Hacking PSA - Daedalusx64 and DSonPSP are active again.

Manana

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I was looking around on GitHub for updates to the Daedalusx64 emulator and some guy named TheMrlon2 has brought it up to 1.1.3. it's still not seen many performance improvements (I haven't noticed a dif) but it's dope to see that there's still a few heads out there working on it. That same guy is also working on DSonPSP along with a few other guys. One of them is z2442 who imho started the Daedalusx64 renaissance by working on it in 2018. None of these two emulators have seen big improvements but I wanted to make the projects more public/popular to motivate the hackers. LONG LIVE PSP MFRS!!!!!

Edit : Their is another guy named Nathan Bourgeois on GitHub who is trying to make another version of Minecraft for PSP called RE-Craft. He's got some ambitious/unlikely goals but nevertheless I support him and really hope he can pull them off. Check them all out here : https://github.com/z2442/daedalus - (Daedalusx64), https://github.com/TheMrIron2/DSonPSP - (DSonPSP), https://github.com/NT-Bourgeois-Iridescence-Technologies/ReCraft (ReCraft, been a while since he updated though)
 
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TheMrIron2

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That would be me you're talking about. :D
Yeah, z2442's Daedalus resurrection was my inspiration for this. He made some changes to the way the program was compiled and it improved performance, and suddenly there was an explosion of interest over what seemed like tweaking. It made me think "What other PSP emulators could be improved?". I found DSonPSP - an unoptimized proof of concept based on 2006/07 code, which ran games poorly - and it hit me that this could be a thing.

I've recruited z2442, a guy called Solidsnake11, and gPSP/DraStic programmer Exophase for DSonPSP. It's incredibly ambitious, given the nature of it, but our plan is to try and integrate Exophase's code from gPSP - the GBA emulator, which emulates an ARM7 chip just like the DS - into DSonPSP, and then rewrite the Desmume JIT core from the current PC build into a MIPS equivalent for PSP. We'll also make the PSP GPU do as much of the graphics work as we can. It'll require some assembly and a lot of hard work, but I hope we'll get there! As I said though, it's a colossal undertaking, and making minor tweaks like Daedalus won't do much - it'll be some time before any of this is realised, if at all, due to the massive reworking and familiarisation with multiple codebases we'll need.

I've joined up with z2442 and one or two others to work on Daedalus, and the next update will be a big boost. Right now, our updates have been tweaks - changing the way the program is compiled to speed it up or stuff like that. We have managed to improve performance in cases though and Mario 64 works at near full speed with async audio. The next update will be working on a proper job manager, because right now the audio code is inefficient and the PSP's Media Engine chip is wasting cycles by waiting around and essentially just not being ordered properly. When this is done correctly, games with audio enabled should see noticeable speedups. Thanks for spreading the word!

Edit: I forgot to mention that I'm also working on a third PSP project, called Project Frost, with a guy called darkhaven3/Diema. It's being built around our own modified version of the idTech 2 engine and while the game can be played using Quake launchers on other platforms, we are designing our maps around PSP's performance level and we're trying to work on a hybrid TV/portable system. What I mean by that is that in portable, you can play Frost for hours at 222MHz mode (ideally, that's what we're targeting right now anyway) but if you want to plug it into the TV, you can play it at a higher resolution like 720x480 at 333MHz mode.
 
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Manana

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No prob bro, It's the least I could do or the most considering my lack of skill. A matter of perspective I suppose :rofl2:. Thanks for working on this man, PSP GO and N64 are my all time favorite consoles. Hope you can pull it off :grog::yaypsp:.
 
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TheMrIron2

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My PSP Go is a really great device. I'd be lying if I said I was a programming pro in any capacity, but I've been contributing what I can to the codebase and maintaining the Daedalus wiki/compatibility list - and trying to rally people for this mini-revival. Cheers for the post - the project where you'll see most of my work will be Frost, as I'll be designing a few maps for that and I should hopefully be able to get the TV Mode code working. Work on the job manager will start in the coming days, though I'm currently juggling my days with "Will I work on this project or this project?". I've barely had time for DSonPSP recently, unfortunately, but what I can offer is a fantastic new background (and icon) by bandithedoge from our discord.

