Yet another Hacker News

The newest ESP32 can run Linux and it's getting close to a Raspberry Pi

54 points adunk 1 hour ago 12 comments

sidewndr46 1 hour ago | parent

It looks like this latest version has an actual MMU of sorts, so that should make many things possible.

Rohansi 55 minutes ago | parent

By "of sorts" you mean a full RISC-V 32-bit MMU (Sv32).

rbanffy 1 hour ago | parent

With all the capabilities, video and audio output, it might be an excellent platform for software emulation of older devices. There is plenty of GPIO that can be driven by the 40 MHz core while the other two work on nobler things.

iamnothere 23 minutes ago | parent

It is a great platform for this, considering the cost. There have been several decent ESP based emulators already, including many consoles, a ZX Spectrum emulator, and even a 386 emulator.

https://github.com/foky26/Retro-Gamer

https://github.com/EremusOne/ESPectrum

https://github.com/hchunhui/tiny386

New chips like the one in the article should be even more capable. 486 won’t be out of reach for long.

One of the big problems has been handling peripheral emulation, multiple controllers, etc. USB plus the other cores should help with this.

mstaoru 1 hour ago | parent

Ah, the Lord Giveth and the Lord Taketh Away. P4 didn't have enough raw speed for camera applications but had MIPI CSI, S31 has enough raw speed but no CSI.

daemonologist 12 minutes ago | parent

My reaction precisely when I first heard the specs for this thing. Espressif works in mysterious ways.

poisonborz 56 minutes ago | parent

Sorry for the staple "duh AI article" but the product would be interesting, XDA-Devs is an established name, and then reading chapter titles like "Peripherals already change how it looks" is appaling. Like, ok, you pump up the text with AI, but at least proofread that sentences make sense? At least the titles?

hwh 14 minutes ago | parent

The article seems to confuse the MCU and some sort of undisclosed SBC for the MCU. Well, it’s starting to do this in the headline.

fg137 6 minutes ago | parent

That why I don't read the news part of xda-developers. Their staff seem to make a lot of basic technical errors despite what xda-developers is known for.

(Although xda-developers forum isn't exactly a great place for technical discussions either. Not following standard software engineering practice and instead using forum posts to track bugs and announce releases in 2020s is beyond me.)

tdhz77 7 minutes ago | parent

I have esp32’s in every room for tracking down The Who in home automation via home assistant and Bermuda. I soldered some headers for the first time and now I’m making custom pcb boards. I added a fog machine for my halloweeen decorations and I’m just having fun. I could see how a much powerful esp32 could eliminate the dozen have and allow to switch between the outlet and battery.

ThePowerOfFuet 1 minute ago | parent

> I have esp32’s in every room for tracking down The Who in home automation via home assistant and Bermuda.

I'm sorry to be asking this, but what is that supposed to mean?