Ryan Houdek
cd83d3eb24
There are some cases where we want to test multiple instructions where
we can do optimizations that would overwise be hard to see.
eg:
```asm
; Can be optimized to a single stp
push eax
push ebx
; Can remove half of the copy since we know the direction
cld
rep movsb
; Can remove a redundant insert
addss xmm0, xmm1
addss xmm0, xmm2
```
This lets us have arbitrary sized code in instruction count CI, with the
original json key becoming only a label if the instruction array is
provided.
There are still some major limitations to this, instructions that
generate side-effects might have "garbage" after the end of the block
that isn't correctly accounted for. So care must be taken.
Example in the json
```json
"push ax, bx": {
"ExpectedInstructionCount": 4,
"Optimal": "No",
"Comment": "0x50",
"x86Insts": [
"push ax",
"push bx"
],
"ExpectedArm64ASM": [
"uxth w20, w4",
"strh w20, [x8, #-2]!",
"uxth w20, w7",
"strh w20, [x8, #-2]!"
]
}
```
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.
Quick start guide
For Ubuntu 20.04, 21.04, 21.10, 22.04
Execute the following command in the terminal to install FEX through a PPA.
curl --silent https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FEX-Emu/FEX/main/Scripts/InstallFEX.py --output /tmp/InstallFEX.py && python3 /tmp/InstallFEX.py && rm /tmp/InstallFEX.py
This command will walk you through installing FEX through a PPA, and downloading a RootFS for use with FEX.
Ubuntu PPA is updated with our monthly releases.
For everyone else
Please see Building FEX.
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.
Building FEX
Follow the guide on the official FEX-Emu Wiki here.
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.com/index.php/Development:Setting_up_RootFS
