Thanks a lot for this PR!

I only took a quick look, but it seems like this does not really need to be part of the bootloader itself since it interacts with the VGA hardware through normal port I/O (in contrast to requiring BIOS calls). So I would propose that we create a separate crate for this. If you like, we could create it under the rust-osdev organization, with you getting admin privileges on this repo of course.

A separate crate has the advantage that it keeps the bootloader small, so that people that don't use the VGA functionality do not need to compile it into their projects, resulting in shorter compile times. It also allows people that use other bootloaders to still use the VGA crate, so that your code is useful to more people.

What do you think?

I'm okay with creating a separate crate. I wasn't 100% bootloader was the right spot either. Just let me know what I need to do to help get it set up. Would it make sense to at least add the address mappings for 0xa0000 -> 0xbffff like you did for 0xb8000 to bootloader?

I sent you an invite to the rust-osdev organization. After accepting, you should be able to create a new repository under the organziation.

Would it make sense to at least add the address mappings for 0xa0000 -> 0xbffff like you did for 0xb8000 to bootloader?

I'm not sure whether it's a good idea to add these mappings by default because not everyone will want them. But we could add an optional feature or a configuration option for this.

Let me know if you need any help setting up the repository!

Thanks for the access. I got the repo setup and am working on configuring a workflow for automatic testing. I'd be fine with a configuration option for those mappings. It would be nice to be able to turn them on so I don't have to map it all in my tests. Is that something I can add and open a PR for? If so, where do you currently handle mapping 0xb8000 for the 80x25 frame buffer?

Thanks for the access. I got the repo setup and am working on configuring a workflow for automatic testing.

Great!

I'd be fine with a configuration option for those mappings. It would be nice to be able to turn them on so I don't have to map it all in my tests. Is that something I can add and open a PR for? If so, where do you currently handle mapping 0xb8000 for the 80x25 frame buffer?

Currently as part of the assembly code for the video modes: https://github.com/rust-osdev/bootloader/search?q=vga_map_frame_buffer&type=. The reason for this is that the bootloader itself already prints to the VGA buffer in some cases.

Looking at this code, I think it might make more sense to just identity map all pages in 0xa0000 – 0xbffff as you proposed, at least for now. We could still add a config option or a cargo feature for this later so that it is possible to disable the mapping if desired (or maybe additionally identity-map other pages).

Is that something you want me to add, or do you want to? Also if you have a some spare time, any chance you can look at the github action for https://github.com/rust-osdev/vga? I tried setting something similar up to how x86_64 works and everything works except for the cargo xtest step, which is weird because I can run it locally. I haven't really worked with github actions much.

I'd happy to merge a PR for this if you have time!

Also if you have a some spare time, any chance you can look at the github action for https://github.com/rust-osdev/vga? I tried setting something similar up to how x86_64 works and everything works except for the cargo xtest step

I think the problem was that the project config file was named cargo.toml and not Cargo.toml. I opened rust-osdev/vga#1 to correct this.

This is now part of https://github.com/rust-osdev/vga