ZQ0CYtF.png
 

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Yes hello good morning.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I also should mention that I've been persuading TheMrIron2 to reach out to hulkholden, the original DaedalusX64 developer who also happens to be involved in some Google open source stuff. But because of that, I wouldn't get my hopes high, as it's very unlikely he has the time to help with some random PSP homebrew project that happens to be a fork of one of his old projects.

Even then, it's worth trying since, well, Iron got Exophase involved, a developer whose last major contribution in the PSP scene was over 10 years ago! And also because my communicative skills suck, though that's another story.
 

Manana

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Yes hello good morning.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I also should mention that I've been persuading TheMrIron2 to reach out to hulkholden, the original DaedalusX64 developer who also happens to be involved in some Google open source stuff. But because of that, I wouldn't get my hopes high, as it's very unlikely he has the time to help with some random PSP homebrew project that happens to be a fork of one of his old projects.

Even then, it's worth trying since, well, Iron got Exophase involved, a developer whose last major contribution in the PSP scene was over 10 years ago! And also because my communicative skills suck, though that's another story.

Believe it or not I tried to contact him through email and Twitter a while ago and he never responded. But I'm just some idiot begging for handouts. I'm sure he'd react differently to someone who can actually carry their own weight.
 
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TheMrIron2

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I emailed Holden last night and included the Discord server link in it; here's to hoping he joins. He was active in January so he'll surely see it eventually.
 
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Manana

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Nothing yet. I do want to share something related to PSP projects while I'm here though: we're already planning a PC-PSP cross platform multiplayer alpha for Frost. I might be able to give details soon.

Awesome, I have yet to try out frost but I'll download it today and give it a shot. First I'm going to try out an idea with Daedalusx64 1.1.3. Your github description on project frost about map sizes catered toward the psp's capabilites gave me the idea. A while ago (before z2442 updated) I tried out a rom hack called Super Mario 64 Maker and it seemed to run flawlessly. I think it was because the map was so small. I just found a website where people dump their custom levels and I'm going to try it out and let you know. If the maps run well maybe it could be it's own game eboot with daedalus as a base and Wi-Fi sharing of levels or some shit.

Edit : Can't get the levels to load since they're in project64 save state format (.pj and .dat), Nevermind, simply had to rename them to saveslot(#).ss. the custom levels run as well as vanilla sm64, no real differences.
 
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cualquiercosa327

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Hi, this sounds wonderful : I love psp/Vita scene.Thank you!
I have a question /request after seen Exophase is going to collaborate : is there any chance of have Drastic ported to Vita/Switch? Don't care it doesn't be opensource (he is selling on Android), but this would wonderful.

Are you going to use Psvita for making them faster (using their arms chips together Mips as trinity exploit does?
I read some time ago about a programer who was to port Daedalus64 to the PSP emulator from Psvita for go on with native Mips and use the other chip for the other stuff. Later I saw than now it is possible as Trinity exploit shows but I had no listen about the proyect anymore.
Thank you for everything
 

TheMrIron2

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how do i build the Emulator thing? @TheMrIron2
I haven't been able to build it recently as I've had to set up a new chain and haven't set up SDL, assuming you're talking about DeSmuME-PSP (as it is now known; we decided to ditch Yoshihiro's old codebase in favour of hcfcoder's port of the latest DeSmuME code). z2442 was able to build it a while ago.

As for Daedalus, simply run the build_daedalus.sh script on Linux or Mac with a PSP toolchain installed and everything should be done for you.

Hi, this sounds wonderful : I love psp/Vita scene.Thank you!
I have a question /request after seen Exophase is going to collaborate : is there any chance of have Drastic ported to Vita/Switch? Don't care it doesn't be opensource (he is selling on Android), but this would wonderful.

