Bare-Metal Embedded OS for Mango Pi

Overview

Built a bare-metal system stack for the Mango Pi MQ-Pro, implementing low-level drivers, memory management, console I/O, graphics, and input devices.

What I Built

• GPIO and timer support
• UART/console I/O
• Custom printf and string libraries
• Heap allocation and memory-management routines
• Framebuffer graphics library
• PS/2 keyboard and mouse drivers
• Interrupt-driven input
• Shell commands and command history
• Hardware floating-point support
• Mouse-controlled paint application

Technical Details

The project involved writing C and RISC-V assembly for bare-metal hardware. The system interacted directly with memory-mapped peripherals, implemented low-level I/O, supported framebuffer graphics, and handled keyboard/mouse input. The stack eventually supported higher-level interactive programs such as a shell and paint application.

My Role

Daniel implemented the core drivers, graphics pieces, memory utilities, shell functionality, interrupt-driven input, and debugging workflows.

Challenges and Debugging

• Debugging custom printf behavior
• Debugging malloc/heap behavior
• Working directly with memory layout and startup code
• Interfacing with PS/2 keyboard and mouse protocols
• Using signal/data analysis to debug return signals from external input devices
• Optimizing graphics routines and rendering behavior

Results

• Functional bare-metal embedded stack
• Interactive console shell
• Framebuffer graphics and mouse-controlled paint app
• Interrupt-driven input support

Tools and Skills