ByteForge OS

ByteForge is a bare-metal operating system I built from scratch for the Raspberry Pi Zero.

The main idea behind it is to turn the Pi into a simple personal storage OS, kind of like a very early version of a DIY Google Drive.

Right now it is still a prototype, but the core parts are already working.

What it currently does

• Boots directly on the Raspberry Pi with no Linux underneath
• Sets up a framebuffer and displays text on screen
• Has a custom terminal and shell
• Has a basic storage system with commands like:
  • devices
  • mount usb0
  • ls
  • open <file>
  • cat <file>
  • unmount
• Handles errors, like trying to open a file that does not exist
• Supports multiple files loaded into the system

The file content comes from external .txt files that I convert and load into the OS, so it is not just random hardcoded strings in the shell output.

How it works

The OS is built in layers:

boot -> framebuffer -> terminal -> input -> shell -> storage

• boot starts everything
• framebuffer lets me draw to the screen
• terminal handles text output and the cursor
• shell processes commands
• storage simulates a file system and external device workflow

Example flow

storage@byteforge > devices storage@byteforge > mount usb0 storage@byteforge > ls storage@byteforge > open hello.txt storage@byteforge > cat resume.txt storage@byteforge > unmount

Why I built this

I did not want to just make a normal shell or app that runs on top of an operating system.

I wanted to understand how things work underneath, starting from booting the machine all the way to interacting with files inside my own OS.

The long-term idea is to turn this into a small personal file server where you can plug in storage and access files directly.

What is next

The current version is a working prototype.

Next steps would be things like:

• real keyboard input
• actual USB storage access instead of simulated files
• eventually some way to move files in from another device

Build

From the project root, run:

make

Then copy the generated kernel.img to the Raspberry Pi boot partition and run it.

Notes

This is still a work in progress, but the core system is stable and runs directly on real hardware.

Author

Vedant Bhagat