Running Doom On An Apple Lightning To HDMI Adapter – Hackaday

As a general rule of thumb, anything that has some kind of display output and a processor more beefy than an early 90s budget PC can run Doom just fine. As [John] AKA [Nyan Satan] demonstrates in a recent video, this includes running the original Doom on an Apple Lightning to HDMI Adapter. These adapters were required after Apple moved to Lightning from the old 30-pin connector which had dedicated pins for HDMI output.As the USB 2.0 link used with Lightning does not have the bandwidth for 1080p HDMI, compression was used, requiring a pretty beefy processor in the adapter. Some enterprising people at the time took a hacksaw to one of these adapters to see what’s inside them and figure out the cause of the visual artifacts. Inside is a 400 MHz ARM SoC made by Samsung lovingly named the S5L8747. The 256 MB of RAM is mounted on top of the package, supporting the RAM disk that the firmware is loaded into.Although designed to only run the Apple-blessed firmware, these adapters are susceptible to the same Checkm8 bootROM exploit, which enables the running of custom code. [John] adapted this exploit to target this adapter, allowing this PoC Doom session to be started. As the link with the connected PC (or Mac) is simply USB 2.0, this presumably means that sending keyboard input and the like is also possible, though the details are somewhat scarce on this aspect.Wow. Sometimes I wonder if we’re taking this a little far. Then I am reminded, we must keep going.Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they should, they didn’t stop to think if they could…I’m so depressed that a first person killing simulator made it into hearts and minds of geeks. Again and again!
There was a time when tiny chess engines had been implemented for weak computers, by smart and cultured individuals.
What says that about the people of past 30 years or the past generation(s) ?
If those people were good by nature then why would they possibly ever feel a need to perform simulated cruelty ?
I mean, this isn’t even about abstracted violence like playing Asteroids or Space Invaders anymore but very graphical.
Players “enjoy” doing cruel things, otherwise they’d be disgusted, right ?Yeah, chess – were you send your pawns into futile battle to be murdered by the dozen(?) just to protect a king where both sides are identical except for the color(!).Oh wait – it’s a strategy game? Well, lets play some sessions of CS1.6 …If games like CS or Doom are played by humans who enjoy “cruelty” than chess players are racist.Hmm….That’s a very weak and lame response, I think. And a very old one, too.
Because unless it’s Battle Chess, then there’s no violence involved.
And even here, it’s intended to be more the comedic/monty python type (esp. the knight reference).It’s just strategy, like checkers or card games. It’s being played slowly, with concentration and self-reflection.
Chess players don’t imagine slaughtery when they play, it’s not much more violent than Tetris.
The chess pieces are rather symbols, with specific attributes.“Well, lets play some sessions of CS1.6”
I did actually, under pressure of school mates many moons ago.
I still have bad memories of playing it and I’ve felt no joy doing all those things.
I rather felt dirty and guilty for doing so things, even if they were just virtual.The only reason I’ve played it with them was to make them happy,
though it had a bitter aftertaste seeing their faces so full of hate and enjoyment doing what would be war crimes in real life.Also, in reverse they didn’t care about me being happy, too. They didn’t care.
Otherwise they must have noticed that I wasn’t swearing or hammering into the keyboard like them.
How could they have cared, if the game was about not having empathy in first place.
Playing it numbs down all senses for being sensitive, it turns people into primates.Playing CS was like a window back into dark human history,
when clans of prehistoric people tried to slaughter each others with sticks and stones.I’ve also played Wolf 3D before, which was equally bloody as Doom.
And boring. At least to me. There wasn’t even level randomization or something.
It was very flat, there were no mental challenges, no passwords to crack, no intelligence work whatsoever.
Just violence without a plan. What does this say about a whole generation ? I mean, seriously, what does it say ? 😟I want to reply to Joshua but there is no reply option.
@Joshua I think you did forget about Chess in the Harry Potter books :)@Joshua – then you didn’t think about it long enough, (I think)… (and I think I’ve never heard of the “racist” part).Let’s imagine a person person with an ever “thinner skin” / more sensitive than you (may not be the right term(s); English isn’t my 1st language; no offense) – Maybe Mother Teresa.
Do you think it’s possible for such a person to exist who sees a game like chess – no matter the degree of abstraction – as two armies fighting each other to the death?
Lets transform chess into an interactive 3D game where when one piece “kills” another it is visualized in a brutal cut-scene with stabbings, beheadings and whatnot.
At what point does chess become too brutal?Does playing AoE2 cause you the same mental anguish(?) as CS/etc?I’ve played a lot of both and am pretty I sure I can safely state:
CS/AoE2 players don’t imagine slaughtery when they play, either.
They are competitive games – not much more. When I run through de_dust I don’t “imagine” any slaughtering/killing/murdering – It’s a dynamic team operation about who uses which “tools” (weapons, grenades) where to “eliminate” the other team’s members.
Same as in chess… or AoE2 or Command & Conquer (even C&C Renegade which ‘was’ a 3D shooter basically).
The chess pieces are rather symbols, with specific attributes.
