Linux on an 8-bit micro

[uggla]

Read about this on osnews.com, perhaps something for TC? It would be kind of cool.

http://dmitry.co/index.php?p=./04.Thoughts/07.%20Linux%20on%208bit

[gutmensch]

uARM is certainly no speed demon. It takes about 2 hours to boot to bash prompt ("init=/bin/bash" kernel command line). Then 4 more hours to boot up the entire Ubuntu ("exec init" and then login). Starting X takes a lot longer.

great piece of work but also a bit hilarious IMHO

[bmarkus]

Oh, it's 1st of April. Lets have a fun

Running an ARM emulator on 8-bit uC and than boot UBUNTU.

- Is it cool? Yes.
- Is it good to create? For sure, for its creator.
- Is there a practical use? No.

But that's right.

uARM is certainly no speed demon. It takes about 2 hours to boot to bash prompt ("init=/bin/bash" kernel command line). Then 4 more hours to boot up the entire Ubuntu ("exec init" and then login). Starting X takes a lot longer. The effective emulated CPU speed is about 6.5KHz, which is on par with what you'd expect emulating a 32-bit CPU & MMU on a measly 8-bit micro. Curiously enough, once booted, the system is somewhat usable. You can type a command and get a reply within a minute. That is to say that you can, in fact, use it. I used it to day to format an SD card, for example. This is definitely not the fastest, but I think it may be the cheapest, slowest, simplest to hand assemble, lowest part count, and lowest-end Linux PC. The board is hand-soldered using wires, there is not even a requirement for a printed circuit board.

Thanks, I like it I enjoyed reading it.

[gutmensch]

btw. beware of electricity failures D'OH reboot.