var children: [boot_services.len]u32 = .{0} ** boot_services.len;
-var child_count: usize = 0;
+/// The live process id of each boot service (0 = not running), indexed by its position
+/// in `boot_services`, plus how many times init has restarted it. init supervises these:
+/// it spawns them against `supervision_endpoint` and, on a child's death, restarts it (up
+/// to `maximum_restarts`) — the reincarnation half of resilience (docs/resilience.md), the
+/// service-level counterpart to the device manager's driver restarts.
+var child_ids: [boot_services.len]u32 = .{0} ** boot_services.len;
+var restart_counts: [boot_services.len]u32 = .{0} ** boot_services.len;
+var shutting_down = false;
 var supervision_endpoint: runtime.ipc.Handle = 0;
 
+/// Give up restarting a service after this many crashes — a crash-loop cap, so a service
+/// that faults immediately on every spawn doesn't respawn forever.
+const maximum_restarts = 3;
+
 pub fn main() void {
     // Prove the heap end to end: allocate through the runtime allocator (which
     // mmaps pages from the kernel and carves them with the free list), write into
@@ -63,11 +74,8 @@ pub fn main() void {
     // Bring up the boot services, supervised so init can stop them cleanly.
     // Best-effort and silent: each service announces its own readiness, and in
     // an isolation test with no initial-ramdisk the spawns simply no-op.
-    for (boot_services) |service| {
-        if (runtime.system.spawnSupervised(service, &.{}, supervision_endpoint)) |id| {
-            children[child_count] = id;
-            child_count += 1;
-        }
+    for (boot_services, 0..) |service, i| {
+        if (runtime.system.spawnSupervised(service, &.{}, supervision_endpoint)) |id| child_ids[i] = id;
     }
 
     // Once the storage stack is up, a one-shot copies the boot log to the USB
@@ -83,10 +91,13 @@ pub fn main() void {
     // triggers the same shutdown path.
     subscribePower();
 
-    // A re-arming timer drives the liveness heartbeat: proof PID 1 is alive
-    // (the init test's marker) while the loop stays free to receive signals,
-    // power events, and children's exit notifications.
-    _ = runtime.system.timerOnce(supervision_endpoint, 1000);
+    // A re-arming timer drives the liveness heartbeat — proof PID 1 is alive (the
+    // init test's marker) and a -Dserial diagnostic. It is a serial/test-build-only
+    // concern: a flashable (serial-off) image runs a purely event-driven PID 1 that
+    // wakes only for real work (signals, power events, children's exits), never for a
+    // periodic beat. `build_options.serial` is comptime, so the heartbeat — its timer
+    // and the handler below — folds away entirely when serial is off.
+    if (build_options.serial) _ = runtime.system.timerOnce(supervision_endpoint, 1000);
 
     var receive: [power.message_maximum]u8 = undefined;
     while (true) {
@@ -95,7 +106,7 @@ pub fn main() void {
             if (signals.has(.terminate)) shutDown();
             continue;
         }
-        if (got.isTimer()) {
+        if (build_options.serial and got.isTimer()) {
             _ = runtime.system.write("/system/services/init: heartbeat\n");
             _ = runtime.system.timerOnce(supervision_endpoint, 1000);
             continue;
@@ -105,11 +116,47 @@ pub fn main() void {
             if (receive[1] == @intFromEnum(power.Event.power_button)) shutDown();
             continue;
         }
-        // Child-exit notifications and anything else: keep waiting.
+        if (got.isChildExit()) {
+            restartChild(got.childProcessId());
+            continue;
+        }
+        // Anything else: keep waiting.
         if (got.isNotification()) continue;
     }
 }
 
+/// A supervised boot service died. Find which one and restart it — unless it exited
+/// cleanly (it chose to stop, e.g. a driver with no hardware) or has hit the crash-loop
+/// cap. Reclaiming the dead process is already the kernel's job (docs/process-lifecycle.md
+/// iron rule 1); init only decides whether to bring it back.
+fn restartChild(id: u32) void {
+    if (shutting_down) return; // deaths during the stop sequence are expected, not crashes
+    for (boot_services, 0..) |service, i| {
+        if (child_ids[i] != id) continue;
+        child_ids[i] = 0;
+        // An unknown reason (the record aged out) is treated as a crash worth restarting.
+        const reason = runtime.process.exitReason(id) orelse .fault;
+        if (reason == .exited) {
+            logLine("/system/services/init: {s} exited cleanly; not restarting\n", .{service});
+            return;
+        }
+        restart_counts[i] += 1;
+        if (restart_counts[i] > maximum_restarts) {
+            logLine("/system/services/init: {s} keeps crashing; giving up after {d} restarts\n", .{ service, maximum_restarts });
+            return;
+        }
+        logLine("/system/services/init: {s} died ({s}); restarting ({d}/{d})\n", .{ service, @tagName(reason), restart_counts[i], maximum_restarts });
+        if (runtime.system.spawnSupervised(service, &.{}, supervision_endpoint)) |new_id| child_ids[i] = new_id;
+        return;
+    }
+    // An untracked child (e.g. the log-flush one-shot): nothing to restart.
+}
+
+fn logLine(comptime fmt: []const u8, args: anytype) void {
+    var line: [128]u8 = undefined;
+    _ = runtime.system.write(std.fmt.bufPrint(&line, fmt, args) catch return);
+}
+
 /// Look up the power service and subscribe our endpoint (handed over as the
 /// call's capability) so events arrive as buffered messages here.
 fn subscribePower() void {
@@ -153,15 +200,16 @@ fn flushKernelLog() void {
 /// it), waiting up to a deadline for each to exit before killing it, then ask the
 /// power service to enter S5.
 fn shutDown() void {
+    shutting_down = true; // the stop loop below kills children — those deaths aren't crashes
     _ = runtime.system.write("/system/services/init: shutting down\n");
     // Persist the fullest log to the USB volume BEFORE tearing anything down: the
-    // reverse-order stop loop below kills the fat server (children[3]) first, so
-    // /mnt/usb must be written while it is still mounted.
+    // reverse-order stop loop below kills the fat server first, so /mnt/usb must be
+    // written while it is still mounted.
     flushKernelLog();
-    var i = child_count;
+    var i = boot_services.len;
     while (i > 0) {
         i -= 1;
-        if (children[i] != 0) runtime.process.stop(children[i], 2000, supervision_endpoint);
+        if (child_ids[i] != 0) runtime.process.stop(child_ids[i], 2000, supervision_endpoint);
     }
     if (runtime.ipc.lookup(.power)) |h| {
         const request = power.Shutdown{};
@@ -171,8 +219,3 @@ fn shutDown() void {
     // If S5 did not take, init has nothing left to do but idle.
     while (true) runtime.system.sleep(1000);
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start; // pull the runtime entry shim into the image
-}

