simple-terminal

Simple Terminal Emulator for embedded Linux handhelds, migrated from SDL1.2 to SDL2 (by haoict)

<img src="images/st-img1.jpeg?raw=true" alt="Image1" width="250"/> <img src="images/st-img2.jpeg?raw=true" alt="Image2" width="250"/> <img src="images/st-img3.jpeg?raw=true" alt="Image3" width="250"/> <img src="images/st-img1-trimuisp.jpg?raw=true" alt="Image1-TrimuiSP" width="250"/>

Run

bashCopy
./simple-terminal
./simple-terminal -font 2 # with alternative embedded font
./simple-terminal -scale 1 -font /path/to/font.ttf -fontsize 12 -fontshade 1 # with a ttf font

# rotate content inside the window (0|90|180|270)
./simple-terminal -rotate 90
./simple-terminal -rotate 270

# run commands when open
./simple-terminal -r "ls -la" "uname -a" whoami

Options

• -scale: scale factor for window sizing (e.g., -scale 2.0).
• -font: embedded font id (1..5) or path to a TTF file.
• -fontsize: TTF font size when using -font /path/to.ttf.
• -fontshade: TTF render mode (0 solid, 1 blended, 2 shaded).
• -rotate: rotate the rendered content only (0|90|180|270). For 90 and 270, characters and on-screen keyboard are rotated while window size stays the same.
• -r: run one or more commands in the terminal on start.
• -q: quiet mode.

Features

Scrollback Buffer

Simple Terminal supports scrollback history to review previous output:

• Buffer size: 256 lines by default (configurable in src/config.h via scrollback_lines)
• Scroll up: Press F8 (PC) or L2 (handhelds, with OSK deactivated) to scroll up
• Scroll down: Press F7 (PC) or R2 (handhelds, with OSK deactivated) to scroll down
• Scroll indicator: When scrolled, a [offset]^ indicator appears in the top-right corner
• Auto-reset: Any key press (except scroll keys) returns to the bottom of the buffer

Platforms

SimpleTerminal includes built-in input mappings for several embedded handheld devices.

When building for a handheld device, specify the target platform using the PLATFORM variable:

bashCopy
make PLATFORM=<platform>

Currently supported platforms include:

• rgb30
• h700
• r36s
• rg35xxsp
• pi (Raspberry Pi / generic controller)

If no platform is specified, SimpleTerminal builds with a generic Linux keyboard mapping.

Note: The PLATFORM option currently only affects controller and keyboard input mappings. Other devices may work correctly if their controller layout matches one of the existing platforms.

Build

Generic linux

bashCopy
sudo apt install build-essential libsdl2-dev libsdl2-ttf-dev
make

Build with buildroot toolchain

You can build everything for the target device with buildroot:
https://github.com/haoict/TiniLinux/blob/master/README.md#build

or build the toolchain only and build simple-terminal separately

bashCopy
# build toolchain
cd TiniLinux
./make-board-build.sh configs/toolchain_aarch64_defconfig
cd output.toolchain_aarch64
make -j $(nproc)

# build simple-terminal
cd SimpleTerminal
export CROSS_COMPILE=~/TiniLinux/output.toolchain_aarch64/host/bin/aarch64-linux-
make

Build using Podman

You can also build SimpleTerminal using Podman.

bashCopy
podman run --rm -it \
  -v "$PWD:/work:Z" -w /work \
  docker.io/debian:trixie-slim \
  bash -lc '
    set -euo pipefail

    dpkg --add-architecture arm64
    apt update
    apt install -y --no-install-recommends \
      make pkg-config \
      gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu libc6-dev-arm64-cross \
      libsdl2-dev:arm64 libsdl2-ttf-dev:arm64

    export CC=aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc
    export PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR=/usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:/usr/share/pkgconfig
    export PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR=/

    make clean || true
    make PLATFORM=r36s CC="$CC"
  '

To edit embedded bitmap font

https://simple-terminal.vercel.app/embedded-font-editor

License & Credits

MIT License
Based on Aurélien APTEL <aurelien dot aptel at gmail dot com> bt source code.
https://github.com/benob/rs97_st-sdl