Echo Kernel

A minimalist kernel written in Assembly and C++, designed for educational purposes and system programming learning.

Features

• Text-mode display with color support (80x25)
• Interrupt-driven keyboard input (US QWERTY)
• Basic bootloader implementation
• Standard library with common utilities
• Configurable kernel options
• Interactive shell (Eshell) with command support
• Power management (ACPI/APM shutdown support)

Shell Commands

Echo Kernel comes with an interactive shell (Eshell) that supports the following commands:

• clear - Clear the screen
• shutdown - Safely shutdown the system
• help - Display available commands

Building

Prerequisites

These will be installed automatically if not already present:

• GCC cross-compiler for i686
• NASM assembler
• GRUB bootloader
• make

Configuration

The kernel can be configured using make menuconfig. Available options:

Build Commands

# Configure the kernel
make menuconfig

# Build the kernel
make

# Create bootable image
make iso

System Requirements

• x86 compatible processor
• At least 32MB RAM
• VGA-compatible display
• PS/2 keyboard
• ACPI or APM support (for shutdown functionality)

Documentation

Comprehensive documentation is available in the /docs directory:

• display.md - Display subsystem documentation
• eshell.md - Shell interface documentation

Project Structure

Echo-kernel/
├── src/
│   ├── bootloader/    # Boot sequence implementation
│   ├── kernel/        # Core kernel code
│   ├── sys/          # System interfaces
│   │   ├── display/  # Screen output
│   │   └── keyboard/ # Input handling
│   └── lib/          # Standard library
├── docs/             # Documentation
└── grub-config/      # GRUB bootloader configuration

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our contributing guidelines before submitting pull requests.

License

This project is licensed under the terms found in the LICENSE file.