21–30 of 47 posts
This is probably one of the crazier projects I've ever seen. I've often contemplated what running a "true os" on an 8 bit CPU would entail, and TBH the idea of an emulator never struck me. On top of that, a hand-wired linux computer with hand-written arm emulator? Ridiculous.
Does anyone know why these 8-bit processors are so expensive? The two he listed ATmega1284p and ATmega644a cost like $9.07 (qty 1) to $4.88 (qty 2.5k), and $7.08 (qty 1) to $3.79 (qty 2.5k) on Mouser. I would have thought we're talking like a $1.30 chip. Meanwhile look at what you get for $6 - http://linuxgizmos.com/quad-core-allwinner-soc-targets-low-c... Am I missing something? Or are his 8-bit microcontrollers act…
Does anyone know why these 8-bit processors are so expensive? The two he listed ATmega1284p and ATmega644a cost like $9.07 (qty 1) to $4.88 (qty 2.5k), and $7.08 (qty 1) to $3.79 (qty 2.5k) on Mouser. I would have thought we're talking like a $1.30 chip. Meanwhile look at what you get for $6 - http://linuxgizmos.com/quad-core-allwinner-soc-targets-low-c... Am I missing something? Or are his 8-bit microcontrollers act…
As an example for "embedded, non Linux" microcontrollers, the lpc1227 (32bit Cortex-M0 @ 45MHz, 128k Flash) is only half the cost (~$2 @ 10k units) at much more CPU power and more versatile peripherals. Probably a much more balanced (and maybe more popular) choice for applications of a comparable complexity...
This is probably one of the crazier projects I've ever seen. I've often contemplated what running a "true os" on an 8 bit CPU would entail, and TBH the idea of an emulator never struck me. On top of that, a hand-wired linux computer with hand-written arm emulator? Ridiculous.
Well, you could run CP/M on an 8-bit system, which would have been called a "true OS" at the time it was written and sold ...
Does anyone know why these 8-bit processors are so expensive? The two he listed ATmega1284p and ATmega644a cost like $9.07 (qty 1) to $4.88 (qty 2.5k), and $7.08 (qty 1) to $3.79 (qty 2.5k) on Mouser. I would have thought we're talking like a $1.30 chip. Meanwhile look at what you get for $6 - http://linuxgizmos.com/quad-core-allwinner-soc-targets-low-c... Am I missing something? Or are his 8-bit microcontrollers act…
They're nice parts; 8-bit micros with a lot of Flash. ATtiny20 is the cheap end with hardly any Flash.
ucLinux gets you around the MMU problem... Was Linux ever built on 16-bit? The PDP-11 (the origin of Unix) was 16..
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or if that's not "true" enough, Xenix was a Unix for 8-bit systems.
Xenix ran on 16-bit systems.
What about Micronix? http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/mnix_micronix.htm... - "As far as I know, Micronix was the only Unix-like multiuser system ever to run on an 8 bit processor."
Unbelievable proof of concept. It is just genius that this guy made this. But what do you think that we can get out of this? Are there any practical reasons to run Linux on Micro-controller?
> But what do you think that we can get out of this? One can learn that sometimes it's worthwhile, or even the prudent thing to do, to emulate the hardware instead of porting code. Emulating a 32bit CPU on a 8bit µC is certainly a little over the edge, but it's not unheard of to emulate a legacy/antique CPU on a newer one to make use of proven code. See for example the ancient HP48 calculators, where the obsolete ori…
It's probably less to do with using proven code and more to do with maintaining perfect bug-for-bug compatibility. You can't even reimplement the bugs you haven't discovered yet. Also, writing an interpreter for most microcode is fairly methodical. Depending on what level of detail you need to emulate (clock timings, interrupts etc) it could be quicker and simpler than digging up an old fossil of a developer who knows enough about the original software to port it for you.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Xenix ran on 16-bit systems.
Oops! Yes. 16 bit. I was thinking of the 8 bit data bus of the 16 bit 8088. What about Micronix? http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/mnix_micronix.htm... - "As far as I know, Micronix was the only Unix-like multiuser system ever to run on an 8 bit processor."