Summary
OpenC6 brings a retro, BIOS-like firmware to the ESP32-C6, evoking classic PC setup screens.
It’s open-source and hosts tiny bare-metal payloads, letting you hot-swap modules into RAM or XIP.
The project is still evolving; missing features and bounties include an open file system and execution security.
Long before UEFI came along, PCs used to use a BIOS to get everything set up. It took quite a bit longer to get the job done, but seeing the old BIOS screens brings back memories of diving into an older PC and tweaking settings to better control the hardware. If you long for those days, someone has managed to design a BIOS for the ESP32-C6 chip, and while it’s not entirely feature-complete just yet, it’s still really cool.
OpenC6 BIOS brings a cool retro BIOS to your ESP32-C6
It’s more than just a pretty face
Credit: Rompass
As spotted by Hackaday, this cool feat was performed by Rompass over on GitHub. It’s called the OpenC6 BIOS, and its main goal is to bring a BIOS to ESP32-C6 chips. It’s fully open-source and allows your ESP32 to run a “PC/Server-like architecture” on a $2 chip. Sounds good to me.
Here’s how Rompass describes the OpenC6 BIOS:
Instead of monolithic firmwares, OpenC6 acts as a host platform. It initializes the hardware, provides out-of-band management via an independent LP-Core coprocessor, and exposes a standardized System Call Interface (ABI). This allows you to hot-swap, download, and execute tiny, lightning-fast bare-metal Payloads directly into RAM or Execute-In-Place (XIP) Flash.
It’s not quite the same BIOS as you’ll find on a PC; however, it will allow you to run modules off the RAM instead of from the OS’s kernel, and gives you more customization with your chip.
The GitHub page has all the code and setup instructions, so if you want to give it a go, grab it from the link above. It is worth noting that this project isn’t complete just yet; in fact, Rompass posted a bounty board for features they’d like to see, including a completely open-source file system and a security measure to prevent corrupted executions from firing.
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The possibilities are endless.