system/services/input-source/input-source.zig

@@ -33,8 +33,3 @@ pub fn main() void {
         system.sleep(200);
     }
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start;
-}

system/services/input-test/input-test.zig

@@ -49,8 +49,3 @@ pub fn main() void {
         }
     }
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start;
-}

system/services/input/input.zig

@@ -138,8 +138,3 @@ pub fn main() void {
         reply_len = handle(receive[0..got.len], got, &reply_buffer);
     }
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start;
-}

system/services/log-flush/log-flush.zig

@@ -60,8 +60,3 @@ pub fn main() void {
     var line: [96]u8 = undefined;
     _ = runtime.system.write(std.fmt.bufPrint(&line, "log-flush: wrote {d} bytes to {s}\n", .{ written, log_path }) catch return);
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start; // pull the runtime entry shim into the image
-}

system/services/process-test/process-test.zig

@@ -178,8 +178,3 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
 
     _ = runtime.system.write("process-test: ok\n");
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start; // pull the runtime entry shim into the image
-}

system/services/shm-client/shm-client.zig

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+//! system/services/shm-client — the creating half of the shm test (docs/display-v2.md V2).
+//! It `shm_create`s a shared region, writes a known pattern into it, and hands the region's
+//! capability to `shm-server` as an `ipc_call` send_cap. The server maps that capability and
+//! confirms the pattern is visible — proving cross-process shared memory over the extended
+//! capability-passing path.
+
+const runtime = @import("runtime");
+const system = runtime.system;
+const shm = runtime.shm;
+const ipc = runtime.ipc;
+
+const pattern_len = 4096;
+
+/// The pattern the server checks — must match shm-server.zig.
+fn expected(i: usize) u8 {
+    return @truncate(i *% 7 +% 3);
+}
+
+fn lookupServer() ?ipc.Handle {
+    var attempts: usize = 0;
+    while (attempts < 100) : (attempts += 1) {
+        if (ipc.lookup(.shm_test)) |h| return h;
+        system.sleep(50);
+    }
+    return null;
+}
+
+pub fn main() void {
+    const region = shm.create(pattern_len) orelse {
+        _ = system.write("shm: create failed\n");
+        return;
+    };
+    var i: usize = 0;
+    while (i < pattern_len) : (i += 1) region.ptr[i] = expected(i);
+
+    const server = lookupServer() orelse {
+        _ = system.write("shm: no server\n");
+        return;
+    };
+    // A non-empty message (so it reaches on_message, not the ping path), carrying the shm
+    // region's capability. The reply is empty; we just need the round trip.
+    var reply: [64]u8 = undefined;
+    _ = ipc.callCap(server, "shm", &reply, region.handle) catch {
+        _ = system.write("shm: call failed\n");
+    };
+}

system/services/shm-server/shm-server.zig

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+//! system/services/shm-server — the receiving half of the shm test (docs/display-v2.md V2).
+//! It registers under `ServiceId.shm_test`; when `shm-client` calls it carrying a
+//! shared-memory capability, it `shm_map`s that capability and checks the client's pattern
+//! is visible through the mapping — proving the two processes share the same physical pages
+//! (not a copy). On success it prints `shm: shared 4096 bytes ok`, the test's marker.
+
+const runtime = @import("runtime");
+const system = runtime.system;
+const shm = runtime.shm;
+const ipc = runtime.ipc;
+
+const pattern_len = 4096;
+
+/// The pattern the client writes — must match shm-client.zig.
+fn expected(i: usize) u8 {
+    return @truncate(i *% 7 +% 3);
+}
+
+fn onMessage(message: []const u8, reply: []u8, sender: u32, capability: ?ipc.Handle) usize {
+    _ = message;
+    _ = reply;
+    _ = sender;
+    const cap = capability orelse {
+        _ = system.write("shm: shared FAILED (no capability)\n");
+        return 0;
+    };
+    const ptr = shm.map(cap) orelse {
+        _ = system.write("shm: shared FAILED (map)\n");
+        return 0;
+    };
+    var i: usize = 0;
+    while (i < pattern_len) : (i += 1) {
+        if (ptr[i] != expected(i)) {
+            _ = system.write("shm: shared FAILED (mismatch)\n");
+            return 0;
+        }
+    }
+    _ = system.write("shm: shared 4096 bytes ok\n");
+    return 0; // empty reply — the client only needs the round trip to unblock
+}
+
+pub fn main() void {
+    runtime.service.run(64, .{ .service = .shm_test, .on_message = onMessage });
+}

system/services/vfs/vfs-test.zig

@@ -60,8 +60,3 @@ pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
     }
     _ = runtime.system.write("vfstest: mismatch\n");
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start;
-}

system/services/vfs/vfs.zig

@@ -394,8 +394,3 @@ pub fn main() void {
         .on_notification = onNotification,
     });
 }
-
-pub const panic = runtime.panic;
-comptime {
-    _ = &runtime.start._start;
-}

