Ubuntu Running on a Computer with 6.5KHz CPU and 16 MB RAM
Dmitry Grinberg has successfully booted Ubuntu 9.04 on an 8 bit micro machine with 6.5 KHz CPU and 16 MB RAM.
Grinberg did this experiment on a ATmega1284p, 8-bit RISC microcontroller clocked at 24MHz and equipped with 16KB of SRAM and 128KB of flash storage. Since the RAM was too low, he added 30-pin 16MB SIMM to the machine and a 1 GB SD card to host Ubuntu image.
Minimum system requirements for running Linux are considered to be a 32bit system with proper Modern Memory Management Unit (MMU) and 1 MB RAM. The experiment was done to prove that Linux can successfully run on an 8 bit micro.
To get the world's slowest Linux Computer running, he had to write an ARMv5 emulator which supports 32bit processor and MMU.
How fast is it?
How fast is it?
- 2 hours to load Bash command prompt
- 4 more hours to boot Ubuntu
- Then, starting X takes more time
- Once fully running, you can type a command and get back output within a minute
A similar machine can be made very easily and everything should come in about $20. He has also provided full source code and a porting guide here.
via Engadget | Extreme Tech
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