diff --git a/src/cmd/ar/ar.c b/src/cmd/ar/ar.c
index a22eac83509..e7024414ce9 100644
--- a/src/cmd/ar/ar.c
+++ b/src/cmd/ar/ar.c
@@ -663,7 +663,7 @@ scanpkg(Biobuf *b, long size)
 			continue;
 		goto foundstart;
 	}
-	fprint(2, "ar: no package import section in %s\n", file);
+	fprint(2, "ar: warning: no package import section in %s\n", file);
 	return;
 
 foundstart:
diff --git a/src/syscall/Makefile b/src/syscall/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fc21794c70f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/syscall/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# Copyright 2009 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+# Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+# license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+CFLAGS=
+O=6
+CC=$(O)c
+AS=$(O)a
+GC=$(O)g
+
+PKG=syscall.a
+
+OFILES=\
+	syscall.$O \
+	errstr_$(GOOS).$O \
+	syscall_$(GOARCH)_$(GOOS).$O \
+
+
+install: $(PKG)
+	cp $(PKG) $(GOROOT)/pkg
+
+$(PKG): $(OFILES)
+	$(O)ar grc $(PKG) $(OFILES)
+
+nuke:
+	rm -f *.$(O) *.a $(GOROOT)/lib/$(PKG)
+
+clean:
+	rm -f *.$(O) *.a
+
+%.$O:	%.c
+	$(CC) $<
+
+sys_file.$O:	sys_file.c sys_types.h $(OS_H)
+	$(CC) -D$(GOARCH)_$(GOOS) $<
+
+%.$O:	%.s
+	$(AS) $<
+
+%.$O:	%.go
+	$(GC) $<
diff --git a/src/syscall/errstr_darwin.go b/src/syscall/errstr_darwin.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..aac256909d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/syscall/errstr_darwin.go
@@ -0,0 +1,354 @@
+// Copyright 2009 The Go Authors.  All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package syscall
+
+export errstr
+
+const (
+	ENONE=0;
+	EPERM=1;
+	ENOENT=2;
+	ESRCH=3;
+	EINTR=4;
+	EIO=5;
+	ENXIO=6;
+	E2BIG=7;
+	ENOEXEC=8;
+	EBADF=9;
+	ECHILD=10;
+	EDEADLK=11;
+	ENOMEM=12;
+	EACCES=13;
+	EFAULT=14;
+	ENOTBLK=15;
+	EBUSY=16;
+	EEXIST=17;
+	EXDEV=18;
+	ENODEV=19;
+	ENOTDIR=20;
+	EISDIR=21;
+	EINVAL=22;
+	ENFILE=23;
+	EMFILE=24;
+	ENOTTY=25;
+	ETXTBSY=26;
+	EFBIG=27;
+	ENOSPC=28;
+	ESPIPE=29;
+	EROFS=30;
+	EMLINK=31;
+	EPIPE=32;
+	EDOM=33;
+	ERANGE=34;
+	EAGAIN=35;
+	EINPROGRESS=36;
+	EALREADY=37;
+	ENOTSOCK=38;
+	EDESTADDRREQ=39;
+	EMSGSIZE=40;
+	EPROTOTYPE=41;
+	ENOPROTOOPT=42;
+	EPROTONOSUPPORT=43;
+	ESOCKTNOSUPPORT=44;
+	ENOTSUP=45;
+	EPFNOSUPPORT=46;
+	EAFNOSUPPORT=47;
+	EADDRINUSE=48;
+	EADDRNOTAVAIL=49;
+	ENETDOWN=50;
+	ENETUNREACH=51;
+	ENETRESET=52;
+	ECONNABORTED=53;
+	ECONNRESET=54;
+	ENOBUFS=55;
+	EISCONN=56;
+	ENOTCONN=57;
+	ESHUTDOWN=58;
+	ETOOMANYREFS=59;
+	ETIMEDOUT=60;
+	ECONNREFUSED=61;
+	ELOOP=62;
+	ENAMETOOLONG=63;
+	EHOSTDOWN=64;
+	EHOSTUNREACH=65;
+	ENOTEMPTY=66;
+	EPROCLIM=67;
+	EUSERS=68;
+	EDQUOT=69;
+	ESTALE=70;
+	EREMOTE=71;
+	EBADRPC=72;
+	ERPCMISMATCH=73;
+	EPROGUNAVAIL=74;
+	EPROGMISMATCH=75;
+	EPROCUNAVAIL=76;
+	ENOLCK=77;
+	ENOSYS=78;
+	EFTYPE=79;
+	EAUTH=80;
+	ENEEDAUTH=81;
+	EPWROFF=82;
+	EDEVERR=83;
+	EOVERFLOW=84;
+	EBADEXEC=85;
+	EBADARCH=86;
+	ESHLIBVERS=87;
+	EBADMACHO=88;
+	ECANCELED=89;
+	EIDRM=90;
+	ENOMSG=91   ;
+	EILSEQ=92;
+	ENOATTR=93;
+	EBADMSG=94;
+	EMULTIHOP=95;
+	ENODATA=96;
+	ENOLINK=97;
+	ENOSR=98;
+	ENOSTR=99;
+	EPROTO=100;
+	ETIME=101;
+	EOPNOTSUPP=102;
+	ELAST=103;
+)
+
+export (
+	ENONE,
+	EPERM,
+	ENOENT,
+	ESRCH,
+	EINTR,
+	EIO,
+	ENXIO,
+	E2BIG,
+	ENOEXEC,
+	EBADF,
+	ECHILD,
+	EDEADLK,
+	ENOMEM,
+	EACCES,
+	EFAULT,
+	ENOTBLK,
+	EBUSY,
+	EEXIST,
+	EXDEV,
+	ENODEV,
+	ENOTDIR,
+	EISDIR,
+	EINVAL,
