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wtf is huawei-doom?

frenchpythonlover/huawei-doom — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

0C++Audience · developerComplexity · 4/5Setup · hard

TL;DR

A hardware hack that gets the classic game Doom running on a Huawei mobile WiFi modem after gaining root access to it.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((huawei-doom))
    What it does
      Runs Doom on a modem
      Uses fbDOOM port
      Ships shareware WAD file
    Tech stack
      C++
      fbDOOM
      huawei-hw
    Use cases
      Play Doom on unusual hardware
      Learn embedded framebuffer graphics
      Root and repurpose a Huawei modem
    Audience
      Hardware hackers
      Retro gaming enthusiasts

Code map

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filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Run the classic game Doom on a rooted Huawei mobile WiFi modem

REASON 2

Learn how a framebuffer based port of a game gets ported to unusual hardware

REASON 3

Follow the companion huawei-hw guide to root and access a modem's shell

What's in the stack?

C++fbDOOMclangMakefile

How it stacks up

frenchpythonlover/huawei-doomachanana/mavsdkalange/llama.cpp
Stars00
LanguageC++C++C++
Last pushed2024-05-20
MaintenanceDormant
Setup difficultyhardmoderatemoderate
Complexity4/54/54/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1h+

Requires first rooting the Huawei modem via the separate huawei-hw project before this will run.

No license is mentioned in the README, so reuse terms are unclear.

Wtf does this do

huawei-doom is a small, playful hardware hacking project that gets the classic 1993 video game Doom running on a Huawei E5577-321s mobile WiFi modem, and possibly similar Huawei models. It relies on a separate companion project by the same author, called huawei-hw, which provides the underlying tools to gain root access on the modem and run custom code on it in the first place. This repository itself is a set of patches on top of fbDOOM, an existing open source port of Doom that draws directly to a device's framebuffer instead of relying on a full desktop environment. The project includes precompiled binaries, so a person does not necessarily need to build the code themselves. To run the game you point the compiled Doom executable at a WAD file, which is the data file that holds the actual Doom game content, and the author has included the free shareware version of that file directly in the repository. The author notes that the game was hardcoded to expect that specific shareware WAD, so other versions of the file are not guaranteed to work. Setting this up is not plug and play. It requires first following the separate huawei-hw guide to get telnet and root access on the modem, install the clang compiler, and transfer files onto the device, before this project's Makefile and instructions come into play. The author invites people to open an issue if they run into trouble. The project has no stars yet and is a very new, small upload, more of a fun proof of concept than a polished tool, but it comes with a working shareware WAD included so a reader with the right modem and patience could actually reproduce the result. The README does not mention a license for this project.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through following the huawei-hw guide to get root access on my modem
Prompt 2
Explain what a WAD file is and why this project needs the shareware version specifically
Prompt 3
Help me modify the Makefile CC path to point at my installed clang compiler
Prompt 4
Show me how fbDOOM draws to a device's framebuffer without a desktop environment

Frequently asked questions

wtf is huawei-doom?

A hardware hack that gets the classic game Doom running on a Huawei mobile WiFi modem after gaining root access to it.

What language is huawei-doom written in?

Mainly C++. The stack also includes C++, fbDOOM, clang.

What license does huawei-doom use?

No license is mentioned in the README, so reuse terms are unclear.

How hard is huawei-doom to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated hard, with roughly 1h+ to a first successful run.

Who is huawei-doom for?

Mainly developer.

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