19 KiB
stivale2 boot protocol specification
The stivale2 boot protocol is an improved version of the stivale protocol which provides the kernel with most of the features one may need in a modern x86_64 context (although 32-bit x86 is also supported).
General information
In order to have a stivale2 compliant kernel, one must have a kernel executable
in the elf64 or elf32 format and have a .stivale2hdr section (described below).
Other executable formats are not supported.
stivale2 will recognise whether the ELF file is 32-bit or 64-bit and load the kernel into the appropriate CPU mode.
stivale2 natively supports (only for 64-bit kernels) and encourages higher half kernels.
The kernel can load itself at 0xffffffff80000000 or higher (as defined in the linker script)
and the bootloader will take care of everything, no AT linker script directives needed.
If the kernel loads itself in the lower half, the bootloader will not perform the higher half relocation.
Note: In order to maintain compatibility with Limine and other stivale2-compliant bootloaders it is strongly advised never to load the kernel or any of its sections below the 1 MiB physical memory mark. This may work with some stivale2 loaders, but it WILL NOT work with Limine and it's explicitly discouraged.
Kernel entry machine state
64-bit kernel
rip will be the entry point as defined in the ELF file, unless the entry_point
field in the stivale2 header is set to a non-0 value, in which case, it is set to
the value of entry_point.
At entry, the bootloader will have setup paging mappings as such:
Base Physical Address - Size -> Virtual address
0x0000000000000000 - 4 GiB plus any additional memory map entry -> 0x0000000000000000
0x0000000000000000 - 4 GiB plus any additional memory map entry -> 0xffff800000000000 (4-level paging only)
0x0000000000000000 - 4 GiB plus any additional memory map entry -> 0xff00000000000000 (5-level paging only)
0x0000000000000000 - 0x80000000 -> 0xffffffff80000000
If the kernel is dynamic and not statically linked, the bootloader will relocate it, potentially performing KASLR (as specified by the config).
The kernel should NOT modify the bootloader page tables, and it should only use them to bootstrap its own virtual memory manager and its own page tables.
At entry all segment registers are loaded as 64 bit code/data segments, limits and bases are ignored since this is Long Mode.
DO NOT reload segment registers or rely on the provided GDT. The kernel MUST load its own GDT as soon as possible and not rely on the bootloader's.
The IDT is in an undefined state. Kernel must load its own.
IF flag, VM flag, and direction flag are cleared on entry. Other flags undefined.
PG is enabled (cr0), PE is enabled (cr0), PAE is enabled (cr4),
LME is enabled (EFER).
If the stivale2 header tag for 5-level paging is present, then, if available,
5-level paging is enabled (LA57 bit in cr4).
The A20 gate is enabled.
PIC/APIC IRQs are all masked.
rsp is set to the requested stack as per stivale2 header. If the requested value is
non-null, an invalid return address of 0 is pushed to the stack before jumping
to the kernel.
rdi will point to the stivale2 structure (described below).
All other general purpose registers are set to 0.
32-bit kernel
eip will be the entry point as defined in the ELF file, unless the entry_point
field in the stivale2 header is set to a non-0 value, in which case, it is set to
the value of entry_point.
At entry all segment registers are loaded as 32 bit code/data segments.
All segment bases are 0x00000000 and all limits are 0xffffffff.
DO NOT reload segment registers or rely on the provided GDT. The kernel MUST load its own GDT as soon as possible and not rely on the bootloader's.
The IDT is in an undefined state. Kernel must load its own.
IF flag, VM flag, and direction flag are cleared on entry. Other flags undefined.
PE is enabled (cr0).
The A20 gate is enabled.
PIC/APIC IRQs are all masked.
esp is set to the requested stack as per stivale2 header. An invalid return address
of 0 is pushed to the stack before jumping to the kernel.
A pointer to the stivale2 structure (described below) is pushed onto this stack before the entry point is called.
All other general purpose registers are set to 0.
