Robert Allan JamesandClaude Sonnet 5
2d773ca923
Local master had 9 unpushed commits building block-backed DoE persistence on Artemis's own disk (FABRIC-3.md SXXXV.3/.4/.12, designed and built 2026-09-17, never pushed) that this branch never inherited after the Tripod/kernel reshuffle diverged history. Ports the mechanism cleanly onto the current Hera/Artemis/Hestia shape: - doe_region.h/.c: growable, CRC-protected trial-summary ring in Artemis's top-of-device metadata fence, immediately past log_region.c's own ceiling (devblock_from_top 98-102). Same accessor/CRC discipline as log_region.c. - log_words.c: DOE-PERSIST-TRIAL and DOE-RESUME-COUNT kernel-only FORTH words. - multiuser-doe.4th: per-ISA tagging (MU-ISA-TAG!) and campaign resume support (MU-EXEC-CAMPAIGN now takes a start-idx). - per-isa-doe.4th (new): RUN-AMD64-CAMPAIGN/RUN-AARCH64-CAMPAIGN/ RUN-RISCV64-CAMPAIGN entry points, resuming from DOE-RESUME-COUNT. - extract_doe_region.py (new): host-side reader, CRC-verified, no filesystem assumptions -- reads the ring directly off a raw disk image. Deliberately not ported: the R/LaTeX report-generation pipeline (analyse_multiuser_doe.R, multiuser_doe_report.tex, build_multiuser_doe_report.sh) -- not needed to prove persistence works, and unscoped for this pass. Verified live on all three architectures: clean boot, word_count 530->532, zero UNKNOWN WORD. amd64 and riscv64 both live-exercised end-to-end (write via DOE-PERSIST-TRIAL, count via DOE-RESUME-COUNT, clean QEMU exit, then read back correctly with extract_doe_region.py against the raw disk image -- no host serial dependency, matching the real bare-metal requirement this campaign is rehearsing for). riscv64 finding (not a defect in this port, no fix applied): DOE-PERSIST-TRIAL failed 3/3 on a first attempt against a fresh disk image with "virtio_blk: vblk_io timed out". Root cause: disk/artemis.img is a sparse file (180KB allocated of a 1GB apparent size); the new DOE region (devblock_from_top 98-102) is genuinely virgin territory on a fresh image, and riscv64's slower TCG emulation missed the existing virtio_blk spin-bound budget (already documented as fragile, FABRIC-3.md 2026-09-09) on that first cold touch. Confirmed by isolation: a plain BLOCK/UPDATE at an already-warm LBN succeeded instantly, the pre-existing LOG-ERROR" (same meta-zone mechanism, an already-warmed offset range) also succeeded, and a reboot reusing the now-partially-warmed disk let DOE-PERSIST-TRIAL succeed immediately and verify correctly on read-back. Pre-existing environmental fragility, not a logic bug in the ported address computation. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
LithosAnanke v2.0.1
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