Machine mode | M-mode

Highest privilege mode.

If VIMIX runs bare-metal:

The kernel boots in M-mode (see boot_process) but quickly switches to S-mode.
The timer interrupts runs in M-mode (see m_mode_trap_vector.S).

If VIMIX runs on OpenSBI:

Only OpenSBI runs in M-mode and provides e.g. timer interrupts to S-mode.

Overview: RISC V

Modes: M-mode S-mode U-mode