Bootloader-reserved memory
In order for stivale2 to function, it needs to reserve memory areas for either internal usage (such as page tables, GDT, SMP), or for kernel interfacing (such as returned structures).
stivale2 ensures that none of these areas are found in any of the sections marked as "usable" in the memory map.
The location of these areas may vary and it is implementation specific; these areas may be in any non-usable memory map section, or in unmarked memory.
The OS must make sure to be done consuming bootloader information and services before switching to its own address space, as unmarked memory areas in use by the bootloader may become unavailable.
Once the OS is done needing the bootloader, memory map areas marked as "bootloader reclaimable" may be used as usable memory. These areas are guaranteed to be 4096-byte aligned, and they are guaranteed to not overlap other sections of the memory map.
stivale2 header (.stivale2hdr)
The kernel executable shall have a section .stivale2hdr which will contain
the header that the bootloader will parse.
Said header looks like this:
struct stivale2_header {
uint64_t entry_point; // If not 0, this address will be jumped to as the
// entry point of the kernel.
// If set to 0, the ELF entry point will be used
// instead.
uint64_t stack; // This is the stack address which will be in ESP/RSP
// when the kernel is loaded.
// It can only be set to NULL for 64-bit kernels. 32-bit
// kernels are mandated to provide a vaild stack.
// 64-bit and 32-bit valid stacks must be at least 256 bytes
// in usable space and must be 16 byte aligned addresses.
uint64_t flags; // Bit 0: Formerly used to indicate whether to enable
// KASLR, this flag is now reserved as KASLR
// is enabled in the bootloader configuration
// instead. Presently reserved and unused.
// All other bits undefined
uint64_t tags; // Pointer to the first of the linked list of tags.
// see "stivale2 header tags" section.
// NULL = no tags.
} __attribute__((packed));
stivale2 header tags
The stivale2 header uses a mechanism to avoid having protocol versioning, but rather, feature-specific support detection.
The kernel executable provides the bootloader with a linked list of structures,
the first of which is pointed to by the tags entry of the stivale2 header.
The bootloader is free to ignore kernel tags that it does not recognise. The kernel should make sure that the bootloader has properly interpreted the provided tags, either by checking returned tags or by other means.
Each tag shall contain these 2 fields:
struct stivale2_hdr_tag {
uint64_t identifier;
uint64_t next;
} __attribute__((packed));
The identifier field identifies what feature the tag is requesting from the
bootloader.
The next field points to another tag in the linked list. A NULL value determines
the end of the linked list.
Tag structures can have more than just these 2 members, but these 2 members MUST appear at the beginning of any given tag.
Tags can have no extra members and just serve as "flags" to enable some behaviour that does not require extra parameters.
Framebuffer header tag
This tag asks the stivale2-compliant bootloader to initialise a graphical framebuffer video mode. Omitting this tag will make the bootloader default to a CGA-compatible text mode, if supported.
struct stivale2_header_tag_framebuffer {
uint64_t identifier; // Identifier: 0x3ecc1bc43d0f7971
uint64_t next;
uint16_t framebuffer_width; // If all values are set to 0
uint16_t framebuffer_height; // then the bootloader will pick the best possible
uint16_t framebuffer_bpp; // video mode automatically.
} __attribute__((packed));
5-level paging header tag
The presence of this tag enables support for 5-level paging, if available.
Identifier: 0x932f477032007e8f
This tag does not have extra members.
SMP header tag
The presence of this tag enables support for booting up application processors.
struct stivale2_header_tag_smp {
uint64_t identifier; // Identifier: 0x1ab015085f3273df
uint64_t next;
uint64_t flags; // Flags:
// bit 0: 0 = use xAPIC, 1 = use x2APIC (if available)
// All other flags are undefined.
} __attribute__((packed));
stivale2 structure
The stivale2 structure returned by the bootloader looks like this:
struct stivale2_struct {
char bootloader_brand[64]; // Bootloader null-terminated brand string
char bootloader_version[64]; // Bootloader null-terminated version string
uint64_t tags; // Pointer to the first of the linked list of tags.
