Miscellaneous Operating Systems/Hardware

Does the Dreamcast really need an introduction? It is second only to my beloved Intellivision as my favourite console. I have a US version with a Broadband Adaptor, keyboard, mouse, controllers with VMU and rumble pack, and an SD card reader. It is otherwise unmodified, but it runs PowerShell, Utopia and IP Upload Slave from disc. (For some reason my Mac OS 9 MDD is the only system here that can reliably burn the necessary offset audio track.)

There is a NetBSD/dreamcast which is current, but the quality of the LiveCDs that are floating around is questionable insofar as you really need NFS to do just about anything. Even if you set up the RAM disk version, there's not a lot you can do with it out of the box unless you (surprise) extend the filesystem with NFS. I would ordinarily use NetBSD here, but that kind of sucks. (I'm waiting for miod to protest. If there is a Live CD of NetBSD/DC that sets up a union filesystem or something, I'd be delighted to hear about it.)

A couple months ago I ran across a partially complete file dump for Dreamcast Linux. This is appallingly ancient, a 2.4.5 kernel version circa 2001. However, this seems to be all that's out there; I have a zImage for a 2.6.11 kernel but it doesn't seem to be bootable (and I can't seem to extract the vmlinux binary out of it to try it with IP Upload Slave). So after I fixed the symlinks and adjusted a few things, I burnt it and booted the DC up and ... well, it's very nice. I've got a decent selection of tools (including Perl), I've got an old but functional SuperH toolchain which compiles to RAM disk but I now have it setup for NFS, I could configure NFS swap with a bit of gyration and hacking on the BBA media speed, and it even includes XMame and PrBoom because it is, after all, a console. There's even a minimal implementation of X.

I've been spending some time updating it with a new zlib, new zoneinfo tables and it's working on NTP since hwclock doesn't like the Dreamcast RTC.

What I'd really like is a new kernel. Anyone else out there played with Linux on SH systems? linux-sh.org seems to have gone to the Wayback Machine in the sky, and their backups don't have a lot of info or even any kernel binaries. I suppose I might have to set up a cross-compiler to make a new kernel since Dreamcast building over NFS using a union RAM disk-GDROM root is incredibly slow.

ClassicHasClass wrote: I'm waiting for miod to protest

Oh, come on. Now I have to contribute something to this thread

ClassicHasClass wrote: There is a NetBSD/dreamcast which is current, but the quality of the LiveCDs that are floating around is questionable insofar as you really need NFS to do just about anything. Even if you set up the RAM disk version, there's not a lot you can do with it out of the box unless you (surprise) extend the filesystem with NFS. I would ordinarily use NetBSD here, but that kind of sucks.

Well I'm not even sure these can be called LiveCD. They are just boot media, which can also (more or less) help you setup a NetBSD/dreamcast system as a diskless system. I am not aware of anyone working on a real, usable, LiveCD for NetBSD/dreamcast.

ClassicHasClass wrote: What I'd really like is a new kernel. Anyone else out there played with Linux on SH systems? linux-sh.org seems to have gone to the Wayback Machine in the sky, and their backups don't have a lot of info or even any kernel binaries.

I can't comment on that, but I'm not sure there is much interest in anything on SuperH in the free software world those days, given the state of the GNU toolchain (especially the compiler, which is plagued by subtle SuperH-specific optimization bugs).

This is a bit sad, as the SH4 is a nice critter (with FPU, unlike the SH3). Too bad SH5 got eventually cancelled

Yes, I like the SH-4 quite a lot. Unfortunately with the demise of the Dreamcast, SuperH is doomed to becoming another boutique low-volume RISC. I would be very surprised if it's even used regularly in the embedded market anymore, what with all the other choices (MIPS, Power, ARM of course, ...).

I'm relieved (and disappointed) to hear there isn't a NetBSD/DC live CD in the strictest sense, though I can't imagine why not. Overlaying the RAM disk on top of the GD-ROM filesystem seems like a no-brainer unless you know some reason why this might not be as "simple" or straightforward as it sounds like it should be.

The idea is to do a bit more polishing on it and then put ISOs and .tar.gzs onto the Gopher server for people to play with so it has a semi-reliable repository.

I've got sh4 harp(bigsur) cpci board,but no software for it, WinCE supports it Compiled few linux kernels just to see it wont work. Almost all linux/superh pages are no longer active.
Finally I've ended up with QNX which was not so bad - at least it works.

QNX, interesting. I bet QNX doesn't support any of the DC hardware though.

Classic, what a collection!

I might have to dig up my dc for old times sake.

I've got a Treamcast too. (The clone with the built-in display that Sega made them pull off the market. I like the form factor, but the BBA won't attach to the side slot without modification.)

Interesting. How much would a setup complete enough to run Linux / NetBSD / whatever cost?

The whole idea with DC Linux is that it should work on a regular factory DC with a keyboard. Cursorily, I see Dreamcasts of varying condition on eBay for anywhere from $20 to $50, and the keyboard another $30-$40. That will boot the Linux or the minimal NetBSD install.

The expense is the networking. The Broadband Adapter was never cheap even when it was sold, and currently they go for around $200. I'm not aware of any distro that supports the modem.

Ah, I see. Without networking it ain't no fun.