But can your calculator run Linux? - Raymii.org
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But can your calculator run Linux?
Published: 01-08-2026 20:08 | Author: Remy van Elst | Text only version of this article
Table of Contents
HP Prime G2
Bow for me for I am root
Hardware specs for a calculator!?
Hardware specs for other calculators
HP Prime G2 Linux
Instructions for running Linux on the HP Prime G2
HP Prime G1 Linux
Windows?!
One of my all time favorite calculators is the HP 16C. It is an RPN calculator aimed at<br>computer programmers with support for hex, binary, octal and decimal and all<br>sorts of useful operations like bit shifting, masking and rotations. I don't<br>own one myself, I have a Swiss Micro's DM16L, a high quality modern day<br>remake with improvements like a 2 line display. There is a limited run<br>collectors edition of the HP 16C coming soon though.<br>But none of those calculators run Linux.
This one can:
xcalc on an actual calculator
Screenshot of the console and partial fbv image viewer
Of course it runs Doom
My all time favorite, the HP-16C
Below are at least a thousand words covering the HP Prime G2 and other<br>graphical calculators capable of running Linux. You can skip that if you just want to read about my updated Linux port for the Prime<br>G2.
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HP Prime G2
The HP Prime is a graphing<br>calculator on the market since 2013, with a hardware revision in 2018 (the G2<br>model). It has a touch screen and as far as I can find, most people<br>are happy with it<br>and find it a very capable<br>and fast calculator. Here are some<br>pictures of the opened up calculator and here is a website with some more<br>downloads.
I'm not really interested in the calculator part. For most calculations<br>I do for my day job, embedded programming, the HP-16C is a better fit. I was<br>interested in this device because I found posts online suggesting it could<br>run Linux and even a Windows 10 port.
Bow for me for I am root
I do have a history running Linux on older HP devices<br>and I do like to have full privilege on all devices I own. Back then I<br>wrote:
I have a rule that I try to adhere to for devices I own. They must allow a<br>means of root or administrative actions. The Nintendo Switch I got second<br>hand is old enough to be jailbroken. The two Apple devices I own (a first<br>gen iPad Air and first-gen iPhone SE) have vulnerabilities that give me<br>root access. All Android phones I owned I've specifically bought because<br>the bootloader can be unlocked. Once I buy a device, it is mine and I<br>decide what to do with it. Not the manufacturer. Otherwise it is e-waste<br>the moment it leaves the factory.
Being able to develop software on a device is almost a must have as well for<br>me. Missing functionality, otherwise known as stuff the manufacturer does<br>not make (enough) money on, can be programmed back in as long as you can<br>develop on a device and are willing to put in enough time and/or money.
Now with a calculator that isn't a huge issue since I don't see them as<br>general purpose computing devices. Although Texas Instruments did later on<br>removed and restricted features that their device shipped with initially,<br>namely running assembly code on your calculator<br>and Numworks also locked down their calculators. That all has to do with<br>cheating and exam mode, so I do understand that part. If your device is not<br>allowed on official exams / tests, it won't be used or sell well. On the HP<br>Prime there never was assembly (only a custom basic like language called PPL) so they<br>can't take that away. There is a quote from an HP employee stating:
"It is not locked down and is just used for verification at this time. Note<br>however, we DO have the ability to fully encrypt and lock the system to<br>hell as that is part of the new chip. We DO have that tested and working.<br>We WILL turn it on if needed. It IS a corporate security mandate<br>(after things like firmware being loaded into mice/keyboard or printers to<br>hack networks came to light) that we fought to get an exemption<br>for. Nobody dick around with exam mode. "
Hardware specs for a calculator!?
The Prime G2 is comically overpowered for a calculator if you ask me. It has<br>an i.MX 6 Ultralite ARM Cortex A7 CPU, 256 MB DDR3 RAM and 512 MB of<br>internal storage. I mean come on! It's closer to a small embedded Linux<br>machine with a calculator keyboard attached than to a traditional<br>calculator.
The G1, the previous hardware revision already had a 400MHz ARM CPU with 32MB<br>ram, but the G2 is like an Android phone of a few years back.
The coffee machine hardware I work on at my day job has an i.MX6 module with<br>comparable specifications. And that runs dedicated C++ and Qt applications on<br>top of Yocto. The HP Prime G2 runs on FreeRTOS<br>and the G1 runs on a custom RTOS named Besta OS.
I'm still shocked by the specifications, for a...