A tiny RISC-V emulator boots Linux and Doom
Summary
CNLohr recreates a simple RISC-V processor without an MMU and boots uClinux and Doom on it. The project is publicly available on GitHub. The emulated processor has no MMU.
Ideas
- The emulator implements a small RISC-V instruction set.
- No-MMU Linux works without virtual memory addressing.
- BusyBox provides a compact userland.
Insights
- Linux does not strictly need an MMU, but without one it loses protective functions.
- A game tests graphics, input and runtime more comprehensively than a boot prompt.
Facts
- The emulated processor has no MMU.
Recommendations
- Start emulator development with small instruction tests.
- Compare register states after every failed program.
References
Links to the original source and the Web Archive open in a new tab.