Updated
Updated · Hackaday · Aug 23
AROS Boots Bare-Metal on Raspberry Pi in 32-Bit and 64-Bit Versions
Updated
Updated · Hackaday · Aug 23

AROS Boots Bare-Metal on Raspberry Pi in 32-Bit and 64-Bit Versions

2 articles · Updated · Hackaday · Aug 23

Summary

  • AROS has been ported to run directly on Raspberry Pi hardware, giving the Amiga-derived operating system native 32-bit and 64-bit ARM builds instead of relying on Linux virtualization.
  • The bare-metal move is meant to keep the Amiga ecosystem hardware-agnostic while adding another ultralight Pi OS, with boot times the report says can rival RiscOS.
  • Pi 3 is the current target, and developers describe the port as an early work in progress; forum discussions already mention possible expansion to Pi 4 and Zero 2 W support.
  • AROS already spans x86, PPC, 68k and even RISC-V, but its ARM software library still trails x86 because only some applications have been recompiled so far.

Insights

Can a five-second boot time and ultra-lightweight design make this 30-year-old Amiga paradigm relevant for modern Raspberry Pi tinkerers?
Why painstakingly port a retro OS to bare-metal ARM when modern Linux emulation already runs classic software flawlessly?