Transmeta TMS5xxx Reverse Engineered

Richard W.M. Jones writes "This fascinating article, published anonymously, dissects the Transmeta TMS5xxx architecture, revealing how to access and modify the code-morphing code, how the instruction set works, and tells why you won't be able to run Linux directly on this chip."

Comments

Not interesting anymore

[AKnightCowboy]

Transmeta had a chance to do something interesting and amazing but it really has turned out to be a huge disappointment. They can't even get their processors into mainstream laptops and the power savings these days is negligible compared to modern day Intel stuff like the Centrino or P4-M. They should've went the route Via is taking and produce low-power, cool running processors in the mini-ITX form factor motherboards. Via's EPIA line is very nice, but they're starting to slip with some of the modern faster versions that have added fans onto the heatsink. Where are the modern fanless low power fast processors?

Re:How long...

[TheRealMindChild]

It ends up being not as beneficial as you first think.

Think about it... who makes motherboards for these things? Only one or two people for one or two products. You cant just make it, say, an ultrasparc and expect all of the peripherals to work... especially with a PC bios.