primis / Apollo

x86 Kernel Project

The Apollo Project

(C) 2013 - 2024 Primis Computers (Allie Sargente et al)

Requirements:

X86 requirements are

• GNU Make (Or Compatible)
• NASM, The Netwide Assembler
• GCC cross compiler targeting i586-elf or i686-elf
• grub-mkrescue

RPI4 requirements are

• GNU Make (Or Compatible)
• GCC cross compiler targeting i586-elf or i686-elf
• MTools

Optionally, for customizing builds, any application capable of reading Kconfig files will work. If on debian based systems, the package kconfig-frontends is suggested.

The kernel is written mostly in ANSI-C, with assembly only being used on arch specific bringup.

This software is licensed under the MIT License. (see License)

Supported Architectures:

• IBM-PC Compatible Pentium+ PC's (x86)
• Raspberry Pi Model 4B (rpi4)

Notable Features to Consider:

This kernel is in development, and is therefore subject to major changes. The API is in a state of flux. If developing applications, stick to functions from the standard c library. All others may be deprecated / removed without notice.

Running

All targets generate a bootable apollo.iso file. This file can be used with a virtual machine, burnt to a flash drive or other bootable media. Please note that for some targets, the iso file is actually a generic image file, and should not be burned to a CD (for example, for the rpi4)

Configuration

Once all the pre-requisites software has been aquired for a specific archetecture, copy the architecture .config file to .config at the root of the project. The provided configuration files are examples only, and can be customized by running make menuconfig if you have a kconfig editor installed on your machine. Debian provides a package called kconfig-frontends that fits this role. You can also edit the .config file by hand, assuming you know what kernel compilation options you desire.

Building

You can build the kernel simply by make. After compilation is done, a file called apollo.iso will be generated within the build directory.

History:

This kernel descends from several failed kernel projects;

• ScorchOS; by Bob Moss and Allie Sargente. Circa 2010
• Mercury/SaturnOS; by Brandon Cornell and Allie Sargente. Circa 2012
• Apollo Kernel Project; Circa 2009-2011. Allie Sargente.

This kernel takes base code from Bkerndev and James Molloy's Tutorials:

• http://www.osdever.net/bkerndev/Docs/title.htm
• http://www.jamesmolloy.co.uk/tutorial_html/index.html

Greets to the OSDev Community at OSdev.org.