+	ENFILE,
+	EMFILE,
+	ENOTTY,
+	ETXTBSY,
+	EFBIG,
+	ENOSPC,
+	ESPIPE,
+	EROFS,
+	EMLINK,
+	EPIPE,
+	EDOM,
+	ERANGE,
+	EAGAIN,
+	EINPROGRESS,
+	EALREADY,
+	ENOTSOCK,
+	EDESTADDRREQ,
+	EMSGSIZE,
+	EPROTOTYPE,
+	ENOPROTOOPT,
+	EPROTONOSUPPORT,
+	ESOCKTNOSUPPORT,
+	ENOTSUP,
+	EPFNOSUPPORT,
+	EAFNOSUPPORT,
+	EADDRINUSE,
+	EADDRNOTAVAIL,
+	ENETDOWN,
+	ENETUNREACH,
+	ENETRESET,
+	ECONNABORTED,
+	ECONNRESET,
+	ENOBUFS,
+	EISCONN,
+	ENOTCONN,
+	ESHUTDOWN,
+	ETOOMANYREFS,
+	ETIMEDOUT,
+	ECONNREFUSED,
+	ELOOP,
+	ENAMETOOLONG,
+	EHOSTDOWN,
+	EHOSTUNREACH,
+	ENOTEMPTY,
+	EPROCLIM,
+	EUSERS,
+	EDQUOT,
+	ESTALE,
+	EREMOTE,
+	EBADRPC,
+	ERPCMISMATCH,
+	EPROGUNAVAIL,
+	EPROGMISMATCH,
+	EPROCUNAVAIL,
+	ENOLCK,
+	ENOSYS,
+	EFTYPE,
+	EAUTH,
+	ENEEDAUTH,
+	EPWROFF,
+	EDEVERR,
+	EOVERFLOW,
+	EBADEXEC,
+	EBADARCH,
+	ESHLIBVERS,
+	EBADMACHO,
+	ECANCELED,
+	EIDRM,
+	ENOMSG,
+	EILSEQ,
+	ENOATTR,
+	EBADMSG,
+	EMULTIHOP,
+	ENODATA,
+	ENOLINK,
+	ENOSR,
+	ENOSTR,
+	EPROTO,
+	ETIME,
+	EOPNOTSUPP,
+	ELAST
+)
+
+var error [ELAST]string;
+
+func init(){
+	error[ENONE] = "No error"; 
+	error[EPERM] = "Operation not permitted"; 
+	error[ENOENT] = "No such file or directory"; 
+	error[ESRCH] = "No such process"; 
+	error[EINTR] = "Interrupted system call"; 
+	error[EIO] = "Input/output error"; 
+	error[ENXIO] = "Device not configured"; 
+	error[E2BIG] = "Argument list too long"; 
+	error[ENOEXEC] = "Exec format error"; 
+	error[EBADF] = "Bad file descriptor"; 
+	error[ECHILD] = "No child processes"; 
+	error[EDEADLK] = "Resource deadlock avoided"; 
+	error[ENOMEM] = "Cannot allocate memory"; 
+	error[EACCES] = "Permission denied"; 
+	error[EFAULT] = "Bad address"; 
+	error[ENOTBLK] = "Block device required"; 
+	error[EBUSY] = "Device / Resource busy"; 
+	error[EEXIST] = "File exists"; 
+	error[EXDEV] = "Cross-device link"; 
+	error[ENODEV] = "Operation not supported by device"; 
+	error[ENOTDIR] = "Not a directory"; 
+	error[EISDIR] = "Is a directory"; 
+	error[EINVAL] = "Invalid argument"; 
+	error[ENFILE] = "Too many open files in system"; 
+	error[EMFILE] = "Too many open files"; 
+	error[ENOTTY] = "Inappropriate ioctl for device"; 
+	error[ETXTBSY] = "Text file busy"; 
+	error[EFBIG] = "File too large"; 
+	error[ENOSPC] = "No space left on device"; 
+	error[ESPIPE] = "Illegal seek"; 
+	error[EROFS] = "Read-only file system"; 
+	error[EMLINK] = "Too many links"; 
+	error[EPIPE] = "Broken pipe"; 
+	error[EDOM] = "Numerical argument out of domain"; 
+	error[ERANGE] = "Result too large"; 
+	error[EAGAIN] = "Resource temporarily unavailable"; 
+	error[EINPROGRESS] = "Operation now in progress"; 
+	error[EALREADY] = "Operation already in progress"; 
+	error[ENOTSOCK] = "Socket operation on non-socket"; 
+	error[EDESTADDRREQ] = "Destination address required"; 
+	error[EMSGSIZE] = "Message too long"; 
+	error[EPROTOTYPE] = "Protocol wrong type for socket"; 
+	error[ENOPROTOOPT] = "Protocol not available"; 
+	error[EPROTONOSUPPORT] = "Protocol not supported"; 
+	error[ESOCKTNOSUPPORT] = "Socket type not supported"; 
+	error[ENOTSUP] = "Operation not supported"; 
+	error[EPFNOSUPPORT] = "Protocol family not supported"; 
+	error[EAFNOSUPPORT] = "Address family not supported by protocol family"; 
+	error[EADDRINUSE] = "Address already in use"; 
+	error[EADDRNOTAVAIL] = "Can't assign requested address"; 
+	error[ENETDOWN] = "Network is down"; 