test/qemu_test.py

@@ -165,6 +165,71 @@ CASES = [
     {"name": "ioport",
      "expect": r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: PASS",
      "fail":   r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: FAIL"},
+    # Display handoff (D1): the kernel seeds the loader's framebuffer as a claimable
+    # `display` device with a write-combining memory resource; the claim + mmio_map path
+    # maps it, and the leaf is genuinely write-combining (PAT entry 4), not the UC default.
+    {"name": "display",
+     "expect": r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: PASS",
+     "fail":   r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: FAIL"},
+    # Display service (D2/D3): the user-space compositor claims the framebuffer, allocates
+    # a cacheable back buffer, clears it, and presents that composed frame (double-buffer
+    # path); then a startup self-check composites two overlapping layers and confirms the
+    # overlap shows the top layer (D3). Matched on the service's own heartbeats.
+    {"name": "display-service",
+     "expect": r"display: online \d+x\d+ pitch \d+[\s\S]*display: presented frame 0[\s\S]*display: compositor self-check ok",
+     "fail":   r"display: could not|self-check FAILED|CPU EXCEPTION|KERNEL PANIC"},
+    # Display demo (D4): a separate process (display-demo) drives the compositor over the
+    # layer client API — wallpaper + a moving rectangle + a cursor, presented in a loop.
+    # `display-demo: ok` is printed only after it drove a run of frames of motion through
+    # the service (the visible motion is a screenshot via `zig build run-x86-64`).
+    {"name": "display-demo",
+     "expect": r"display-demo: scene up[\s\S]*display-demo: ok",
+     "fail":   r"display-demo: (no display|create failed)|display: could not|CPU EXCEPTION|KERNEL PANIC"},
+    # Shared memory (v2 V2): shm-client creates a region, writes a pattern, and passes its
+    # capability to shm-server, which maps it and confirms the same bytes — proving
+    # cross-process shared pages over the extended capability passing.
+    {"name": "shm",
+     "expect": r"shm: shared 4096 bytes ok",
+     "fail":   r"shm: (shared FAILED|create failed|no server|call failed|map)|CPU EXCEPTION|KERNEL PANIC"},
+    # virtio-gpu driver (v2 V3): boot with an emulated virtio-gpu. The device-manager stack
+    # discovers the PCI function and spawns the driver, which brings up the control virtqueue,
+    # creates a 2D scanout resource backed by DMA memory, set_scanouts it, paints a test
+    # pattern, transfers + flushes it, and waits for the device's used-ring ack, then reads
+    # the backing back. `scanout WxH online` + `flush acked, pixel check ok` are the markers.
+    {"name": "virtio-gpu",
+     "qemu_extra": ["-device", "virtio-gpu-pci"],
+     "expect": r"virtio-gpu: scanout \d+x\d+ online[\s\S]*virtio-gpu: flush acked, pixel check ok",
+     "fail":   r"virtio-gpu:.*(failed|not acked|mismatch|unable to claim|not a virtio-gpu|too small|no PCI capability|does not offer|rejected|missing common-config|not a mapped resource|could not spawn)|CPU EXCEPTION|KERNEL PANIC"},
+    # Native backend + hot-attach (v2 V4): boot the compositor + display-demo with an emulated
+    # virtio-gpu. The driver announces its shared scanout surface to the compositor, which maps
+    # it, upgrades off the GOP floor, and drives frames through the native backend — reading a
+    # pixel back to confirm the composited frame reached the shared surface, while the demo runs.
+    {"name": "display-native",
+     "qemu_extra": ["-device", "virtio-gpu-pci"],
+     "mem": "512M",  # boots the compositor + demo + the whole device-manager driver stack at once
+     # Order-independent: the demo's `ok` may print before or after the driver announces, so
+     # require all three markers to appear somewhere rather than in a fixed order.
+     "expect": r"(?s)(?=.*display: scanout upgraded to virtio-gpu)(?=.*display: native present verified)(?=.*display-demo: ok)",
+     "fail":   r"display: native present FAILED|display: could not|display-demo: (no display|create failed)|CPU EXCEPTION|KERNEL PANIC"},
+    # Mode-set + EDID + vsync (v2 V5): same boot as display-native. After upgrading, the
+    # compositor queries the driver's modes, switches to a different resolution, and confirms the
+    # backend now reports it; the fenced present path makes it a vsync present. (The driver also
+    # logs the EDID preferred mode during bring-up.) Reuses the display-native kernel scenario.
+    {"name": "display-modeset",
+     "build_case": "display-native",
+     "qemu_extra": ["-device", "virtio-gpu-pci"],
+     "mem": "512M",
+     "expect": r"(?s)(?=.*display: mode set to \d+x\d+, verified)(?=.*display: vsync present ok)",
+     "fail":   r"display: mode set FAILED|display: mode-set self-check: |display: native present FAILED|CPU EXCEPTION|KERNEL PANIC"},
+    # Resilience: driver restart + re-attach (v2 V6). device-manager (in test-scanout-restart
+    # mode) kills the virtio-gpu driver once after it hellos; the restart policy respawns it, it
+    # re-announces, and the compositor re-attaches — surviving the loss. Expect the initial
+    # upgrade AND the re-attach; any CPU exception / panic (the compositor crashing) is a fail.
+    {"name": "display-reattach",
+     "qemu_extra": ["-device", "virtio-gpu-pci"],
+     "mem": "512M",
+     "expect": r"(?s)(?=.*display: scanout upgraded to virtio-gpu)(?=.*display: scanout re-attached)",
+     "fail":   r"CPU EXCEPTION|KERNEL PANIC|display: could not"},
     # Monotonic clock (clock() syscall source): calibrated, advancing, never backwards.
     {"name": "clock",
      "expect": r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: PASS",
@@ -365,7 +430,7 @@ CASES = [
      "smp":    4,
      "timeout": 60,
      "expect": r"acpi-parse: ok",
-     "fail":   r"acpi-parse: mismatch|DANOS-TEST-RESULT: FAIL"},
+     "fail":   r"acpi-parse: too few|DANOS-TEST-RESULT: FAIL"},
     # M20.3: the flip — ps2-bus now comes up from the acpi service's report, not
     # a kernel-built node. Ordered: report -> spawn -> the driver attaches its
     # keyboard, proving discovery runs entirely in ring 3 (docs/discovery.md).
@@ -421,12 +486,23 @@ CASES = [
      "expect": r"acpi: reported PNP0303 \(device \d+, 3 resources\)[\s\S]*"
                r"acpi: reported PNP0F13 \(device \d+, 1 resources\)",
      "fail":   r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: FAIL"},
-    # M19.1: the ring-3 PCI scan (pci-bus walks the ECAM through its mmio_map
-    # grant) finds exactly the functions the kernel's own walk recorded.
+    # M19.1/M19.3: the ring-3 PCI scan. pci-bus walks the ECAM through its mmio_map
+    # grant and registers every function it finds; the kernel's own walk retired, so
+    # the broker starts empty and the driver populates it. The manager then runs the
+    # restart drill: ~1 s after the scan it kills pci-bus, prunes its child tree, and
+    # respawns it to re-claim, re-scan, and re-register the same functions. The kernel
+    # test asserts the broker equivalence (empty before, populated after, no
+    # duplicates); this ordered regex asserts the drill itself over the whole serial
+    # log — the backreference requires the respawn to re-scan the same count, and the
+    # full-capture match is immune to the transient-line races an in-kernel poll hits.
     {"name": "pci-scan",
      "smp":    4,
      "timeout": 60,
-     "expect": r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: PASS",
+     "expect": r"pci-bus: (\d+) functions found[\s\S]*"
+               r"device-manager: test mode: killing the reporter[\s\S]*"
+               r"device-manager: restarting pci-bus[\s\S]*"
+               r"pci-bus: \1 functions found[\s\S]*"
+               r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: PASS",
      "fail":   r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: FAIL"},
     # M18.3: the application surface — device-list enumerates the tree over IPC,
     # subscribes (endpoint as capability), and observes the removed/added events
@@ -492,9 +568,8 @@ CASES = [
      "fail":   r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: FAIL"},
     # The ACPI power path succeeds by QEMU *exiting* (S5 off / reset), so match the
     # pre-transition marker; the FAIL line only appears if the transition didn't take.
-    {"name": "poweroff",
-     "expect": r"DANOS-POWER: attempting poweroff",
-     "fail":   r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: FAIL"},
+    # Soft-off (S5) is owned by the ring-3 acpi service now (see orderly-shutdown);
+    # the kernel keeps only reboot (FADT reset register, no AML).
     {"name": "reboot",
      "expect": r"DANOS-POWER: attempting reboot",
      "fail":   r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: FAIL"},
@@ -504,7 +579,10 @@ TIMEOUT = 30  # seconds per case
 
