August 18, 2008
The addition of support for USB keyboards through the IOS keyboard interface has brought Linux on the Wii to a more usable form. This has been available since IOS version 30. A block driver has also been written to use SD cards through the Nintendo Wii front SD card slot. This driver provides fine read/write support and performance when compared to the classic SD card adapter driver.
With the added support for the Power PC arch branch in Linux kernel patches aside from the PPC branch, changes are available through the CVS service. It can be quickly tested on a Nintendo Wii through the released version of 0.2 of the Wii-Linux Proof of Concept.
GNU/Linux on Nintendo GameCube
August 13, 2008
Nintendo’s fourth home video game console, the Nintendo GameCube or the GCN boasts of a hardware system that is the most compact and second-least expensive after Sega’s Dreamcast, among the sixth generation era consoles. It uses the GameCube Game Disc as its medium which was created to prevent unauthorized copying and avoid licensing fees to the DVD consortium.
A port of the Linux operating system kernel and assorted GNU user space utilities are used. Porting Linux to its platform makes sense since it is a computer with a decent RAM and a good CPU. Linux is used in the GameCube Linux Project for several reasons and some of which are to use a GameCube as a thin client, a multimedia terminal or as a tiny Power PC-based server. It can also be used as a runtime environment for homebrew development.
August 11, 2008
Debian can easily be installed and can coexist with an existing OS. In the event that more space is needed, users can simply delete one of the other OSes once the value of Debian is realized. Of course it will take some of the user’s time to try out the Debian like in any other new operating system.
It can be installed from a CD or downloaded over the Internet if good Internet access is available. The Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO can be used to check whether all the devices connected to one’s machine are supported. Debian will run on almost all personal computers, including most older models. Almost all common hardware is supported.
One of the first routers to offer a Coax Mo CA connection that allows it to feed data for set-top boxes is the Actiontec MI424WR Router. It runs a BusyBox distribution of the embedded Linux operating system. Its antenna is removable and a reverse polarity SMA connection is also used.
Backed by Actiontec Electronics Inc., a company based in Silicon Valley, California which is engaged in designing and selling networking and broadband equipments, the MI424WR Router is given to Verizon customers, particularly its FiOS customers. The Verizon FiOS edition is branded in the firmware and on the clamshell and is labeled as revision C or D. Revisions A and B have large squared off clamshell that is not Verizon branded.