+	error[ENETUNREACH] = "Network is unreachable"; 
+	error[ENETRESET] = "Network dropped connection on reset"; 
+	error[ECONNABORTED] = "Software caused connection abort"; 
+	error[ECONNRESET] = "Connection reset by peer"; 
+	error[ENOBUFS] = "No buffer space available"; 
+	error[EISCONN] = "Socket is already connected"; 
+	error[ENOTCONN] = "Socket is not connected"; 
+	error[ESHUTDOWN] = "Can't send after socket shutdown"; 
+	error[ETOOMANYREFS] = "Too many references: can't splice"; 
+	error[ETIMEDOUT] = "Operation timed out"; 
+	error[ECONNREFUSED] = "Connection refused"; 
+	error[ELOOP] = "Too many levels of symbolic links"; 
+	error[ENAMETOOLONG] = "File name too long"; 
+	error[EHOSTDOWN] = "Host is down"; 
+	error[EHOSTUNREACH] = "No route to host"; 
+	error[ENOTEMPTY] = "Directory not empty"; 
+	error[EPROCLIM] = "Too many processes"; 
+	error[EUSERS] = "Too many users"; 
+	error[EDQUOT] = "Disc quota exceeded"; 
+	error[ESTALE] = "Stale NFS file handle"; 
+	error[EREMOTE] = "Too many levels of remote in path"; 
+	error[EBADRPC] = "RPC struct is bad"; 
+	error[ERPCMISMATCH] = "RPC version wrong"; 
+	error[EPROGUNAVAIL] = "RPC prog. not avail"; 
+	error[EPROGMISMATCH] = "Program version wrong"; 
+	error[EPROCUNAVAIL] = "Bad procedure for program"; 
+	error[ENOLCK] = "No locks available"; 
+	error[ENOSYS] = "Function not implemented"; 
+	error[EFTYPE] = "Inappropriate file type or format"; 
+	error[EAUTH] = "Authentication error"; 
+	error[ENEEDAUTH] = "Need authenticator"; 
+	error[EPWROFF] = "Device power is off"; 
+	error[EDEVERR] = "Device error, e.g. paper out"; 
+	error[EOVERFLOW] = "Value too large to be stored in data type"; 
+	error[EBADEXEC] = "Bad executable"; 
+	error[EBADARCH] = "Bad CPU type in executable"; 
+	error[ESHLIBVERS] = "Shared library version mismatch"; 
+	error[EBADMACHO] = "Malformed Macho file"; 
+	error[ECANCELED] = "Operation canceled"; 
+	error[EIDRM] = "Identifier removed"; 
+	error[ENOMSG] = "No message of desired type"; 
+	error[EILSEQ] = "Illegal byte sequence"; 
+	error[ENOATTR] = "Attribute not found"; 
+	error[EBADMSG] = "Bad message"; 
+	error[EMULTIHOP] = "Reserved"; 
+	error[ENODATA] = "No message available on STREAM"; 
+	error[ENOLINK] = "Reserved"; 
+	error[ENOSR] = "No STREAM resources"; 
+	error[ENOSTR] = "Not a STREAM"; 
+	error[EPROTO] = "Protocol error"; 
+	error[ETIME] = "STREAM ioctl timeout"; 
+	error[EOPNOTSUPP] = "Operation not supported on socket"; 
+	error[ELAST] = "Must be equal largest errno"; 
+}
+
+var digits string = "0123456789"
+
+func str(val int64) string {  // do it here rather than with fmt to avoid dependency
+	if val < 0 {
+		return "-" + str(-val);
+	}
+	var buf [32]byte;  // big enough for int64
+	i := len(buf)-1;
+	for val >= 10 {
+		buf[i] = digits[val%10];
+		i--;
+		val /= 10;
+	}
+	buf[i] = digits[val];
+	return string(buf)[i:len(buf)];
+}
+
+func errstr(errno int64) string {
+	if errno < 0 || errno >= len(error) {
+		return "Error " + str(errno)
+	}
+	return error[errno]
+}
diff --git a/src/syscall/errstr_linux.go b/src/syscall/errstr_linux.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..875217afc19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/syscall/errstr_linux.go
@@ -0,0 +1,428 @@
+// Copyright 2009 The Go Authors.  All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package syscall
+
+export errstr
+
+const (
+	ENONE=0;
+	EPERM=1;
