You read the headline correctly, Linux can now actually be installed on the Nintendo Switch making it an even more interesting device.
The NVIDIA Tegra SoC used inside the Switch has a rather interesting bug, one that doesn't seem like it can be patched away allowing for any Linux enthusiast to load up Linux directly on their Switch. All current Switch units are vulnerable to the exploit, so Nintendo would need a new version of the Switch to stop this.
See for yourself below:
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Direct Link
Direct Link
Interested to learn more about it? There's a post on fail0verflow with more in-depth details. You can also find code and stuff on GitHub.
Fascinating stuff really, as an owner of a Switch it's not exactly something I will be doing (my son would never forgive me), but it's very cool to see nonetheless.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
Well, this is all very nice.
It's not really an exploit, though. The bootloader is "just" accessible, if I get this right (though discovering it was probably quite hard, It might even have been left here on purpose, who knows?)
This just allows you to boot from an external media, say an SD card. As long as you don't tamper with the internal storage, everything should be fine.
I would refrain a bit from using it right now, though: you can easily fry stuff if the kernel asks for the wrong voltages, etc... But it shouldn't be too risky, and I would give it a few months before it's 99.995% safe.
Regarding games and stuff you can run: of course, most open source software should run right away (no word on its usability, though). 0AD, SuperTux*, OpenMW and other engine reimplementations, *DOOM, various emulators, sc-controller.
Touching on that last point (sc-controller is python), visual novels on Steam are typically python, IIRC, so these should work without a hitch as well. The same can be said about those languages targeting an architecture-independent virtual machine: Java (minecraft), asm.js/Webasm games (there are some on humble bundle, among which Dustforce, Osmos, FTL...)
Now, on x86{,_64} software, you could always use QEMU, and I would be surprised if some QEMU wrappers for popular games didn't surface sooner than later.
The selling point is probably emulators, though. From NES to DOS and later, everything should run pretty much flawlessly. I hear some Wii U titles run pretty well as well? I am waiting for the day we'll have a switch emulator running on the switch itself, though :P
Many thanks to nVidia for their continued open source support on the Tegra platform!
It's not really an exploit, though. The bootloader is "just" accessible, if I get this right (though discovering it was probably quite hard, It might even have been left here on purpose, who knows?)
QuoteFascinating stuff really, as an owner of a Switch it's not exactly something I will be doing (my son would never forgive me), but it's very cool to see nonetheless.
This just allows you to boot from an external media, say an SD card. As long as you don't tamper with the internal storage, everything should be fine.
I would refrain a bit from using it right now, though: you can easily fry stuff if the kernel asks for the wrong voltages, etc... But it shouldn't be too risky, and I would give it a few months before it's 99.995% safe.
Regarding games and stuff you can run: of course, most open source software should run right away (no word on its usability, though). 0AD, SuperTux*, OpenMW and other engine reimplementations, *DOOM, various emulators, sc-controller.
Touching on that last point (sc-controller is python), visual novels on Steam are typically python, IIRC, so these should work without a hitch as well. The same can be said about those languages targeting an architecture-independent virtual machine: Java (minecraft), asm.js/Webasm games (there are some on humble bundle, among which Dustforce, Osmos, FTL...)
Now, on x86{,_64} software, you could always use QEMU, and I would be surprised if some QEMU wrappers for popular games didn't surface sooner than later.
The selling point is probably emulators, though. From NES to DOS and later, everything should run pretty much flawlessly. I hear some Wii U titles run pretty well as well? I am waiting for the day we'll have a switch emulator running on the switch itself, though :P
Many thanks to nVidia for their continued open source support on the Tegra platform!
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: musojon74... no steam client ...
Steam Link uses Linux on ARM so it maybe that can be made to run. It falls well short of the full Steam client of course, and doesn't have any native games.
0 Likes
TheLinuxPleb Apr 29, 2018
Quoting: GuestWhat is a serious gamer? Someone that just wants to make easy money or someone who actually cares about games and gaming?Quoting: ShmerlIt's just a Tegra tablet with some Nintendo DRM mess attached. So once DRM is broken, Linux should be runnable :)Can we stop all this talk of DRM on just about every topic that's posted? (not pointing the finger, I mean in general)
Scrolling down through the posts only to see DRM being talked about instead of the actual headline, is getting...well, a bit boring and disappointing.
