Hardware Enthusiast Successfully Runs “GTA: Vice City” on TP-Link Router

In a groundbreaking achievement for hardware enthusiasts, KittenLabs has recently accomplished the feat of running the iconic game “GTA: Vice City” on a TP-Link router. The TP-Link TL-WDR4900 router, originally released in 2013, boasts an NXP/Freescale QorIQ P1014 processor, essentially a PowerPC e500v2 32-bit processor, and includes a robust PCIe controller.

Facing the challenge of the router’s lack of PCIe external capabilities! the innovative enthusiast devised a solution by designing a PCB to lead out the Mini PCIe interface. Through this modification, they successfully integrated an AMD Radeon HD 7470 graphics card, operating at PCIe 2.0 speed, into the router’s setup.

Encountering limitations with the OpenWRT operating system is commonly found in routers! the enthusiast opted to install a specialized version of the Debian operating system tailored for PowerPC e500/e500v2 processors! known as PowerPCSPEPort architecture.

Initial attempts using a modern AMD GPU driver with an AMD Radeon RX 570 graphics card resulted in screen distortion issues. Subsequently, the enthusiast switched to the older “Radeon” driver and opted for the AMD Radeon HD 7470 graphics card, which proved to be a more compatible choice.

To enable the PowerPC-based router to effectively run “GTA: Vice City,” KittenLabs utilized reVC! an open-source reverse-engineered version of the game. However, the project faced a significant setback as the game encountered glitches! particularly concerning non-player characters (NPCs), stalling progress for months.

With perseverance and collaboration! including assistance from the author of reVC Online’s Wii U port (noteworthy as the Wii U also employs a PowerPC architecture processor)! the hardware enthusiast persisted in resolving graphics corruption issues.

Ultimately, by incorporating elements of the Mesa 3D graphics library and updating dependencies for the router’s Linux system! the game was successfully rendered with GPU acceleration, marking a significant breakthrough. However, the precise resolution of the graphics corruption issue remains somewhat elusive to the player.

The achievement showcases the ingenuity and determination of the hardware enthusiast community! pushing the boundaries of what is possible with unconventional hardware configurations and software adaptations.

Source: Tom’s Hardware