+	ENOENT=2;
+	ESRCH=3;
+	EINTR=4;
+	EIO=5;
+	ENXIO=6;
+	E2BIG=7;
+	ENOEXEC=8;
+	EBADF=9;
+	ECHILD=10;
+	EAGAIN=11;
+	ENOMEM=12;
+	EACCES=13;
+	EFAULT=14;
+	ENOTBLK=15;
+	EBUSY=16;
+	EEXIST=17;
+	EXDEV=18;
+	ENODEV=19;
+	ENOTDIR=20;
+	EISDIR=21;
+	EINVAL=22;
+	ENFILE=23;
+	EMFILE=24;
+	ENOTTY=25;
+	ETXTBSY=26;
+	EFBIG=27;
+	ENOSPC=28;
+	ESPIPE=29;
+	EROFS=30;
+	EMLINK=31;
+	EPIPE=32;
+	EDOM=33;
+	ERANGE=34;
+	EDEADLK=35;
+	ENAMETOOLONG=36;
+	ENOLCK=37;
+	ENOSYS=38;
+	ENOTEMPTY=39;
+	ELOOP=40;
+	ENOMSG=42;
+	EIDRM=43;
+	ECHRNG=44;
+	EL2NSYNC=45;
+	EL3HLT=46;
+	EL3RST=47;
+	ELNRNG=48;
+	EUNATCH=49;
+	ENOCSI=50;
+	EL2HLT=51;
+	EBADE=52;
+	EBADR=53;
+	EXFULL=54;
+	ENOANO=55;
+	EBADRQC=56;
+	EBADSLT=57;
+	EBFONT=59;
+	ENOSTR=60;
+	ENODATA=61;
+	ETIME=62;
+	ENOSR=63;
+	ENONET=64;
+	ENOPKG=65;
+	EREMOTE=66;
+	ENOLINK=67;
+	EADV=68;
+	ESRMNT=69;
+	ECOMM=70;
+	EPROTO=71;
+	EMULTIHOP=72;
+	EDOTDOT=73;
+	EBADMSG=74;
+	EOVERFLOW=75;
+	ENOTUNIQ=76;
+	EBADFD=77;
+	EREMCHG=78;
+	ELIBACC=79;
+	ELIBBAD=80;
+	ELIBSCN=81;
+	ELIBMAX=82;
+	ELIBEXEC=83;
+	EILSEQ=84;
+	ERESTART=85;
+	ESTRPIPE=86;
+	EUSERS=87;
+	ENOTSOCK=88;
+	EDESTADDRREQ=89;
+	EMSGSIZE=90;
+	EPROTOTYPE=91;
+	ENOPROTOOPT=92;
+	EPROTONOSUPPORT=93;
+	ESOCKTNOSUPPORT=94;
+	EOPNOTSUPP=95;
+	EPFNOSUPPORT=96;
+	EAFNOSUPPORT=97;
+	EADDRINUSE=98;
+	EADDRNOTAVAIL=99;
+	ENETDOWN=100;
+	ENETUNREACH=101;
+	ENETRESET=102;
+	ECONNABORTED=103;
+	ECONNRESET=104;
+	ENOBUFS=105;
+	EISCONN=106;
+	ENOTCONN=107;
+	ESHUTDOWN=108;
+	ETOOMANYREFS=109;
+	ETIMEDOUT=110;
+	ECONNREFUSED=111;
+	EHOSTDOWN=112;
+	EHOSTUNREACH=113;
+	EALREADY=114;
+	EINPROGRESS=115;
+	ESTALE=116;
+	EUCLEAN=117;
+	ENOTNAM=118;
+	ENAVAIL=119;
+	EISNAM=120;
+	EREMOTEIO=121;
+	EDQUOT=122;
+	ENOMEDIUM=123;
+	EMEDIUMTYPE=124;
+	ECANCELED=125;
+	ENOKEY=126;
+	EKEYEXPIRED=127;
+	EKEYREVOKED=128;
+	EKEYREJECTED=129;
+	ELAST=130;
+)
+
+export (
+	ENONE,
+	EPERM,
+	ENOENT,
+	ESRCH,
+	EINTR,
+	EIO,
+	ENXIO,
+	E2BIG,
+	ENOEXEC,
+	EBADF,
+	ECHILD,
+	EAGAIN,
+	ENOMEM,
+	EACCES,
+	EFAULT,
+	ENOTBLK,
+	EBUSY,
+	EEXIST,
+	EXDEV,
+	ENODEV,
+	ENOTDIR,
+	EISDIR,
+	EINVAL,
+	ENFILE,
+	EMFILE,
+	ENOTTY,
+	ETXTBSY,
+	EFBIG,
+	ENOSPC,
+	ESPIPE,
+	EROFS,
+	EMLINK,
+	EPIPE,
+	EDOM,
+	ERANGE,
+	EDEADLK,
+	ENAMETOOLONG,
+	ENOLCK,
+	ENOSYS,
+	ENOTEMPTY,
+	ELOOP,
+	ENOMSG,
+	EIDRM,
+	ECHRNG,
+	EL2NSYNC,
+	EL3HLT,
+	EL3RST,
+	ELNRNG,
+	EUNATCH,
+	ENOCSI,
+	EL2HLT,
+	EBADE,
+	EBADR,
+	EXFULL,
+	ENOANO,
+	EBADRQC,
+	EBADSLT,
+	EBFONT,
+	ENOSTR,
+	ENODATA,
+	ETIME,
+	ENOSR,
+	ENONET,
+	ENOPKG,
+	EREMOTE,
+	ENOLINK,
+	EADV,
+	ESRMNT,
+	ECOMM,
+	EPROTO,
+	EMULTIHOP,
+	EDOTDOT,
+	EBADMSG,
+	EOVERFLOW,
+	ENOTUNIQ,
+	EBADFD,
+	EREMCHG,
+	ELIBACC,
+	ELIBBAD,
+	ELIBSCN,
+	ELIBMAX,
+	ELIBEXEC,
+	EILSEQ,
+	ERESTART,
+	ESTRPIPE,
+	EUSERS,
+	ENOTSOCK,
+	EDESTADDRREQ,
+	EMSGSIZE,
+	EPROTOTYPE,
+	ENOPROTOOPT,
+	EPROTONOSUPPORT,
+	ESOCKTNOSUPPORT,
+	EOPNOTSUPP,
+	EPFNOSUPPORT,
+	EAFNOSUPPORT,
+	EADDRINUSE,
+	EADDRNOTAVAIL,
+	ENETDOWN,
+	ENETUNREACH,
+	ENETRESET,
+	ECONNABORTED,
+	ECONNRESET,
+	ENOBUFS,
+	EISCONN,
+	ENOTCONN,
+	ESHUTDOWN,
+	ETOOMANYREFS,
+	ETIMEDOUT,
+	ECONNREFUSED,
+	EHOSTDOWN,
+	EHOSTUNREACH,
+	EALREADY,
+	EINPROGRESS,
+	ESTALE,
+	EUCLEAN,
+	ENOTNAM,
+	ENAVAIL,
+	EISNAM,
+	EREMOTEIO,
+	EDQUOT,
+	ENOMEDIUM,
+	EMEDIUMTYPE,
+	ECANCELED,
+	ENOKEY,
+	EKEYEXPIRED,
+	EKEYREVOKED,
+	EKEYREJECTED,
+	ELAST
+)
+
+var error [ELAST]string;
+
+func init(){
