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Linux On Your Dreamcast

Posted by Hemos on from the i've-seen-it dept.

A reader writes: "Looking for a low-cost way to get started with embedded Linux? Or a fun weekend project? In this detailed how-to article at LinuxDevices.com, Bill Gatliff explains everything you need to do to install Linux on a Sega Dreamscast gaming console. Even the necessary Linux kernel, bootloader, and utility kernel patches are included and available for download. Nuffa those mindless video games ... it's time to become an embedded Linux hacker ;)" First time I saw this was in Japan with VA Japan folks -- very cool watching it boot.

40 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Bah, Been done by gazbo · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm putting Windows 3.11 on my Dreamcast

    1. Re:Bah, Been done by Organic_Info · · Score: 2, Funny

      I can see the endless applications for a Dreamcast with Win3.11 on ... door stop, paper weight, I'm sure the list is endless ; )

      Never underestimate the power of stupidity.

      --
      "Things that you own end up owning you" - Tyler Durden (via Diogenes of Sinope).
  2. Linux inside by (trb001) · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah, it's impressive, but I'm waiting for the ultimate hack...linux embedded in a person. Finally make that 'Linux inside' tattoo worth getting...

    --trb

  3. DreamCast - Poor mans webserver by jfried · · Score: 4, Funny

    Buy a few dreamcast install linux and apache and you have a cheap webserver farm.
    Mix that with an NFS mount and a DataBase Server and you could run slashdot off it.

    I wonder how well a dreamcast rack mounts?

  4. Old news by reynaert · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's nice to see the portability of Linux demonstrated. And you can use it to really freak out some non-Linux people.

    But has this any practical use? A TV screen isn't any good to display text. It isn't useful for developing games either. The Dreamcast community has created tools that are far better suited for that.

    Really, it's a nice hack. But it's been on slashdot before (Dreamcast runs Linux, X-Windows on Dreamcast).

    1. Re:Old news by reynaert · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I hear this everytime somebody ports $FREE_OS to $CONSOLE.

      Has anybody actually written such a system? I'm sure there exists lots of MP3 libraries. But has anybody actually bothered to write an user interface for such thing? Like download the ISO, burn it and you're ready to go?

      That's worth being on Slashdot.

    2. Re:Old news by Junta · · Score: 2

      Of course, at the current state of developer it wouldn't be a very good mp3 player, seeing as how it lacks support for the audio device...

      But once they do, it will be cool. I wonder if avifile, smpeg, and/or mplayer would work on this thing. Avi support would be rather crippled, but this would be a good, cheap set-top box... I wonder how fast the dreamcast is in a practical sense. At 200 MHz with an unaccelerated framebuffer, I imagine it is quite painful...

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    3. Re:Old news by Jace+of+Fuse! · · Score: 4, Informative

      A TV screen isn't any good to display text.

      It's not terrible, actually, but it isn't great, either.

      Hardly important, though, considering the Dreamcast can be plugged into a VGA monitor.

      With a Keybaord, a Mouse, and a couple of Gamepads, the Broadband adapter, and a VGA box, the only thing the Dreamcast was missing to take over as a cheap Internet gaming machine was some kind of Hard Drive with a self booting OS. The ZIP drive that was slated for it would have provided just that, but horrid Dreamcast sales put an end to all that.

      So instead we get to see the Playstation 2 attempt to take that market, and if you ask me, the Playstation 2 isn't really a much better console and it costs much more than the Dreamcast. (I could go on and on about why the PS2 is a major disappointment but most people reading won't care, and those who do are fanatical Sony Fanboys who will flame me... so blah)

      For shame.

      --

      "Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"

      Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
    4. Re:Old news by molli123 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I sure think this can be useful. Think of the masses of people beeing too poor to buy a whole computer- as in the Non Developed Countries. This box is cheaper than any computer could be. They could also maintain it themselves- without paying for licenses to MS. And if it is simple, it could also be used by older people not willing to learn how to use a computer anymore. I think we need cheap and simple computers, thats why I think it could be usable. Micha !

