What's the difference between .elf files and .rpx files?

[Jediweirdo]

I used to think that one was an executable that could be installed to the Wii U home menu, but I'm not sure anymore. I just want to know for the sake of knowledge, not because I'm trying to do something. Cheers!

 

[V10lator]

From binary PoV: One is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executable_and_Linkable_Format while the other is a compressed and slightly modified version thereof.

From coding PoV: .elf is an old, no longer supported homebrew format which gets loaded through a lot of hacks, reducing what it can do a lot while the other one is the native executable format of the Wii U, so can be loaded with ease and can do anything.

From a CFW PoV: An .rpx can run from HBL or get packed as something installable from the home menu (when coded correctly). An .elf can run from HBL only.

These where just a few examples from different point of views, cause, you see, there are a lot of differences. We could probably write a 10 (double) sided essay with a small font size and would still not cover anything... So your question is extremely vague. What exactly do you want to know?

 

[Jediweirdo]

What exactly do you want to know?

I wasn't really sure of exactly what I wanted to know until I read your response. Here are a few questions I thought up, and sorry if some seem

• Why did .elf have to go through so many pf hacks? Isn't the Wii U already running homebrew if you need to run it?
• Limitations aside, is there any changes to the code you have to write, or is it just exported through a different format?
• If .rpx is objectively better than .elf, then why was .elf ever used at all?
• Out in the wild, is it currently more common to see .elf or .rpx?
• The answer is probably no, but is there anything that .elf can do even slightly better than .rpx?

 

[V10lator]

1) Cause it is not the native executable format. You need to trick the Wii U into loading a different binary format.
2) Yes, you need to change the code: .elf is coded against a completely different environment than .rpx (dynlibs vs WUT and stuff like that).
3) Cause the homebrew scene wanted to start but the .rpx format / how to load native, unsigned binaries wasn't known back then. So this hacky way of loading .elf just got found before the way of loading .rpx. Also .rpx needs an advanced SDK which didn't exist back then, instead each homebrew basically used its own SDK (dynlibs and stuff).
4) Hard to say but more and more stuff gets ported from .elf to .rpx lately as next-gen CFWs (Aroma) can't run .elf anymore.
4) As you said: Answer is no.

 

[Jediweirdo]

Ahh, I see. Thanks for your help! Sorry my answers are delayed; I'm doing this right in between the break period of back-to-back mid-term exams

Post automatically merged: Dec 15, 2022

Oh, one last question (which has literally nothing to do with this thread lol): If you were to reinstall the Mii Maker, would you need saveMii, or are the Miis saved somewhere else and the Mii Maker just pulls the data from there?

 

[QuarkTheAwesome]

• The answer is probably no, but is there anything that .elf can do even slightly better than .rpx?

There is actually a little thing: for a long time .elf was the best way to have homebrew that stayed loaded whilst other apps ran (sdcafiine, etc.) That usecase was only covered with the release of Aroma and WUPS. If you care about Tiramisu support it's something you might still have to consider.

 

[godreborn]

I think elf is a generic Linux file extension. Virtually everything I've compiled, an elf is compiled first before progressing to its final file type.