diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e8d4009..f86e94e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ OBJ_NAMES := src/os/main.o src/os/test.o os_entry.o src/lib/video/VGA_text.o \
 	src/lib/device/serial.o src/lib/device/ps2.o src/lib/device/keyboard.o \
 	src/lib/container/ring_buffer.o \
 	src/lib/stdlib/stdio.o src/lib/stdlib/stdlib.o src/lib/stdlib/string.o \
-  src/lib/pit/pit.o
+  src/lib/pit/pit.o src/lib/stdlib/palloc.o
 
 
 .PHONY: clean qemu test
diff --git a/docs/boot/detecting_memory.md b/docs/boot/detecting_memory.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1740c2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/boot/detecting_memory.md
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+# Detecting Memory
+
+## Preliminaries
+
+Memory in x86 is standardized up to 1MB. Past that, other BIOS processes use
+chunks of memory in unpredictable locations. To maximize the amount 
+of useable memory in our system, we need to query the BIOS.
+
+## Detecting Memory
+
+"Low Memory" is memory below 1MB. BIOS has a couple of functions to detect
+these addresses, as a contiguous block, but is limited in the amount of
+memory we are able to get, so we choose to omit it entirely.
+
+"Upper Memory" is memory above 1MB, typically up to just below 4GB. While
+memory detection can move past that in 64-bit systems, this amount is
+sufficient for our use cases. The BIOS function used to detect upper memory
+across most devices is `int 0x15 EAX=0xe820`. Each call to this function
+stores a structure in memory that looks as follows:
+
+```
+struct memChunk {
+    uint64_t base; // base addr of mem. chunk
+    uint64_t len; // len of mem. chunk
+    uint32_t type; // what mem. chunk is used for
+}
+```
+
+From there, our program builds an array of these structures in memory,
+for use later in our operating system. A dynamic allocator can read this 
+array after we transition to 32-bit mode to build a dynamic allocator.
+
+#### Important Addresses
+  
+- `0x1000`: location of the kernel.  
+- `0x7c00`: location of boot sector.
+- `0x9000`: location of stack at boot.
+- `0x90000`: location of stack at kernel entry.
+
+![Memory Layout Diagram](boot_memory_diagram.png)
+
+#### Further Reading
+
+[BIOS](https://wiki.osdev.org/BIOS)  
+[GDT](https://wiki.osdev.org/Global_Descriptor_Table)  
+[Bootloader Guide](https://wiki.osdev.org/Rolling_Your_Own_Bootloader)  
+[BIOS int 0x13](https://wiki.osdev.org/Disk_access_using_the_BIOS_(INT_13h))
diff --git a/src/boot/boot_sect.asm b/src/boot/boot_sect.asm
index cc04946..ee97c12 100644
--- a/src/boot/boot_sect.asm
+++ b/src/boot/boot_sect.asm
@@ -6,13 +6,15 @@ begin:
     mov [BOOT_DRIVE], dl
     mov bp, 0x9000
     mov sp, bp
-    jmp load_kernel
+    jmp detect_mem
 
 %include "src/boot/gdt.asm"
 %include "src/boot/enter_pm.asm"
+%include "src/boot/detect_mem.asm"
 
 [bits 16]
 load_kernel:
+	mov dl, [BOOT_DRIVE] ;reset dl
     mov ah, 2 ;read BIOS chs
     mov al, 42 ;sectors to read
     mov cl, 0x02 ;start at sector 2
@@ -27,11 +29,10 @@ begin_pm:
     call OS_OFFSET
     hlt
 
-
 times 509 - ($ - $$) db 0 ;padding
 
 
 BOOT_DRIVE db 0 ;0x7dfd
 ;above is data that can always be found at 0x7dfd - n during boot process
 
