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Can it run Doom? The IP Phone edition

Last updated on December 6th, 2024 at 10:58 am

Iconic Videogame

For those of you who don’t know Doom is a classic video game first released in 1993 by ID software, programmed by Jon Carmack, Jon Romero and Dave taylor. It was well known as a First Person Shooter game which really broke through to the mainstream with its super smooth gameplay and, at the time, required a powerful PC to run on.

Doom was a critical and commercial success, earning a reputation as one of the best and most influential video games of all time.

Wikipedia

Doom on every machine

Doom became so popular that it has been converted to work on almost every computer, video game console and handheld gaming machine available since its release, including some that were thought originally to be underpowered* – this included everything from the Commodore Amiga to the Nintendo Gameboy Advance.

*Compared to the original recommended tech specifications for the game.

It’s these underpowered machines which gave tech enthusiasts the idea of not stopping there and seeing it as a challenge to try to get Doom runing on some of the most unexpected tech available – anything with a screen, which is where the popular meme “Will it run Doom?” was born.

Now we’re up to speed, we can say thanks to Mastadon user Stefan Gloor who dug deep into the guts of a Yealink IP phone to complete his own “Will it run Doom” project, because we can now happily confirm that yes; a Yealink T46S will indeed run Doom!

Image: Stefan Gloor

If you’re ready for some gloriously heavy duty tech explanations and some insane levels of electronic engeneering trickery you can read the technical details of how Stefan managed to get Doom Running on a Yealink IP phone as the full breakdown of his process is detailed on his website here.

It’s impressive how much work Stefan put into reverse engineering the hardware and we’re plesantly surprised at how smoothly it seems to run, we think it was well worth the effort!

Image: Stefan Gloor

If you manage to get Doom running on any other IP handsets, we’d love to hear from you. Drop us an email and show us what you’ve got!

What else will run Doom?

There’s a popular Reddit channel dedicated to asking “Will it run Doom?” – I’m not kidding here, somebody once got Doom running on a Pregnancy Testing Kit – I’d recommend doing some web searching and enjoy some of the projects other engineers people have put together – there’s some fun stuff out there.

The T46S is sadly discontinued, but we do stock a full range of Doom Compatible* Yealink Phones, so whether you’re looking to buy for use as IP telephony, or to run Doom… we’re not here to judge.

*Not compatible with Doom out of the box.

Warning: Trying to install Doom on your IP Phone will 100% void your warranty, neither PMC Telecom nor Yealink will be able to offer support if you break your phone trying to install Doom. We do not recommend running Doom on your IP phone – please don’t dismantle your IP phone unless you really know what you’re doing.

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