pearpi

PearPI is a modified version of an older emulator called PearPC, which lets a computer pretend to be an old PowerPC based machine so it can run classic PowerPC software. This project takes that original emulator and adapts it specifically to run well on a Raspberry Pi 5 single board computer, using the Debian Trixie operating system and the LabWC window manager, and it specifically fixes compatibility with a newer kernel memory setting called 16 kilobyte pages, which the original code did not expect.

The changes made in this port focus mainly on getting old code to work correctly on modern ARM based hardware. The project updated detection scripts so the build system recognizes 64 bit ARM processors properly, changed how the program figures out memory page sizes so it asks the operating system directly instead of assuming an outdated fixed value, reorganized how certain build tools generate their code so the project builds cleanly with current compiler versions, and fixed some internal links to other code libraries so they connect over secure HTTPS instead of an older insecure method.

There are two ways to get PearPI running. The easier path is downloading a ready made installer package built for the Raspberry Pi 5 and installing it with a standard Debian package command, then installing any missing supporting software. The other path is building it from source yourself, which involves installing several development tools, downloading the project's code along with its related sub projects, and then compiling it using CMake. Either way, running an emulated PowerPC machine requires writing a small configuration file that sets things like screen resolution, how much memory the emulated machine has, and whether virtual storage, network, or USB devices are enabled.

Because PearPI displays its emulated screen using the X11 windowing system, it needs a display to draw to, either a normal graphical session or a headless virtual one for testing. The project is written in C++, licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2, and currently has 1 star on GitHub, intended for people who want to run old PowerPC based software or operating systems on modern Raspberry Pi hardware.