The other “ragdolls” / player character are rather symbols with …. just with different presentation.What if both teams were robots or aliens instead? It would probably make a difference for some people but not for most.If one can abstract the murdering in chess away – why can the same not apply for more realistic games?I can’t reply to the whole rest of your reply but let me say this: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=meta+studies+shooter+games+influence+violenceHow one reacts to loosing in chess or ego shooters is highly dependent on the individual.Personally it seems to me that compared to you I’ve got a much less emotional interaction(?) with games.Three stories relating to some of the points you made from your perspective:A) LAN party with friends (probably birthday) in the early 2000’s. Playing CS on AWP_MAP – for many rounds in a row I “killed” the same player on the other team. Yes, he was definitely angry, swearing and whatnot but I never saw this as aggression against me – more against my streak of luck / his misfortune of coming into my sights (if either one of use had at any point randomly decided to leave cover on some other side we’d’ve probably encountered a different player).
I don’t think I was noticeably better at that game but similar stuff happened on other occasionsB) similar conditions but other LAN party. Playing the same AoE2 game for several hours and one of my teammates enables friendly fire or something and destroys my economy literally behind my back (I was at the front fighting the other team). Back then I was not only confrontational but had a shorter fuse and “this guy” was always trolling/teasing me until my “fuse blew” so…. it got a little physical (as usual because that was a ~weekly procedure between us).
In that case you could say playing AoE2 made me a lot more aggressive than CS ever did (I’m not actually 100% sure but I don’t remember something like this happening with CS).C) actually back then many of my schoolmates turned their birthdays into LAN parties. It definitely had a social aspect. Playing in cellars, wooden sheds in the garden, with barbecue, later alcohol, living rooms, whole houses, a pastoral church side building or seomthing. “Traditional” chili con carne…D) I participated in larger LAN parties and (co-)organized some myself (from a few dozen players to maybe 100-200) and can’t remember anyone at any of those “going of the deep end”.I’d say you had kinda bad friends back then or you were/are for whatever reason not the “right type” for such games. I can’t even imagine seeing such games “through your eyes”.
Just violence without a plan. What does this say about a whole generation ? I mean, seriously, what does it say ? 😟
There’s no more violence than playing chess or football (no, USA go F$&/&$%/ yourself with your “soccer”).At least not in my eyes or anyone’s of my schoolmates or fellow students later.Do you like Metal? “DW – Why metalheads are happier people” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhD0s0QmdXI@all I find your lack of self-reflection disturbing.
I think there’s a difference between abstract board games like chess, checkers or reversi and a killing simulator.
Imagine it was a game about raping instead of shooting, would it still be alright to you guys?
The problem I see with FPS games is that they trigger the lowest human drives.
They are very graphical and thus might affect the subconciousness and make people numb to the horrors of violence and make them loose empathy in real life.
When people do play games like Doom, maybe to let their anger go, do they imagine that these monsters are someone they know?
A boss they don’t like or some friend, a family member?
I find this to be concerning, especially because this game/genre is so popular.
That’s why I said “a whole generation”. It’s not about me or what I like to play or not.
I also don’t see why people do like killing so much. Isn’t the world cruel enough, already?
There are wars in real world, people who’re starving, the climare change etc.
There are so many horrible things happening and all that people like you do is playing or developing games that increase violence even more.
And that’s the point really. The obsession with murdering and destroying things.
Why ports of “Doom” all the day and not Tetris, Blockout, Secret of Monkey Island, SimCity or any other peaceful game?It’s self-defence, those monsters were coming straight for him.A strange game.The only winning move is not to play.How about a nice game of chess?Super Mario is a genocidal maniac according to your standards. He’s killing residents of Mushroom Kingdom at will, even torturing some of them before the kill (for e.g. boop the koopas off, or into, their shell before knocking them off for good).“They are very graphical and thus might affect the subconciousness and make people numb to the horrors of violence and make them loose empathy in real life.”Do you have something to support your hypothesis, or is this all just your imagination?Who will be first to run DOOM on a dinosaur brain?
the old 30-pin connector which had dedicated pins for HDMI output.
As I understand, the 30-pin to HDMI adapter was actually an active DisplayPort to HDMI converter, as in the signal from the iPad to the dongle was DisplayPort.Since the connector was originally designed for the iPod, it didn’t have dedicated pins for DisplayPort either– I believe they reused the pins that originally carried FireWire signals, and had some sort of negotiation that would identify the dongle to the iPad.Next great project would be an HDMI Video GrabberThere are multiple reports that this adapter runs a “stripped down version of iOS”, but does it really?Other sources claimed that the core of this adapter is a Cortex-M4 running at 168MHz, which is plenty for Doom, but is it enough to run iOS or Darwin. And that’s done with no MMU, right?Hackaday provides a number of 400MHz (not sure where this info is coming from), and a part number that suggests Cortex-A5 core which has MMU. This is much more plausible, but the actual contents of the firmware are still unknown.And I have immediately found the answer in the comment section of the article linked above: https://blog.panic.com/the-lightning-digital-av-adapter-surprise/#comment-16841I hope that rainbow text window is some kind of telemetry… working in an IDE like that would give me soooo many headaches.Imagine, if in 20 years from now someone will make Cyberpunk 2077 work on a future adapterEven calling this an “Adapter” makes a shiver run down my spine…“Passive” DP-2-HDMI adapters – the ones with level shifters inside – can still be called adapters IMO. Anything with more complex electronics inside essential for the “adapting” is a converter…Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. (Comment Policy)This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
By using our website and services, you expressly agree to the placement of our performance, functionality and advertising cookies. Learn more

Source: https://hackaday.com/2025/02/06/running-doom-on-an-apple-lightning-to-hdmi-adapter/