    5. Re:Old news by Glytch · · Score: 2

      So instead we get to see the Playstation 2 attempt to take that market, and if you ask me, the Playstation 2 isn't really a much better console and it costs much more than the Dreamcast.

      Not much better? With built-in USB so you can plug in any old cheap USB keyboard and mouse? And the best controller in console gaming history? And DVD movie playback? I guess you're right, it's not much better than the Dreamcast with proprietary, expensive keyboards and mice, and it's awful, wretchedly designed controller, and lack of DVD support.

      Jesus fucking christ, do people expect the PS2 to do their taxes for them? It's graphics are pretty. It's games are fun. Just relax and enjoy. Prices will drop soon enough.

      And before anyone gets bent out of shape, I have a Dreamcast. I like it. It's games are also fun. But I utterly hate the fucking controller. If I knew more about electronics I'd solder together some kind of adaptor for my PS dual shock controllers.

      (End rant)

    6. Re:Old news by Jace+of+Fuse! · · Score: 2

      And the best controller in console gaming history

      Totally subjective. I still consider the Saturn's NiGHTS controller the best controller in history.

      And DVD movie playback?

      Poor DVD playback. My Laptop makes a better DVD player.

      awful, wretchedly designed controller

      Again, subjective. I happen to love the Dreamcast controller. I don't I dislike the Playstation controller, mind you. But again, it's functionally not much better, though perhaps a quite a more ergonomic for some people (not me...)

      It's games are fun.

      Oh? I've seen few PS2 titles out yet that I've really been interested in. So far for me the PS2 is nothing more than an expensive Playstation 1 emulator. Not that I'm complaining too much about that, but it is sort of a shame that the best reasons to own a Playstation 2 are all Playstation 1 games.

      And before anyone gets bent out of shape

      I don't get bent out of shape on such things. I'm something of a realist so I stay level headed when discussing these things. Plus, I'm really a gaming whore. It's all good, and while I happen to find great merit in the PS2, I find it to be a great shame that Sony has displaced so much of Sega and Nintendo's market seeing as how they have little show in the way of first party efforts (though Grand Turismo is the lone exception.)

      If I knew more about electronics I'd solder together some kind of adaptor for my PS dual shock controllers.

      Perhaps you would be interested in either a Bleempad or Bleempod. The pad of course is a pad for the dreamcast modeled after the Playstation's. The Bleempod is a straight adapter. Unfortunately, they seem rather hard to come by.

      I repeat, though, that controller preferences are subjective. I find that the Playstation controller is a wee bit too small for my hands, and the Dreamcast's just seems to fit better for me (as does the N64's) but I would no more force that opinion on anybody than I would force them to wear my shoes. Everyone's hands are different. I know of many controllers that I love that many people hate, including most of Microsoft's Sidewinder game pads. I personally consider the Sidewinders top-notch, esspecially teh Sindwinder Gamepad Pro. But that's subjective. Totally subjective.

      --

      "Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"

      Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
    7. Re:Old news by Glytch · · Score: 2

      Well, I suppose I have smallish hands and I like lots of buttons, so the gazillion-buttons-squished-together design of the dual shock is good for me.

      Thanks for pointing out the Bleem stuff. I'm going to try to track some of them down. Either one would be perfect. The Bleempad actually looks a lot like a third-party PS controller I've got called the "Dual Impact" from Performance. It's actually pretty well-made for third-party stuff.

  5. Been Running NetBSD on Mine For a while by doon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Netbsd> Has had a dreamcast port for a while now. It runs great. Have been running it at home for a while. FYI....

    -Doon

    --
    To E-mail me, replace the first period in my domain with an @
    1. Re:Been Running NetBSD on Mine For a while by mvw · · Score: 2
      *BSD is collapsing in complete disarray, as further exemplified by failing dead last [sysadminmag.com] in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.

      You left out that they tested the systems in out-of-the-box configurations.

      This result might be of use for occasional users who don't touch the knobs, but has nothing to do with administered environments, where settings are adapted to the local necessities.
      It would be interesting to compare these results, with boxes that were tweaked by gurus and by average admins.

