105 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
105 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
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# BlankOS
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Rewritten monolithic version of Blank OS for the x86 processor architecture. The OS relies on an old, legacy version of GRUB as the bootloader (eltorito). This *should* be GRUB 2 compatible. Emulation was tested on Bochs and QEMU using Arch Linux 6.9.7-arch1-1, and on real hardware too.
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The long-term goal of this OS is to be capable of running user programs and having its own complete kernel C library so that users can write their own C programs and expand the system!
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## Features
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- Serial port driver (output & debug)
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- Framebuffer driver (output)
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- PS/2 Keyboard and PIC driver (input)
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- PIT (system clock/timer) driver
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- Working IDT, GDT, ISRs, and IRQs
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- Kernel panicking (exception handling)
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- A kernel-space shell
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- Cool color output!!
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- Some small working kernel-space programs!!
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## Usage
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Download the latest BlankOS ISO image from the "Releases" tab, and emulate it directly using the QEMU emulator:
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```
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qemu-system-i386 blankOS-i386-1.4.45.iso
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```
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Alternatively, burn the image on a USB stick and use it on a machine (see section "Real Hardware").
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## Building from source
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### Dependencies
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For Debian-based distros:
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```
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sudo apt install gcc nasm make bochs
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```
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Then change `display-library` to `sdl2` in the `bochsrc.txt` file.
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For Arch-based distros:
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```
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sudo pacman -S nasm gcc make
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git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/bochs.git
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```
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Then follow [these](https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=178479) instructions to compile Bochs with X support. Alternatively you can use Bochs with SDL but you'll have to change the `bochsrc.txt` file accordingly.
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### Cross Compiler
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A cross-compiler is needed to build the system. More info on why [here](https://wiki.osdev.org/GCC_Cross-Compiler). In order for the build to work, you will need to download the i386-elf toolchain from [here](https://newos.org/toolchains/i386-elf-7.5.0-Linux-x86_64.tar.xz) and extract the root folder into the BlankOS root folder, or build it by youself if you're not lazy like me.
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Why didn't I use one sooner? Can't tell. Maybe I was too lazy. This is actually problematic because I wasn't able to use some libraries and I had to put in a bunch of weird compilation flags. It's better like this.
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To clone and build, do:
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```
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git clone https://github.com/xamidev/blankos
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make
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make run
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```
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This will start a new Bochs debugger instance. To proceed with the kernel execution, you will have to type `c` in the shell spawning Bochs. Serial output will be saved under the `com1.out` file, this way you can debug the kernel by viewing its log messages. To quit, type `q`.
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You can try out QEMU too.
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## Running on real hardware
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To run the OS on real hardware, you'll first need to have a BIOS-compatible computer. Some of the new laptops with graphical "BIOSes" only support UEFI now. So make sure to get a computer that can boot into BIOS mode, **not UEFI mode**. Then, switch the boot mode to "Legacy" in your BIOS utility.
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Then, use the Makefile target `real` to build a "real"-capable ISO disk image. The image will have GRUB2 installed on it, using the `grub-mkrescue` utility (make sure to install it before) which is dependent on `xorriso` (install it too).
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Once the ISO file is generated, you can write it on a disk using this command:
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```
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sudo dd bs=4M if=blankos.iso of=/dev/sdX status=progress oflag=sync
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```
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Replace `sdX` with your USB drive name (you can find it by doing `sudo fdisk -l`).
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Tada! You now have a working BlankOS USB stick. Go ahead and try it out!
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## Post-install
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Two documents are available to help you understand the project better. One is the User's Manual, labelled `USERS.md`, and the other one is the Developer's Manual, labelled `DEVELOPERS.md`. They are full of useful resources around Blank OS. You'll learn how to use the system and how to contribute to it.
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### Next Steps?
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Next steps for this project will be:
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- User programs
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- Completing the kernel libc
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- Filesystem support
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### Resources
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- the [OSDev.org](https://wiki.osdev.org/Expanded_Main_Page) wiki and forums
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- the [Nanobyte](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t-SPC7Tczc&list=PLFjM7v6KGMpiH2G-kT781ByCNC_0pKpPN) YouTube channel
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- the [Daedalus Community](https://www.youtube.com/@DaedalusCommunity) YouTube channel
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- a great book named *Operating Systems: From 0 to 1*, by Tu, Do Hoang
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- the Intel [64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer Manuals](https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/articles/technical/intel-sdm.html)
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- [Bran's Kernel Development Tutorial](http://www.osdever.net/bkerndev/index.php)
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### ⚠️ Disclaimer
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This is a hobbyist operating system kernel and it comes without any warranty whatsoever! It isn't capable of anything really. Feedback and contributions are highly appreciated!
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