Violyx

A keyboard-only 64-bit operating system for x86 PCs, with a retro text desktop in glowing violet.

Violyx is written from scratch: its own kernel, drivers, file system, windowed text desktop and programs. There is no Linux underneath. It boots on BIOS and UEFI, connects to the internet, browses the web, plays music and games, all without ever touching a mouse.

This project was created with the help of AI. It is written in C and x86-64 assembly (NASM), with Python used for the build and test tools.

Status: Experimental hobby project (version 0.1.4). Tested in QEMU, VirtualBox, and on actual hardware (via USB flash drive), including wired internet and USB sound. Installed programs run in protected memory, but the system itself does not, so please do not enter passwords or use it for anything sensitive. See Limitations.

Features

• Keyboard-only desktop with overlapping windows, menus and dialogs, in 256 colours
• Web browser with HTTPS, certificate checks, images, tabs, bookmarks, history, search on the page, cookies, gzip, downloads and search forms
• Programs: Write, Files, Commands, Calculator, Calendar, Paint, XZN, Settings
• XZN: the Violyx edition of the Xenon-Zones (XZN) music player, for MP3, OGG, FLAC and WAV
• Games: Pong, Invaders, Chomp, Mines, Snake, Bricks and Novastrike, with sound and music
• Sound: Intel HD Audio, AC'97 and USB audio, including mainboard chips such as the Realtek ALC4080
• Backgrounds: patterns, the Violyx logo and your own images, drawn in Paint
• Installable programs: .vpk packages that run in protected memory, with an SDK in C
• Networking: Intel E1000 and Realtek RTL8125B/RTL8126 drivers, DHCP, DNS, ping, TCP/IP via lwIP
• HTTPS: TLS 1.2 and 1.3 via Mbed TLS with Mozilla root certificates
• Storage: IDE, AHCI (SATA), NVMe and USB mass storage
• File system: VioFS 2 with folders, long file names and large files
• USB sticks: read and write FAT32 sticks under /drives, with hot-plugging and a safety prompt
• USB keyboards on several xHCI controllers and behind USB hubs, plus PS/2
• Installer with several safety prompts
• Two languages: English and German, with US and German keyboard layouts
• Boots on BIOS and UEFI through the Limine bootloader

Try it

Download violyx.iso or another image from the Releases page.

QEMU

qemu-system-x86_64 -drive file=violyx.img,format=raw -m 512 -nic user,model=e1000 \
  -device intel-hda -device hda-duplex

For UEFI, also pass your QEMU firmware file:

qemu-system-x86_64 -drive if=pflash,format=raw,readonly=on,file=edk2-x86_64-code.fd \
  -drive file=violyx.img,format=raw -m 512 -nic user,model=e1000 \
  -device intel-hda -device hda-duplex

VirtualBox

1. Create a VM with type Other and version Other/Unknown (64-bit). The 64-bit version matters: Violyx does not run on the 32-bit setting.
2. Give it at least 512 MB of memory.
3. Attach violyx.vdi as an existing hard disk, or use violyx.iso to try Violyx without saving.
4. Set the network adapter type to Intel PRO/1000 MT Desktop.
5. For sound, enable audio with the Intel HD Audio or ICH AC97 controller.
6. Optional: enable EFI to boot through UEFI.

USB stick

Write violyx.img to a stick, for example with Rufus in DD mode. This erases the stick. Secure Boot must be turned off because Violyx is not signed.

Keyboard

Key	Action
F1	Help
F2	Programs overview
F3 / F4	Files / Commands
F5 / F6	Zoom / switch window
F7	Internet
F9	Calculator
F10	Menu
Alt+S, P, W, H	Open a menu directly
Esc	Close the window
Ctrl+Arrows / Shift+Arrows	Move / resize the window

New windows open in the centre. The Windows menu (Alt+W) can zoom the window or move it to the centre or any corner.

In Files: Enter opens, Backspace goes up, N creates a file, O creates a folder, C copies, R renames or moves, Del deletes. In /drives, E ejects a drive.