      Not that I expected a serious posting from you. :)

  6. Re:Why this is cool. by reynaert · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you want to develop software for the Dreamcast, use KOS, which is a free development system, much better suited to the task than Linux. Similar systems exist for almost every proprietary platform (I know of a C compiler for the gameboy...)

    Porting from the PC to console will never be easy anyway. Consider input methods. Most PC games use the mouse, with a lot of keyboard shortcuts. That won't work on a console.
    Many PC games also assume a specific display resulotion. If the Dreamcast has less, you've got problems. (And the resolution of a TV ain't great.)

  7. One Useful App by barnaclebarnes · · Score: 4, Interesting

    MAME.

    Dreamcast+MAME =A cheap arcade emulator with 2000 games. sweet.

    --
    [Please type your sig here.]
    1. Re:One Useful App by Jace+of+Fuse! · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually...

      Many emulators already exist in a self booting stand alone form for the Dreamcast.

      One could say that the Dreamcast does not need Linux at all, but that somewhat defeats the whole "Doing it for the sake of doing it" spirit.

      Still, This Site is dedicated to Dreamcast specific emulators.

      --

      "Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"

      Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
    2. Re:One Useful App by fmackay · · Score: 2, Informative

      No need to run DC-Linux + MAME, though, when there's a dreamcast port of mame by the guy who ported it to digital cameras a while back

    3. Re:One Useful App by weslocke · · Score: 2

      One problem you have with Mame is the fact that the ROMs take so much space. (My collection alone is over 7 CDs, and a friend's is larger than that)

      Anyone know of the feasability of using this with the broadband adapter to hook into your network and pull ROMs from another machine? (just map the shares and let it rip)

      Heck, for that matter how about being able to run an MP3 server like this by doing the same thing?

      And when you add in the VCD player that's already available for the Dreamcast. All we need is a DIVX player and we're set.

      (Now I wonder if all this would actually work?)

      :^)

      --

      'Life is like a spoonful of Drain-O, it feels good on the way down but leaves you feeling hollow inside'
  8. Re:Ethernet driver? by Junta · · Score: 2

    Actually, the BBA is quite supported, and the article says as much.

    --
    XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  9. Re:Why this is cool. by weslocke · · Score: 2

    All I know is that if someone could stick Heroes of Might & Magic 3 on the thing, I'm there.

    (Not only could I feed my addiction in the computer room, I could feed it in the living room too! Woo-hoo!)

    --

    'Life is like a spoonful of Drain-O, it feels good on the way down but leaves you feeling hollow inside'
  10. Re:Why this is cool. by Accipiter · · Score: 2

    and maybe 10 dollars in RD...

    WOW! So 5 developers receive a salary of two dollars for their trouble?

    Recheck your facts there, chief. A lot more than five people go into the making of a game.

    --

    -- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
    (If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't. :P)

  11. Re:Why this is cool. by DaveHowe · · Score: 2

    The odds of it costing only $3 for the entire production run materials doesn't make sense - so neither does your comment.
    Only if you consider it to be $3+$10 per copy sold does the comment make sense - and at that I would consider the material cost fairly high. I have seen prices of a few cents per copy for a large "pressed" CD run, and I doubt the box and little booklet would be that expensive.

    --
    -=DaveHowe=-
  12. -Running NetBSD on ... by _Mustang · · Score: 2

    Sounds like that could be the real use of this type of project. Rather than spend $200+ on one of those firewall/router devices (such as those from Linksys) just buy a Dreamcast at the $49 firesale price and then run a real operating system on it. It would make for a superior device that can be admin/maintained and updated as necessary..

  13. DC has VGA 640x480 support as well + other modes by cybrthng · · Score: 4, Interesting

    DC has a VGA adaptor for 20 bucks that works great, defaults to 640x480 but i've read from dev sites that it goes higher.

    I have my DC connected to a flatpanel monitor i picked up from ebay and love it.

  14. Dreamcast is only 79 bucks and 49.00 by christmas by cybrthng · · Score: 2

    Can't get much better than that.

