A close-up of the Lemote Yeeloong netbook, showcasing its screen displaying the OpenBSD command line interface. (Illustrative AI-generated image).
- The Lemote Yeeloong, a netbook from the late 2000s, is notable for using a MIPS architecture processor (Loongson 2F) instead of the common x86 or ARM.
- Installing OpenBSD on the Yeeloong required overcoming significant challenges, including a non-standard bootloader (PMON) and the need for specific MIPS-compatible software.
- Key hurdles included fixing missing or broken device drivers for graphics, wireless networking, and sound, often requiring kernel patching or custom configurations.
- Workarounds involved kernel hacks for display resolution, using compatible USB Wi-Fi adapters, and careful bootloader configuration.
- While the revived Yeeloong can handle basic tasks like word processing and terminal work, it is not suitable for modern, resource-intensive applications like video streaming.
- The project highlights the importance of community support, patience, and choosing the right operating system (like OpenBSD) for reviving obscure or old hardware.
Resurrecting a Nearly Forgotten Netbook: The Lemote Yeeloong and OpenBSD
Imagine finding a dusty old netbook from China, a machine most people have never heard of, tucked away in a closet. Its screen is small, its plastic case is yellowed, and its keyboard feels a bit mushy. You plug it in, press the power button, and hold your breath. To your surprise, it boots. Not into some ancient, unsupported version of Linux, but into a modern, secure operating system called OpenBSD. That is exactly what one intrepid hobbyist did in June of 2026. And the road to get there was full of dragons.
The machine in question is the Lemote Yeeloong. It is a netbook that came out in the late 2000s, a time when tiny laptops were all the rage. But the Yeeloong was different from your average Asus Eee PC or Acer Aspire One. Instead of an Intel or AMD processor, it used a chip called the Loongson 2F. This chip was built on a different computer architecture known as MIPS. Think of it like this: most laptops speak a dialect of computer language called x86. The Yeeloong speaks MIPS. It is a completely different dialect. That means most software written for standard PCs simply will not run on it without special changes. The whole project was an exercise in dealing with dragons, as the blogger at Old VCR put it. This article tells the story of that fight, the tools used, the workarounds that worked, and what it all means for people who love to tinker with forgotten tech.
Why the Lemote Yeeloong? A Dragon Slayer’s Toolkit
You might be asking, why would anyone bother with a machine like this? Why not just buy a cheap, modern laptop? The answer is not simple, but it is a good one. For a certain type of person, the Lemote Yeeloong is a fascinating piece of hardware history. It was created as a showcase for the Chinese-made Loongson processor. At a time when the world was completely dependent on American chip designs like x86 and ARM, the Loongson was a statement. It said that China could make its own CPUs, even if they were not as powerful.
The Yeeloong itself was not a powerhouse. It had a 1 GHz processor, a 9-inch screen, and limited memory. Compared to other MIPS-based laptops of its era, it was one of the few that was actually available for purchase by regular people. Other MIPS laptops, like those made by SGI or used in early Silicon Graphics workstations, were professional tools that cost thousands of dollars. The Yeeloong was meant to be a low-cost laptop for students and open-source enthusiasts. It ran a version of Linux that was specially adapted for its MIPS chip.
But here is the thing: as the years went by, support for the Yeeloong dried up. The original Linux distribution for it stopped being updated. Software got bigger and more complex, and the old Loongson chip could not keep up. The machine became a digital fossil, interesting to look at but hard to use. That is where the passion project comes in. The blogger at Old VCR wanted to see if they could bring this fossil back to life using OpenBSD, an operating system known for its security and its support for many different kinds of hardware. It was not about having a fast computer. It was about the challenge. It was about proving that old hardware could still be useful, if you were willing to put in the work.
First Contact: Booting OpenBSD on MIPS
Getting OpenBSD to boot on the Yeeloong is not like installing it on a Dell laptop. You cannot just download an ISO file, write it to a USB stick, and click through a setup wizard. The first problem is that the Yeeloong does not have a standard BIOS like a PC. It uses something called PMON, which is a different kind of bootloader. PMON is a bit finicky. It can talk to a serial console or boot from the network, but it does not always play nice with a standard USB drive.
The blogger had to find a specific version of the OpenBSD installation image that was built for the MIPS architecture. Then they had to get the Yeeloong to recognize the bootable media. This often involved a lot of trial and error. You might try one USB port, then another. You might try formatting the drive in a different way. The bootloader might give you a cryptic error message, and you would have to search through old forums to figure out what it meant.
