Hacking DSTwux - Linux on the DSTwo

[asiekierka]

Dear SuperCard,

We are contacting you because we are huge fans of your products, and in particular the SuperCard DSTWO flashcart.

We'd love to port over the Linux Kernel, along with a few applications to it, but unfortunately we've found that we are severely limited by the current state of the DSTWO SDK.

Linux for the DSTWO would open up new possibilities: emulators, applications, office software, internet, programming - essentially anything anyone would need.
Given the opportunity to begin porting over, we would take it, but first we require additional information on the DSTWO and how it interfaces with the DS, because at present we cannot use the current development resources available to us to write the required drivers. Good documentation or access to the complete SDK sources would certainly help in making Linux work on the DSTWO flashcart.

As far as we know, many (if not all) users of the device would appreciate it.

Yours faithfully,
Adrian "asiekierka" Siekierka
Alex "Antoligy" Wilson
Luke "mercluke" Mercuri
Nick "nupanick" Lamicela

This is an email we sent to SuperCard a few days ago. Since then, there was no reply. That's why we're asking for a more direct way of contact. I know there are many Chinese users on here that may have some kind of contact with the team.

 

[Sausage Head]

the best way to contact them is to post in chinese on the chinese forums.

 

[RoMee]

ask costello to forward the message

 

[Frederica Bernkastel]

I just want to add that the scope for linux running on the DSTWO is almost limitless (beyond the obvious lack of a UI).


EDIT:

ask costello to forward the message

We've asked, he's no longer in contact with them.

 

[RoMee]

We've asked, he's no longer in contact with them.

dang, than sucks

you can try and PM the mod on the Chinese forum, that seems to be the best way now that costello is no longer in contact with them

 

[asiekierka]

We've asked, he's no longer in contact with them.

dang, than sucks

you can try and PM the mod on the Chinese forum, that seems to be the best way now that costello is no longer in contact with them


We emailed them and they didn't care. We also reposted it in English on the official forums, though.

QUOTE

the best way to contact them is to post in chinese on the chinese forums.

Before I learn Chinese the DSTWO will get majorly obsolete!

 

[Sausage Head]

i'm not saying you should learn chinese, but maybe you can use google translator for it. like they do to us?

 

[Terminator02]

lol

but it's probably true, i've seen them reply to people in chinese on their english forums, i doubt they can actually speak it

 

[The Catboy]

I wish this would help, but often times I don't think the Supercard team is willing to do anything. It seems like as soon as they do something, they hope that another team would pick up where they left off, but they never give enough for people to help

 

[nl255]

It would probably be easier to modify the iSmart SDK (which is apparently more open) to work with the DSTwo. That would require quite a bit of reverse engineering to find out what exactly is different, besides a more powerful CPU though.

 

[Buleste]

It would probably be easier to modify the iSmart SDK (which is apparently more open) to work with the DSTwo. That would require quite a bit of reverse engineering to find out what exactly is different, besides a more powerful CPU though.

Unfortunately the iSmart MM SDK is not publicly available so that's not possible.

 

[The Catboy]

Why not have everyone on GBAtemp email them? They can't ignore that.

 

[opp354]

Not really know if this help, but I translate to the chinese as follow:

???SUPERCARD,
??????????????????fans????SuperCard DSTWO flashcart?

??????Linux Kernel???????????DSTWO??????????????????????DSTWO SDK????????

Linux ???DSTWO ??????????????????????????? - ?????????

???????????????????????????DSTWO???????????DS???????????????????????????????????????????SDK????????Linux?DSTWO ????

??????????????????????

??,
Adrian "asiekierka" Siekierka
Alex "Antoligy" Wilson
Luke "mercluke" Mercuri
Nick "nupanick" Lamicela


The message may be wrong in some part though.

 

[Mbmax]

You should join the iSmartLinux project instead asiekierka.

 

[Thesolcity]

Not really know if this help, but I translate to the chinese as follow:

???SUPERCARD,
??????????????????fans????SuperCard DSTWO flashcart?

??????Linux Kernel???????????DSTWO??????????????????????DSTWO SDK????????

Linux ???DSTWO ??????????????????????????? - ?????????

???????????????????????????DSTWO???????????DS???????????????????????????????????????????SDK????????Linux?DSTWO ????

??????????????????????

??,
Adrian "asiekierka" Siekierka
Alex "Antoligy" Wilson
Luke "mercluke" Mercuri
Nick "nupanick" Lamicela


The message may be wrong in some part though.

To Rosetta Stone...AWAAAAYYYYY.

 

[Recorderdude]

Not really know if this help, but I translate to the chinese as follow:

???SUPERCARD,
??????????????????fans????SuperCard DSTWO flashcart?

??????Linux Kernel???????????DSTWO??????????????????????DSTWO SDK????????

Linux ???DSTWO ??????????????????????????? - ?????????

???????????????????????????DSTWO???????????DS???????????????????????????????????????????SDK????????Linux?DSTWO ????

??????????????????????

??,
Adrian "asiekierka" Siekierka
Alex "Antoligy" Wilson
Luke "mercluke" Mercuri
Nick "nupanick" Lamicela


The message may be wrong in some part though.

Is that actually translated by you or did you just put it through google translator? If you did it yourself then it would probably be more accurate than google, and it would be very helpful!

I have a PSP now so I don't need emulators/apps on my DSTWO anymore (unless someone codes a working Virtual Boy one or something), but there's no reason why people who paid for the flashcart shouldn't get their money's worth, so I support you guys trying to get SC team to do something.

 

[asiekierka]

You should join the iSmartLinux project instead asiekierka.

No. I do not have an iSmart, many more people own a DSTwo and i dont want to port Dingux but Linux 2.4, complete with all necessary libs, maybe a package manager and possibly a GUI.

Btw i'll look at the chinese translation tomorrow

 

[The Catboy]

You should join the iSmartLinux project instead asiekierka.

No. I do not have an iSmart, many more people own a DSTwo and i dont want to port Dingux but Linux 2.4, complete with all necessary libs, maybe a package manager and possibly a GUI.

Btw i'll look at the chinese translation tomorrow

Again, throwing this out there. If you want something, why don't we just have more people email them. There will be no way they can ignore us then.

 

[Buleste]

You should join the iSmartLinux project instead asiekierka.

No. I do not have an iSmart, many more people own a DSTwo and i dont want to port Dingux but Linux 2.4, complete with all necessary libs, maybe a package manager and possibly a GUI.

Btw i'll look at the chinese translation tomorrow

Again, throwing this out there. If you want something, why don't we just have more people email them. There will be no way they can ignore us then.

Why not create a post in the Supercard SDK section asking everyone who wants to be able to port Linux onto the SCDS2 to add their name to a petition, let it run for a week or so and then email the petition to the SCTeam.

 

[Warrior522]

You should join the iSmartLinux project instead asiekierka.

No. I do not have an iSmart, many more people own a DSTwo and i dont want to port Dingux but Linux 2.4, complete with all necessary libs, maybe a package manager and possibly a GUI.

Forgive my ignorance, but how exactly will this be useful? It's not like it will be powerful enough to run any programs... right?