Hacking MIni(-based) KErnel Preview One (aka MIKE p1))

[Jacobeian]

http://www.gc-linux.org/wiki/MINI:KernelPreviewOne

MIKE p1 is the first public preview release of a Linux kernel for the Nintendo Wii video game console that can run under 'mini' (http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Mini), the IOS firmware replacement from Team Twiizers (http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Team_Twiizers).

This release provides at least the same functionality provided by the existing IOS-based kernel, with some limitations and some enhancements.

Here you can find links to some pre-built binary images compatible with whiite-linux based distros (i.e. you can use one of these kernel images instead of the one that came originally with your whiite-linux system). Please, read the whiite-linux article to learn how to setup a barebones whiite-linux system, and the rest of the document to learn how to properly use the kernel images.

Audience

This kernel release is targetted at people interested in Linux on the Nintendo Wii which have already installed Bootmii.

Restrictions:

Latency sensitive applications may suffer

Due to the increase in CPU time wasted doing I/O via mini vs via memory mapped registers, time sensitive applications may behave worst under mini that under IOS.

This will be partially addressed in a future kernel release, but a mini-based kernel by design will suffer from this problem.



Not all available memory is used

The kernel can make use of approximately 11MB more of RAM when running under mini vs when running under IOS. This RAM is still unused on MIKE p1.

This will be addressed in a future kernel release.


OHCI (USB 1.x) may have issues

The OHCI controllers found on the Nintendo Wii video game consoles seem to have hardware bugs. The current OHCI driver adds at least two quirks to workaround the observed incorrect behaviours.

This will be addressed in a future kernel release, as more information gets available.

QUOTE

Enhancements of MIKE p1 when running under mini

* EHCI (USB 2.0) is supported
* Increased I/O bandwidth for SDHC, USB 1.x and USB 2.0

Still a preview with some restrictions but definitively an interesting project

 

[Blue-K]

Great, realy awesome

, especially the USB2.0 Part, and that you can use it with Whiite-based Distros...but I'll wait for a nice other GUI than WhiiteLinux...I'm not that happy with it

.

But I can't wait for a nice, optimized Linux for Wii. Big Step forward, again

!!!

 

[drmarvin]

The question is, has anyone had any luck getting this thing going? I worked on it for about an hour, followed the instructions to a tee, and all I get is crashing when directly booted, and return to bootmii menu when run from the menu. I really want to be able to play with this. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[cwstjdenobs]

Notes when running MIKE p1 under mini
[edit]Root device name changes
The same MIKE p1 binary can run under mini and under IOS. However, if you plan to run MIKE p1 under IOS you need to make sure that the kernel command line is modified to reflect the proper root device, as the name is different in each case:

Environment Root Device
mini /dev/mmcblk0p2
IOS /dev/rvlsda2

[edit]kernel image may be only booted as /bootmii/ppcboot.elf
Due to SD card driver bugs in Bootmii menu it may be impossible to successfully boot MIKE p1 using the SD card browser in Bootmii.

If your card is affected, the kernel won't get loaded and control will be returned to the Bootmii menu. If you have a USBGecko you can see the following error messages coming from Bootmii menu:

ENTRY APPS is a dir!
NEW SD PATH: '/APPS'
ENTRY MINI-L~1 is a dir!
NEW SD PATH: '/APPS/MINI-L~1'
ENTRY BOOT.ELF is a file! Trying to boot..
FILE: /APPS/MINI-L~1/BOOT.ELF
loading 2201273 bytesDMA timeout 00000000
sdmmc: MMC_READ_BLOCK_MULTIPLE failed for card 0 with 60
In this case, the only solution for now may be to copy the kernel image (mikep1-zImage-2.6.30-rc8.mini.*.elf) as /bootmii/ppcboot.elf and let mini launch the kernel directly when the console boots (mini doesn't suffer from the above mentioned SD card bugs).

The problem with this approach is that you cannot have both Bootmii menu and the MIKE p1 kernel on the same SD card at the same time.

 

[Jacobeian]

Also note it does not work with the current MINI provided with BootMi v2, you need to compile MINI (armboot.bin) from its sourcecode in git repository (I still didn't succeed in doing that though

)

 

[drmarvin]

I used the armboot.bin that they provided there (it's supposed to work, but didn't for me). The only thing I haven't tried is the hex editing of the boot options. I just want to play with it so homefully they can make it more generic, especially since the Wii has standardized hardware.

 

[kavid]

good ,very nice.

 

[drmarvin]

Has anyone tried using the compiled armboot.bin instead of the one for download on the site? Does that work better? All I get is a boot error when set to autoboot, and nothing when launched from the menu. Hopefully this gets some real progress. Could also mean that porting XBMC to the Wii may make great strides soon too.

Thanks for all the work.

 

[WiiThoko]

Sorry for the noobish question, but could this possibly have wireless internet support, not just wired (LAN) someday?

 

[drmarvin]

I assume they will try to get all possible hardward functioning. That's pretty much the point. Then they can start to have Linux Embedded apps. Hopefully some new stuff soon.