+	error[ENONE] = "No error";
+	error[EPERM] = "Operation not permitted";
+	error[ENOENT] = "No such file or directory";
+	error[ESRCH] = "No such process";
+	error[EINTR] = "Interrupted system call";
+	error[EIO] = "I/O error";
+	error[ENXIO] = "No such device or address";
+	error[E2BIG] = "Argument list too long";
+	error[ENOEXEC] = "Exec format error";
+	error[EBADF] = "Bad file number";
+	error[ECHILD] = "No child processes";
+	error[EAGAIN] = "Try again";
+	error[ENOMEM] = "Out of memory";
+	error[EACCES] = "Permission denied";
+	error[EFAULT] = "Bad address";
+	error[ENOTBLK] = "Block device required";
+	error[EBUSY] = "Device or resource busy";
+	error[EEXIST] = "File exists";
+	error[EXDEV] = "Cross-device link";
+	error[ENODEV] = "No such device";
+	error[ENOTDIR] = "Not a directory";
+	error[EISDIR] = "Is a directory";
+	error[EINVAL] = "Invalid argument";
+	error[ENFILE] = "File table overflow";
+	error[EMFILE] = "Too many open files";
+	error[ENOTTY] = "Not a typewriter";
+	error[ETXTBSY] = "Text file busy";
+	error[EFBIG] = "File too large";
+	error[ENOSPC] = "No space left on device";
+	error[ESPIPE] = "Illegal seek";
+	error[EROFS] = "Read-only file system";
+	error[EMLINK] = "Too many links";
+	error[EPIPE] = "Broken pipe";
+	error[EDOM] = "Math argument out of domain of func";
+	error[ERANGE] = "Math result not representable";
+	error[EDEADLK] = "Resource deadlock would occur";
+	error[ENAMETOOLONG] = "File name too long";
+	error[ENOLCK] = "No record locks available";
+	error[ENOSYS] = "Function not implemented";
+	error[ENOTEMPTY] = "Directory not empty";
+	error[ELOOP] = "Too many symbolic links encountered";
+	error[ENOMSG] = "No message of desired type";
+	error[EIDRM] = "Identifier removed";
+	error[ECHRNG] = "Channel number out of range";
+	error[EL2NSYNC] = "Level 2 not synchronized";
+	error[EL3HLT] = "Level 3 halted";
+	error[EL3RST] = "Level 3 reset";
+	error[ELNRNG] = "Link number out of range";
+	error[EUNATCH] = "Protocol driver not attached";
+	error[ENOCSI] = "No CSI structure available";
+	error[EL2HLT] = "Level 2 halted";
+	error[EBADE] = "Invalid exchange";
+	error[EBADR] = "Invalid request descriptor";
+	error[EXFULL] = "Exchange full";
+	error[ENOANO] = "No anode";
+	error[EBADRQC] = "Invalid request code";
+	error[EBADSLT] = "Invalid slot";
+	error[EBFONT] = "Bad font file format";
+	error[ENOSTR] = "Device not a stream";
+	error[ENODATA] = "No data available";
+	error[ETIME] = "Timer expired";
+	error[ENOSR] = "Out of streams resources";
+	error[ENONET] = "Machine is not on the network";
+	error[ENOPKG] = "Package not installed";
+	error[EREMOTE] = "Object is remote";
+	error[ENOLINK] = "Link has been severed";
+	error[EADV] = "Advertise error";
+	error[ESRMNT] = "Srmount error";
+	error[ECOMM] = "Communication error on send";
+	error[EPROTO] = "Protocol error";
+	error[EMULTIHOP] = "Multihop attempted";
+	error[EDOTDOT] = "RFS specific error";
+	error[EBADMSG] = "Not a data message";
+	error[EOVERFLOW] = "Value too large for defined data type";
+	error[ENOTUNIQ] = "Name not unique on network";
+	error[EBADFD] = "File descriptor in bad state";
+	error[EREMCHG] = "Remote address changed";
+	error[ELIBACC] = "Can not access a needed shared library";
+	error[ELIBBAD] = "Accessing a corrupted shared library";
+	error[ELIBSCN] = ".lib section in a.out corrupted";
