We’re made use of to functioning Linux on CPUs wherever it belongs, and the consensus is that RP2040 just isn’t up for the task – no memory controller, and nowhere in close proximity to sufficient RAM, to boot. At the very least, which is what you could feel until you see [tvlad1234]’s Linux-on-RP2040 project, reminding us there’s more than just one way to boot Linux on a CPU like this! Just like with the “Linux on AVR” challenge in 2012 that emulated an ARM processor, the pico-rv32ima project emulates a RISC-V core – trying to keep up with the periods.
In the beginning, the aforementioned “Linux on AVR by way of ARM” task was picked as a foundation – then, a newer improvement, [cnlohr]’s RISC-V emulator, offered itself and was far too good to go up on. Deficiency of RAM was totally negated by including an SD card into the equation – coupled with a little caching layer, this is a vital element for the project’s not-so-secret sauce. A good sum of debugging and optimization later on, [tvlad1234] bought Linux to operate, accomplishing boot times in 10-15 minutes’ ballpark – considering the emulation layer’s existence, this is no indicate feat.
At this level, the boot method stalls as you enter a login shell. If Linux on RP2040 is within your region of curiosity, experience free to pick up the exertion from here, as the venture is completely open up-resource – you only will need a Pi Pico board and a throwaway SD card! Now, if pairing a RP2040 with some vintage software package is your definition of an night nicely-spent, you simply cannot go wrong with DOOM! Nonetheless, if you’d alternatively play with anything else *nix-like, we have witnessed another person port Fuzix onto the RP2040 before.
