[HN Gopher] ELKS: Linux for 16-bit Intel Processors
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ELKS: Linux for 16-bit Intel Processors
Author : emersonrsantos
Score : 66 points
Date : 2025-01-04 19:23 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| marcodiego wrote:
| What would be really interesting: porting DOSEMU 1.4.0 to it.
| This would give us a maintained unix-like OS combined with a huge
| abandonware dos library turning those old machines into something
| fun and maybe useful.
| devit wrote:
| That makes no sense, since DOSEMU is based on virtual 8086
| mode, which requires a 80386, while ELKS is for 8086-286 CPUs.
|
| You can just run MS-DOS or FreeDOS directly on those machines,
| that's what the machines were made for.
| duskwuff wrote:
| Computers which use 16-bit Intel processors (80286 or earlier)
| are quite rare nowadays - most of them are 30-40 years old, and
| are more valuable to collectors than newer and more capable
| hardware would be. If you want something "useful", this isn't
| where you'd find it.
| forinti wrote:
| Wait, "ROM-based systems"? Were there such x86 micros and is this
| saying you could run Linux from ROM?
|
| That's super interesting.
| retrac wrote:
| The 8086 and 8088 etc. were relatively popular for embedded
| devices. For example some early 90s Apple printers used an
| 80186 as the controller. Such designs were often incompatible
| with the IBM PC; 8086 doesn't necessarily mean PC compatible.
| snerbles wrote:
| The Tandy 1000 SL/2 I grew up with had DOS 3.3 in ROM, mounted
| on D:\
| EvanAnderson wrote:
| I've never seen a fully ROM-based PC, but I have worked with
| ISA NE2000 NICs with boot ROMs that allowed them to diskless
| boot into a DOS-based Novell NetWare client. It wouldn't
| surprise me if there were ROM-based local boot environments on
| ISA cards.
|
| The Cisco PIX firewall, in it's original incarnation, booted
| from non-volatile memory (I don't know if it was EEPROM or
| flash) an ISA card.
| kjs3 wrote:
| Fully ROM/Flash PC-ish systems are/were pretty common in the
| embedded and industrial control space. Usually the boards
| emulate one or more floppy drives. I've got a half dozen
| variations, including PROM, Flash and battery backed SRAM.
| Even one with bubble memory, which is pretty nifty.
|
| The first-gen PIX you mention had an 8M or 16M ISA flash card
| it booted from, containing the whole OS.
|
| The Novell netboot is called "RPL".
| gattilorenz wrote:
| The DiskOnChip was a somewhat popular solution (think of
| thinclients), often running stripped down versions of Linux in
| the early 00s.
|
| Here you can see it on an external board:
| https://www.os2museum.com/wp/diskonchip/
|
| I have a few thinclients with a socket directly on the
| mainboard for a DOC
| Dwedit wrote:
| Some of the Tandy 1000 computers (such as the HX) had MS-DOS
| 2.11 in ROM. So it's not unheard of for an IBM-Compatible PC to
| have an operating system in ROM.
|
| Also the "Macintosh Classic" had System 6.0.3 in ROM as well,
| but you had to use a keyboard shortcut to boot from there. It
| did not run normally.
| nijave wrote:
| Lots of embedded systems like routers run read only although
| maybe they're not technically ROM. Usually they mount the root
| filesystems read only and create some small ram disk/tempfs for
| logs. Persistent settings go to a small NVRAM area
|
| The root filesystem is only written to when you flash a new OS
| image
| sillywalk wrote:
| My first computer was a 286 PS/1 model 2011, with PC-DOS and a
| graphical shell in ROM.
|
| Interestingly, somebody has made an emulator for it.
|
| https://barotto.github.io/IBMulator/
| fidotron wrote:
| Less obvious than some of the embedded things:
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Portfolio
|
| x86 (and licensed derivatives) were a thing in more custom
| handhelds like the Psion Series 3, and games systems like the
| Wonderswan. The variants made by NEC alone were:
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEC_V20#Variants_and_success...
| indymike wrote:
| Yes, there were many - including the original IBM PC which
| would could boot to BASIC loaded from ROM. Some more
| sophisticated machines included:
|
| - Many Tandy PC compatibles could boot from ROM to their
| DeskMate GUI - HP, GRiD, Zenith and others had laptops that had
| DOS and in some cases Windows in ROM.
|
| - IBM's PS/1 line could boot from ROM - Many GEOS devices
| booted from ROM into a GUI, and often could boot to DOS from
| ROM too.
| jvanderbot wrote:
| They mention "SBC"s. Is this something that is intended also for
| modern 16bit SBCs?
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(page generated 2025-01-04 23:00 UTC)