+	error[ELIBMAX] = "Attempting to link in too many shared libraries";
+	error[ELIBEXEC] = "Cannot exec a shared library directly";
+	error[EILSEQ] = "Illegal byte sequence";
+	error[ERESTART] = "Interrupted system call should be restarted";
+	error[ESTRPIPE] = "Streams pipe error";
+	error[EUSERS] = "Too many users";
+	error[ENOTSOCK] = "Socket operation on non-socket";
+	error[EDESTADDRREQ] = "Destination address required";
+	error[EMSGSIZE] = "Message too long";
+	error[EPROTOTYPE] = "Protocol wrong type for socket";
+	error[ENOPROTOOPT] = "Protocol not available";
+	error[EPROTONOSUPPORT] = "Protocol not supported";
+	error[ESOCKTNOSUPPORT] = "Socket type not supported";
+	error[EOPNOTSUPP] = "Operation not supported on transport endpoint";
+	error[EPFNOSUPPORT] = "Protocol family not supported";
+	error[EAFNOSUPPORT] = "Address family not supported by protocol";
+	error[EADDRINUSE] = "Address already in use";
+	error[EADDRNOTAVAIL] = "Cannot assign requested address";
+	error[ENETDOWN] = "Network is down";
+	error[ENETUNREACH] = "Network is unreachable";
+	error[ENETRESET] = "Network dropped connection because of reset";
+	error[ECONNABORTED] = "Software caused connection abort";
+	error[ECONNRESET] = "Connection reset by peer";
+	error[ENOBUFS] = "No buffer space available";
+	error[EISCONN] = "Transport endpoint is already connected";
+	error[ENOTCONN] = "Transport endpoint is not connected";
+	error[ESHUTDOWN] = "Cannot send after transport endpoint shutdown";
+	error[ETOOMANYREFS] = "Too many references: cannot splice";
+	error[ETIMEDOUT] = "Connection timed out";
+	error[ECONNREFUSED] = "Connection refused";
+	error[EHOSTDOWN] = "Host is down";
+	error[EHOSTUNREACH] = "No route to host";
+	error[EALREADY] = "Operation already in progress";
+	error[EINPROGRESS] = "Operation now in progress";
+	error[ESTALE] = "Stale NFS file handle";
+	error[EUCLEAN] = "Structure needs cleaning";
+	error[ENOTNAM] = "Not a XENIX named type file";
+	error[ENAVAIL] = "No XENIX semaphores available";
+	error[EISNAM] = "Is a named type file";
+	error[EREMOTEIO] = "Remote I/O error";
+	error[EDQUOT] = "Quota exceeded";
+	error[ENOMEDIUM] = "No medium found";
+	error[EMEDIUMTYPE] = "Wrong medium type";
+	error[ECANCELED] = "Operation Canceled";
+	error[ENOKEY] = "Required key not available";
+	error[EKEYEXPIRED] = "Key has expired";
+	error[EKEYREVOKED] = "Key has been revoked";
+	error[EKEYREJECTED] = "Key was rejected by service";
+}
+
+var digits string = "0123456789"
+
+func str(val int64) string {  // do it here rather than with fmt to avoid dependency
+	if val < 0 {
+		return "-" + str(-val);
+	}
+	var buf [32]byte;  // big enough for int64
+	i := len(buf)-1;
+	for val >= 10 {
+		buf[i] = digits[val%10];
+		i--;
+		val /= 10;
+	}
+	buf[i] = digits[val];
+	return string(buf)[i:len(buf)];
+}
+
+func errstr(errno int64) string {
+	if errno < 0 || errno >= len(error) {
+		return "Error " + str(errno)
+	}
+	return error[errno]
+}
diff --git a/src/syscall/syscall.go b/src/syscall/syscall.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..49d7401ed47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/syscall/syscall.go
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+// Copyright 2009 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package syscall
+
+// for simplicity of addressing in assembler, all integers are 64 bits
+// in these calling sequences.
