Working around dragons with the Lemote Yeeloong laptop and OpenBSD
The article discusses installing and running OpenBSD on a Lemote Yeeloong laptop, a MIPS-based system using a Loongson processor. It covers the challenges of working with the device's limited hardware and open-source firmware, detailing workarounds for graphics, networking, and power management to achieve a functional Unix-like environment.
Background
- The Lemote Yeeloong is a MIPS-based netbook from the late 2000s, built around the Chinese Loongson (formerly "Godson") processor. Because it uses a different instruction set (MIPS) rather than x86, it can't run mainstream software without special ports, but it also avoids many common x86-targeted exploits.
- Loongson CPUs were designed at the Chinese Academy of Sciences to reduce dependence on Western chip makers. They gained attention in open-source circles but never achieved broad commercial success.
- OpenBSD is a security-focused, free Unix-like OS known for portability to obscure hardware. Supporting the Yeeloong meant writing low-level drivers and boot code for a niche, non-x86 platform.
- "Working around dragons" plays on the processor's original name (Godson) and refers to the technical workarounds needed to keep an old, underpowered, poorly documented machine running with modern software.