Amiga.org
Operating System Specific Discussions => Amiga OS => Amiga OS -- Development => Topic started by: motorollin on April 01, 2006, 09:02:10 AM
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After long discussions with Team Xecuter (who produce mod chips for the Microsoft XBOX console) I have been able to unpack XBE files, which are binary executables for XBOX games and applications. I felt this presented an opportunity to learn more about the way the binaries are built and maybe write some custom XBOX software.
What I found, however, was much more exciting. Once unpacked, I was able to successfully recompile the binary in the XBOX development environment, and execute it on an XBOX, which proved that the binary could be unpacked and repacked successfully.
I then wrote an application for the Amiga which recompiles the unpacked XBE in to an Amiga PPC executable, which means an emulator is not required to execute it. This does still leave the problem that the software is unported - so it is still expecting the XBOX kernel and hardware to be there.
I realised that a potential solution would be to develop an emulation environment which loads a patched kernel image, and allows the recompiled XBE to run as a native PPC executable, while translating the requirements for XBOX hardware into Amiga equivalents.
I won't go in to technical details yet, but the upshot is that I have a working emulator. A utility patches the kernel image for use with the emulator. When run, the emulator executes the recompiled XBE and allows it to run as a native PPC executable. The modified kernel uses P96 instead of the XBOX GPU, and translates where necessary. Control of the game is achieved using a keyboard at present, but I am working on USB support. Since XBOX pads are only USB anyway, with the correct cable (or by wiring on a USB connector) you could in theory use an XBOX pad connected to a Subway/Spider USB controller to play the XBOX game. Sound doesn't work yet, but hopefully I can patch the kernel to use AHI instead of looking for the XBOX DSP chip.
Of course, it's not as simple as putting an XBOX game in a DVD drive on an Amiga and then running it. You need a modified XBOX so you can get FTP access to its DVD drive. Then you copy the files across a network connection from the XBOX DVD on to your Amiga. You also need to FTP across a kernel image. Then, once the files are on your Amiga, you patch the kernel image, run the utility which de-/re-compiles the XBE, and then it can run.
I have tested with a few games and it seems to work quite well, though obviously performance isn't as good as it is on a real XBOX. Nothing is released yet, but here is a screenshot to whet your appetite.
XBOXEmu Screenshot (http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm244/motorollin/aorg/xboxemu.jpg)
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moto
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What a cool project,
I feel i will soon present My Playstation 3 emulator for amiga, running on a 68K with 512K...
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lol
U almost had me there
:blush:
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:lol: :-D
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it's april 1st agaian :lol:
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Nice april 1.st.... :-D :-D :-D
This one is better, OS4 is recompiled for x86!!!
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:roflmao:
@Motorollin, whatever happened to your JIT CELL emulator that works on a Palm IIIx ?
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imagine what this would do for Amiga, and especially PPC sales!
I was had for a whole 2 minutes =/ good one!
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And I thought it was so convincing :lol:
Happy April 1st everybody :-)
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moto
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Um, dude? Your technical specifications are very, very wrong...
...you have a working XBox 360 emulator, not XBOX. Be sure to add that in bold print before you post it to all the emu forums. Sheesh. Do you expect people to take you seriously with that slack of detail?
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:-D As I read through the post earlier today, I was waiting for the punchline. Now I get it. April. Me slow.
Nice one!
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evil {bleep}s :) i really believe in this :))
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The dead giveaway is the
"I wont go into techical details yet".
Nobody here would miss an oportunity to go into
technical details about anything,
unless they were full of sh*t. :) :) :)
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I should have removed that sentence, as I did actually give some technical details :-P
I think most of what I wrote was technically feasible (given a fast enough CPU/GPU/DSP). Feel free to rip my technical description to pieces though :lol:
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moto
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I'll beta test for you with my "Xbox on FPGA chip". :roflmao:
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Now if he had said Gamecube emulator, which is a PPC machine anyway, it would have had more weight...
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...
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The day that a decent XBox game is released an emulator might be worth doing. Till then why bother, the console is completely arse...
An AmigaOne emulator OTOH would enable OS4 for the masses, that day will rule, AmigaOS would dominate!!
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This bit made me lose some coffee out my nose.
I have tested with a few games and it seems to work quite well, though obviously *performance isn't as good* as it is on a real XBOX.
I can see it now: Halo on Amiga @ 0.00001FPS with all effects off.
I also like the bit about having to have a real Xbox to make it work, point of... and defeats the... are two things that spring to mind.
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So true. I don't get too excited about Xbox emulation but then I own a modded Xbox with a 200Gb HDD. :evilgrin: Next on the list......Gamecube mod!
@Minuous! With an Executor3 mod, 200Gb HDD, ATA133 cable, transparent blue case, lights, usb keyboard and mouse my Xbox is still an awesome multi-media player with years of working life left......I think your being a wee bit blinkered. :smack:
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Yeah I haven't played a game on my xbox in about 3 months but I use XBMC (http://xboxmediacenter.com) just about daily.