In Calendar: arrows pick a day, Page Up/Down change the month, T jumps to today, Enter adds a note and Del removes it. Notes are saved in /system/calendar.

The Programs menu lists the overview and all open windows, so you can jump to any of them.

In Commands: dir, cd, pwd, mkdir, del, mv, cp, type, edit, df, eject, usb, sound, devices, netdiag, install, run, uninstall.

Browser

Key	Action
Tab / Shift+Tab	Next / previous link, wraps around at the end of the page
Enter	Open the link
Backspace	Back one page
Ctrl+L	Address bar
N	Show link numbers, then type a number and Enter
Ctrl+F / Ctrl+G	Search on the page / next hit
Ctrl+D / Ctrl+B / Ctrl+H	Add bookmark / bookmarks / history
Ctrl+T / Ctrl+Enter	New tab / open the link in a new tab
Ctrl+Page Up/Down	Switch tabs
Ctrl+I	Images off or on for this site
Ctrl+R / Ctrl+S	Reload / save the page to /downloads
Esc	End the search, then close the tab, then the window

Images load after the text and are shown in 256 colours. Files the browser cannot show are offered as a download, and a downloaded .vpk can be installed right away. Images and compressed pages are unpacked in a separate protected helper, so a broken image cannot harm the system. The history page also clears history and cookies.

Sound

Violyx plays sound through Intel HD Audio, AC'97 and USB audio devices such as headsets, USB sound adapters and mainboard chips like the Realtek ALC4080, which is connected over USB on many current mainboards. USB devices with separate front and rear outputs play on both.

Volume and output (Automatic, Speakers or HDMI) are in System → Settings. The sound command lists all sound chips with their state and plays a short test.

XZN

XZN is the Violyx edition of the Xenon-Zones music player. It plays MP3, OGG, FLAC and WAV files up to 200 MB from your disk or a USB stick, with a 10-band equalizer, spectrum, playlist, mini player and five colour schemes. Music keeps playing behind other windows, even while you play a game.

Key	Action
Space	Play / pause
Left / Right	Seek 5 seconds
Page Up / Down	Seek 1 minute
Up / Down	Volume
N / P	Next / previous track
S / M	Stop / mute
R / Z	Repeat / shuffle
B / V	Balance left / right
E / C / W / I	Equalizer / colour scheme / mini player / file info
A	Add files, F adds a whole folder
Tab	Use the playlist: Enter plays, Del removes, X clears the list, / searches
F1 or H	All keys

Paint and backgrounds

Choose a background under System → Settings: patterns, the Violyx logo or your own image. Paint draws backgrounds in 256 colours, and they are stretched to any screen size. sdk/png2vwp.py converts your own pictures.

USB drives

Plug in a FAT32 stick and it appears in the /drives folder as usb1, usb2 and so on. Violyx reads nothing from a stick until you allow it: the first time you open a drive it asks for confirmation. Answer Y or J to read and save files there. Only USB drives are listed, never internal disks. Use E in Files or eject in Commands before unplugging.

Sticks can be plugged in while Violyx is running, and the live ISO can save to them too. Files use long names and are compatible with Windows, macOS and Linux. exFAT and NTFS are not supported.

Games

Open them from the Programs overview (F2) or the Programs menu. Esc closes a game. All games resize with their window and have sound.

Game	Goal	Keys
Pong	Beat the computer	Up and Down or W and S move
Invaders	Stop the alien waves	Arrows move, Space fires, P pauses
Chomp	Eat all dots and avoid the ghosts	Arrows or WASD move, P pauses
Mines	Uncover every safe field	Arrows move, Space opens, F flags, 1 to 3 size, N new game
Snake	Eat and grow without crashing	Arrows move, Enter restarts
Bricks	Clear the wall of bricks	Arrows or A and D move, Space launches, P pauses, M music
Novastrike	Free all ten worlds	Arrows or WASD fly, Space fires, X shield, C nova, P pauses, M music

In Bricks, hitting the ball with the edge of the paddle makes it faster, and a fast ball smashes through several bricks. Novastrike has ten worlds with their own colours, music and boss, and you win once all ten are free.

