Homebrew The difference between virtualising and emulating...

[retrospect]

...is not the topic of this thread. Although it is the topic of the thread ;-)

Anyway, does anyone know if the NN3DS processors support virtualisation? I'm guessing that they do and that's how DS Mode works. If so, it seems like that would be a great way to implement GBA support. A little more speculation could lead us to believe that this could be implemented in homebrew by looking to DS Mode as an example.

I'm a little surprised no-one is working on this publicly. Maybe it can't be done?

 

[hippy dave]

From Wulfy's recent posts she's been investigating stuff related to this, I don't know how far she plans to go with it. Would definitely be worth doing tho.

 

[RodrigoDavy]

Afaik DS mode is no virtualization, when the 3DS enters DS mode it forces the processor to work at DS's clock rate, limit's the 3DS ram to match the DS's ram. It basically forces the 3DS to become a DS. I think GBA mode must work the same way too.

 

[retrospect]

...when the 3DS enters DS mode it forces the processor to work at DS's clock rate...

That seems unlikely given that the dashboard still works correctly. You may be thinking of the Ambassador GBA games?

 

[nastys]

Afaik DS mode is no virtualization, when the 3DS enters DS mode it forces the processor to work at DS's clock rate, limit's the 3DS ram to match the DS's ram. It basically forces the 3DS to become a DS. I think GBA mode must work the same way too.

Actually, the 3DS also has the two processors of the DS inside, so DS games run on those. The second processor of the DS is the same of the one of the GBA, so GBA games run on that.

 

[RodrigoDavy]

Actually, the 3DS also has the two processors of the DS inside, so DS games run on those. The second processor of the DS is the same of the one of the GBA, so GBA games run on that.

Hummm, I thought it used the dual core arm11 processor. So, it means the 3DS has 3 processors???

 

[OrGoN3]

Not visualization per say. Every Nintendo console is built upon the previous to ensure perfect compatibility. For DS mode, it would do the same as the 3DS. What this is, I don't know. It loads up DS mode, which means lower CPU freq and less addressable memory. Now, I can see this being done either with restrictions, or pretty much just by loading up DS firmware. Remember, when it's in DS mode, it has no idea the NFC and CPP exist, and there is no way to let it know these things.

 

[Technicmaster0]

Hummm, I thought it used the dual core arm11 processor. So, it means the 3DS has 3 processors???

Well it has one soc containing much stuft like 2 arm 11 Cores, one arm9 processor for DS compatibility and encryption and one arm7 for ds- and GBA virtualization. It has a Hardware AES engine as well.
The n3ds has 2 additional cores and a Hardware Video decoding engine.

 

[ninjanick999]

If gba titles run using roms, couldn't we have a program that loads rom files then runs them using AGB_FIRM?

 

[retrospect]

If gba titles run using roms, couldn't we have a program that loads rom files then runs them using AGB_FIRM?

Maybe we could have a program that includes a dump of AGB_Firm and runs it virtualised, along with a ROM-picker frontend. That's kinda what I'm getting at with this thread.

I think it's a lot of work for someone though, and it's not like they can put it on their CV and apply for a job with Nintendo once they've done it.

 

[cualquiercosa327]

Afaik DS mode is no virtualization, when the 3DS enters DS mode it forces the processor to work at DS's clock rate, limit's the 3DS ram to match the DS's ram. It basically forces the 3DS to become a DS. I think GBA mode must work the same way too.

Hi,it i true but always could be create something as this :

http://ichfly.github.io/gbaemu4DS/

if i dont remember bad it use somekind of hypervisor.

Also nintendodont works on wii mode,no use its IOS allowing us the extra hardware of it