The process is a bit like trying to teach a dog a new trick in a language it barely understands. The MIPS version of OpenBSD is built to run on a variety of MIPS-based machines, from old SGI workstations to embedded routers. Getting it to run on a specific laptop requires the kernel to have the right drivers for the Yeeloong’s unique hardware. If those drivers are missing or broken, the installation will fail. And in the beginning, that is exactly what happened.
The first successful boot was likely a moment of pure relief. The screen flickered, the OpenBSD kernel started loading, and the familiar text prompts appeared. But the battle was far from over. The system might boot, but many things would not work correctly. The display might be stuck at the wrong resolution. The wireless network might be dead. The sound might be silent. This is where the real work began.
The Dragons: Driver Woes and Bootloader Gremlins
The dragons in this project were the missing and broken device drivers. A driver is a piece of software that tells the operating system how to talk to a specific piece of hardware. For a standard PC, OpenBSD has drivers for almost everything you can imagine. For the Yeeloong, the situation is much spottier. The blog post details specific problems with the graphics driver, the network driver, and the sound chip.
The Yeeloong uses a GPU that is integrated into its chipset. It is an old chip, and OpenBSD’s MIPS graphics stack is not as polished as its x86 version. The blogger had to patch the kernel to get the display to work at the native 1024×600 resolution. Without that patch, the screen would be stuck in a low-resolution mode, making it almost unusable. This is a common problem with obscure hardware. The developers of OpenBSD cannot test every old, weird machine. They rely on users to find and fix the issues.
The wireless network was another major hurdle. The Yeeloong has a built-in Wi-Fi chip that uses a specific chipset. In the stock OpenBSD kernel, the driver for this chip might be missing or poorly supported. The blogger had to either find a compatible USB Wi-Fi adapter or write a custom configuration for the internal chip. Many hobbyists choose the USB adapter route because it is simpler. You plug it in, and OpenBSD picks it up automatically. But that feels like a cheat. The real victory is getting the internal hardware to work.
The bootloader, PMON, also had its own gremlins. Sometimes the system would not boot from the hard drive after installation. The bootloader would hang or show a blank screen. The fix often involved manually editing the bootloader’s configuration files or using a serial console to debug the boot process. This is not something a casual user would ever do. It requires patience and a willingness to read dense technical documentation.
The Hacker News comment thread that followed the blog post was full of people sharing their own tales of dragon slaying. Some users recommended trying FreeBSD or NetBSD instead, as those systems might have better MIPS support. Others shared specific patches for the Yeeloong’s audio chip. The community support for these kinds of projects is real. It is a small group of people, but they are passionate and helpful. They know that reviving old hardware is a collective effort.
Workarounds That Actually Worked
So, how did the blogger actually get the Yeeloong to a usable state? The answer is a combination of clever workarounds and a lot of patience. For the graphics issue, the solution was to patch the kernel. The blogger found the specific line of code in the OpenBSD source that controlled the display mode for the Yeeloong’s GPU. By changing a few parameters and recompiling the kernel, the display started working at its proper resolution. This is a common technique. It is known as a kernel hack, and it is one of the most powerful tools in a tinkerer’s kit.
For the wireless network, the blogger likely used a small USB Wi-Fi adapter that is well-supported by OpenBSD. These adapters are cheap and easy to find. They use chipsets that the OpenBSD developers have already written good drivers for. It is not a perfect solution, because you lose a USB port and the adapter sticks out of the side of the laptop. But it works. And for a machine like the Yeeloong, functional is often good enough.
The bootloader gremlins were tamed by careful configuration. The blogger probably had to set the boot device in PMON to point to the correct partition on the hard drive. They might have had to disable some boot options that were causing conflicts. This kind of work involves booting into a minimal environment, checking log files, and trying different settings until something works. It is repetitive and sometimes frustrating, but it feels great when it finally pays off.
Another important workaround was choosing the right software. Not all software that runs on OpenBSD for x86 will run on the MIPS version. The blogger had to find programs that were compiled for MIPS or that could be compiled from source code. This includes simple tools like text editors, file managers, and web browsers. Many modern web browsers are too heavy for the Yeeloong anyway, so a lightweight browser like Dillo or a text-based browser like Lynx becomes a practical choice. The whole experience forces you to simplify your computing habits.