+
+func open(*byte, int64) (ret int64, errno int64);
+func close(int64) (ret int64, errno int64);
+func read(int64, *byte, int64) (ret int64, errno int64);
+func write(int64, *byte, int64) (ret int64, errno int64);
+
+export open, close, read, write
diff --git a/src/syscall/syscall_amd64_darwin.s b/src/syscall/syscall_amd64_darwin.s
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a87352e8e2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/syscall/syscall_amd64_darwin.s
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+// Copyright 2009 The Go Authors.  All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+//
+// System calls for AMD64, Darwin
+//
+
+//TEXT	syscall·exit(SB),1,$-8
+//	MOVL	8(SP), DI		// arg 1 exit status
+//	MOVL	$(0x2000000+1), AX	// syscall entry
+//	SYSCALL
+//	CALL	notok(SB)
+//	RET
+
+TEXT	syscall·open(SB),1,$-8
+	MOVQ	8(SP), DI
+	MOVQ	16(SP), SI
+	MOVQ	$0, R10
+	MOVL	$(0x2000000+5), AX	// syscall entry
+	SYSCALL
+	JCC	4(PC)
+	MOVQ	$-1, 24(SP)
+	MOVQ	AX, 32(SP)
+	RET
+	MOVQ	AX, 24(SP)
+	MOVQ	$0, 32(SP)
+	RET
+
+TEXT	syscall·close(SB),1,$-8
+	MOVL	8(SP), DI
+	MOVL	$(0x2000000+6), AX	// syscall entry
+	SYSCALL
+	JCC	4(PC)
+	MOVQ	$-1, 16(SP)
+	MOVQ	AX, 24(SP)
+	RET
+	MOVQ	AX, 16(SP)
+	MOVQ	$0, 24(SP)
+	RET
+
+TEXT	syscall·read(SB),1,$-8
+	MOVQ	8(SP), DI
+	MOVQ	16(SP), SI
+	MOVQ	24(SP), DX
+	MOVL	$(0x2000000+3), AX	// syscall entry
+	SYSCALL
+	JCC	4(PC)
+	MOVQ	$-1, 32(SP)
+	MOVQ	AX, 40(SP)
+	RET
+	MOVQ	AX, 32(SP)
+	MOVQ	$0, 40(SP)
+	RET
+
+TEXT	syscall·write(SB),1,$-8
+	MOVQ	8(SP), DI
+	MOVQ	16(SP), SI
+	MOVQ	24(SP), DX
+	MOVL	$(0x2000000+4), AX	// syscall entry
+	SYSCALL
+	JCC	4(PC)
+	MOVQ	$-1, 32(SP)
+	MOVQ	AX, 40(SP)
+	RET
+	MOVQ	AX, 32(SP)
+	MOVQ	$0, 40(SP)
+	RET
+
+//TEXT	fstat(SB),1,$-8
+//	MOVL	8(SP), DI
+//	MOVQ	16(SP), SI
+//	MOVL	$(0x2000000+339), AX	// syscall entry; really fstat64
+//	SYSCALL
+//	RET
+//
+//TEXT	syscall·sigaction(SB),1,$-8
+//	MOVL	8(SP), DI		// arg 1 sig
+//	MOVQ	16(SP), SI		// arg 2 act
+//	MOVQ	24(SP), DX		// arg 3 oact
+//	MOVQ	24(SP), CX		// arg 3 oact
+//	MOVQ	24(SP), R10		// arg 3 oact
+//	MOVL	$(0x2000000+46), AX	// syscall entry
+//	SYSCALL
+//	JCC	2(PC)
+//	CALL	notok(SB)
+//	RET
+//
+//TEXT sigtramp(SB),1,$24
+//	MOVL	DX,0(SP)
+//	MOVQ	CX,8(SP)
+//	MOVQ	R8,16(SP)
+//	CALL	sighandler(SB)
+//	RET
+//
+//TEXT	syscall·mmap(SB),1,$-8
+//	MOVQ	8(SP), DI		// arg 1 addr
+//	MOVL	16(SP), SI		// arg 2 len
+//	MOVL	20(SP), DX		// arg 3 prot
+//	MOVL	24(SP), R10		// arg 4 flags
+//	MOVL	28(SP), R8		// arg 5 fid
