Craziest/most "exotic" devices able to run Linux?

LainOfTheWired , 9 months ago

Didn’t they get at least the kernel running on a Nintendo 64

Zangoose , 9 months ago

Not sure about a Nintendo 64 but I’ve definitely seen it on the switch and 3ds

zabi94 , 9 months ago

A business card

Evil_Shrubbery , 9 months ago

Idk, needs more e-waste :(

pastermil , 9 months ago

Tell that to Samsung!

Evil_Shrubbery , 9 months ago

I would tell the government to tell Samsung, but they aren’t as big (and/or they ‘like’ Samsung more).

user224 , 9 months ago

Nothing too crazy, bus information table running Linux Mint:
https://i.imgur.com/EmNolXA.jpg

Some of them (run) Windows. You can identify those based on:
:::spoiler error

<span style="color:#323232;">--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</span><span style="color:#323232;">|                               Unhandled exception               |    X   |          |
</span><span style="color:#323232;">--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</span><span style="color:#323232;">|                                                                                     |
</span><span style="color:#323232;">|  An unhandled exception occured in TFT_LCD.exe                                      |
</span><span style="color:#323232;">|                                                                                     |
</span><span style="color:#323232;">|  Exception = System.AccessViolationException                                        |
</span><span style="color:#323232;">|                                                                                     |
</span><span style="color:#323232;">|  Messagr = Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often               |
</span><span style="color:#323232;">|  an indication that other memory is corrupt.                                        |
</span><span style="color:#323232;">|                                                                                     |
</span><span style="color:#323232;">|  FullText = System.AccessViolationException: Attempted to read or write             |
</span><span style="color:#323232;">|  protected memory.  This is often an indication that other memeory is               |
</span><span style="color:#323232;">|  corrupt.                                                                           |
</span><span style="color:#323232;">|  at                                                                                 |
</span><span style="color:#323232;">|  ...                                                                                |
</span>

:::

lukas , 9 months ago

Windows ones are fun. I especially love it when the McDonald’s terminal bug checks, and safe boots into a desktop. Or when the train station terminal app crashes, and an employee restarts the app remotely. Or that time when someone hacked into terminals at a particular train station, and played porn. Some people weren’t amused.

Otherwise_Direction7 , 9 months ago

There is actually a way to run Debian on Lego Mindstorms toy robot kit using ev3dev

Tho I never owned one of these kit, it still pretty cool looking

AI_toothbrush , 9 months ago

Actually the os on it by default is also a bare bones linux installation. Another lego brick thats really cool is the rcx which was released in 1998 and someone ported the jvm to it.

TimeWalker , 9 months ago

Linux can be run on an Nintendo 64. Mainline Kernel support has been added in v5.12

refurbishedrefurbisher , 9 months ago

I tried it a few years ago and it kernel panics due to lack of RAM with the expansion card.

AI_toothbrush , 9 months ago

The nintendo 64 was basically a computer(thats why it was so easy to emulate) but thats still cool.

MonkderZweite , 9 months ago

Did anyone manage to hack a CD/DVD drive to run Linux on it?

sorrybookbroke , 9 months ago

The leapfrog leappad used to run linux. People were able to hack them in order to run full on operating systems, by rooting their children’s learning toy

yukichigai , 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago)

You still can. Not only that, you can install emulators and Retroarch, the thing is capable of running consoles up through PS1 games, though the button mapping for most games is a bit awkward.

Also !sbcgaming if you're into that sort of thing.

Eavolution , 9 months ago

I loved that thing as a kid, I'd completely forgotten about it!'.

Drito , 9 months ago

The PS3 is not crazy, but has an exotic hardware that optionnally runs Linux.

sounddrill , 9 months ago

Not as impressive but I got a oneplus one that:

1. Runs lineageOS 20, thanks to UL and someone on xda
2. Runs kernel 6.3 with postmarketOS, thanks to a whole bunch of people working on the kernel

solidgrue , 9 months ago

Does a MicroVAX count?

It was the late 90s. We booted it on whatever we could.

601error , 9 months ago

Definitely counts.

yukichigai , 9 months ago

The Sega Dreamcast. Live CD distributions of Linux were really taking off around then, so some enterprising sorts decided to see if they could get Linux running on the Dreamcast. They partially succeeded, though accessing some of the hardware was... dicey. That said, the Dreamcast had a native keyboard adapter and they managed to get support for that going pretty quickly.

Unfortunately the project kind of stagnated, but you can read up on more of it on the sourceforge project page.

Rai , 9 months ago

Dreamcast emulation was a huge hobby of mine! I can’t believe it worked so well.

digger , 9 months ago

I assembled a HeaterMeter for my Kamado style charcoal grill/smoker… It’s built on top of OpenWRT.

BCsven , 9 months ago

Not crazy or exotic, but the Wii runs linux with a DE. Not very performant, but a neat thing to install and tryout.

gnuhaut , 9 months ago

Read an article some years back about someone installing Linux on a hard drive.

Not on a computer with a hard drive. On the embedded ARM core inside the hard drive. One of them anyways, I think this particular hard drive had three CPUs inside it actually.

GreenMario , 9 months ago

The scale at my job that prints labels for price per pound stuff when it boots shows Linux boot stuff.

Once installed Linux on my iPod 5G. Honestly wasn’t worth it cuz it cut battery time in half and only added a couple extra codecs it could play. Doom was strange on the scroll wheel.