[HN Gopher] New Linux port for the Nintendo 64
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New Linux port for the Nintendo 64
Author : MegaDeKay
Score : 101 points
Date : 2020-12-25 21:52 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (lore.kernel.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (lore.kernel.org)
| toxypol wrote:
| how do you even interact with the N64 ... ?? controller????
| ignoranceprior wrote:
| The ROM comes loaded with a terminal emulator that is operated
| via the N64 controller:
|
| https://github.com/clbr/joyterm/blob/master/main.c
| CyberRabbi wrote:
| Waiting for the Vulkan backend and the dolphin port.
| xwdv wrote:
| How do these sort of ports for niche systems get made?
| protoman3000 wrote:
| Manuals for the system and it's processor exist. The Linux
| kernel is pretty agnostic towards what it's running on, as long
| as it supports the C Language. The difficult part is filling in
| the system specific blanks in the kernels' source code, which
| is big work.
|
| See here: https://www.linux-
| mips.org/wiki/Linux/MIPS_Porting_Guide
| rvz wrote:
| > "But why", I hear from the back. Having Linux available makes
| it easier to port emulators and fb or console games.
|
| > Most importantly, because I can.
|
| Good. All I can say is at least it is something different to what
| I keep seeing on HN. (React, Rust, Kubernetes, JAMstack,
| JavaScript, etc.)
|
| Probably present this somewhere in a conference (CCC, FOSDEM,
| etc). Who knows who could be looking at this.
| Causality1 wrote:
| Don't forget the many ways in which Machine Learning will
| revolutionize X.
| rubicon33 wrote:
| Yes, I love seeing this stuff over the standard JavaScript lib
| of the month.
| atum47 wrote:
| I never had a relationship with the N64. After the Super Nintendo
| I was deep into computers and programming. The place I used to go
| to rent video games also started to rent CD ROMS. I went down
| there one time to rent a CD ROM and saw the N64. Back then video
| games stores also worked as an arcade, where you could play a
| system for 30 minutes paying a small fee. So I decided to try
| this new system, the N64. The game I choose was Mario 64, or
| course. I did not know where to go, how to play, what my goals
| were... I remember back then feeling that I outgrew video games.
| This was around the year 2000. Wasn't until 2009 that I decided
| to play with video games again, I bought a used xbox 360 from a
| friend. I had played Mario Paper 64, but on an emulator, and way
| after the game was released. Cool project thought, thanks for
| sharing.
| pizzabearman wrote:
| This response sounds like it is made from an AI
| atum47 wrote:
| sorry, When reading the news, if I remember something funny
| related to the subject I usually share.
| muterad_murilax wrote:
| Is it possible to use the texture memory/cache (including the
| Expansion Pak) as additional (albeit limited) system RAM? If so,
| is that the case here?
| monocasa wrote:
| Expansion Pak is regular RAM both to this and the normal games.
|
| The texture memory would be difficult to use as RAM though
| since it's not directly addressable.
| corysama wrote:
| The expansion pak would double the effective memory from 4MB to
| 8. But, there is no separate memory for textures to take
| advantage of. Just a 4k cache that textures were loaded into
| from main RAM one at a time while rendering.
|
| There were some games that manually implemented their own
| virtual memory paging system to map the cartridge ROM to RAM
| address space.
|
| But, in general a feature that distinguished the N64 from the
| PS1 was that it had a single, unified block of RAM for all of
| the hardware to share however you like.
| monocasa wrote:
| TMEM isn't a cache unfortunately and has to be manually
| loaded and unloaded.
|
| But because of that you might be able to use it for extra
| sort of like how the Factor 5 GC games would spill out to
| ARAM.
|
| A lot of work for 4k of RAM though.
| shakna wrote:
| > This is a port of Linux to the N64. Only native drivers for
| now, that is, no Everdrive or 64drive specials. Expansion pak
| required. [0]
|
| It seems that this actually requires using the Expansion Pak as
| system RAM to even run.
|
| [0] https://github.com/clbr/n64bootloader/tree/master/n64linux
| ajbonkoski wrote:
| Did the N64 have an MMU? I guess so, COP0. I wouldn't have
| guessed that.
| j1elo wrote:
| This, plus the recently announced PlayStation 5 gamepad driver
| support for Linux. Dreaming is free.
| arwineap wrote:
| Deja-vu I suppose
|
| https://www.theverge.com/2016/6/22/12008286/sony-ps3-linux-o...
| pram wrote:
| This completely blows my mind, but also seems a natural fit
| considering the SGI lineage of the N64. It's like a super budget
| IRIX workstation ;P
| MegaDeKay wrote:
| I think something like this is so cool: the relative ease in
| which Linux can be ported to something combined with a new
| application for a retro console. His post sums it up.
|
| "But why... Most importantly, because I can."
| MegaDeKay wrote:
| Replying to my own post but want to give credit where it is
| due. First saw this on Phoronix.
|
| https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Nintendo...
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(page generated 2020-12-25 23:00 UTC)