Snake, Bricks, Novastrike and XZN run as protected programs. Their source is in sdk/examples/.

Installing programs

Programs are single .vpk files that you can share, for example on a FAT32 stick. Open one in Files and confirm to install it. It then appears in the Programs overview (F2). Select it there and press Del to uninstall it together with its data. Commands offers install, run and uninstall. The live ISO can start a package directly, without installing it.

Each program runs in its own protected memory, so a crash closes only that program. A program can use its private data folder, /home, /downloads and /drives, but not /system or other programs. It can still read and change your files in /home, so only install programs you trust.

To write your own program in C, see sdk/README.md. Programs can play sounds and music and show small pictures.

Language and keyboard layout

Violyx starts in English with a US keyboard layout. Change both under System → Settings. The choice takes effect immediately, is saved, and carries over into an installation.

Installing

Start Violyx from the ISO or a USB stick and open System → Install.

Violyx always uses the entire disk and erases everything on it. The default answer is always No, and you must type DELETE to continue. Installing into a single partition next to another system is not supported yet. Please check the disk model carefully.

Build from source

You need Linux with gcc, nasm, make, binutils and python3.

make

The results are in build/: violyx.img, violyx.iso and violyx.vdi.

Project layout

Path	Contents
kernel/main.c, entry.asm	Startup, interrupts, memory, timers, clock
kernel/ui.c	Graphics output, windows, menus, dialogs
kernel/apps.c, browser.c, calendar.c, paint.c	Programs, browser, calendar, backgrounds and Paint
kernel/games.c	Invaders, Chomp and Mines, game logic also testable on a host system
kernel/html.c	HTML layout, also testable on a host system
kernel/kbd.c, xhci.c	Keyboard layouts, USB, USB audio
kernel/sound.c	Sound drivers and mixer
kernel/viofs.c	VioFS 2 file system, also testable on a host system
kernel/prog.c	Program packages, ELF loader, address spaces, system calls
kernel/fat.c, drives.c	FAT32 driver and the /drives layer with its access prompt
kernel/disk.c, ahci.c, nvme.c	Block layer, IDE, storage drivers
kernel/net.c, rge.c, tls.c, http.c, cookies.c	Network drivers, TLS, HTTP, cookies
kernel/install.c, acpi.c	Installer, power off
sdk/	SDK, example programs, XZN and the protected decoder helper
tools/	Image builders and test tools
third_party/	Bundled components

Limitations

• Programs are protected from the system, but the built-in programs and drivers are not: a bug there can bring down the whole system.
• Programs cannot use the network yet.
• Browser: no JavaScript, no style sheets and no password fields. WebP and SVG images are not shown. Many modern sites will not work.
• Sound: no sound over HDMI or DisplayPort, because graphics cards only pass sound on with their own display driver. USB audio has been tested on one real mainboard chip.
• Network: Intel E1000 cards and Realtek RTL8125B/RTL8126 without vendor firmware. The Realtek driver has been tested on one real RTL8126, not yet on an RTL8125B. No Wi-Fi.
• USB: xHCI (USB 3 controllers) only. Hub support has only been tested in QEMU so far.
• FAT32: one partition per stick, 512-byte sectors, files up to 4 GB. Writing is slow because data is sent sector by sector. Pulling a stick while writing can lose that file and leave unused space behind, but the tested write order keeps other files intact.
• File system: no journal. A power failure can lose free space, but the tested write order keeps existing data intact. There is no repair tool yet.
• Files in Write are limited to 1 MB.
• Upgrading from older disks requires a reinstall.
• NVMe and USB storage: 512-byte sectors only.
• Root certificates only update with new Violyx releases. Certificate revocation is not checked.

License

Violyx is released under the MIT License. Bundled components keep their own licenses, listed in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md.