// see "stivale2 structure tags" section.
// NULL = no tags.
} __attribute__((packed));
stivale2 structure tags
These tags work very similarly to the header tags, with the main difference being that these tags are returned to the kernel by the bootloader, instead.
See "stivale2 header tags".
The kernel is responsible for parsing the tags and the identifiers, and interpreting the tags that it supports, while handling in a graceful manner the tags it does not recognise.
Command line structure tag
This tag reports to the kernel the command line string that was passed to it by the bootloader.
struct stivale2_struct_tag_cmdline {
uint64_t identifier; // Identifier: 0xe5e76a1b4597a781
uint64_t next;
uint64_t cmdline; // Pointer to a null-terminated cmdline
} __attribute__((packed));
Memory map structure tag
This tag reports to the kernel the memory map built by the bootloader.
struct stivale2_struct_tag_memmap {
uint64_t identifier; // Identifier: 0x2187f79e8612de07
uint64_t next;
uint64_t entries; // Count of memory map entries
struct stivale2_mmap_entry memmap[]; // Array of memory map entries
} __attribute__((packed));
Memory map entry
struct stivale2_mmap_entry {
uint64_t base; // Base of the memory section
uint64_t length; // Length of the section
enum stivale2_mmap_type type; // Type (described below)
uint32_t unused;
} __attribute__((packed));
type is an enumeration that can have the following values:
enum stivale2_mmap_type : uint32_t {
USABLE = 1,
RESERVED = 2,
ACPI_RECLAIMABLE = 3,
ACPI_NVS = 4,
BAD_MEMORY = 5,
BOOTLOADER_RECLAIMABLE = 0x1000,
KERNEL_AND_MODULES = 0x1001
};
All other values are undefined.
The kernel and modules loaded are not marked as usable memory. They are marked as Kernel/Modules (type 0x1001).
The entries are guaranteed to be sorted by base address, lowest to highest.
Usable and bootloader reclaimable entries are guaranteed to be 4096 byte aligned for both base and length.
Usable and bootloader reclaimable entries are guaranteed not to overlap with any other entry.
To the contrary, all non-usable entries (including kernel/modules) are not guaranteed any alignment, nor is it guaranteed that they do not overlap other entries (except usable and bootloader reclaimable entries).
Framebuffer structure tag
This tag reports to the kernel the currently set up framebuffer details, if any.
struct stivale2_struct_tag_framebuffer {
uint64_t identifier; // Identifier: 0x506461d2950408fa
uint64_t next;
uint64_t framebuffer_addr; // Address of the framebuffer and related info
uint16_t framebuffer_width; // Width and height in pixels
uint16_t framebuffer_height;
uint16_t framebuffer_pitch; // Pitch in bytes
uint16_t framebuffer_bpp; // Bits per pixel
uint8_t memory_model; // Memory model: 1=RGB, all other values undefined
uint8_t red_mask_size; // RGB mask sizes and left shifts
uint8_t red_mask_shift;
uint8_t green_mask_size;
uint8_t green_mask_shift;
uint8_t blue_mask_size;
uint8_t blue_mask_shift;
} __attribute__((packed));
Modules structure tag
This tag lists modules that the bootloader loaded alongside the kernel, if any.
struct stivale2_struct_tag_modules {
uint64_t identifier; // Identifier: 0x4b6fe466aade04ce
uint64_t next;
uint64_t module_count; // Count of loaded modules
struct stivale2_module modules[]; // Array of module descriptors
} __attribute__((packed));
struct stivale2_module {
uint64_t begin; // Address where the module is loaded
uint64_t end; // End address of the module
char string[128]; // 0-terminated string passed to the module
} __attribute__((packed));
RSDP structure tag
This tag reports to the kernel the location of the ACPI RSDP structure in memory.
