A programmer and tech enthusiast called ‘DeCrAzyO’ asked the important question, “Can it run Linux?” to the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). After a lot of investigating, troubleshooting and programming, he found native Linux couldn’t, but a Unix-like operation system (OS) and a Japanese NES could.
The goal of the project was to have Linux running natively on the NES’s original hardware. But, due to the hardware constraints of the NES and its tiny 2KB of RAM, it was not nearly powerful enough to run Linux natively. However, DeCrAzYo found he could use a Unix-like OS rather than actual Linux.
The OS that was settled on for the project was Little Unix (LUnix), which was last updated in 2004 and originally developed for the Commodore 64. While the NES and the Commodore 64 are pretty different systems, considering the NES has 2KB of RAM and the Commodore 64 has 64KB of RAM, both systems have a similar CPU based on the 6502 architecture from the time.
After finding a compatible OS, the biggest roadblock DeCrAzYo faced was still the fact the NES only had 2KB of RAM. To overcome this issue, he used the Famicom, the Japanese version of the NES, which has an extra 32KB of RAM, keyboard accessory support, and a disk system. With some programming to the OS, the programmer was able to get the modified version of LUnix running on the Famicom, with the ability to run multiple shells and retrieve its command history.
The programmer found the only possible way to run LUnix on the NES would be to create a cartridge that provided more RAM. So technically it is possible, though not running natively on the NES’ 2KB of RAM. It’s a cool project, and it’s nice to see programmers like DeCrAzYo work on projects like these with old consoles, especially the legendary NES.
Image credit: Nintendo
Source: DeCrAzYo Via: Tom’s Hardware
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