    GDROM
    24 Megs Ram
    6+ mill polys a second
    Great Sound
    4 controllers, with support for Mouse & Keyboard
    Rare Broadband adaptor
    Built in modem
    New webbrowser with modern features.

    dot dot dot (for those who listen to stern)

  15. Why exclude x86? by twitter · · Score: 2
    What's needed to really explore Linux as an embedded operating system is a well-documented, inexpensive and readily available hardware platform that isn't based on an Intel x86-compatible microprocessor.

    I'm not sure why you would want to exclude x86 stuff. There's tons of older do-it-all mother boards lying around for next to nothing. Some of them have low enough power requirments, but all of them use hardware that you already own. While it's nice to see so much work going on outside x86, I'd never ignore x86.

    I'm waiting for systems like Agenda to get cheaper and less NDA burdened.

    --

    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.

    1. Re:Why exclude x86? by bgat · · Score: 2

      The reason I exclude x86 for embedded Linux experimentation is because so much stuff Just Works for x86, you can't often tell if the thing boots because you did something right, or because you got lucky.

      If you are running a non-x86 setup, you have to have everything properly configured before anything useful happens. That's important when, in your "day job", you'll be running Linux on a custom SH-4 board, ARM, or whatever. From this perspective, being in command of an x86 system can be a false sense of security.

      b.g.

      --
      b.g.
  16. Stealing comments isn't cool! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    What the ...? Parent is an almost direct copy of an old comment made by "Kagato" to an old article! (The title of the comment is "Re:And the benefit of this would be?")

  17. The Gaming Chips... by Duncan+Cragg · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Can someone tell me what special gaming
    chips there are inside the DC, and whether
    drivers exist for them?

  18. Maybe not a good thing by SilentChris · · Score: 2

    Just in retrospect, maybe all this Dreamcast hacking wasn't such a good thing. I mean, these companies make money off software license sales, and often lose money on the hardware. Didn't our (infinitely small, but still there) part in hacking the machine and help assist the driving of Dreamcast into the ground. Sort of like a parasite: we fed on it and we accidentally killed the host, now that they aren't making the system anymore.

    1. Re:Maybe not a good thing by SilentChris · · Score: 2

      You're completely missing the point. You can abandon business models much more easier: don't contribute to them. But we, instead, have destroyed the basis of something we enjoyed by not contributing. You can't hack a machine and then wonder why the company isn't supporting it anymore because you didn't purchase the software. It's sort of unethical.

    2. Re:Maybe not a good thing by BillGodfrey · · Score: 2

      If companies priced the hardware so that they could turn a profit on it, it would rival the price of a personal computer and lots of people wouldn't bother.

      But they want a profit somewhere along the line, and so the consumer pays somewhere. If console makers charged a fair price for the hardware, they could get thier sweaty little mits off the software market.

      Developers would not have to go cap in hand to the hardware people for permission to sell a game, they would just do it.

      What scope is there for a group of spare time programmers to produce a console game? None, independent programmers who just want to make a simple little game and sell it for ten quid would not produce enough revenue for Sony/Sega/whatever, and the last thing they want is something actually creative. It may draw attention away from thier latest whizz-bang yet-another-template game.

  19. I just put Linux in my toaster by ravic · · Score: 2, Funny

    Man, it was great. I put the entire CD in there and it booted in about 3 minutes (with the config set to "medium". Amazing.

    --
    Dont eat yellow snow
  20. CD Images by Puk · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you're as lazy as me, you can get a DC Linux CD image from dcemulation on their DC Linux page. They also link to an image for Padus DiscJuggler on the news page, but I won't link that here.

    Note that I am also so lazy that I haven't downloaded said image, or even gotten around to fixing my broken dreamcast. :)

    -Puk

  21. Realize Linux/Dreamcast's true purpose by mrossbrown · · Score: 3, Informative
    It's nice to see the portability of Linux demonstrated. And you can use it to really freak out some non-Linux people.
    For starters, read the article before posting ... but I know that's asking a bit too much from this crowd.

