Similar Projects & Tutorials

Learning resources and similar bare-metal Rust projects.

Rust OS Tutorials

Philipp Oppermann’s Blog OS

Writing an OS in Rust

Target: x86_64 architecture (different from our AArch64)

Useful for reference:

• Testing framework - Custom test harness pattern
• Print macros - print!/println! implementation using fmt::Write trait
• Panic handling - Separate panic handlers for test vs normal mode
• VGA text mode concepts - Console output patterns
• Memory management - Heap allocators, paging concepts

Less relevant:

• x86-specific code (bootloader, interrupts, APIC)
• VGA hardware specifics
• x86 page table format

Best use: Architecture patterns and Rust idioms, not hardware specifics.

Rust Raspberry Pi OS Tutorials

rust-raspberrypi-OS-tutorials

Target: Raspberry Pi 3 and 4 (AArch64, same as us!)

Useful for reference:

• Pi-specific initialization - GPIO, UART, timer setup examples
• AArch64 assembly - Boot sequence, exception handling patterns
• Linker scripts - Section placement approaches for Pi
• Driver patterns - MMIO register access techniques
• Testing approaches - QEMU-based integration test examples

Differences from DaedalusOS:

• Uses Ruby-based build tooling (we use Cargo directly)
• Structured as progressive tutorials (we’re focused on single working kernel)
• Supports multiple Pi models (we’re Pi 4 only)

Best use: Reference implementation for Pi 4 hardware initialization.

Embedded Rust Resources

The Embedded Rust Book

Embedded Rust Book

Topics:

• #![no_std] development
• Peripheral access crates (PAC pattern)
• Memory-mapped I/O
• Volatile operations
• Inline assembly

Best use: General embedded Rust patterns, not Pi-specific.

C-based OS Development

OSDev Wiki

OSDev.org

Useful sections:

• Meaty Skeleton - Project structure inspiration
• Memory management - Paging, heaps, allocators
• Filesystems - Future milestone reference
• Bootloaders - Understanding boot process

Note: Most content is x86-focused. Use for concepts, not code.

OSDev Wiki - ARM

ARM-specific articles

Relevant topics:

• Exception handling
• MMU setup
• Cache management
• SMP (multi-core) bringup

Raspberry Pi 4 Bare Metal Projects

rpi4-bare-metal by rhythm16

GitHub: rhythm16/rpi4-bare-metal

Target: Raspberry Pi 4B (BCM2711, same as us!)

Useful for reference:

• GIC-400 implementation - Interrupt controller setup and handling examples
• PL011 UART interrupts - Interrupt-driven I/O patterns
• Mini-UART driver - Alternative UART implementation approach
• BCM2711-specific initialization - Hardware bringup sequence examples

Best use: Reference implementation for GIC-400 interrupt handling on Pi 4.

rpi4os.com Tutorial Series

Writing a “bare metal” OS for Raspberry Pi 4

Target: Raspberry Pi 4B

Topics covered:

• System timer interrupts
• Exception handling at EL1
• Interrupt controller setup
• Bare metal C programming patterns

Best use: Step-by-step tutorial for Pi 4 interrupt concepts.

Valvers Bare Metal Programming

Bare Metal Programming in C

Target: Raspberry Pi series (includes Pi 4)

Useful sections:

• Part 4: Interrupts - GIC-400 explanation and setup
• Interrupt controller architecture
• Bare metal C patterns for Pi

Best use: Understanding interrupt flow and GIC-400 architecture.

Important note: All Pi 4 bare metal projects require enable_gic=1 in config.txt!

Project Comparisons

When to Consult Each Resource

Using Reference Implementations

1. Understand the concept from tutorials/docs
2. Review similar implementations in reference projects
3. Study hardware specifications from official datasheets
4. Implement independently for DaedalusOS constraints
5. Document our approach in code comments and docs

Note: These projects are reference implementations to learn from, not code to directly copy. Each has different design goals and constraints.

Related Documentation

• ARM Documentation - ARM architecture references
• Raspberry Pi Documentation - Pi 4 hardware specs
• Design Decisions - Why we made different choices