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Kernel, Shell Boots on DS Linux

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the pokemon-and-penguins dept.

mrseigen writes "According to dslinux.org, the Linux kernel successfully boots on the Nintendo DS along with a simple shell, sash. Input is done via the d-pad. How long until Netstumbler?" While maybe not the most practical platform, it's impressive on its technical merit.

3 of 230 comments (clear)

  1. Not practical? by lostchicken · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah, a portable device with a lot of battery power, wireless, two screens and a touchscreen input running a general purpose operating system that's relatively inexpensive and that many of us already have couldn't possibly be practical...

    I'd never want my GameBoy to replace my palmpilot...

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    -twb
    1. Re:Not practical? by Zigg · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And, of course, DS homebrew is possible in any number of ways:

      1. With a "PassMe" device -- a card that slides into the DS slot and instructs the DS to execute DS code from the GBA slot. Requires a piggybacked game card, which Nintendo helpfully provides with most DS units.
      2. With "WifiMe" -- a downloadable-from-the-main-menu jump to the GBA slot. You're tied to a PC, but you don't need any hardware besides -- again -- a GBA card.
      3. With a firmware update created by homebrewers that replaces the DS's ability to run GBA games with a new ability to run DS-mode code from the GBA slot.

      Honestly, CowboyNeal... how can this not be practical? Is it just not as cool as playing JavaScript tetris -- tethered to a PC, mind you, and requiring the use of one particular game -- on a PSP?

  2. Why not Kismet? by shakezula · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It'd make more sense to wonder about Kismet. Netstumbler is a Win32 app, no Linux port to speak of, and it's not open source.

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    I know what you're thinking. Did I forward 65,535 packets or 65,536 packets?