 
 def build(arch, case):
-    cmd = ["zig", "build", f"-Dtest-case={case}"] + arch["zig_flags"]
+    # -Dserial: the harness asserts on markers the kernel writes to serial0, so the
+    # serial log sink must be compiled in. It is off by default (a flashed real-
+    # hardware image keeps its log in RAM instead; see build.zig / serial.zig).
+    cmd = ["zig", "build", f"-Dtest-case={case}", "-Dserial=true"] + arch["zig_flags"]
     r = subprocess.run(cmd, cwd=REPO, capture_output=True, text=True)
     if r.returncode != 0:
         return r.stderr.strip() or r.stdout.strip()
@@ -572,6 +650,8 @@ def run_case(arch, case):
     cmd = [arch["qemu"]] + arch["qemu_args"](arch, boot_volume, vars_fd, serial)
     if case.get("smp"):  # some cases need more than one core (e.g. parallelism)
         cmd += ["-smp", str(case["smp"])]
+    if case.get("mem"):  # a case that boots the whole system at once needs more than the 128M floor
+        cmd[cmd.index("-m") + 1] = case["mem"]
     if case.get("qemu_extra"):  # extra qemu args, e.g. -device intel-iommu for the IOMMU case
         cmd += case["qemu_extra"]
     # A QMP control socket, always present (additive): how a case's `qmp_after`