+//	MOVL	32(SP), R9		// arg 6 offset
+//	MOVL	$(0x2000000+197), AX	// syscall entry
+//	SYSCALL
+//	JCC	2(PC)
+//	CALL	notok(SB)
+//	RET
diff --git a/src/syscall/syscall_amd64_linux.s b/src/syscall/syscall_amd64_linux.s
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9690a96362a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/syscall/syscall_amd64_linux.s
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+// Copyright 2009 The Go Authors.  All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+//
+// System calls for AMD64, Linux
+//
+
+//TEXT	sys·exit(SB),1,$0-8
+//	MOVL	8(SP), DI
+//	MOVL	$60, AX
+//	SYSCALL
+//	RET
+
+TEXT	syscall·open(SB),1,$0-16
+	MOVQ	8(SP), DI
+	MOVQ	16(SP), SI
+	MOVQ	$0, DX
+	MOVQ	$2, AX			// syscall entry
+	SYSCALL
+	CMPQ	AX, $0xfffffffffffff001
+	JLS	5(PC)
+	MOVQ	$-1, 24(SP)
+	NEGQ	AX
+	MOVQ	AX, 32(SP)
+	RET
+	MOVQ	AX, 24(SP)
+	MOVQ	$0, 32(SP)
+	RET
+
+TEXT	syscall·close(SB),1,$0-16
+	MOVQ	8(SP), DI
+	MOVL	$3, AX			// syscall entry
+	SYSCALL
+	CMPQ	AX, $0xfffffffffffff001
+	JLS	5(PC)
+	MOVQ	$-1, 16(SP)
+	NEGQ	AX
+	MOVQ	AX, 24(SP)
+	RET
+	MOVQ	AX, 16(SP)
+	MOVQ	$0, 24(SP)
+	RET
+
+//TEXT	fstat(SB),1,$0-16
+//	MOVL	8(SP), DI
+//	MOVQ	16(SP), SI
+//	MOVL	$5, AX			// syscall entry
+//	SYSCALL
+//	RET
+
+TEXT	syscall·read(SB),1,$0-16
+	MOVL	8(SP), DI
+	MOVQ	16(SP), SI
+	MOVL	24(SP), DX
+	MOVL	$0, AX			// syscall entry
+	SYSCALL
+	CMPQ	AX, $0xfffffffffffff001
+	JLS	5(PC)
+	MOVQ	$-1, 32(SP)
+	NEGQ	AX
+	MOVQ	AX, 40(SP)
+	RET
+	MOVQ	AX, 32(SP)
+	MOVQ	$0, 40(SP)
+	RET
+
+TEXT	syscall·write(SB),1,$0-16
+	MOVL	8(SP), DI
+	MOVQ	16(SP), SI
+	MOVL	24(SP), DX
+	MOVL	$1, AX			// syscall entry
+	SYSCALL
+	CMPQ	AX, $0xfffffffffffff001
+	JLS	5(PC)
+	MOVQ	$-1, 32(SP)
+	NEGQ	AX
+	MOVQ	AX, 40(SP)
+	RET
+	MOVQ	AX, 32(SP)
+	MOVQ	$0, 40(SP)
+	RET
+
+//TEXT	sys·rt_sigaction(SB),1,$0-32
+//	MOVL	8(SP), DI
+//	MOVQ	16(SP), SI
+//	MOVQ	24(SP), DX
+//	MOVQ	32(SP), CX
+//	MOVL	CX, R10
+//	MOVL	$13, AX			// syscall entry
+//	SYSCALL
+//	RET
+//
+//TEXT	sigtramp(SB),1,$24-16
+//	MOVQ	DI,0(SP)
+//	MOVQ	SI,8(SP)
+//	MOVQ	DX,16(SP)
+//	CALL	sighandler(SB)
+//	RET
+//
+//TEXT	sys·mmap(SB),1,$0-32
+//	MOVQ	8(SP), DI
+//	MOVL	16(SP), SI
+//	MOVL	20(SP), DX
+//	MOVL	24(SP), CX
+//	MOVL	28(SP), R8
+//	MOVL	32(SP), R9
+//
+///* flags arg for ANON is 1000 but sb 20 */
+//	MOVL	CX, AX
+//	ANDL	$~0x1000, CX
+//	ANDL	$0x1000, AX
+//	SHRL	$7, AX
+//	ORL	AX, CX
+//
+//	MOVL	CX, R10
+//	MOVL	$9, AX			// syscall entry
+//	SYSCALL
+//	CMPQ	AX, $0xfffffffffffff001
+//	JLS	2(PC)
+//	CALL	notok(SB)
+//	RET
+//