Ryan Houdek
185f265f5c
This adds a new `ThunksDB.json` file to the config folder.
This file lets users describe thunks in a meaningful way without
duplicating it amongst multiple configuration files.
eg:
```
{
"DB": {
"GL": {
"Library" : "libGL-guest.so",
"Depends": [
"X11"
],
"Overlay": [
"/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so",
"/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so.1",
"/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so.1.2.0",
"/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so.1.7.0",
"/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so",
"/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so.1",
"/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so.1.2.0",
"/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so.1.7.0"
]
},
"X11": {
"Library": "libX11-guest.so",
"Overlay": [
"/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libX11.so.6",
"/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libX11.so.6"
]
}
}
}
```
This file lets the user describe the library with an nicer name, in this instance
`GL` instead of `libGL-guest.so`.
It also tracks depedencies, like how GL currently has a hard dependency on X11.
This allows the loader to automatically enable the dependencies if described.
The `Overlays` array is like the regular Thunks config file but now in this DB file.
With the DB file now describing the libraries, this allows us to then stick a lighter
description inside of the Thunk Config file.
```
{
"ThunksDB": {
"GL": 1
}
}
```
With this example Thunk config file (Which can be configured per application), There is
a new property of name `ThunksDB`.
All this takes is key:value pairs which describe the user friendly library name and an Integer
to state if the thunk should be enabled or not.
This allows very quick toggling of thunks directly inside of the configuration files rather than
breaking the configuration to disable it.
FEX - Fast x86 emulation frontend
FEX allows you to run x86 and x86-64 binaries on an AArch64 host, similar to qemu-user and box86. It has native support for a rootfs overlay, so you don't need to chroot, as well as some thunklibs so it can forward things like GL to the host. FEX presents a Linux 5.0 interface to the guest, and supports both AArch64 and x86-64 as hosts. FEX is very much work in progress, so expect things to change.
Getting Started
FEX has been tested to build and run on ARMv8.0, ARMv8.1+, and x86-64(AVX or newer) hardware. ARMv7 and older x86 hardware will not work. Expected operating system usage is Linux. FEX has been tested with Ubuntu 20.04, 20.10, and 21.04. Also Arch Linux. On AArch64 hosts the user MUST have an x86-64 RootFS Creating a RootFS.
Navigating the Source
See the Source Outline for more information.
Dependencies
- cmake (version 3.14 minimum)
- ninja-build
- clang (version 10 minimum for C++20)
- libglfw3-dev (For GUI)
- libsdl2-dev (For GUI)
- libepoxy-dev (For GUI)
- g++-x86-64-linux-gnu (For building thunks)
- nasm (only if building tests)
Building FEX
After installing the dependencies you can now build FEX.
git clone https://github.com/FEX-Emu/FEX.git
cd FEX
git submodule update --init
mkdir Build
cd Build
CC=clang CXX=clang++ cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DENABLE_LTO=True -DBUILD_TESTS=False -G Ninja ..
ninja
Installation
sudo ninja install
On AArch64 Hosts
You can install a binfmt_misc handler for both 32bit and 64bit x86 execution directly from the environment. If you already have box86's 32bit binfmt_misc handler installed then I don't recommend installing FEX's until it is useful. Make sure to have run install prior to this, otherwise binfmt_misc will install an old handler even if the executable has been updated.
sudo ninja binfmt_misc_32
sudo ninja binfmt_misc_64
More information
This wiki page can contain more information about setting up FEX on your device https://wiki.fex-emu.org/index.php/Development:Setting_up_FEX
RootFS generation
AArch64 hosts require a rootfs for running applications. Follow the guide on the wiki page for seeing how to set up the rootfs from scratch https://wiki.fex-emu.org/index.php/Development:Setting_up_RootFS