tools/make-iso-image.py

@@ -0,0 +1,261 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Wrap the FAT32 boot volume in a hybrid ISO — the flashable danos release image.
+
+Mirrors tools/make-fat-image.py in spirit: pure Python 3 standard library, no
+external tools (no xorriso / mkisofs / isohybrid). The output is one file that
+boots both ways release media is consumed:
+
+  * Flashed raw to a USB stick (Etcher, dd): the ISO's system area carries an
+    MBR whose single partition (type 0xEF, "EFI System") points at the FAT32
+    image embedded in the ISO, so UEFI firmware finds the ESP and runs
+    \\EFI\\BOOT\\BOOTX64.efi off it.
+  * Burned to optical media: an El Torito boot catalog with an EFI platform
+    entry points at the same embedded FAT image.
+
+The ISO9660 filesystem itself is minimal but valid — a primary volume
+descriptor, the El Torito boot record, path tables, and a root directory that
+lists the boot catalog and the FAT image — so inspection tools can open it.
+
+    make-iso-image.py <out.iso> <esp.img>
+    make-iso-image.py --verify <out.iso>
+
+All timestamp fields are zero ("not specified") so the build is reproducible.
+"""
+
+import struct
+import sys
+
+ISO_SECTOR = 2048
+
+# Fixed layout, in ISO sectors (LBA). Sectors 0-15 are the system area (the
+# hybrid MBR lives in its first 512 bytes); volume descriptors start at 16.
+PVD_LBA = 16          # primary volume descriptor
+BOOT_RECORD_LBA = 17  # El Torito boot record volume descriptor
+TERMINATOR_LBA = 18   # volume descriptor set terminator
+PATH_TABLE_L_LBA = 19
+PATH_TABLE_M_LBA = 20
+ROOT_DIR_LBA = 21     # root directory (one sector holds our four records)
+CATALOG_LBA = 22      # El Torito boot catalog
+ESP_LBA = 23          # the embedded FAT32 image starts here
+
+MBR_PARTITION_TYPE_ESP = 0xEF
+
+
+def both16(value):
+    """ISO9660 both-byte-order encoding: little-endian then big-endian."""
+    return struct.pack("<H", value) + struct.pack(">H", value)
+
+
+def both32(value):
+    return struct.pack("<I", value) + struct.pack(">I", value)
+
+
+def directory_record(identifier, lba, size, flags):
+    length = 33 + len(identifier)
+    if length % 2:
+        length += 1  # records are padded to even length
+    record = bytearray(length)
+    record[0] = length
+    record[2:10] = both32(lba)
+    record[10:18] = both32(size)
+    # record[18:25] is the recording date; zero = unspecified (reproducible).
+    record[25] = flags  # 0x02 = directory
+    record[28:32] = both16(1)  # volume sequence number
+    record[32] = len(identifier)
+    record[33:33 + len(identifier)] = identifier
+    return bytes(record)
+
+
+def primary_volume_descriptor(total_sectors, path_table_size):
+    sector = bytearray(ISO_SECTOR)
+    sector[0] = 1  # type: primary
+    sector[1:6] = b"CD001"
+    sector[6] = 1  # version
+    sector[8:40] = b"DANOS".ljust(32)  # system identifier
+    sector[40:72] = b"DANOS".ljust(32)  # volume identifier
+    sector[80:88] = both32(total_sectors)
+    sector[120:124] = both16(1)  # volume set size
+    sector[124:128] = both16(1)  # volume sequence number
+    sector[128:132] = both16(ISO_SECTOR)  # logical block size
+    sector[132:140] = both32(path_table_size)
+    sector[140:144] = struct.pack("<I", PATH_TABLE_L_LBA)
+    sector[148:152] = struct.pack(">I", PATH_TABLE_M_LBA)
+    sector[156:190] = directory_record(b"\x00", ROOT_DIR_LBA, ISO_SECTOR, 0x02)
+    sector[190:318] = b" " * 128  # volume set identifier
+    sector[318:446] = b" " * 128  # publisher
+    sector[446:574] = b" " * 128  # data preparer
+    sector[574:702] = b"DANOS MAKE-ISO-IMAGE".ljust(128)  # application
+    sector[702:739] = b" " * 37  # copyright file
+    sector[739:776] = b" " * 37  # abstract file
+    sector[776:813] = b" " * 37  # bibliographic file
+    unspecified_date = b"0" * 16 + b"\x00"
+    for offset in (813, 830, 847, 864):  # creation/modification/expiry/effective
+        sector[offset:offset + 17] = unspecified_date
+    sector[881] = 1  # file structure version
+    return bytes(sector)
+
+
+def boot_record_descriptor():
+    sector = bytearray(ISO_SECTOR)
+    sector[0] = 0  # type: boot record
+    sector[1:6] = b"CD001"
+    sector[6] = 1
+    sector[7:39] = b"EL TORITO SPECIFICATION".ljust(32, b"\x00")
+    sector[71:75] = struct.pack("<I", CATALOG_LBA)
+    return bytes(sector)
+
+
+def terminator_descriptor():
+    sector = bytearray(ISO_SECTOR)
+    sector[0] = 255
+    sector[1:6] = b"CD001"
+    sector[6] = 1
+    return bytes(sector)
+
+
+def path_table(byte_order):
+    # A single entry: the root directory.
+    return (struct.pack("BB", 1, 0)
+            + struct.pack(byte_order + "I", ROOT_DIR_LBA)
+            + struct.pack(byte_order + "H", 1)
+            + b"\x00\x00")  # identifier 0x00 + pad to even
+
+
+def root_directory(esp_size):
+    # Records must be sorted by identifier; BOOT.CAT < EFI.IMG holds.
+    entries = (directory_record(b"\x00", ROOT_DIR_LBA, ISO_SECTOR, 0x02)
+               + directory_record(b"\x01", ROOT_DIR_LBA, ISO_SECTOR, 0x02)
+               + directory_record(b"BOOT.CAT;1", CATALOG_LBA, ISO_SECTOR, 0)
+               + directory_record(b"EFI.IMG;1", ESP_LBA, esp_size, 0))
+    return entries + b"\x00" * (ISO_SECTOR - len(entries))
+
+
+def boot_catalog(esp_size):
+    # Validation entry: EFI platform (0xEF), checksummed so its 16-bit words sum
+    # to zero, closed by the 0x55AA key bytes.
+    validation = bytearray(32)
+    validation[0] = 0x01
+    validation[1] = 0xEF
+    validation[4:28] = b"danos".ljust(24, b"\x00")
+    validation[30] = 0x55
+    validation[31] = 0xAA
+    checksum = (-sum(struct.unpack("<16H", validation))) & 0xFFFF
+    validation[28:30] = struct.pack("<H", checksum)
+    # Initial/default entry: bootable, no emulation, image at ESP_LBA. The
+    # sector-count field is 16-bit (units of 512 bytes) so it can't span a large
+    # ESP; UEFI firmware sizes the FAT filesystem from its own BPB, and the
+    # image's boot files sit well inside the capped span regardless.
+    default = bytearray(32)
+    default[0] = 0x88  # bootable
+    default[1] = 0x00  # no emulation
+    sector_count = min(0xFFFF, esp_size // 512)
+    default[6:8] = struct.pack("<H", sector_count)
+    default[8:12] = struct.pack("<I", ESP_LBA)
+    catalog = bytes(validation) + bytes(default)
+    return catalog + b"\x00" * (ISO_SECTOR - len(catalog))
+
+
+def hybrid_mbr(esp_size):
+    """The system-area MBR that makes the ISO flashable: one ESP partition."""
+    mbr = bytearray(512)
+    mbr[440:444] = b"dano"  # disk signature (fixed: reproducible builds)
+    start_lba = ESP_LBA * (ISO_SECTOR // 512)
+    partition = struct.pack(
+        "<B3sB3sII",
+        0x80,                      # status: active (harmless; helps picky firmware)
+        b"\xFE\xFF\xFF",           # CHS start: maxed out, LBA is authoritative
+        MBR_PARTITION_TYPE_ESP,    # type: EFI System
+        b"\xFE\xFF\xFF",           # CHS end
+        start_lba,
+        esp_size // 512,
+    )
+    mbr[446:462] = partition
+    mbr[510] = 0x55
+    mbr[511] = 0xAA
+    return bytes(mbr)
+
+
+def build(out_path, esp_path):
+    with open(esp_path, "rb") as handle:
+        esp = handle.read()
+    if len(esp) % ISO_SECTOR:
+        esp += b"\x00" * (ISO_SECTOR - len(esp) % ISO_SECTOR)
+    esp_sectors = len(esp) // ISO_SECTOR
+    total_sectors = ESP_LBA + esp_sectors
+
+    table_l = path_table("<")
+    image = bytearray(total_sectors * ISO_SECTOR)
+    image[0:512] = hybrid_mbr(len(esp))
+    image[PVD_LBA * ISO_SECTOR:(PVD_LBA + 1) * ISO_SECTOR] = \
+        primary_volume_descriptor(total_sectors, len(table_l))
+    image[BOOT_RECORD_LBA * ISO_SECTOR:(BOOT_RECORD_LBA + 1) * ISO_SECTOR] = \
+        boot_record_descriptor()
+    image[TERMINATOR_LBA * ISO_SECTOR:(TERMINATOR_LBA + 1) * ISO_SECTOR] = \
+        terminator_descriptor()
+    image[PATH_TABLE_L_LBA * ISO_SECTOR:PATH_TABLE_L_LBA * ISO_SECTOR + len(table_l)] = table_l
+    table_m = path_table(">")
+    image[PATH_TABLE_M_LBA * ISO_SECTOR:PATH_TABLE_M_LBA * ISO_SECTOR + len(table_m)] = table_m
+    image[ROOT_DIR_LBA * ISO_SECTOR:(ROOT_DIR_LBA + 1) * ISO_SECTOR] = root_directory(len(esp))
+    image[CATALOG_LBA * ISO_SECTOR:(CATALOG_LBA + 1) * ISO_SECTOR] = boot_catalog(len(esp))
+    image[ESP_LBA * ISO_SECTOR:] = esp
+
+    with open(out_path, "wb") as handle:
+        handle.write(image)
+    print(f"make-iso-image: wrote {out_path} "
+          f"({total_sectors * ISO_SECTOR // (1024 * 1024)} MiB hybrid ISO, "
+          f"ESP at LBA {ESP_LBA}, {esp_sectors} sectors)")
+
+
+def verify(path):
+    with open(path, "rb") as handle:
+        data = handle.read()
+    # The hybrid MBR (the Etcher/dd boot path).
+    if data[510] != 0x55 or data[511] != 0xAA:
+        sys.exit("verify: missing MBR 0x55AA signature")
+    status, _, part_type, _, part_start, part_sectors = \
+        struct.unpack_from("<B3sB3sII", data, 446)
+    if part_type != MBR_PARTITION_TYPE_ESP:
+        sys.exit(f"verify: MBR partition type 0x{part_type:02X}, expected 0xEF (ESP)")
+    # The ISO9660 descriptors (the optical boot path).
+    if data[PVD_LBA * ISO_SECTOR + 1:PVD_LBA * ISO_SECTOR + 6] != b"CD001":
+        sys.exit("verify: no primary volume descriptor")
+    boot_record = data[BOOT_RECORD_LBA * ISO_SECTOR:(BOOT_RECORD_LBA + 1) * ISO_SECTOR]
+    if not boot_record.startswith(b"\x00CD001") or \
+            not boot_record[7:30].startswith(b"EL TORITO SPECIFICATION"):
+        sys.exit("verify: no El Torito boot record")
+    catalog_lba = struct.unpack_from("<I", boot_record, 71)[0]
+    catalog = data[catalog_lba * ISO_SECTOR:(catalog_lba + 1) * ISO_SECTOR]
+    if catalog[0] != 0x01 or catalog[1] != 0xEF or catalog[30:32] != b"\x55\xAA":
+        sys.exit("verify: boot catalog validation entry is not an EFI entry")
+    if sum(struct.unpack("<16H", catalog[0:32])) & 0xFFFF != 0:
+        sys.exit("verify: boot catalog validation checksum is wrong")
+    if catalog[32] != 0x88:
+        sys.exit("verify: default catalog entry is not bootable")
+    boot_lba = struct.unpack_from("<I", catalog, 40)[0]
+    # Both paths must agree on where the ESP lives, and it must be a FAT32 image.
+    if boot_lba * (ISO_SECTOR // 512) != part_start:
+        sys.exit(f"verify: catalog boot image (LBA {boot_lba}) and MBR partition "
+                 f"(sector {part_start}) disagree")
+    esp = data[boot_lba * ISO_SECTOR:]
+    if len(esp) < part_sectors * 512:
+        sys.exit("verify: MBR partition extends past the end of the file")
+    if esp[510] != 0x55 or esp[511] != 0xAA or esp[82:90] != b"FAT32   ":
+        sys.exit("verify: embedded image is not a FAT32 boot volume")
+    print(f"verify: {path} is a hybrid ISO — MBR ESP partition (sector {part_start}, "
+          f"{part_sectors} sectors, active={status == 0x80}) and El Torito EFI entry "
+          f"both point at the embedded FAT32 image")
+
+
+def main(argv):
+    if len(argv) == 3 and argv[1] == "--verify":
+        verify(argv[2])
+        return 0
+    if len(argv) != 3:
+        sys.exit("usage: make-iso-image.py <out.iso> <esp.img>\n"
+                 "       make-iso-image.py --verify <out.iso>")
+    build(argv[1], argv[2])
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main(sys.argv))

