Linux for the Sega MegaDrive

github.com

93 points by HardwareLust 17 hours ago


https://hackaday.com/2026/06/29/its-linux-on-a-sega-megadriv...

sp8 - 13 minutes ago

I have such fond memories of my time back in the day owning a MegaDrive. It wasn't my first or last games console, but it was my formative one. It was a time in my life when I was into video games (Sonic 2 being the only game I ever played to completion). It pleases me to realise there's still a community around the MegaDrive and - as others has said - this is so crazy but wonderful to see!

HerbManic - 2 hours ago

Very cool to see, so pointless it just had to be done.

I was wondering how it was squeezed into 64KB of RAM but it uses the 4MB on the Everdrive cart. With that it makes sense, considering Linux can run on an N64 with 4MB of RAM.

walrus01 - an hour ago

If this runs on a megadrive (Genesis), would this also boot on a Sega Nomad, the portable version of a genesis?

aussieguy1234 - 2 hours ago

It runs Doom, now it runs Linux

bitwize - 3 hours ago

Absolutely nuts and squirrels.

Then again, I did know that the Mega Drive's CPU loadout (68000 and Z80) is the same as the first Unix machine I ever used (a TRS-80 Model 16), so running some form of Unix on it was therefore, theoretically, possible...

HardwareLust - 17 hours ago

Original title: It’s Linux, On A Sega Megadrive