    But has this any practical use? ...The Dreamcast community has created tools that are far better suited ...
    The Linux/Dreamcast port (in my vision at least) is designed for embedded Linux hacking, not to turn the DC into a powerful PC-like workstation. It has 16 megs of system RAM, more than enough to run most Linux apps as is anyway.

    When Karl Kalleberg and myself started the port at LinuxDC (yes, not the same as the originial .jp port, for reasons I won't go into, but we're all friends now :P), the idea was to provide an embedded Linux system as an alternative for the hobbyist Dreamcast developers instead of the plucky toolkits (libdream, KOS, etc.) that were available. LinuxDC is *designed* to go as close to the metal as possible.

    I'm still doing DC kernel hacking, check out the Task Manager on the SF project page for info on what's currently being worked on.

    Really, it's a nice hack.
    I wouldn't expect you to understand, as you obviously are inhibited from reading in some sort of way, but anyway, the port of Linux to the SuperH processor (to which the LinuxDC port belongs) is very real. Just browse your latest mainline kernel tree in the arch/sh/ directory for code relating the the DC and other SuperH boards.

    If there are true kernel hackers, people interested in porting apps, testers, or people who are serious about tinkering with embedded Linux development feel free to stop by linuxdc.org. The developers are usually on #linuxdc on irc.openprojects.net.

    Have fun, and thanks goes to Bill for the well-written article :P.

    M. R.

  22. Re:How VA Japan says it: by BitwizeGHC · · Score: 2

    I think that's how Scooby-Doo says it.

    --
    N4st0r, trixx0r h0bb1tz0rz! Th3y st0l3 0ur pr3c10uzz!
  23. Some info ..., by EGSonikku · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ive seen a lot of questions asked about the Dreamcast, plus a few inaccuracies posted, so here is my sad little attempt to inform :)

    Some people are too lazy to follow the link to see the Dreamcasts tech specs, so here is the condensed version:

    Hitachi SH4 @ 200MHz
    8MB NEC PowerVR2 Gfx
    2MB Yamaha Audio
    12x GD/CD Drive
    16MB System RAM
    56k Modem Included (US Model)

    Also there is some confusion as to pricing. In the US the Dreamcast's MSRP is $79.95 and many stores are selling for less than that to clear out remaining stock.

    As for Input, the Dreamcast has 4 controller ports and a Keyboard and Mouse are available through standard game outlets. So you couild have Keyboard, mouse, and even a gamepad plugged in (xmame ;p) with room to spare.

    As for burning (and people having trouble doing so). Burning a bootable DC CDR can be tricky, any mistake WILL result in a coaster. There are several good dreamcast burning guides around at sites like http://www.boob.co.uk and http://mc.pp.se/dc/

    Also despite rumors to the contrary, there are NO US or European Dreamcast's that won't boot CDR's. Sega only released 2 units in Japan ( The Sakura Tisen LE DC and the Hello Kitty DC) that won't boot CDR's. They had originaly wanted to do the same for the US, but Sega stopped production of the Dreamcast before this could be implemented.

    Other than linux, there is also a Dremcast port of NetBSD (and indeed, this port seems to be more active than the linux port). Details @ http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/dreamcast/ .

    Dan Potter has also made a homebrew Dreamcast/GBA Operating System / development library called KallistiOs (KOS) which is completly open source and well documented, which can be found at http://dcdev.allusion.net.

    Hope this is usefull to someone !

    --
    - "Scientia non habet inimicum nisp ignorantem"
  24. Re:Just make sure it's an OLD dreamcast... by jgerman · · Score: 2

    Can anyone verify this though. Or at least explain where to find the manufacturing date on a DC?

    --
    I'm the big fish in the big pond bitch.
  25. Re:Just make sure it's an OLD dreamcast... by jgerman · · Score: 2

    Hmmm I took a chance and bought a used one last night, I didn't see a manufactured on on the unit. The girl at the store knew that the information was in the bar code but didn't know how to read it. I've seen on a couple of sites that the whole not reading CDR things was a rumor, soemthing that was never implemented in the US. Mine works, I'll check over it again to make see when it was made. Is it possible that you made a coaster the first time burning a disc for your original DC?

    --
    I'm the big fish in the big pond bitch.