There's No Lower Spec Linux Machine Than This One

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Sep 22, 2024,
updated Oct 07, 2024

It’s not uncommon for a new distro version to come out, and a grudging admission that maybe a faster laptop is on the cards. Perhaps after seeing this project though, you’ll never again complain about that two-generations-ago 64-bit multi-core behemoth, because [Dimitri Grinberg] — who else! — has succeeded in booting an up-to-date Linux on the real most basic of processors. We’re not talking about 386s, ATmegas, or 6502s, instead he’s gone right back to the beginning. The Intel 4004 was the first commercially available microprocessor back in 1971, and now it can run Linux.

Read on

Update

Also here:

• Slowly booting full Linux on the Intel 4004 for fun, art, and absolutely no profit

  Can you run Linux on the Intel 4004, the first commercially produced microprocessor, released to the world in 1971? Well, Dmitry Grinberg, the genius engineer who got Linux to run on all kinds of incredibly underpowered hardware, sought to answer this very important question. In short, yes, you can run Linux on the 4004, but much as with other extremely limited and barebones chips, you have to get… Creative. Very creative.

Original:

• Linux/4004

  I booted Debian Linux on a 4-bit intel microprocessor from 1971 - the first microprocessor in the world - the 4004. It is not fast, but it is a real Linux kernel with a Debian rootfs on a real board whose only CPU is a real intel 4004 from the 1970s. The video is sped up at variable rates to demonstrate this without boring you. The clock and calendar in the video are accurate. A constant-rate video is linked below.

Ars Technica:

• Linux boots in 4.76 days on the Intel 4004 | Ars Technica

  To make Linux on the 4004 work, Grinberg had to overcome numerous challenges. The 4004 has extremely limited ROM and RAM, no interrupts, and lacks even basic logical operations like AND and OR. Grinberg's emulator makes clever use of lookup tables and other tricks to squeeze maximum performance out of the primitive CPU.

  The final hardware uses the 4004 (overclocked to 790 kHz) along with several other period-correct support chips from Intel's MCS-4 chipset. It includes a VFD display to show Linux output and can accept input over a serial connection. The whole setup draws about 6 W of power.

Tom's Hardware:

• Linux takes 4.76 days to boot on an ancient defective chip maker Intel 4004 CPU — CPU precedes the OS by 20 years

  Programmer and hardware enthusiast Dmitry Grinberg has shared a video in which he boots and runs commands on an defective chip maker Intel 4004-powered PC running Linux. The video demonstrates the excruciating time to do anything or execute the most straightforward commands.

Also here:

• Linux on C64, 8086, & defective chip maker Intel 4004

  With a little work, GNU/Linux can boot on 8 and 4 bit CPUs from the 1970s. Slowly.

And here:

• Hacking wizard gets Linux to run on a 1971 processor, though it takes almost 5 days to boot the kernel

  Here's a question for you: How do you get an operating system that first appeared 33 years ago to run on a processor that's almost two decades older, from 1971? Well, it turns out the answer is to make the ancient chip emulate something that's only 36 years old, strip the software down to its bare essentials, and then just wait almost five days for the kernel to boot.

  While the project itself serves no obvious practical purpose, the work of Dmitry Grinberg (via Ars Technica) deserves genuine admiration. If you're a regular reader of our hardware news, then the name might be familiar—it's the same hacking wizard that created the firmware for a Def Con attendee badge that ultimately got used to run a Doom port.

Fudzilla:

• Bloke gets Linux to run on a 1971 processor

  Dmitry Grinberg has achieved the remarkable feat of running a 33-year-old flavour of Linux on a 1971 processor.

  According to PC Gamer, Grinberg managed to boot the Debian Linux kernel on a 4-bit Intel 4004 processor, the first commercially manufactured microprocessor. With just 2,600 transistors, the 4004 is extremely limited in operations and lacks hardware interrupts.

  To achieve this, Grinberg emulated a MIPS R3000 processor on the 4004, using a custom circuit board and period-correct components.

  In fact, it's far too basic a chip to run Linux and this is where Grinberg got creative. With a RAM target of just 4 kB, he coded up a program to emulate a MIPS R3000 processor on the 4004. That particular chip is from the same era as the original version of Linux so it was a natural choice for the emulation task, though it was far from easy to achieve.

