Robert Allan JamesandClaude Sonnet 5
36d832ff47
Implements the full design from the prior commit in one pass. resolve_lbn()
is the single choke point threaded through the ten public LBN-consuming
entry points (blk_get_buffer, blk_update, blk_flush, blk_is_allocated,
blk_mark_allocated, blk_mark_free, blk_is_valid, blk_get_meta, blk_set_meta,
plus blk_get_empty_buffer covered via delegation) -- an LBN->LBN redirect,
not a new storage allocator, since the LBN space is already unified across
every attached blkio_dev backend. VM window cache staleness across a
relocation reuses the existing blk_vm_check_epoch() mechanism from
Milestone 2h's hot-detach fix for free -- g.epoch bumps on relocation too.
Persistence lands in the same pass: two new uint32_t fields
(reloc_start/reloc_devblocks) appended after hdr_crc in blk_volume_meta_t,
carved from existing padding without moving any earlier field's byte
offset -- an old formatted volume's zeroed padding reads back as
reloc_devblocks=0 ("no reloc capacity"), gracefully, not a format-breaking
change. compute_totals_from_B() generalized to account for the new
reserved region. reloc_flush_to_disk()/reloc_load_from_disk() mirror the
BAM I/O functions' own absolute-devblock-addressing shape; the persisted
copy's owner is first_disk_slot() (already existed, already used for this
exact "which device is canonical" question by blk_get_volume_meta()).
blk_subsys_relocate_block() is a mechanical primitive only -- copies
content (staged through a local buffer, since obtaining the target's
blk_get_buffer() result can evict and invalidate the source's cache
pointer if they share a device), frees the source BAM entry, appends the
exception entry, bumps the epoch, flushes to disk. RELOCATE-BLOCK exposes
it to FORTH, no policy of its own (ACL's job, per this session's direction).
A first live-test attempt gave a false negative against disk/artemis.img
(predates reloc capacity, so relocation only ever existed in memory that
boot) -- traced to the test's own setup before being mistaken for a bug,
then re-verified correctly against a fresh volume (new fixture,
disk/artemis-reloc-test.img): relocated a RAMDRIVE block to the fresh
disk, confirmed live resolution through the redirect, then confirmed both
the redirect and the relocated content survived an abrupt QEMU kill and
full reboot. Also fixed three lingering "glibc" doc-comment
misattributions from Milestone 2h (the actual allocator is this kernel's
own kmalloc) that survived an earlier FABRIC-2.md-only correction. All
three architectures re-verified clean.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01CXjAPTEKrgY2Mrk25KoLDn
LithosAnanke v1.5.4
UEFI-bootable FORTH microkernel. Boots from firmware, initialises memory and interrupts, then runs the StarForth VM as its sole userspace runtime. No libc. No OS. Just stone and necessity.
Lithos (foundation) + Ananke (necessity) — the kernel under StarshipOS.
Status — M7.1 (Capsule System · Multi-VM Fleet)
| Milestone | Status | |
|---|---|---|
| M0–M6 | UEFI boot · PMM · VMM · IDT · APIC · heap · framebuffer VT100 console (v1.5.1-FINAL) | ✅ Complete |
| M7 | StarForth VM integration + parity validation | ✅ Complete |
| M7.1 | Capsule birth protocol · Mama FORTH vocabulary · Tripod multi-VM fleet (Hermes/Artemis) · Word-level ACL (Phases 1–7) | 🔄 In Progress |
| M8 | REPL — keyboard input, interactive Forth | Planned |
| M9 | Block storage — AHCI driver | Planned |
POST at boot: parity hash verified across amd64/aarch64/riscv64 · Mama capsule dictionary: 453 words
What's live in M7.1
- Tripod — a named multi-VM fleet (Hera the Mama VM, Artemis, two Hermes instances) births, runs, and re-births independently, verified booting live pre-REPL on all three architectures.
- Hermes — a 17-block inter-VM messaging/channel layer between fleet members, with async delivery and channel negotiation.
- Artemis — a Block Allocation Map (BAM) storage subsystem with Q48.16
block-heat tracking and cooldown/reclamation (
ART-COOL/ART-REAP). - Word-level ACL — every dictionary entry carries a TTL/allow/mode/pin
access-control record. Strict, TTL, and pinned modes; two console layers
(emergency
ok>and superuserzuse)ok>). Phases 1–7 complete (C infrastructure, FORTH policy layer,zusebootstrap superuser, Isabelle proof stubs, kernel parity); Phase 8 (Ed25519 PKI / thumbdrive challenge-response) is the only item remaining. Measured overhead once active on every check: +0.0054%–+0.0088%, CV = 0.000%, across a 3×3 Latin-square DoE campaign (architecture × seed × 30 replicates) — three orders of magnitude below the measurement floor. - VM Fleet Attractor physics — the L8 Jacquard mode selector now has a real per-VM heat channel into fleet-wide tuning, replacing hardcoded compudynamics constants with a dynamically-inferred rate.
- Kconfig build configuration — every physics/heartbeat/pipelining/ kernel-only tuning knob (~40 total) is now a discoverable, optional Kconfig symbol shared with the hosted VM build. See Quick Start below.
Quick Start
# Build kernel (requires cross-compilation toolchain, or native gcc)
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=amd64
# Run in QEMU with OVMF
make -f Makefile.starkernel qemu
# Other architectures
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=aarch64 qemu
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=riscv64 qemu
Artifacts: build/amd64/kernel/starkernel_loader.efi · build/amd64/kernel/starkernel_kernel.elf
For the hosted VM by itself (Linux, no cross-compiler needed, no bare-metal tooling): see
the separate StarForth repository — LithosAnanke used to be a branch inside that repo,
now it's its own project with its own master.
Build configuration (optional)
Every kernel-only knob (STARFORTH_ENABLE_VM, PARITY_MODE, the shared
physics/heartbeat family, etc.) is an optional Kconfig symbol — a plain
make -f Makefile.starkernel uses the same defaults it always has unless
you opt in:
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=amd64 menuconfig
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=amd64 kernel_amd64_defconfig
Documentation
| System Architecture | Full kernel + VM design |
| HAL Reference | Hardware abstraction layer interfaces |
| Capsule System — M7.1 | Capsule birth protocol design |
| VM Fleet Attractor design log | Tripod/Hermes/Artemis physics + build-system history |
| Getting Started / Kconfig reference | Full symbol reference for both build targets |
| Changelog | Milestone-level history |
| Roadmap | Milestone plan through self-hosting |
License
Starship License 1.0 (SL-1.0) — free for personal, research, and educational use. Commercial use requires a separate agreement. Attribution to R.A. James (Captain Bob) must be preserved in all distributions.
Patent pending. USPTO provisional filed December 2025 — physics-grounded self-adaptive runtime system. This license does not grant patent rights. Licensing inquiries: rajames440@gmail.com
Robert A. James (Captain Bob) · Systems Engineer · Hacking since 1973