A modder has managed to convert an operating system that resembles Linux into a function on an unmodified Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), demonstrating impressive retro-tech innovation.
Key Points:
- Source code is now available on GitHub: GitHub
- The conversion involved defining the memory map, writing new system initialization code, reorganizing LUnix for Famicom’s RAM specs, and creating new drivers.
- Challenges included developing a disc driver due to unique Famicom Disk System (FDS) sector reading mechanics and visual glitches on performance.
- Though the final product has limitations, it showcases the potential of running Unix-like systems on 1980s hardware.
Could you imagine running any specific software applications using a converted OS like this on an NES? What kind of programs would benefit most from being ported to retro consoles?
What kind of programs would benefit most from being ported to retro consoles?
Obviously Doom.
i’m honestly a little suprised this hasn’t happened sooner. there were plenty of computers with similar hardware at the time with CP/M or DOS variants, and the unix-like fuzix was originally developed for the z80 and i think has a 6502 port. that’s not meant as a knock on decrayzo though- either way this is cool as shit
i’m curious what the culture around the famicom and FDS as computers was in japan. it was wildly popular but it never seems to come up in discussions of other 80s JP computers, so i wonder if the reason it never got a DOS straight from nintendo was because everyone including them saw it as more of a console than a computer despite the name. or maybe that’s just a westerner’s bias talking and japanese folks really do consider it as a contemporary of the PC-88 instead of the SMS
Nope, you got it right. It was very much seen as only a console, despite the naming, Family BASIC, FDS, other peripherals, etc. I’ve been living in Japan for years with a keen interest in retro gaming/computing, and FC is never mentioned in the same breath as PC-88/MSX/FM/etc. By the by, on the rare occasions that it’s mentioned, the SC-3000 is also lumped in with the consoles rather than the home computers.
mystery solved, thank you!
Unmodified FDS
Yes.