usr/share/fonts/Lexend/OFL.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+Copyright 2018 The Lexend Project Authors (https://github.com/googlefonts/lexend), with Reserved Font Name “RevReading Lexend”.
+
+This Font Software is licensed under the SIL Open Font License, Version 1.1.
+This license is copied below, and is also available with a FAQ at:
+https://openfontlicense.org
+
+
+-----------------------------------------------------------
+SIL OPEN FONT LICENSE Version 1.1 - 26 February 2007
+-----------------------------------------------------------
+
+PREAMBLE
+The goals of the Open Font License (OFL) are to stimulate worldwide
+development of collaborative font projects, to support the font creation
+efforts of academic and linguistic communities, and to provide a free and
+open framework in which fonts may be shared and improved in partnership
+with others.
+
+The OFL allows the licensed fonts to be used, studied, modified and
+redistributed freely as long as they are not sold by themselves. The
+fonts, including any derivative works, can be bundled, embedded, 
+redistributed and/or sold with any software provided that any reserved
+names are not used by derivative works. The fonts and derivatives,
+however, cannot be released under any other type of license. The
+requirement for fonts to remain under this license does not apply
+to any document created using the fonts or their derivatives.
+
+DEFINITIONS
+"Font Software" refers to the set of files released by the Copyright
+Holder(s) under this license and clearly marked as such. This may
+include source files, build scripts and documentation.
+
+"Reserved Font Name" refers to any names specified as such after the
+copyright statement(s).
+
+"Original Version" refers to the collection of Font Software components as
+distributed by the Copyright Holder(s).
+
+"Modified Version" refers to any derivative made by adding to, deleting,
+or substituting -- in part or in whole -- any of the components of the
+Original Version, by changing formats or by porting the Font Software to a
+new environment.
+
+"Author" refers to any designer, engineer, programmer, technical
+writer or other person who contributed to the Font Software.
+
+PERMISSION & CONDITIONS
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
+a copy of the Font Software, to use, study, copy, merge, embed, modify,
+redistribute, and sell modified and unmodified copies of the Font
+Software, subject to the following conditions:
+
+1) Neither the Font Software nor any of its individual components,
+in Original or Modified Versions, may be sold by itself.
+
+2) Original or Modified Versions of the Font Software may be bundled,
+redistributed and/or sold with any software, provided that each copy
+contains the above copyright notice and this license. These can be
+included either as stand-alone text files, human-readable headers or
+in the appropriate machine-readable metadata fields within text or
+binary files as long as those fields can be easily viewed by the user.
+
+3) No Modified Version of the Font Software may use the Reserved Font
+Name(s) unless explicit written permission is granted by the corresponding
+Copyright Holder. This restriction only applies to the primary font name as
+presented to the users.
+
+4) The name(s) of the Copyright Holder(s) or the Author(s) of the Font
+Software shall not be used to promote, endorse or advertise any
+Modified Version, except to acknowledge the contribution(s) of the
+Copyright Holder(s) and the Author(s) or with their explicit written
+permission.
+
+5) The Font Software, modified or unmodified, in part or in whole,
+must be distributed entirely under this license, and must not be
+distributed under any other license. The requirement for fonts to
+remain under this license does not apply to any document created
+using the Font Software.
+
+TERMINATION
+This license becomes null and void if any of the above conditions are
+not met.
+
+DISCLAIMER
+THE FONT SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
+EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF
+MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT
+OF COPYRIGHT, PATENT, TRADEMARK, OR OTHER RIGHT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+COPYRIGHT HOLDER BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
+INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
+DAMAGES, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
+FROM, OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE FONT SOFTWARE OR FROM
+OTHER DEALINGS IN THE FONT SOFTWARE.