-dw 0xaa55 ;magic boot sector number
\ No newline at end of file
+dw 0xaa55 ;magic boot sector number
diff --git a/src/boot/detect_mem.asm b/src/boot/detect_mem.asm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e9361b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/boot/detect_mem.asm
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+;code below is largely taken from osdev.org, all of which is on the Public Domain
+;see https://wiki.osdev.org/Detecting_Memory_(x86) for more details
+;for license information, see https://wiki.osdev.org/OSDev_Wiki:License
+
+num_ent equ 0x8000 ;stores number of entries
+struct_base equ 0x8004 ;base ptr of structure
+
+[bits 16]
+detect_mem:
+	mov di, struct_base
+    xor ebx, ebx
+    xor bp, bp
+    jmp detect_chunk
+
+[bits 16]
+detect_chunk:
+	mov edx, 0x0534D4150
+	mov eax, 0xe820
+	mov [es:di + 20], dword 1 ; force a valid ACPI 3.X entry
+	mov ecx, 24	; ask for 24 bytes
+	int 0x15
+
+    cmp eax, edx		; on success, eax must have been reset to "SMAP"
+	jne failed
+
+    cmp bp, 0
+    je short check_first
+    jmp detect_chunk_2
+
+detect_chunk_2:
+    inc bp
+    add di, 24
+
+    cmp bp, 10
+	jne detect_chunk
+
+	jmp post_process
+
+[bits 16]
+check_first:
+	jc short failed	; carry set on first call means "unsupported function"
+	mov edx, 0x0534D4150	; Some BIOSes apparently trash this register?
+	test ebx, ebx		; ebx = 0 implies list is only 1 entry long (worthless)
+	je short failed
+    jmp short detect_chunk_2
+
+[bits 16]
+failed:
+	stc
+	ret
+
+[bits 16]
+skip_ent:
+	test ebx, ebx ;second 0 indicates end of list
+	jne short post_process
+
+[bits 16]
+post_process:
+	mov [num_ent], bp
+	jmp load_kernel
diff --git a/src/lib/stdlib/palloc.c b/src/lib/stdlib/palloc.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe15065
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/stdlib/palloc.c
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+#include "palloc.h"
+
+#include "stdio.h"
+#include "stdlib.h"
+#include "string.h"
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+
+#define MAX_CHUNKS 100
+
+void handle_chunk(Chunk *c);
+void sort_chunks(int len, Chunk *array);
+void merge_chunks(Chunk *chunks, size_t len);
+int compar(const void *ina, const void *inb);
+
+void init_palloc() {
+    // last entry is repeat of first
+    size_t len = *(uint32_t *)MEM_STRUCT_ADDR - 1;
+
+    if (len > MAX_CHUNKS)
+        len = MAX_CHUNKS;
+
+    Chunk *chunks = (Chunk *)(MEM_STRUCT_ADDR + sizeof(uint32_t));
+
+    isort(chunks, len, sizeof(Chunk), compar);
+    // merge_chunks(chunks, len);
+    // remove_duplicates(chunks, len)
+}
+
+// sorts first by type, then by base address
+//
+// Types:
+// - type 1: usable memory
+// - type > 1: unusable (some types are reclaimable, but is left unimplemented
+// for now)
+int compar(const void *ina, const void *inb) {
+    Chunk a = *(Chunk *)ina;
+    Chunk b = *(Chunk *)inb;
+
+    if (a.type < b.type)
+        return -1;
+    else if (a.type > b.type)
+        return 1;
+    else if (a.base_lower < b.base_lower)
+        return -1;
+    else if (a.base_lower == b.base_lower) {
+        ((Chunk *)inb)->type =
+            2; // a bit janky for sure: changes duplicate to unusable type
+        return -1;
+    }
+    return 1;
+}
+
+// void merge_chunks(Chunk *chunks, size_t len) {
+//     if (len < 2)
+//         return;
+//
+//     for (int i = 0; i < len - 1; i++) {
+//         Chunk curr = chunks[i];
+//         Chunk next = chunks[i+1];
+//
+//         if (curr.base_lower + curr.len_lower < next.base_lower)
+//             continue;
+//
+//         // check if two chunks intersect (after sort)
+//         else if (curr.base_lower >= next.base_lower) // This should never
+//         happen?????
+//             return;
+//
+//         else if (curr.base_lower + curr.len_lower >= next.base_lower) {
+//
+//         }
+//     }
+// }
diff --git a/src/lib/stdlib/palloc.h b/src/lib/stdlib/palloc.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2887cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/stdlib/palloc.h
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#include <stdint.h>
+
+// RAM addr of structure describing useable memory
+#define MEM_STRUCT_ADDR 0x8000
+
+// for the purposes of our os, which is 32-bit, we
+// will rely soley on the lower 32-bits
+typedef struct {
+    uint32_t base_lower;
+    uint32_t base_upper;
+    uint32_t len_lower;
+    uint32_t len_upper;
+    uint32_t type;
+    uint32_t attrs; // ACPI v3.0 Extended Attributes bitfield
+} Chunk;
+
+void init_palloc();
+
+// Returns a PAGE_SIZE page of contiguous, useable memory
+void *palloc();
diff --git a/src/os/main.c b/src/os/main.c
index 8172a40..cead3bd 100644
--- a/src/os/main.c
+++ b/src/os/main.c
@@ -2,12 +2,14 @@
 #include "device/serial.h"
 #include "hard/idt.h"
 #include "pit/pit.h"
+#include "stdlib/palloc.h"
 #include "test.h"
 #include "video/VGA_text.h"
 
 int os_main() {
     makeInterruptTable();
     init_pit();
+    init_palloc();
     serialInit();
     ps2Init();