diff --git a/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/entry.asm b/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/entry.asm
index f1c5d866a..c80ab271d 100644
--- a/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/entry.asm
+++ b/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/entry.asm
@@ -49,11 +49,13 @@ align 4
     global cpu_freq
     global boot_processor
     global cpu_online
+    global timer_ticks
     base dq 0
     limit dq 0
     cpu_freq dd 0
     boot_processor dd -1
     cpu_online dd 0
+    timer_ticks dq 0
 
 SECTION .text
 align 4
diff --git a/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/tasks.c b/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/tasks.c
index f6761fc24..fef765fb7 100644
--- a/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/tasks.c
+++ b/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/tasks.c
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 #include <asm/tss.h>
 
 extern tss_t	task_state_segments[MAX_CORES];
+extern uint64_t base;
 
 size_t* get_current_stack(void)
 {
@@ -135,8 +136,9 @@ typedef struct {
  */
 static int load_task(load_args_t* largs)
 {
-	uint32_t i, offset, idx;
-	uint32_t addr, npages;
+	uint32_t i;
+	uint64_t offset, idx;
+	uint64_t addr, npages;
 	size_t stack = 0, heap = 0;
 	size_t flags;
 	elf_header_t header;
@@ -206,7 +208,7 @@ static int load_task(load_args_t* largs)
 				ret = -ENOMEM;
 				goto Lerr;
 			}
-	
+
 			flags = PG_USER;
 			if (has_nx() && !(prog_header.flags & PF_X))
 				flags |= PG_XD;
@@ -256,7 +258,7 @@ static int load_task(load_args_t* largs)
 				goto Lerr;
 			}
 
-			stack = header.entry*2; // virtual address of the stack
+			stack = (1ULL << 34ULL); // virtual address of the stack
 			flags = PG_USER|PG_RW;
 			if (has_nx() && !(prog_header.flags & PF_X))
 				flags |= PG_XD;
@@ -267,6 +269,7 @@ static int load_task(load_args_t* largs)
 				goto Lerr;
 			}
 			memset((void*) stack, 0x00, npages*PAGE_SIZE);
+			//kprintf("stack located at 0x%zx (0x%zx)\n", stack, addr);
 
 			// create vma regions for the user-level stack
 			flags = VMA_CACHEABLE|VMA_USER;
@@ -349,6 +352,13 @@ static int load_task(load_args_t* largs)
 	// clear fpu state => currently not supported
 	curr_task->flags &= ~(TASK_FPU_USED|TASK_FPU_INIT);
 
+	// map readonly kernel info into the user-space => vsyscall
+	if (has_nx())
+		page_map(header.entry - PAGE_SIZE, base, 1, PG_USER|PG_XD);
+	else
+		page_map(header.entry - PAGE_SIZE, base, 1, PG_USER);
+	vma_add(header.entry - PAGE_SIZE, header.entry, VMA_READ|VMA_CACHEABLE|VMA_USER);
+
 	//vma_dump();
 
 	asm volatile ("swapgs");
diff --git a/hermit/newlib/examples/stream.c b/hermit/newlib/examples/stream.c
index 5568dd362..059334353 100644
--- a/hermit/newlib/examples/stream.c
+++ b/hermit/newlib/examples/stream.c
@@ -270,7 +270,6 @@ main()
 	    b[j] = 2.0;
 	    c[j] = 0.0;
 	}
-
     printf(HLINE);
 
     if  ( (quantum = checktick()) >= 1) 
@@ -300,7 +299,7 @@ main()
     printf("For best results, please be sure you know the\n");
     printf("precision of your system timer.\n");
     printf(HLINE);
-    
+
     /*	--- MAIN LOOP --- repeat test cases NTIMES times --- */
 
     scalar = 3.0;
@@ -387,7 +386,6 @@ checktick()
     double	t1, t2, timesfound[M];
 
 /*  Collect a sequence of M unique time values from the system. */
-
     for (i = 0; i < M; i++) {
 	t1 = mysecond();
 	while( ((t2=mysecond()) - t1) < 1.0E-6 )
@@ -418,6 +416,15 @@ checktick()
 #include <time.h>
 #include <sys/time.h>
 
+extern unsigned int get_cpufreq();
+
+inline static unsigned long long rdtscp(void)
+{
+        unsigned long long lo, hi;
+        asm volatile ("rdtscp" : "=a"(lo), "=d"(hi) :: "%rcx");
+        return (hi << 32 | lo);
+}
+
 double mysecond()
 {
 #if 0
@@ -428,16 +435,17 @@ double mysecond()
         i = gettimeofday(&tp,&tzp);
         return ( (double) tp.tv_sec + (double) tp.tv_usec * 1.e-6 );
 #else
-	static clock_t start, init = 0;
+	static unsigned long long start;
+	static int init = 0;
 	double ret;
 
 	if (init) {
-		ret = (double) (clock() - start) / (double) CLOCKS_PER_SEC;
+		ret = (double) (rdtscp() - start) / ((double) get_cpufreq() * 1000000.0);
 	} else {
-		start = clock();
+		printf("CPU frequency: %d MHz\n", get_cpufreq());
+		start = rdtscp();
 		init = 1;
 		ret = 0.0;
-		//printf("CLOCKS_PER_SEC = %d\n", CLOCKS_PER_SEC);
 	}
 
 	return ret;