usr/share/fonts/Lexend/README.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+Lexend Variable Font
+====================
+
+This download contains Lexend as both a variable font and static fonts.
+
+Lexend is a variable font with this axis:
+  wght
+
+This means all the styles are contained in a single file:
+  Lexend-VariableFont_wght.ttf
+
+If your app fully supports variable fonts, you can now pick intermediate styles
+that aren’t available as static fonts. Not all apps support variable fonts, and
+in those cases you can use the static font files for Lexend:
+  static/Lexend-Thin.ttf
+  static/Lexend-ExtraLight.ttf
+  static/Lexend-Light.ttf
+  static/Lexend-Regular.ttf
+  static/Lexend-Medium.ttf
+  static/Lexend-SemiBold.ttf
+  static/Lexend-Bold.ttf
+  static/Lexend-ExtraBold.ttf
+  static/Lexend-Black.ttf
+
+Get started
+-----------
+
+1. Install the font files you want to use
+
+2. Use your app's font picker to view the font family and all the
+available styles
+
+Learn more about variable fonts
+-------------------------------
+
+  https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/design-and-ux/typography/variable-fonts
+  https://variablefonts.typenetwork.com
+  https://medium.com/variable-fonts
+
+In desktop apps
+
+  https://theblog.adobe.com/can-variable-fonts-illustrator-cc
+  https://helpx.adobe.com/nz/photoshop/using/fonts.html#variable_fonts
+
+Online
+
+  https://developers.google.com/fonts/docs/getting_started
+  https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/CSS_Fonts/Variable_Fonts_Guide
+  https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/testdrive/demos/variable-fonts
+
+Installing fonts
+
+  MacOS: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201749
+  Linux: https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+install+a+font+on+gnu%2Blinux
+  Windows: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/314960/how-to-install-or-remove-a-font-in-windows
+
+Android Apps
+
+  https://developers.google.com/fonts/docs/android
+  https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/look-and-feel/downloadable-fonts
+
+License
+-------
+Please read the full license text (OFL.txt) to understand the permissions,
+restrictions and requirements for usage, redistribution, and modification.
+
+You can use them in your products & projects – print or digital,
+commercial or otherwise.
+
+This isn't legal advice, please consider consulting a lawyer and see the full
+license for all details.

usr/share/fonts/Lucide/LICENSE

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+ISC License
+
+Copyright (c) 2026 Lucide Icons and Contributors
+
+Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any
+purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
+copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
+WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
+MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
+ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
+WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
+ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
+OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
+
+---
+
+The following Lucide icons are derived from the Feather project:
+
+airplay, alert-circle, alert-octagon, alert-triangle, aperture, arrow-down-circle, arrow-down-left, arrow-down-right, arrow-down, arrow-left-circle, arrow-left, arrow-right-circle, arrow-right, arrow-up-circle, arrow-up-left, arrow-up-right, arrow-up, at-sign, calendar, cast, check, chevron-down, chevron-left, chevron-right, chevron-up, chevrons-down, chevrons-left, chevrons-right, chevrons-up, circle, clipboard, clock, code, columns, command, compass, corner-down-left, corner-down-right, corner-left-down, corner-left-up, corner-right-down, corner-right-up, corner-up-left, corner-up-right, crosshair, database, divide-circle, divide-square, dollar-sign, download, external-link, feather, frown, hash, headphones, help-circle, info, italic, key, layout, life-buoy, link-2, link, loader, lock, log-in, log-out, maximize, meh, minimize, minimize-2, minus-circle, minus-square, minus, monitor, moon, more-horizontal, more-vertical, move, music, navigation-2, navigation, octagon, pause-circle, percent, plus-circle, plus-square, plus, power, radio, rss, search, server, share, shopping-bag, sidebar, smartphone, smile, square, table-2, tablet, target, terminal, trash-2, trash, triangle, tv, type, upload, x-circle, x-octagon, x-square, x, zoom-in, zoom-out
+
+The MIT License (MIT) (for the icons listed above)
+
+Copyright (c) 2013-present Cole Bemis
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.

usr/share/fonts/Lucide/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# Lucide Font
+
+Lucide is an open-source icon library that provides 1600+ vector (svg) files for displaying icons and symbols in digital and non-digital projects.
+
+## Source
+
+This font was taken from the lucid-static package.

