NES Classic has been hacked to run Linux

[Futurdreamz]

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer...on-gets-hacked-to-run-linux-in-just-four-days

The console runs on Linux, and an enterprising member of our 'running things on things they’re not supposed to run on' club has managed to get Ubuntu Linux running on his machine.

Whelp, so much for locking it down tighter then a nun's knickers. Now to see if We can add or swap out ROMs.

 

[ItsKipz]

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer...on-gets-hacked-to-run-linux-in-just-four-days




Whelp, so much for locking it down tighter then a nun's knickers. Now to see if We can add or swap out ROMs.

That thing can run ubuntu linux? If we can get RetroArch/Lakka running on it, it could become a full on emulation machine! (assuming it has enough power ofc)

 

[ShadowOne333]

That thing can run ubuntu linux? If we can get RetroArch/Lakka running on it, it could become a full on emulation machine! (assuming it has enough power ofc)

I heard it has almost the same power as a Wii, and if it does it might be good for anything up to PSX/N64 emulation.

 

[Deleted User]

That thing can run ubuntu linux? If we can get RetroArch/Lakka running on it, it could become a full on emulation machine! (assuming it has enough power ofc)

it's probably barebones enough just to run nes roms accurately


I expected a NOAC, (NES On A Chip)

 

[Blue]

I heard it has almost the same power as a Wii, and if it does it might be good for anything up to PSX/N64 emulation.

I saw a tweet saying a teardown shows it is more powerful than a Wii/3DS.

 

[ItsKipz]

I heard it has almost the same power as a Wii, and if it does it might be good for anything up to PSX/N64 emulation.

Ooh, if i get my hands on one i think ill try getting that same linux setup running, would be really cool to see Castlevania SoTN running on an NES xD

 

[RevPokemon]

I hope this amounts to something but for what it is worth this is pretty useless as if you want linux on a system like this you are better off with a Pi. I mean this is pretty useless since the NES Mini is mainly for nostalgia and collect-ability.

That thing can run ubuntu linux? If we can get RetroArch/Lakka running on it, it could become a full on emulation machine! (assuming it has enough power ofc)

I would guess a lighter weight arm distro would be the best tho

I heard it has almost the same power as a Wii, and if it does it might be good for anything up to PSX/N64 emulation.

I doubt it has that much power since that would be overkill but who knows because if the Wii mini had such cpu speeds and sold so cheap back when so it is possible

 

[Futurdreamz]

it's probably barebones enough just to run nes roms accurately


I expected a NOAC, (NES On A Chip)

Why develop a customized chip - including 100% hardware support for a very sensitive platform which magically including a GUI and autosaves, when it's far cheaper to buy an off the shelf chip that's just powerful enough to emulate that. I suspect it has the bare minimum of memory needed though.

That being said, it has no Wifi or Ethernet, so unless you find a way to hack those (along with a keyboard) in it will be pretty useless as a Linux box. But I would like to look into swapping out some ROMs, if possible.

 

[nolimits59]

I hope this amounts to something but for what it is worth this is pretty useless as if you want linux on a system like this you are better off with a Pi. I mean this is pretty useless since the NES Mini is mainly for nostalgia and collect-ability.


I would guess a lighter weight arm distro would be the best tho


I doubt it has that much power since that would be overkill but who knows because if the Wii mini had such cpu speeds and sold so cheap back when so it is possible

It's a Cortex A7 quadcore CPU with a Mali400 GPU, it's more powerfull than a 3DS, way more...

 

[Deleted User]

It's a Cortex A7 quadcore CPU with a Mali400 GPU, it's more powerfull than a 3DS, way more...

why would it need to be so powerful? that's more than overkill

 

[RevPokemon]

It's a Cortex A7 quadcore CPU with a Mali400 GPU, it's more powerfull than a 3DS, way more...

source for this? I am curious but if it is this powerful than it really is amazing what it could run.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Still, what architecture is it based on?
Is it PowerPC like the late Nintendo consoles too?

 

[nolimits59]

why would it need to be so powerful? that's more than overkill

Because in 2016 it's hard to find cheap not "that powerfull" motherboards ? It's basicly a raspberry pi 2 you know, that processor is like 4-5 years old... it's really not expensive, we are in 2016, we don't produce crappy processor anymore, it would cost a lot to produce that stuff again.

source for this? I am curious but if it is this powerful than it really is amazing what it could run.

It's everywhere since like a week... just type "cortex A7 mini nes" on google

 

[mashers]

This is interesting. Not so much that it has been hacked to run Linux, but that they put such a powerful board in there. I wonder whether they're going to reuse the same board in other such mini devices, hence the need for increased power. SNES mini and N64 mini, anyone?

 

[RevPokemon]

It's everywhere since like a week... just type "cortex A7 mini nes" on google

Thanks

This is interesting. Not so much that it has been hacked to run Linux, but that they put such a powerful board in there. I wonder whether they're going to reuse the same board in other such mini devices, hence the need for increased power. SNES mini and N64 mini, anyone?

SNES sounds great but N64 has been sort of tricky since it really has never been emulated in a system that well by nintendo or any other companies for that matter.

 

[DiscostewSM]

So with it being a Cortex A7 quad-core (with a Mali400 GPU?), just what sort of emulation could we expect it is capable of? I'm now wishing I pushed even harder to get one.

 

[Deleted User]

Because in 2016 it's hard to find cheap not "that powerfull" motherboards ? It's basicly a raspberry pi 2 you know, that processor is like 4-5 years old... it's really not expensive, we are in 2016, we don't produce crappy processor anymore, it would cost a lot to produce that stuff again.

but companies still make NES on a chip chips, all they could've done is use some weaker ARM cpu and a ROM for the UI and roms, and the chip for the rest

 

[nolimits59]

but companies still make NES on a chip chips, all they could've done is use some weaker ARM cpu and a ROM for the UI and roms, and the chip for the rest

I believe they have deals with Allwinner (for the Allwinner R16 SoC) to have that MB so cheap that every other alternatives where pointless ?
Anyway, for more info, there is a wiki
http://linux-sunxi.org/Nintendo_NES_Classic_Edition

 

[mashers]

SNES sounds great but N64 has been sort of tricky since it really has never been emulated in a system that well by nintendo or any other companies for that matter.

True, but I don't think it's been tried as a dedicated device yet has it? Maybe something custom (software-wise) rather than an emu running on top of something existing would work better.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

So with it being a Cortex A7 quad-core (with a Mali400 GPU?), just what sort of emulation could we expect it is capable of? I'm now wishing I pushed even harder to get one.

Assuming it's legit, you could probably get away with PS1 emulation and some N64 stuff. PSP may be possible, too. This being based off of Android performance from a device with similar specs.