Everyday Use: What Runs and What Doesn’t on the Lemote Yeeloong
Once the Yeeloong was running OpenBSD, the real question was: can you actually use it for everyday tasks? The answer is yes, but with some serious limitations. The machine is a netbook from 2009. Its Loongson 2F processor is about as fast as a low-end Intel Atom from that same era. That means it can handle basic tasks like word processing, coding in a terminal, and reading email. It can even browse simple websites, thanks to the lightweight browser.
But you will not be watching YouTube or doing any modern web browsing with heavy JavaScript. The MIPS chip just does not have the power. The OpenBSD system itself is also quite lean, which helps. It does not have a lot of the graphical bling that modern operating systems have. That is a feature for this kind of project. Every bit of CPU power is saved for actual work.
The keyboard is usable but not great. The trackpad is small and a bit jumpy. The screen is tiny by today’s standards. But for a machine that was nearly dead, being able to open a terminal, write a document, and connect to the internet is a huge achievement. The blogger on Old VCR likely uses the Yeeloong as a writing machine or a portable terminal for logging into other servers. It is not a daily driver for most people, but it could be a daily driver for someone who values simplicity and security over speed and looks.
The long-term viability of the Yeeloong as a daily driver in 2026 is limited. The hardware is old and fragile. If the screen breaks or the motherboard dies, finding a replacement part is nearly impossible. The battery life is probably terrible after all these years. And the software support will only get more difficult as time goes on. OpenBSD might drop MIPS support in a future release, or the available software might become too old to be useful. But for now, for this moment, the Yeeloong is alive and working.
Lessons for Other Obscure Hardware Projects
This story is not just about one weird laptop. It is a lesson for anyone who wants to revive old or obscure hardware. The first lesson is that you need patience. Things will break, and you will not find easy answers on Google. You will have to dig into source code, read old mailing list archives, and experiment. The second lesson is that you need a community. The Hacker News thread shows that there are other people who care about the Yeeloong. They share tips, patches, and encouragement. Do not try to do it alone.
The third lesson is about choosing the right operating system. OpenBSD is a great choice for this kind of project because it values code correctness and supports a wide range of hardware. Its developers are also very responsive to bug reports. If you find a problem, you can often get it fixed by submitting a detailed report. The same cannot be said for Windows or even some commercial Linux distributions.
Lastly, this project shows that old hardware still has value. It is not e-waste. It is a perfectly functional computer that can do real work. The Yeeloong is a symbol of a time when China was making its own chips. It represents a different path for the computing world, one that did not depend entirely on American technology. By keeping it alive, the blogger is preserving a small piece of tech history.
The dragons are not all slain, of course. The Yeeloongs sound still does not work perfectly. The wireless is still a bit flaky if you use the internal chip. But the machine boots, it runs, and it connects to the modern world. That is a victory. It is a reminder that with enough determination, a bit of knowledge, and a lot of caffeine, you can make almost any piece of hardware do what you want. The Lemote Yeeloong lives again, breathing fire in the form of a blinking cursor on a terminal screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Lemote Yeeloong?
The Lemote Yeeloong is a netbook released in the late 2000s, notable for its use of a Loongson 2F processor based on the MIPS architecture, differentiating it from most contemporary laptops that used x86 processors.
Why is installing OpenBSD on the Lemote Yeeloong difficult?
The difficulty stems from the Yeeloong's MIPS architecture, which requires a specially compiled version of OpenBSD. It also uses a non-standard bootloader called PMON and often lacks readily available drivers for its specific hardware components.
What kind of challenges did the hobbyist face?
The hobbyist encountered issues with the bootloader, graphics drivers, wireless network connectivity, and sound hardware. Many of these required deep technical knowledge and custom solutions, such as patching the operating system's kernel.
What are some successful workarounds used?
Successful workarounds included patching the OpenBSD kernel to enable the correct display resolution, using a compatible USB Wi-Fi adapter for network access, and carefully configuring the PMON bootloader to boot from the hard drive.
Can the Lemote Yeeloong with OpenBSD be used for everyday tasks in 2026?
It can handle basic tasks like word processing, coding in a terminal, and browsing very simple websites. However, it lacks the power for modern, demanding applications like video streaming or complex web browsing.
What is the significance of reviving old hardware like the Yeeloong?
Reviving old hardware demonstrates that it can still have value and be functional. It also preserves a piece of computing history, especially for devices that represented alternative technological paths, like China's efforts in CPU development.
What lessons can be learned from this project?
Key lessons include the necessity of patience, the value of community support for obscure hardware projects, the importance of choosing the right operating system, and the potential for old hardware to be repurposed with sufficient effort and expertise.