usr/share/fonts/Noto-Serif/OFL.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+Copyright 2022 The Noto Project Authors (https://github.com/notofonts/latin-greek-cyrillic)
+
+This Font Software is licensed under the SIL Open Font License, Version 1.1.
+This license is copied below, and is also available with a FAQ at:
+https://openfontlicense.org
+
+
+-----------------------------------------------------------
+SIL OPEN FONT LICENSE Version 1.1 - 26 February 2007
+-----------------------------------------------------------
+
+PREAMBLE
+The goals of the Open Font License (OFL) are to stimulate worldwide
+development of collaborative font projects, to support the font creation
+efforts of academic and linguistic communities, and to provide a free and
+open framework in which fonts may be shared and improved in partnership
+with others.
+
+The OFL allows the licensed fonts to be used, studied, modified and
+redistributed freely as long as they are not sold by themselves. The
+fonts, including any derivative works, can be bundled, embedded, 
+redistributed and/or sold with any software provided that any reserved
+names are not used by derivative works. The fonts and derivatives,
+however, cannot be released under any other type of license. The
+requirement for fonts to remain under this license does not apply
+to any document created using the fonts or their derivatives.
+
+DEFINITIONS
+"Font Software" refers to the set of files released by the Copyright
+Holder(s) under this license and clearly marked as such. This may
+include source files, build scripts and documentation.
+
+"Reserved Font Name" refers to any names specified as such after the
+copyright statement(s).
+
+"Original Version" refers to the collection of Font Software components as
+distributed by the Copyright Holder(s).
+
+"Modified Version" refers to any derivative made by adding to, deleting,
+or substituting -- in part or in whole -- any of the components of the
+Original Version, by changing formats or by porting the Font Software to a
+new environment.
+
+"Author" refers to any designer, engineer, programmer, technical
+writer or other person who contributed to the Font Software.
+
+PERMISSION & CONDITIONS
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
+a copy of the Font Software, to use, study, copy, merge, embed, modify,
+redistribute, and sell modified and unmodified copies of the Font
+Software, subject to the following conditions:
+
+1) Neither the Font Software nor any of its individual components,
+in Original or Modified Versions, may be sold by itself.
+
+2) Original or Modified Versions of the Font Software may be bundled,
+redistributed and/or sold with any software, provided that each copy
+contains the above copyright notice and this license. These can be
+included either as stand-alone text files, human-readable headers or
+in the appropriate machine-readable metadata fields within text or
+binary files as long as those fields can be easily viewed by the user.
+
+3) No Modified Version of the Font Software may use the Reserved Font
+Name(s) unless explicit written permission is granted by the corresponding
+Copyright Holder. This restriction only applies to the primary font name as
+presented to the users.
+
+4) The name(s) of the Copyright Holder(s) or the Author(s) of the Font
+Software shall not be used to promote, endorse or advertise any
+Modified Version, except to acknowledge the contribution(s) of the
+Copyright Holder(s) and the Author(s) or with their explicit written
+permission.
+
+5) The Font Software, modified or unmodified, in part or in whole,
+must be distributed entirely under this license, and must not be
+distributed under any other license. The requirement for fonts to
+remain under this license does not apply to any document created
+using the Font Software.
+
+TERMINATION
+This license becomes null and void if any of the above conditions are
+not met.
+
+DISCLAIMER
+THE FONT SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
+EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF
+MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT
+OF COPYRIGHT, PATENT, TRADEMARK, OR OTHER RIGHT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+COPYRIGHT HOLDER BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
+INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
+DAMAGES, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
+FROM, OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE FONT SOFTWARE OR FROM
+OTHER DEALINGS IN THE FONT SOFTWARE.

usr/share/fonts/Noto-Serif/README.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+Noto Serif Variable Font
+========================
+
+This download contains Noto Serif as both variable fonts and static fonts.
+
+Noto Serif is a variable font with these axes:
+  wdth
+  wght
+
+This means all the styles are contained in these files:
+  NotoSerif-VariableFont_wdth,wght.ttf
+  NotoSerif-Italic-VariableFont_wdth,wght.ttf
+
+If your app fully supports variable fonts, you can now pick intermediate styles
+that aren’t available as static fonts. Not all apps support variable fonts, and
+in those cases you can use the static font files for Noto Serif:
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-Thin.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-ExtraLight.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-Light.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-Regular.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-Medium.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-SemiBold.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-Bold.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-ExtraBold.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-Black.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-Thin.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-ExtraLight.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-Light.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-Regular.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-Medium.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-SemiBold.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-Bold.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-ExtraBold.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-Black.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-Thin.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-ExtraLight.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-Light.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-Regular.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-Medium.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-SemiBold.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-Bold.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-ExtraBold.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-Black.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-Thin.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-ExtraLight.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-Light.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-Regular.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-Medium.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-SemiBold.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-Bold.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-ExtraBold.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-Black.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-ThinItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-ExtraLightItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-LightItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-Italic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-MediumItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-SemiBoldItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-BoldItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-ExtraBoldItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_ExtraCondensed-BlackItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-ThinItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-ExtraLightItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-LightItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-Italic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-MediumItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-SemiBoldItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-BoldItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-ExtraBoldItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_Condensed-BlackItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-ThinItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-ExtraLightItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-LightItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-Italic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-MediumItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-SemiBoldItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-BoldItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-ExtraBoldItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif_SemiCondensed-BlackItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-ThinItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-ExtraLightItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-LightItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-Italic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-MediumItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-SemiBoldItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-BoldItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-ExtraBoldItalic.ttf
+  static/NotoSerif-BlackItalic.ttf
+
+Get started
+-----------
+
+1. Install the font files you want to use
+
+2. Use your app's font picker to view the font family and all the
+available styles
+
+Learn more about variable fonts
+-------------------------------
+
+  https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/design-and-ux/typography/variable-fonts
+  https://variablefonts.typenetwork.com
+  https://medium.com/variable-fonts
+
+In desktop apps
+
+  https://theblog.adobe.com/can-variable-fonts-illustrator-cc
+  https://helpx.adobe.com/nz/photoshop/using/fonts.html#variable_fonts
+
+Online
+
+  https://developers.google.com/fonts/docs/getting_started
+  https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/CSS_Fonts/Variable_Fonts_Guide
+  https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/testdrive/demos/variable-fonts
+
+Installing fonts
+
+  MacOS: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201749
+  Linux: https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+install+a+font+on+gnu%2Blinux
+  Windows: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/314960/how-to-install-or-remove-a-font-in-windows
+
+Android Apps
+
+  https://developers.google.com/fonts/docs/android
+  https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/look-and-feel/downloadable-fonts
+
+License
+-------
+Please read the full license text (OFL.txt) to understand the permissions,
+restrictions and requirements for usage, redistribution, and modification.
+
+You can use them in your products & projects – print or digital,
+commercial or otherwise.
+
+This isn't legal advice, please consider consulting a lawyer and see the full
+license for all details.