Serious gamer's are not all that bothered about DRM anyway, it's all about playing and enjoying the game, so it's pointless bringing it up all the time.
There is a forum for that kind of topic.
I think that the latter is actually bothered about DRM.
4 Likes, Who?
Quoting: GuestLook, i agree that DRM pretty much has nothing to do with this article but DRM is an issue worth discussing. It isn't pointless when the DRM obstructs you from playing the game properly which you rightfully bought. I don't know what you're getting at with this "serious gamer" idea you've made. If anything, being more serious about games means you would care more about the issues that plague the industry.Quoting: ShmerlIt's just a Tegra tablet with some Nintendo DRM mess attached. So once DRM is broken, Linux should be runnable :)Can we stop all this talk of DRM on just about every topic that's posted? (not pointing the finger, I mean in general)
Scrolling down through the posts only to see DRM being talked about instead of the actual headline, is getting...well, a bit boring and disappointing.
Serious gamer's are not all that bothered about DRM anyway, it's all about playing and enjoying the game, so it's pointless bringing it up all the time.
There is a forum for that kind of topic.
3 Likes, Who?
Quoting: Guestgetting...well, a bit boring and disappointing.
It's pretty much on topic. You can't run Linux on Switch, without breaking the DRM there first, which folks from fail0verflow did quite successfully to enable this. That's a good thing if you missed the point.
Last edited by Shmerl on 29 April 2018 at 8:32 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
slaapliedje Apr 30, 2018
Quoting: ShmerlQuoting: Guestgetting...well, a bit boring and disappointing.
It's pretty much on topic. You can't run Linux on Switch, without breaking the DRM there first, which folks from fail0verflow did quite successfully to enable this. That's a good thing if you missed the point.
Is this DRM though? Basically this is simply connecting two pins where the Joy-Con connects, which allows for a different firmware to be loaded. It's a hardware feature of Tegra X1 to give access to the recovery in case it's been bricked.
It's the equivalent of unlocking the boot loader on an Android phone. DRM being Digital Rights Management, I don't think the acronym really applies here.
I do agree with you that DRM is a terrible thing though. Just not sure if the definition here fits.
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: GuestIronically, you would appear to have gotten the conversation about DRM going rather than stopping it. I would suggest partly because you couldn't resist the crack about serious gamers. The lesson is, if you're supposedly trying to stop an argument, don't take a position in the argument as part of your intervention.Quoting: ShmerlIt's just a Tegra tablet with some Nintendo DRM mess attached. So once DRM is broken, Linux should be runnable :)Can we stop all this talk of DRM on just about every topic that's posted? (not pointing the finger, I mean in general)
Scrolling down through the posts only to see DRM being talked about instead of the actual headline, is getting...well, a bit boring and disappointing.
Serious gamer's are not all that bothered about DRM anyway, it's all about playing and enjoying the game, so it's pointless bringing it up all the time.
There is a forum for that kind of topic.
Although since nobody was actually talking about DRM until you said this, another lesson is "If you're already ahead, 'quit while you're ahead' means 'quit before you start'".
4 Likes, Who?
Quoting: slaapliedjeIs this DRM though?
According to mobile operators it is. They also used to lock devices that prevented users from switching to competing networks. You can argue it's not DRM, but they actually threatened those who tried to break that with anti-circumvention. That's why DRM has nothing to do with rights. It's quite proper to call it Digital Restrictions Management, it's exactly what it's used for - to restrict the user.
In case of Switch and most incumbent consoles - they have tons of such restrictions.
Last edited by Shmerl on 30 April 2018 at 4:54 am UTC
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: ShmerlQuoting: slaapliedjeIs this DRM though?
According to mobile operators it is. They also used to lock devices that prevented users from switching to competing networks. You can argue it's not DRM, but they actually threatened those who tried to break that with anti-circumvention. That's why DRM has nothing to do with rights. It's quite proper to call it Digital Restrictions Management, it's exactly what it's used for - to restrict the user.
In case of Switch and most incumbent consoles - they have tons of such restrictions.
I just want to point to others that R in DRM technically stands for Rights, but yeah. Wasn't that kind of thing ruled illegal, at least in Europe? Or what is the driving force behind virtually every phone manufacturer providing a way to unlock the bootloader? (which usually deletes the encryption keys used for DRM from the device, couldn't they do something similar with the switch?).
0 Likes
Does the dock work with Linux?
0 Likes
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me