struct stivale2_struct_tag_rsdp {
uint64_t identifier; // Identifier: 0x9e1786930a375e78
uint64_t next;
uint64_t rsdp; // Pointer to the ACPI RSDP structure
} __attribute__((packed));
Epoch structure tag
This tag reports to the kernel the current UNIX epoch, as per RTC.
struct stivale2_struct_tag_epoch {
uint64_t identifier; // Identifier: 0x566a7bed888e1407
uint64_t next;
uint64_t epoch; // UNIX epoch at boot, read from system RTC
} __attribute__((packed));
Firmware structure tag
This tag reports to the kernel info about the firmware.
struct stivale2_struct_tag_firmware {
uint64_t identifier; // Identifier: 0x359d837855e3858c
uint64_t next;
uint64_t flags; // Bit 0: 0 = UEFI, 1 = BIOS
} __attribute__((packed));
SMP structure tag
This tag reports to the kernel info about a multiprocessor environment.
struct stivale2_struct_tag_smp {
uint64_t identifier; // Identifier: 0x34d1d96339647025
uint64_t next;
uint64_t flags; // Flags:
// bit 0: Set if x2APIC was requested and it
// was supported and enabled.
// All other bits undefined.
uint32_t bsp_lapic_id; // LAPIC ID of the BSP (bootstrap processor).
uint32_t unused; // Reserved for future use.
uint64_t cpu_count; // Total number of logical CPUs (including BSP)
struct stivale2_smp_info smp_info[]; // Array of smp_info structs, one per
// logical processor, including BSP.
} __attribute__((packed));
struct stivale2_smp_info {
uint32_t acpi_processor_uid; // ACPI Processor UID as specified by MADT
uint32_t lapic_id; // LAPIC ID as specified by MADT
uint64_t target_stack; // The stack that will be loaded in ESP/RSP
// once the goto_address field is loaded.
// This MUST point to a valid stack of at least
// 256 bytes in size, and 16-byte aligned.
// target_stack is an unused field for the
// struct describing the BSP (lapic_id == 0)
uint64_t goto_address; // This address is polled by the started APs
// until the kernel on another CPU performs an
// atomic write to this field.
// When that happens, bootloader code will
// load up ESP/RSP with the stack value as
// specified in target_stack.
// It will then proceed to load a pointer to
// this very structure into either register
// RDI for 64-bit or on the stack for 32-bit,
// then, goto_address is called (a bogus return
// address is pushed onto the stack) and execution
// is handed off.
// The CPU state will be the same as described
// in kernel entry machine state, with the exception
// of ESP/RSP and RDI/stack arg being set up as
// above.
// goto_address is an unused field for the
// struct describing the BSP.
uint64_t extra_argument; // This field is here for the kernel to use
// for whatever it wants. Writes here should
// be performed before writing to goto_address
// so that the receiving processor can safely
// retrieve the data.
// extra_argument is an unused field for the
// struct describing the BSP.
} __attribute__((packed));
PXE server info structure tag
This tag reports that the kernel has been booted via PXE, and reports the server ip that it was booted from.
struct stivale2_struct_tag_pxe_server_info {
struct stivale2_tag tag; // Identifier: 0x29d1e96239247032
uint32_t server_ip; // Server ip in network byte order
} __attribute__((packed));
MMIO32 UART tag
This tag reports that there is a memory mapped UART port and its address. To write to this port, write the character, zero extended to a 32 bit unsigned integer to the address provided.
struct stivale2_struct_tag_mmio32_uart {
uint64_t identifier; // Identifier: 0xb813f9b8dbc78797
uint64_t next;
uint64_t addr; // The address of the UART port
} __attribute__((packed));
Device tree blob tag
This tag describes a device tree blob for the platform.
struct stivale2_struct_tag_dtb {
uint64_t identifier; // Identifier: 0xabb29bd49a2833fa
uint64_t next;
uint64_t addr; // The address of the dtb
uint64_t size; // The size of the dtb
} __attribute__((packed));