  Despite a five per cent overclock, the 790 kHz clock speed meant the kernel took 4.76 days to boot. This is about as long as my ten year old budget Android phone before I replaced it with this nice new budget Android phone.

Linux Mag:

• Hacker Successfully Runs GNU/Linux on a CPU from the Early ‘70s

  From the office of "Look what I can do," Dmitry Grinberg was able to get GNU/Linux running on a processor that was created in 1971.

Very late coverage:

• Can You Run Linux On An Intel 4004 CPU From 1971? Surprisingly, Yes!

  Linux is a modern operating system that supports all of the latest technologies, but it's also a legacy-friendly system that dates back to 1991. If it's a computer, you can probably run Linux on it, except that, owing to its origins in 1991, Linux technically requires at least a 32-bit CPU and a few megabytes of RAM to boot.

  That's why unhinged hardware-and-software hacking lunatic (which we say in the fondest way possible) Dmitry Grinberg had to use an emulator to get Linux to boot on an Intel 4004 microprocessor from 1971, a full twenty years before Linux itself came into existence. This was the world's first fully-integrated microprocessor, and it was originally designed to allow for more compact electronic calculators. Grinberg says that the chip's roots really show through in its feature set, which has almost none of the functions you would expect from any newer CPU.

And more;

• Someone built a system with Intel’s first CPU that’s half a century old, and it can boot Linux – if you have a spare week to wait

  Wish your PC booted up faster? Well, if you think your computer has a sluggish startup time, how about waiting the best part of a week for the machine to boot? That’s the length of time a Linux PC powered by an ancient Intel CPU will keep you tapping your fingers on the desk.

  Tom’s Hardware flagged up this left-field experiment, undertaken by a programmer, Dmitry Grinberg, who set about using the Intel 4004 to boot up Linux (Debian, to be precise).

  You may be aware that this isn’t just any old processor, but Intel’s very first chip, and indeed the first commercially produced microprocessor in the world, which arrived in 1971. Yes, over half a century ago now, the Intel 4004 appeared in all its 4-bit glory (with its successor being the Intel 8080, later leading to the famous 8086 processor, ushering in the x86 era).

Very late again:

• Linux takes close to five days to load on this ancient CPU from 1971

  Computers have been around for decades, longer than most of us, and there's a big difference between a CPU from 2024 versus one from 2014. Rewind the clock to 1971, and you have the first commercially produced microprocessor - the 4-bit Intel 4004. It is a chip initially developed for a calculator and so far removed from modern computing, so you'd be hard-pressed to find a practical use for it other than as a historical artifact.

Even later:

• Dmitry Grinberg Boots Linux on a Four-Bit Calculator Chip — in Less Than a Week!

  Booting Linux on limited hardware platforms has become a badge of honor among embedded engineers. In some cases, the result is practical. In others, it is an achievement of skill. Dmitry Grinberg's latest project fits the latter category. Linux/4004 is a four-bit computer that boots Linux on a microprocessor designed for desktop calculators in the 1970s.

Over a week late:

• Booting Linux on an Intel 4004 takes patience

  Dmitry Grinberg has booted Debian Linux on a 4-bit intel microprocessor from 1971 – the first microprocessor in the world – the 4004. It is not fast, but it is a real Linux kernel with a Debian rootfs on a real board whose only CPU is a real Intel 4004 from the 1970s.

  Dmitry set a record in 2012 by booting Linux on an 8-bit microcointroller (AVR). Linux (in emulation) on a MOS 6510 was done last year. This is a much older-style 8-bit CPU and thus definitely counts as lower-end than an AVR. So he chose the 4-bit 4004 as his next target.

Also here:

• A Programmer Ran Linux on a 1971 Processor

  Running programs or software on technology not designed for that software has become a surprisingly popular niche community on the internet.

  Perhaps the best example of this retroactive activity is how people are successfully running the popular video game “Doom” on things like calculators, or building computers in the popular children’s game, Minecraft.

Slashdot:

• 2024-09-28 [Older] How I Booted Linux On an Intel 4004 from 1971