In an intriguing twist of tech wizardry, the Nintendo Alarmo alarm clock has been modified to run the classic shareware version of Doom. This feat was accomplished by Twitter user GaryOderNichts, who demonstrated the successful conversion in a video uploaded on Twitter earlier this week.
Gary explained in a thread that, although there is no audio capability, the Doom shareware .wad file can be compressed and then expanded on boot to work around the limitations of the USB loader’s memory size. Interestingly, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel to try this yourself — Gary has generously made the necessary project files available on GitHub.
So, how was this hack possible? Gary elaborates in a comprehensive blog post that the project began with opening up the Alarmo to study its internal components. This particular device employs an STM32H730ZBI6 Arm Cortex-M7 processor, which is a well-documented setup. This technical advantage allowed Gary to cleverly hack the Alarmo and link it to his Raspberry Pi.
Although some initial soldering and adjustments were needed to get the exploit up and running, the version of the project now on GitHub eliminates the need for any physical modifications to the Alarmo. This means that running Doom from a USB on this quirky alarm clock is simpler than ever.
When it comes to controlling Doom on the Nintendo Alarmo, the setup cleverly uses the existing interface controls. The control mechanism involves two buttons and a touch-sensitive dial, capable of both being pressed and swiped. In this modified version of Doom, players navigate left and right through swiping, while the notification button on the lower right handles shooting. The video displayed online focuses on just a snippet of Doom’s early levels, leaving other control features either unexplored or unused.
Despite being an unusual choice for Doom, the Nintendo Alarmo’s transformation isn’t the first instance of Doom appearing where you’d least expect it. We’ve witnessed Doom’s adaptability before — from a high-tech smart lawnmower and the Raspberry Pi Pico RP2350 microcontroller to an air hockey table. There’s even an addon for the classic Commodore 64 to enable it to play Doom.
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