Old Computer Challenge

Solene has announced a new Old Computer Challenge. The challenge is to use a computer with 1 CPU, at the lowest frequency, with no more than 512MB RAM.

I'll try using a raspberry pi 3B+. It has 4 cores, 1GB RAM, and variable frequency from 600 to 1200 MHz. I was able to restrict the RAM, cores, and the frequency using boot options.

The challenge runs from July 10 to July 16. I hope to be able to figure it out by then.

Limiting CPU frequency

On the raspberry pi, you can limit the CPU frequency by changing a setting in the /boot/config.txt file:

#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
#arm_freq=800

to

arm_freq=600

and underclocking the pi.

Limiting RAM

To limit RAM, you can add

mem=512M

to the /boot/cmdline.txt file

Limiting CPU cores

To limit CPU cores add

maxcpus=1

to the /boot/cmdline.txt, but I've tried, and after rebooting, lscpu and top report 1 core. See the `bootparam(7)` man page for more information on the possible boot parameters.

Reports