KyronOS Alpha 2

KyronOS Alpha 2

KyronOS Alpha 2 is a text-only live operating system for x86 PCs. It boots from a GRUB Multiboot2 ISO and provides a VGA console, PS/2 keyboard input, an interactive shell, directory navigation, users, and a RAM-backed filesystem.

Highlights

• RAM-only live shell with no persistent command history.
• Improved ls handling for subdirectories.
• Nested tab completion with / appended to completed directories.
• Default user starts in /home/kyron.
• Prompt format: [user@hostname]{directory}#.
• Formatted command help and [command] help support.
• Alpha 2 branding throughout the live OS.
• Seeded root layout with editable command stubs under /usr/bin and source/config notes under /system and /etc.
• PCI configuration-space scanning.
• IDE/ATA PIO block-device prototype for future storage work.
• BIOS and preliminary UEFI boot entries in the generated ISO.
• Windows development documentation for WSL2 and VirtualBox workflows.

Build

Build from Ubuntu WSL2:

cd /mnt/c/Users/<WindowsUser>/OneDrive/Documents/KyronOS
make clean
make kernel
make test
make iso

The generated live image is build/kyronos.iso.

Boot status

BIOS boot is the primary supported path for Alpha 2. The ISO also contains a GRUB UEFI El Torito entry and can be selected in VirtualBox with EFI enabled, but native EFI kernel services and a native EFI kernel entry are not complete or fully validated.

Known limitations

• The live OS is RAM-only; files and shell changes disappear on reboot.
• There is no disk installer or live-only setup command.
• SATA/AHCI, NVMe, SCSI, eMMC, SD, and USB mass-storage drivers are not implemented.
• Partition discovery and installed-disk mounting are not implemented.
• The IDE/ATA PIO prototype is not yet connected to the live shell.
• The kernel remains a 32-bit Multiboot2 bootstrap.
• EFI support is preliminary and should be treated as experimental.