Are you going to use Psvita for making them faster (using their arms chips together Mips as trinity exploit does?
I read some time ago about a programer who was to port Daedalus64 to the PSP emulator from Psvita for go on with native Mips and use the other chip for the other stuff. Later I saw than now it is possible as Trinity exploit shows but I had no listen about the proyect anymore.
Thank you for everything

Exophase simply gave us his blessing to use his gpSP ARM7 JIT code for the DS emulator. We haven't had a chance to Frankenstein the codebase that far yet and hack his code in yet, but I don't think he'll be writing any code for it. I can't speak for him myself, and I doubt he'll grant your wishes (as he didn't mention using any DraStic code on PSP throughout our development discussions, and I didn't want to come onto him about it) but you can email him yourself. He left his e-mail in the gpSP code comments.

PS Vita would certainly improve DS emulation, as it has a slightly faster processor which happens to share the same architecture as DS. Additionally, touch screen would be a big plus. However, I have no interest in developing for Vita, as it is not as powerful as the Switch (by a long distance, frankly!) while lacking the portability and convenience of my PSP.

As for DaedalusX64 on Vita, I doubt there will be any improvement. The Vita CPU's slight speed improvements are offset by the fact the PSP shares a similar architecture, which benefits some OS-level HLE patching. The Vita's GPU is not going to improve anything as N64 emulation on PSP is not bottlenecked by the GPU at all, and on top of that, any cross-architecture stuff (with two different dynarecs, most likely... MIPS to MIPS and MIPS to ARM...) involving two vastly different CPUs would be a nightmare to even attempt. Unless you were only going to use the MIPS CPU... which may be possible, but at that point, why bother? That's going to be mostly the same as the PSP code.
Wally and z2442 are considering it but it's low on the priority list and I think they'd be better off investing time into improving the existing Daedalus code, or porting a new N64 emulator entirely (such as Mupen64, which even has a MIPS dynarec) to bring compatibility up to snuff.
 
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cualquiercosa327

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Unless you were only going to use the MIPS CPU... which may be possible, but at that point, why bother? That's going to be mostly the same as the PSP code.
Wally and z2442 are considering it but it's low on the priority list and I think they'd be better off investing time into improving the existing Daedalus code, or porting a new N64 emulator entirely (such as Mupen64, which even has a MIPS dynarec) to bring compatibility up to snuff.
Hi, thank you for answering. What I talked about was the part I have quoted.
Most code should be the same less the sound and other part which are done on the second psp Mips chip : this could be send to the ARM chips.
Also, I am no sure, the Psvita Mips chip is able to run 444 mhz.
For use them you only need use the RPC. C file than is on trinity after use his "trick" of color matrix.
It is somekind of psp 5000 with extra cpu, touchscreen..

I agree about the difference between Switch and Psvita, but the retrocompatibility using Mips make is a interesting device, making psp scene still interesting (somekind as dsi could make with ds scene)
 

TheMrIron2

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Hi, thank you for answering. What I talked about was the part I have quoted.
Most code should be the same less the sound and other part which are done on the second psp Mips chip : this could be send to the ARM chips.
Also, I am no sure, the Psvita Mips chip is able to run 444 mhz.
For use them you only need use the RPC. C file than is on trinity after use his "trick" of color matrix.
It is somekind of psp 5000 with extra cpu, touchscreen..
I'm 99% sure the PSP CPU in the Vita can't go any higher than 333MHz.
You are suggesting that the PSP CPU runs MIPS to MIPS code, right, and that the Vita CPU processes sound? That was the initial idea, but given the fact that sound only takes a few frames off on PSP anyway (even less so on a real PSP with the Media Engine processing the sound asynchronously) along with how monstrously complicated it could get transferring data between a MIPS and an ARM chip and it just couldn't work. And even if you managed to get it working, you would only gain maybe 5-10% performance, if anything compared to the existing async sound code.

Also, while the touchscreen is somewhat usable in adrenaline (as proven by the touch keyboard), I have not seen any software running on the MIPS CPU that actually uses it. So I can't be sure.
 

cualquiercosa327

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Look trinity exploit explanation : all transferring data is done using RPC, which is already created and included on the source code of the exploit.
Yes, what I said is sound, gpu, input could be done on the arm chips, letting more cpu for the MIPS code.
Adrenaline is an example of the sound done in arm chips "emulating" the media engine which is no included on Vita.
 

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